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  • Water time: Indiana State's Khristian Smith dons snorkeling gear during the team's trip to the Bahamas. (Submitted photo)

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August 20, 2012

Sycamores chill, bond in heat of the tropics

Relationships built more important than games won on trip

Todd Golden The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — A lot of the talk you hear amongst players on the basketball court isn’t fit for publication.

However, during Indiana State’s men’s basketball exhibition game against the Real Deal Shockers in the Bahamas on Aug. 13, the Sycamores heard something entirely different on the floor.

It was a sales pitch. It was from one of the Real Deal Shockers’ players. It was a plea to patronize the jet-ski business he worked for.

“A bunch of us did it. It was fun,” said ISU coach Greg Lansing, clearly convinced by the boldly timed testimonial.

It wasn’t the first clue for the ISU men’s basketball team that it was in a different basketball world, but it was one of the most amusing ones.

ISU returned from its three-game, five-day international trip last Wednesday with the feeling that it accomplished the mission it sent out to do when it signed on for the trip.

The benefit of playing overseas — something NCAA teams can do every four years — was about the 10 extra practices ISU got in the run-up to the event. That was the priority.

But once the Sycamores were in Nassau, the games themselves were on the back burner. Lansing wanted the team to relax and get to know one another better — an important mission given that eight of the players have never played a game for ISU before.

“As a whole, it was the trip of a lifetime for these guys. Rarely will they get a chance to stay at a resort like the one we stayed at on the ocean,” Lansing said. “We gave them a lot of free time and I think it hurt our play at times. We were swimming, snorkeling, we were out in the sun. I wanted them to have a great experience first and foremost.”

ISU Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman went on the trip. He thought the bonding experience the Sycamores gained from the journey couldn’t be replicated in another environment.

He cited one moment when the team was enjoying the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

“One of the coolest things I saw was when we went snorkeling. One of the kids on the team [Devonte Brown] didn’t swim, and was very hesitant to get out of the boat. A couple of his teammates [and coaches] got him and swam him into the shore,” Prettyman said.

“Those kind of things take commitment and trust. They wanted to be there for each other. Those things can only happen in a situation like that,” he added.

On the floor, ISU swept the three opponents it played. The Commonwealth Giants were beaten 95-76 on Aug. 12. The Real Deal Shockers were blasted 116-75 on Aug. 13. ISU got its stiffest test from the PJ Stingers on Aug. 14. The Stingers led for much of the first half before ISU came back and won 76-55.

“It was a different type of game. The first and third teams we played had talent to compete a little bit. The second team didn’t. I probably would’ve liked a little bit more of a challenge,” Lansing said.

The revelation of the exhibition games was junior college transfer guard Dawon Cummings. He scored 18 and 14 points in ISU’s last two games. He made seven 3-pointers in the two contests.

Lansing said Cummings’ contributions were vital, but he singled out other Sycamores as well.

“We need [Cummings] to make shots and we need him to be a scorer for us. Manny really showed some of the things they can do. Khristian [Smith] and Devonte [Brown] showed spurts of good play, but struggled too. They haven’t played in so long,” Lansing said.

ISU didn’t come away from the trip completely unscathed. Center Mike Samuels suffered a sprained ankle and didn’t play in the final game. Manny Arop cut his head in the final game and had to get nine stitches in a Nassau hospital.

Lansing was careful to note that the defense played by the teams in the Bahamas was somewhat south of the standard the Sycamores can expect in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“I don’t want the fans to think we’re going to average 100 points. The games were a little longer. The transition defense? Let’s just say sometimes they don’t run back. We got a lot of easy transition baskets,” Lansing said.

Partly because of the uneven quality of opponents, Lansing also cautioned not to make any hard and fast judgments based on what the Sycamores did or didn’t do on the floor in the tropics.

“We have a long ways to go, especially defensively and with toughness. The new guys don’t understand how hard it is to win in this league and at this level. But I thought given the summer work we had put in, everyone played pretty well,” Lansing said.

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