George changed team

Asheville - Kenny George came to UNC-Asheville in 2004, but not with a game in the Justice Center until three years later.

But once the 7-foot-9, 375-pound center more on the court, he immediately changed the game for the Bulldogs.

His powerful impact has probably ended with the news that the 22-year-old from Chicago has been a part of his right foot to amputation.

According to an unnamed source in a report on Saturday ESPN.com, the partial amputation occurred three weeks, and George is expected to remain in a hospital in Iowa for at least another month.

The report also said that George contracted MRSA, a Staph infection, in early August at the Pete Newell Big Man basketball camp in Las Vegas.

In the last two seasons at UNCA, George has more than dunk flat-footed and opposing coaches come with two game plans - one when he was in the game and another when he was on the bench.

The unique nature of the way he played the game and his 101-inch wingspan helped turn the Justice Center into a "must-have ticket - the Bulldogs, for the first time in its history, selling its last 10 home games in the 1100 - seat gym last season.

After sitting out two seasons as a Redshirt and with a knee injury, George made his debut in a game against Virginia in November 2006, finishing with five blocked shots and four points in 15 minutes.

His home debut at the Justice Center came against Liberty on 6 January, 2007 - Bulldogs basketball and was transformed.

In 14 minutes, he made all four shots from the floor, blocked seven shots, grabbed seven rebounds and immediately was a lot of favorites.

"That was cool," said George after the game. "It pumps you if the audience is behind you."

"Our guys were intimidated by him," Liberty coach Randy Dunton said. "He blocked seven shots and probably lasted 12 (other) points off the board for us."

As UNCA coach Eddie Biedenbach and his players at George's presence and found out how to best utilize his abilities, a program in one season, improved by six straight losing record at 23-10 and champion of the Big South Conference.

After losing their first six games played George in the 2006-07 season, the Bulldogs were 29-16 in the last two seasons when he was in the statement. UNCA was 2-3 last season, when George does not play, 21-7 when he plays.

"I've never seen everyone at every level to change a game, as Kenny does when he comes into the game," Biedenbach said on Saturday. Biedenbach recruited David Thompson and Tommy Burleson, inter alia, when he was an assistant at NC State.

"He has a different dimension than anyone I've ever been associated with in the game."

George's numbers were impressive - the program's first triple-double (20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Campbell) 16 points and 13 rebounds against South Carolina, and strong games against nationally-place opponents (13 rebounds vs. Tennessee and 14 points , 11 rebounds and four blocks against Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina).

He ended last season averaged 12.4 points and seven rebounds in less than 20 minutes a game and led the nation in field-goal percentage (.696). He blocked 93 shots and was the BSC Defensive Player of the Year.

But as much production as George provided that its sheer size and presence also forced opponents to change strategies.

A familiar scene of last season was the driving force in the basket, George confronted in the track like a child looking forward to a tree and pivoting around the ball on the perimeter.

"You have to look like two different game plans," High Point coach Bart Lundy said of last season after a 74-58 loss.

"You go to another member, you differently and they guard it differently, if (George) is in the game."

With George unlikely to play basketball again, his teammates began practice Saturday for a season, which vary for many reasons, without the big guy in the middle.

"It's a very tough time for us and Kenny. It is a big blow for the team, and we miss him," said student John Williams, a close friend.

"It is hard to Kenny, because he loved his teammates. But I believe God has a plan for the people, especially special people, and Kenny is a special person."
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Minnesota Gophers women's basketball team relies on newcomers' Fast Track --

Marker in hand, Brianna Mastey mixed by posters as fans filed through the autograph session scheduled. Two practices in her basketball career at the University of Minnesota, Mastey has been swiping the marker in her photo, when reporters wanted to ask some questions.

If Mastey joked that they do not know whether they could to sign and speak at the same time, coach Pam Borton recalled the 18-year-olds that she and her three fellow newcomers must multi-task on the court all season long.

The Gophers women's basketball team started its season Saturday at Williams Arena with lighthearted introductions and a 10-minute attack line with a team stocked with Borton most valuable weapons for this season: their four true newcomers - all from Minnesota, all expected to impact Players immediately.

The team has more experience this season than it had in the last two, but Borton and their veterans have made it clear that the success will depend on in-state newcomers - forwards twin sister Brianna and Nicole Mastey of Becker, guard Kiara Buford St. Paul Central and forward Jackie Voigt of Park (Cottage Grove).

"We must be ready to play tomorrow. It's a little sense of urgency," said Borton. "Of course, we have to be patient with them and let them grow into the college game. They are a very, very talented group. Three of the four of them have won state championships before, so I think they know how to win. "

Attack line, the team was tired, and the newcomers, Borton said, almost certainly were overwhelmed. After a full practice that morning and a day before, they had learned that college practices are faster-paced.

"There is so much coming at you," said Nicole Mastey. "There is a lot to take in. You have a lot to learn, but you just have to stay focused and in everything you can."

Borton does not show concern that their young players take too long to develop. Instead, she said, they can learn quickly and as newcomers for the first time through the drill and juniors the next. Not much was worth to the team the line of scrimmage, but the senior guard Rookies plus Fox has the veteran team scoreless for the first five minutes, and Borton said the team is defense, particularly where they thought it might.

Borton said the team will focus on rebounding, execution, the removal and the improvement of the revenue from the three-point line, while the coaches and veteran players looking to the newcomers the learning curve.

"I tried to help them as individuals, they say, just do not get frustrated," junior forward Ashley Ellis-Milan said. "You must understand that you have veterans on your team, and we have a sense of urgency. The older girls, as we are, OK, we are ready to go, ready to go to the next thing. Then we must not forget that we have them, too. So you can not get frustrated, you have to make your cool. It's a hard adjustment. "

In short: Fox said the broken foot suffered at the end of last season is healed, but the Gophers will be without Tanisha Smith all season after the student broke her Achilles' tendon during preseason conditioning drills. Freshman forward Kristen Dockery, the red-shirted last season because of a knee injury, will miss about two weeks while recovering from mononucleosis, Borton said.

# Team members are supporters on Saturday, using a fan to participate in a Gophers version of the TV show "Deal or No Deal." The fan can win five years of free tickets, and although they lost on that chance, the team gave her free tickets to the Big Ten Conference tournament and a seat on the plane with the team.
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IU basketball seems clean once again

Bloomington, Ind. - They called it Hoosier Hysteria, although there was little short of hysterical. And it was not Midnight Madness, unless you count the IU basketball team the line of scrimmage to run past midnight Friday evening and Saturday in.

What it was, though, was a ritual of purification. It was as if IU basketball has a long, hot shower and off, that the foam had collected over the past two years.

It was the first time in years, too many years, the worshiping at the altar of Hoosier tires felt like a noble and worthy cause.

Tom Crean, which has done everything but ride a white horse in the last six months, called it a chance for "closure.''And to a certain extent, he is correct. Only one more shoe drops, and hope is that the NCAA already has taken its proper measure of IE with earlier sanctions, IE does not even mention sanctions.

Still, they feel like a chance to breathe deeply. The stench was gone. Indiana basketball is a new start, even though nobody is sure that No. 33 is just yet.

Indiana-osiers Who?

Besides the terrible tragedy that the lives of 29 University of Evansville players, coaches and staff in 1977, no basketball coach has been given the kind of top-down reconstruction job, Crean faces here in Bloomington.

The only case in the nearby Baylor, where former Valparaiso assistant Scott Drew was in a terrible mess. Still, Drew has a handful of players returning from the previous roster.

And Crean?

He has Kyle Taber as the only returning scholarship player.

His entire crew, then newcomers or transfers.

And except for Tijan Jobe, the likeable 7-footer from the Gambia, which is still working on basic basketball skills, they have almost no size.

And very little name recognition. Not yet. Earlier in the day, it was suggested that Crean that he break with tradition for one day and put the players' names on their jerseys.

"No way,''Crean said, laughing." Then program sales go.''

At least during a pregame autograph session, guys wore name tags so that fans would not consistently be forced to their program.

"People still order their cheat sheets to check who was who,''said guard Verdell Jones, a freshman from Champaign, Ill." But now that many of them have seen us play, they will get to know each other.''

It does not take Dick Vitale to understand that this team is not very good. It has no height. He has no experience. There are some talents - in a brief attack line, Jones and Devan Dumes (a Decatur Central and Vincennes University product) quickly stood out - but it figures to fight powerful in the Big Ten. Winning 10 or more games will be a conclusion.

It is not the Hoosiers' record but that can be made up. It is their style of play. It is their selflessness. It is their work ethic. The IE team should not win the Big Ten - or win all games in the Big Ten, for that matter - to the hearts of the fans who claim to know basketball.

The supporters of IU basketball can be a compelling chapter in the history of the school basketball program, and that is through ads in massive numbers and by supporting this largely overmatched team regardless of the circumstance.

Because you, like a fan, have your program back. And it's not everything you want to have? Good kids who go to class and wear the jersey with pride?

As the team was going through his Layup lines Friday evening, former Hoosier Dr. Steve Green stood in a corner of the auditorium, sharing stories with other former legendary Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

Both were somewhat estranged from the program since Bob Knight firing in 2000, but both were here together with several other Hoosier sizes from different eras - that was a very nice touch. Perhaps one day, even knights are in this soil as well.

"This feels right to me,''said Green." I admit I'm a Knight loyalist and I did not always agree with the way things were done here, but I like what coach is doing, and he is the perfect person for this situation.''

Woodson said: "This type of program hit rock bottom this past year, so the only way you can top. But we have a very nice man in Tom. His team will always scrap and play hard. The fans need only yet to be patient. It's going to take some time. I know. I did it in Atlanta (with the Hawks).''

The future was on display at Assembly Hall, with an estimated 40-50 recruits scattered in the stands. This was not only an ever-to-know, that night, but a key recruiting night. This night will help close the agreement on the 2009 commitments, and it is to impress the younger up-and-comers to watch on ESPNU and the Big Ten Network.

Mission accomplished.

Crean wanted the atmosphere to show that, although he is not averse to some stunts for the future Hysterias. A year in Marquette, he came in a karate outfit and drove a four-wheeler around the court, nearly killing himself in the process.

"Someday I might Rappel from the ceiling,''he said." But I do not know the building is still good enough.''

Finally, a fan could walk into the auditorium and watch some basketball, and not at home feel the overwhelming need for a shower.
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UK basketball amateur beats top star

Oct 19, 2008

A British amateur basketball player has become an international star after disputing a U.S. NBA star in a one-to-one game and outplaying him.

New Jersey Nets point guard Devin Harris was coaching local players during a visit in a renovated court in London at the 28-year-old from Surrey Stuart Tanner asked him whether he believed a one-on-a. In a friendly game, Harris May want to forget Tanner ran rings round him. Read More ..

BASKETBALL New men's league looking for teams

A new men's basketball league run by the Port Huron Recreation Department is looking for teams. Games will take place on Sunday - with tipoffs from 6 to 9 clock - at the YMCA of the Blue Water Area? Beginning in December and March. Cost is $ 500 per team;? Deadline is 1 December. For more information, call Julie Aubrey or (810) 987-6400.

The S.O.N.S. Masculinity and II Men's Open Gym is 4 to 6 clock Wednesday and 5 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Friday clock James R. Leonard Center in Port Huron. For information, call (810) 989-7667.
St. Clair Biddy ball registration begins


The city of St. Clair Recreation Department and the St. Clair girls and boys basketball programs are again sponsoring Biddy Basketball for boys and girls in grades first damage sixth. Registration is on the ongoing recovery in the Department office. Pre-registration is required. Teams are determined by the current class level. Team education is for 8 November on the St. Clair Middle School. Grades 1-2 report at 8:30 clock; grades 3-4 at 9:30 and grades 5-6 at 10:30. Players must be present to be placed on a team. Games are played on Saturday morning by January. There will be no matches of the 29th November 20 December and 27 and 3 January. The cost is 30 U.S. dollars for resident and $ 42 for non-resident. There is a $ 5 late fee after 7 November. For information, call (810) 329-7121.
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