Grizzlies Den

Reggie Hamilton nearing final home game

2012-02-11T16:03:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to believe Reggie Hamilton has only been at Oakland for three years, joining the Grizzlies last season after sitting out 2009-10 due to NCAA transfer rules. He’ll play his final game at the O’rena Wednesday on Senior Night.
Hamilton was the only freshman named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team in 2007-08 while at UMKC and his stock continued to soar at Oakland, where he is routinely the team’s leading scorer. He nearly had as many points last season with Oakland (616) as he did in two years at UMKC (627).
Prior to his 10 30-point game Saturday (31), Hamilton was second in the nation in scoring and has been the only Oakland player to score in double figures each game this season. He reached 1,000 points scored with Oakland in a Jan. 3 loss to Oral Roberts and closing in on 2,000 for his career.
“It’s going to be a hard day for me, but I’m going to try and go in there and get a big win,” he said. “I appreciate everything the Grizzlies family has done. They brought me in with open arms and it’s been a good three years here. I’m thankful for the opportunity and all the love I’ve received since I’ve been here.”
Oakland coach Greg Kampe, a staunch opponent of participating in the ESPN Bracketbusters series, was miffed at the idea the Grizzlies’ Senior Night game was pushed from its typical Saturday slot to a mid-week game to accommodate the series.
“What Reggie Hamilton has done for Oakland, it’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to Laval (Lucas-Perry),” Kampe said. “They deserve a normal Senior Night crowd. The last 10 have been close to sellouts. I’m disappointed in that, but it is what it is.”
The Grizzlies have a chance to make the Thunderbirds the second team they’ve swept this season and possibly jump them in the conference standings with precious little time left in the season. Hamilton gets at least one final crack at his former team, as the Grizzlies visit the Kangaroos Feb 23.

Notes after Oakland win over IPFW

2012-02-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Reggie Hamilton poured in 31 Saturday, as IPFW became the first team Oakland has swept in conference play this season.
Positives: Oakland outscored the Mastodons 27-16 at the free-throw line. The Grizzlies are 9-2 this season when scoring 20 or more points from the foul line. … Oakland shot 48 percent (12 of 25) from beyond the arc for its third-highest percentage this season. The Grizzlies are 7-2 when shooting better than 40 percent. … With four 3s today, Travis Bader moved into a tie for seventh in single-season Oakland history with none other than Erik Kangas (87). … Hamilton scored at least 30 points for the fourth straight time against IPFW. His 10 30-point games this season are second only in Oakland history Mike Helms’ 13 in 2002-03. Hamilton passed former teammate Keith Benson on the all-time Summit League scoring list (1,907) to move into 15th place. … Kyle Sikora tied career highs in blocks (four), rebounds (six) and minutes played (19), while scoring for the first time in four games (one). … Drew Valentine was a career-best 8 of 10 from the free-throw line, while Hamilton was perfect 8 for 8.
Negatives: The Grizzlies were shooting in the 60-percent range from the free-throw line for much of the game before rebounding to shoot 75 percent (27 of 36). … Oakland scored just 19 points off 17 Mastodon turnovers.

Just one thing not to be excited about in 2OT win at Western Illinois

2012-02-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe was impressed by the high-level of play in Saturday’s double-overtime win over Western Illinois. Except in one regard.
“The only negative for either team was the free-throw shooting,” he said of both teams’ futility on Tuesday’s “The Greg Kampe Show” on WXOU. “Reggie (Hamilton) is a leading free-throw shooter in the country and he missed four in a row at one point.
“If you take that free-throw shooting away, it was very well-played game. It was very intense and there were really good players making good plays. Very good college basketball.”
The Grizzlies shot just 46 percent (12 of 26) from the free-throw line. They shot better several feet away, beyond the 3-point arc, where they were 14 of 30 (47 percent).
Corey Petros led the way, going 3 of 7, while Hamilton finished 5 of 9 from the line.
The Leathernecks shot 60 percent (15 of 25) on their freebies, as Tommie Tyler was just 6 of 13.
After a double-overtime win, there was no time to relax on the way home. The Grizzlies had another wild ride, as their plane inexplicably dropped what Kampe described as seven feet, in mid-flight.
“It got everybody’s attention,” Kampe said. “It lasted a little while. For a guy like me who can’t handle roller coasters, I was ready to throw up all over myself.”
That was just the latest in Oakland travel woe this season. Despite the travel difficulties, they’ve posted a 6-7 record.

Victory at Western Illinois a critical road win for young team

2012-02-08T15:55:00.001-08:00

Oakland is in the middle of a down year by its standards of the last few years, but there are bright spots to be taken out of almost every game this season. Saturday, besides a 40-point game by Reggie Hamilton, the Golden Grizzlies picked up a road win on a night when they started three freshmen. The win makes them 6-7 on the road while they’re just 7-6 at home, a place Oakland only lost one game each of the past two seasons.
“We’ve been pretty mediocre this year, but the one thing we’ve done is win on the road,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said Tuesday on WXOU. “We haven’t won at home, which is a surprise.”
Kampe was forced to start freshman Matt Poches for the first time Saturday due to the one-game suspension of guard Ryan Bass for academic reasons. The three freshmen didn’t score and Dante Williams played just four minutes, but Oakland went home with the double-overtime victory.
“We’ve handled hostile environments,” Kampe said. “Western Illinois was the worst it’s ever been. … It was a very well-played game at a very high level.”
The makeup of the team would likely be different had Ledrick Eackles, a would-be junior, and incoming senior big man Ilija Milutinovic, who opted to go pro in Europe in the offseason, both returned. That left just five players with previous experience at Oakland to start the season.
“They had five years of Oakland playing time between them,” Kampe said. “We lost them and then we only had five years left.”
One of those experienced players, redshirt junior Blake Cushingberry, has since left the team.
Milutinovic was expected in part to fill the void created by the loss of Will Hudson and Keith Benson to graduation. Redshirt freshmen Corey Petros, who got off to a hot start this season, and Kyle Sikora, have instead been tasked with manning what was a formidable frontcourt with two experienced pillars.
“You have to be realistic — somewhere that inexperience is going to show up. It’s raised its head at times," Kampe said.
And at other times, the Grizzlies have gotten it done with a young lineup. They managed Saturday not just a four-point victory, but one that goes a long way in the Summit League standings, giving the Grizzlies a tiebreakers in various scenarios. The Grizzlies are currently tied with Southern Utah for fifth place in the conference at 7-7 and could leapfrog the Thunderbirds by virtue of a season sweep, which could be accomplished next Wednesday.
A fourth or fifth seed to the conference tournament could go a long way in early March. Kampe conceeded the Grizzlies won’t reach the third seed unless there’s a complete collapse by North Dakota State. By Kampe’s estimates, if the Grizzlies win out over their final four conference games, they should get fourth place in the final standings. It would be the first time since 2005-06 Oakland has finished outside the top three, but it would be better for Oakland to face Western Illinois or Southern Utah in the first round rather than the Bison or South Dakota State.
“It put us in a good position to not be sixth,” he said. “You don’t want to be sixth or seventh. I want to be 11-7 and whatever happens, happens.”

'Loyal' Greg Kampe reflects on time at Oakland

2012-02-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

The past two seasons while Oakland played in the NCAA tournament, the most frequent questions besides those about Keith Benson were always “Why has that Greg Kampe guy been there so long?” He’s his 28th season after taking over in 1984.
“I guess it’s unusual that a guy has coached at one place at our level without leaving,” Kampe said on Tuesday’s “The Greg Kampe Show” on WXOU.
“I’m a very loyal person,” Kampe said. “And it’s been a great fit for me and my family. I’m not saying I wouldn’t leave. If State U ‘X’ called and offered me $1.3 million to coach their team, I’d probably take it. You didn’t leave Oakland back in the day to go to a job like that. You left to go to a middle job that would lead to a an Atlantic 10 or Missouri Valley-level program. I never wanted to do that. I was comfortable here and had the autonomy of running a program.
“We were making good money and leading good life, so why would you want to leave? Oakland has been very good to Greg Kampe and I’m happy to be a part of this.”
Kampe admitted to turning down a 5-year, $2 million deal last summer, but declined to say which program the offer came from.
“I’ve had numerous opportunities over the years, but none of them were the right fit,” he added.
Kampe further added he went on an initial interview last year but had a change of heart regarding further negotiations after talking with his wife. He was reportedly being wooed by Eastern Michigan last offseason.
He was also pursued by Dayton, which was looking to replace former Oakland standout Brian Gregory, who played for Kampe in the 80s.
“But that was last year, and we were winning a lot,” Kampe said. “I don’t think I’ll be getting many calls this year.”
Oakland made Kampe one of the first two active coaches to ever be enshrined in the school’s athletic Hall of Honor nearly two weeks ago. He recalled making just $29,000 per season as the nation’s youngest coach when he started.
“Humbling,” Kampe called the induction last week on “Grizz Talk.” “I’m very appreciative Oakland would do that, but I’m also cognizant of the fact I have years left and a lot of work to do and we have a lot of games to win. As a coach, you don’t look in the rear-view mirror.”
Nearly 30 years and three Division I NCAA tournament appearances later, he has the success and longevity that makes national beat writers scratching their head.

Golden Grizzlies have style

2012-02-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe, seen here talking to guard Reggie Hamilton earlier this season, was mentioned in a Sports Illustrated fashion gallery for his improved wardrobe. Photo courtesy of Dan Fenner

Oakland coach Greg Kampe has made a concerted effort this season to step up his wardrobe game on the sidelines. He's gotten plenty of notice from media types, myself included, quick with the cellphone. Last season, Oakland introduced the gray alternate jerseys. This season, Kampe debuted the gray suit for the nationally-televised game against Tennessee from the O'rena in late-November. That landed him in Sports Illustrated Style Archive.
"It seems like every Nike or Jordan team now has a grey option — but Kampe is the only coach, to our knowledge, that has matched his gameday suit with his team's jersey hue."

Kampe previously made the list for his sweater vests and was joined by former Oakland standout Will Hudson for his "Madison State of Mind" shoulder tattoo last season.

Kampe wasn't alone again this year, as Laval Lucas-Perry made the gallery for his "drapes," or especially long shorts. Having shorts deemed long, even by basketball standards, is certainly an accomplishment.

"Hoop shorts have been trending longer, and larger, for quite some time, but Perry's trunks take it to an absurd level" the report said. "They appear to be constructed of enough drift fabric to make two jersey tops, an arm sleeve, a headband, and a new vest for coach Greg Kampe."

The Grizzlies' shorts do appear especially baggy, but it appears in that particular photo, Lucas-Perry was wearing long socks, leaving none of his legs exposed.

Working OT: Finishing touches on Western Illinois game

2012-02-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

Freshman Matt Poches made his first career start, playing 21 minutes and grabbing four rebounds for the Golden Grizzlies. He didn't score, but Poches did come up with a key defensive stop on Western Illinois' Ceola Clark at the end of overtime to help send the game to a second OT. He was matched up late with Clark after all-everything forward Drew Valentine fouled out 4:09 to play in the first OT.
Some highlights: Reggie Hamilton, who entered Saturday's game as the nation's second-leading scorer, had his second 40-point performance of the season. He hit a career-high nine 3s ... The Grizzlies posted 10 more rebounds than the Leathernecks, limiting them to just four offensive rebounds. ... It took two overtimes, but the Grizzlies neared their 79.1 points per game average against the best defensive team in regards to scoring. The Leathernecks were allowing just 61 points per game prior to Saturday. ... Oakland limited Leathernecks leading rebounder Terell Parks by luring him into foul trouble. ... The Grizzlies have now won four games this season decided by five or fewer points. .... Oakland held Western Illinois to 50 points in regulation, a season-best in league play.
Low beams: Just four Oakland players scored with three starters failing to score a single point. ... Poches' start was facilitated by academic issues facing sophomore Ryan Bass, who had started the previous eight games. Bass didn't make the trip. ... Oakland continued its terrible free-throw shooting, going 14 of 30 (47 percent). The Grizzlies, in fact, shot better from 3-point range, 12 of 26, than they did from the free-throw line. Hamilton, typically good from the line when his team struggles, was just 5 of 9. ... The 50 points Oakland scored in regulation is a season-low.

Highs and lows from Oakland's loss at IUPUI

2012-02-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

After Wednesday's loss at IUPUI, the teams have now each snapped significant losing streaks against one another, as the Jaguars ended a seven game skid against Oakland with a 79-75 win.
Low: Oakland's bench outscored its starters, 38-37, behind 20 points from Travis Bader. ... After holding the Jaguars to just two free-throw attempts in the first half, Oakland saw IUPUI take 16 attempts in the second half. They finished just 12 of 18. ... The Grizzlies allowed 19 points off 12 turnovers and are allowing nearly 20 points per game in such fashion in 13 losses this season. ... Freshman center Corey Petros had a season-low one rebound in another low, playing just 17 minutes before fouling out for the fourth time this season.

Highs: Oakland had more assists than turnovers, 16 to 12, for the sixth straight game. ... Bader notched his sixth 20+ point outing of the season after shooting 6 of 12 from 3-point range. ...With eight assists, Reggie Hamilton moved into 10th place all-time in the Summit League (489). ... Drew Valentine had six offensive rebounds and a team-high 12 boards in his fourth game with five or more offensive rebounds. ... IUPUI leading scorer Alex Young was held below his season average (21.8 ppg), scoring 14 points. ... Oakland had 21 second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds.

Former Oakland standout Will Hudson ablaze in Australia

2012-02-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

Using the trademark work ethic that made him a formidable inside presence with Keith Benson, former Oakland forward Will Hudson is making things happen for the Gold Coast Blaze in Australia's NBL, which is on a three-game winning streak.
“It came down to putting a full game together and I think it really starts with how we have been practicing and the intensity that has been going on in training," Hudson told the team's website.
The site did commit what Oakland fans consider a huge no-no, referring to the Rochester school as a California institution. But hey, at least they're from a completely different continent and it's still written in English.
And before you go questioning the compeition level of the NBL, Hudson points out it is comparable to other pro leagues around the world.
“Some people might not realize how good this league is...I think it is really underrated how much talent is in this league," he said.
Also of note, the Blaze's home arena is called the Furnace. Do they have those in that country? Hudson, a Madison, Wisc., native, can surely tell them a thing or two about cold winters. Remember, they're playing during the country's summer season, as temperatures in various parts of the nation are in the 80s.

GRIZZ TALK: Greg Kampe looks forward to road trip

2012-02-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe talks about trying to leave last weekend's last-second loss against North Dakota State and the upcoming road trip at IUPUI and Western Illinois. Watch the full version of the interview here.

Oakland's Reggie Hamilton has long history with Illinois State's Trey Blue

2012-02-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

There’s another storyline for Oakland fans going into the Feb. 18 Bracketbusters game at Illinois State. Sure, Oakland beat the RedBirds for its first Division I win. Also of note, Oakland guard Reggie Hamilton was high school teammates with RedBirds junior guard Trey Blue at Thornwood High School, the starting point for several professional athletes including the Miami Heat’s Eddy Curry, for three seasons in South Holland, Ill.
Like Hamilton, Blue transferred to his current program, after spending his first season at Fordham. Hamilton spent almost two seasons at UMKC, where he was the only true freshman on the league’s All-Newcomer team in 2008, before transferring to Oakland and sitting out the 2009-10 season. Hamilton is having another notable season as a senior as the nation’s second-leading scorer (24 ppg).
Hamilton and Blue played together for three years in high school, where Blue was the go-to guy.
“He was our leader, star player and a great leader. He could should from anywhere on the court,” Hamilton said.
“We basically grew up together. We were both stars in junior high school and then went to the same high school.”
Hamilton, who said he wasn’t recruited by Illinois State, and Blue hadn’t contacted each other as of Tuesday afternoon, “but it’s probably going to happen sooner rather than later,” he said.
Hamilton likes the matchup and compares the RedBirds’ fortunes this season to Oakland.
“They’ve had some close games where they didn’t come out on top,” he said.”That’s like what we’ve been going through this year. They’ve got some athletes on that team. … It’ll be an exciting game for us and a good win if we can get it.”
The game tips off at 5 p.m. and can be heard on WDFN-AM (1130) and wdfn.com.

Date of next FSD All-Access episode uncertain, players miked during NDSU loss

2012-02-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

It hasn’t been announced when the next “Oakland All-Access” program will air on Fox Sports Detroit, but according to a press release by the network, the second episode won’t air before Feb. 8. During Tuesday’s practice, Oakland coach Greg Kampe shed some light on how the series came to be.
“With the NBA lockout, there were programming issues,” he said. “With Oakland basketball being part of their package, Detroit had been doing a similar monthly show, and they wanted to know if we’d be interested in something like that.
“The answer was ‘yes,’ but i didn’t want it to be (like something we already do). I didn’t want it to be a typical coach’s show.”
The FSD crew was given carte blanche around the O’rena.
“I said ‘We’ll open our facilities and you can come in and show people what college basketball really is. Fans don’t know what’s going on. They see me running up and down the sideline screaming and yelling, but they don’t know what’s being said in the locker room. They don’t know what’s there. They don’t know what a road trip is.”
The end result pleased the long-time Oakland coach.
“I thought it was pretty realistic,” Kampe said. “I don’t know if it was good or bad, but it would’ve been better if they were with us in the Dakotas when we swept them.
“They saw the reality of winning and losing and they saw what life was like on the road.”
Kampe guessed the next episode will feature the Dakotas’ visit to the O’rena last week, noting some players were miked up during the latter of the two, which the Bison won on a last-second 3-pointer.
“I would guess they’re looking at the length of the season and … the final episode is probably going to be looking at the tournament,” Kampe said.
I’ll pass along details as they become available.

Oakland coach Greg Kampe working on fan's triple crown

2012-02-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe is working on the triple crown for sports fans. After recently attending the BCS National Championship Game to watch his son play for LSU, Kampe will be attennding his first Super Bowl Sunday. He also attends the Final Four each season and has taken his own team to the initial rounds of the tourney three of the past seven seasons.
How is it possible he could make it there in time if Oakland plays the night before in Macomb, Ill., against Western Illinois.
“We’re going to get in from Western Illinois around 3 a.m. and then about 10 a.m., turn around and make the hour-long flight to Indianapolis, go to the game and fly home,” Kampe explained. “I won’t miss anything.”
Kampe said a good friend has tickets … and a plane.
The Summit League schedule gave Oakland a week off in between games before playing at IPFW in early January and has done so again prior to the Grizzlies’ game against the Mastodons Feb. 11 at the O’rena.
“It’s one of those years,” Kampe said, adding “I would take two wins this week over going to the Super Bowl.”
Kampe, himself a broadcast journalism major way back when, seemed ready with a question for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on Super Bowl Media Day, as the Grizzlies practiced at home Tuesday.
“I would ask him, if you’re supposed to be Mr. Clutch and all that, how would you feel if you were to lose and the Manning Brothers got all the publicity? I love Tom Brady, though, he’s my man. New England is going to win.”
Guard Reggie Hamilton seemed in lockstep with his coach.
“I’ve got to go with Tom Brady all the way — even though he went to Michigan. I’ll let that slide.”
Hamilton grew up in the Chicago area, as noted by his trademark Blackhawks hat seen on Oakland’s All-Access show on Fox Sports Detroit.

Summit League race more important than Bracketbusters to Oakland coach Greg Kampe

2012-01-30T19:24:00.001-08:00

Anstaunch critic since the Summit League enlisted its teams into this season’s ESPN Bracketbusters series nearly a year ago, Oakland coach Greg Kampe reasserted his position again Monday when it was learned the Golden Grizzlies would travel to Illinois State Feb. 18, a seven-hour bus trip. He was incenensed that his team would be asked to take such a trip in the heat of conference play, a game that also forced Oakland to reschedule the Jan. 3 visit by longtime rival Oral Roberts, which was visiting the O'rena for likely the final time.
But what if the Bracketbusters series was at a different time of the season? Kampe’s stance softened just a little bit, but he pointed out an earlier date might lessen the importance of a “bracket buster,” as the games are designed.
“I’d be more interested in it then, but they can’t do that,” he said. “That’s all part of putting good teams against each other so they can get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament or whatever. I’m sure the purpose is good, but to me, it’s not important. What’s important to me is our league and getting ready for March.”
Kampe also said previously if the Golden Grizzlies were matched with Detroit as an opponent, he would refuse the game because he feels the Titans owe Oakland a rematch at the O’rena. As it stands, the Grizzlies are traveling 403 miles (Google estimate) to play an untelevised game that isn’t likely to have any bearing on Oakland’s at-large status in the NCAA tournament.

Gray lining for Grizzlies and more notes from NDSU loss

2012-01-29T23:27:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe didn't want to hear it following Saturday's loss, but there was one shining point in the Grizzlies' loss Saturday: They held on to the ball, committing just six turnovers, while forcing 15 North Dakota State turnovers and converting those for 19 points. That came on the heels of a win Thursday over South Dakota State in which they had 22 assists and just seven turnovers for their best assist-to-turnover ratio of the season: 3.14.Oakland has had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio just 11 times this season and is 6-5 in those games.

Although it seemed like a much different game from the Grizzlies' standpoint, the Bison shot 63 percent Saturday. That's just slightly down from 64 percent they shot in the previous meeting in Fargo, N.D. The Grizzlies are now 1-11 when an opponent shoots better than 50 percent from the floor.
The Grizzlies continue to struggle from the free-throw line, but had a difficult time even getting there Saturday. They were just 8 of 12 (67 percent), but typically average 24 free-throw attempts per game. Oakland is now 0-4 when it goes to the line fewer than 15 times in a game this season.
The Bison outrebounded Oakland, 30-21, meaning the Grizzlies are now just 3-8 when getting outworked on the glass.
More notes: Reggie Hamilton's 37 points weren't a career high (41 vs. Valparaiso), but it was his highest output in conference play. He moved up to 16th on the Summit League's all-time scoring list. ... Oakland also had its fourth game of at least 13 3s in its past five outings. ... The Grizzlies fell to 3-1 on Homecoming and 2-2 this season when wearing gray uniforms. They also fell to 2-2 in games decided by three points or fewer.... Oakland is now just 2-9 when trailing at the half. ... The 3,935 fans Saturday was the fourth-largest crowd ever at the O'rena and the third consecutive crowd of more than 2,600 for the Grizzlies, whose attendance figures were slumping earlier in the season.

Breaking down Saturday’s final possession in Oakland's loss to North Dakota State (WITH VIDEO)

2012-01-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

Trailing by three with 4.1 seconds remaining Saturday, Oakland, to say the least, didn’t get the shot it was looking for. Reggie Hamilton, who had hit a 3 on the Grizzlies’ previous possession, was the intended target. What transpired was different, as Laval Lucas-Perry ended up with the ball on the wing with little time to catch and shoot.

“We were either supposed to get it to Bass or Laval and I fly up the middle get it on the fly,” Hamilton said.”I couldn’t see who was playing me, but he was on me pretty tight.”
Oakland coach Greg Kampe wasn't sugar coating anything in his shortest press conference of the season.
“We run a play at the end of the game and the guy who’s supposed to catch the pass has his head down and doesn’t even see it,” he said. “You tell me what his focus is. The game’s on the line. Guess what? It was the same guy guarding the kid who made the shot. That’s my fault for having him in the game.”
It was a heated battle all night long, as the Grizzlies looked to avenge a 27-point loss in Fargo, N.D., late last month, a loss that briefly sent them spiraling.
“We didn’t want what they did to us in Fargo to happen again,” said Hamilton, who had a game-high 37 points, his eighth game over the 30-point mark. “We had that in the back of our minds how some of the players on North Dakota State were acting when they won the first time. That’s why there was a lot of back and forth. If you come out with a loss, that doesn’t mean anything.”

Despite good numbers for Nate Wolters and Jordan Dykstra, Oakland gets an important victory

2012-01-28T10:14:00.001-08:00

While Nate Wolters is the premier scorer on a high-powered South Dakota State team, Jordan Dykstra again had a superb outing against Oakland, scoring a team-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting. He scored 18 of those points in the first half, nine points coming on consecutive 3s in the game’s opening 3:19.
“We had a gameplan to guard against Dykstra and he comes out and hits three 3s in the first minute and a half,” Kampe said. “Uncontested 3s. That was very upsetting to me.”
The second half went by a different script. Dykstra had just five points and spent more than 15 minutes between baskets until hitting a 3 with eight seconds remaining. Kampe credited the stellar defense of junior forward Drew Valentine.
“Drew’s stats mean nothing to me. He’s my MVP,” Kampe said of Valentine, who was one four Golden Grizzlies in double figures with 19 points and added eight rebounds. “We expect that from him and he never lets us down. Until Dykstra made that 3 with seconds to go, he had just two points in the second half.”
Wolters, on the other hand, nearly had a triple-double.
“(He) usually takes over close games,” Kampe said. “We rotated over Laval (Lucas-Perry) and (Ryan) Bass trying to keep it fresh. … All we were trying to do was keep him in front of us and make him hit jump shots. And for the most part, we did a good job. That kid is a pro.”
Wolters was 7 of 15 for 21 points and earned some recognition for his near feat, but Oakland got the 92-87 victory to climb back above .500 in conference play at 6-5 with seven conference games to play. The loss was just the second in conference play for the Jackrabbits, who led by as many as eight early in the game. Their other loss came to undefeated conference leader Oral Roberts, on the road. The Golden Eagles visit Brookings, S.D., Feb. 2.
Saturday’s Homecoming contest against North Dakota State, which beat Oakland by 27 points earlier this season, will be another measuring stick for the Grizzlies.

Reggie Hamilton steers the ship without scoring (as many)

2012-01-27T11:32:00.001-08:00

Late in Thursday’s game, Oakland coach Greg Kampe pulled Reggie Hamilton aside to praise him for keeping a level head on what started as an off-night for the high-scoring guard.
“Most people think all I do is scream and yell, but what I said to him was ‘I’m so proud of you because we’re winning this game because of the 3 you made. That was the key basket of the game,’ ” Kampe said. “He hadn’t made a 3 all night. You could see he was frustrated, but he didn’t take that out by taking bad shots.”
Hamilton hit a crucial 3 with 3:16 remaining, his only one of the night, to pull Oakland back within a point after Nate Wolters put South Dakota State ahead by four from the free-throw line just seconds earlier.
Hamilton scored just two points in the first half, but finished with 16, while shooting just 3 of 11 but maintaining his double-figure scoring streak. He also had eight assists and just one turnover, a traveling call Kampe seemed suspicious of after the game.
“I told him we won tonight because he played like a team player,” Kampe said. “That’s a hard thing for a kid to do with seven pro scouts here matched up against another great player. The normal person who isn’t a natural leader probably would’ve dragged that team down and he didn’t. He lifted his team up.”
Hamilton was the nation’s second-leading scorer entering the game with a 23.4 points per game average. He slipped to third at 23.39. Wolters was eighth with 21.1 ppg., but moved up to sixth.
It doesn’t happen often, but Hamilton has had poor shooting nights a few times this season, most notably leading the Grizzlies to victory over Houston Nov. 22 while going 3 of 14 from the floor. He hasn’t had fewer than seven assists in the past four games and reached a season-high nine assists Dec. 1 vs. South Dakota. He moved into 11th place in all-time assists in the Summit League Thursday, while also becoming 17th in all-time conference scoring history.

'Darth Bader' returns to the dark side

2012-01-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

How do you overshadow a near triple-double in college basketball? You would have to hit at least 10 3-pointers and lead your team to a much-needed victory over one of the conference's best teams and potential player of the year, right?
South Dakota State's Nate Wolters had 21 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and while he still garnered some praise, Oakland's Travis Bader was the toast of the town after leading the Golden Grizzlies' to victory behind a career-high 37 points and a school-record 10 3s.
“At six, I was like ‘I’m taking a lot of 3s right now,’ " Bader said. "But I was just focused on trying to get this win. I heard the crowd chanting my name at the end and Corey Petros came up and hugged me.”
Bader was 10 of 14 from 3-point range, tying for the most 3s made in the nation this season. Dec. 1 against South Dakota, Bader achieved his previous career high, 28 points, as well as his previous high of eight 3s. Following that game, Bader reached the 20-point plateau just once in conference play (21 vs. IPFW Jan. 14) before Thursday.
It should be noted this production came when leading scorer Reggie Hamilton was struggling, as he had just two first-half points.
“We have a lot of great players on our team," Bader's good friend Drew Valentine said. "That’s one of the strengths coming into this year was our depth and how many guys on our team can makes shots.
“It just shows we don’t have to count on Reggie every night to win games. We can win when other guys step up.”
Whereas Bader hit three 3s in the first 1:30 against South Dakota, it was the Jackrabbits' Jordan Dykstra who hit the game's first 3s in the first 3:39 Thursday. Bader hit his first 3 with 13:39 to play in the first half and had back-to-back 3s to open the second half, getting a third for the period with 15:46 to play.
Oakland has made at least 14 3s in three of the past four games. The Grizzlies made a season-high 15 in a loss at Oral Roberts last weekend.
The Grizzlies hit just four 3s besides Bader, who moved into eighth place on Oakland's all-time list of 3-point shooters with eight regular-season games remaining in just his second season.

The career night earned Bader mentions from CBS' Eye on College Basketball for showing up Wolters and he was also noted in ESPN's Thursday recap of stars off the bench, noting his performance is the best of any reserve this season.

Keith Benson headed back to Sioux Falls in NBADL

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

After being drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, there were several familial connections to keep Keith Benson connected. After being released by the Hawks, Benson has landed in another familiar spot: Sioux Falls, S.D., with the SkyForce of the NBA Developmental League.
The two-time Summit League player of the year signed with the NBADL earlier this week and fell to the SkyForce in the waiver order. The team is a minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.
Oakland fans should note the SkyForce play at Sioux Falls Arena, home of the Summit League tournament, Thursday, March 1, two days before the tournament begins.
Benson has already played nine games at his new home arena, going 8-1 as a member of the Golden Grizzlies. The only loss came on a last-second shot, as North Dakota State topped Oakland in the 2009 Summit League Tournament final. The Grizzlies went on to win the next two in a row.

Benson also played in an Italian league during the NBA lockout after getting drafted No. 48 overall in June.He is expected to play Friday night.

South Dakota State at Oakland live chat

2012-01-26T12:41:00.000-08:00

Join me at 6 p.m. Thursday for a live chat, as Nate Wolters and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits visit the O'rena to take on Reggie Hamilton and Co.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Travis Bader finding rhythm and more minutes off the bench

2012-01-25T16:39:00.001-08:00

Oakland sophomore guard Travis Bader has been coming off the bench for the past five games. The moves seems to have helped him find a rhythm, as he's shooting 45 percent from 3-point range over the past six games. He’s even getting more minutes off the bench than he was as a starter, averaging 14.5 points per game in his last four outings.
“He had a tremendous freshman year where all he had to do was stand and shoot because all the emphasis was on (Keith) Benson and (Will) Hudson,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said Tuesday on WXOU’s “The Greg Kampe Show.” “Now, we have to run him off screens. We have to run sets. It’s a whole learning process for him. Since we took him out of the starting lineup, he’s been really good.”
Bader is already ninth in program history with 153 3s made. He’s played at least 35 minutes in each of the past four games.
Kampe said he won’t return Bader to the starting lineup Thursday against South Dakota State, but expects him in the starting rotation at some point this season.
“He’s a guy we have to have on the floor because he stretches the defense when they guard him,” Kampe said.
Bader was 4 of 8 Saturday, as Oakland connected on a season-high 15 3s.
While it may have gotten more difficult for Bader to find an open look, his aim is still deadly.
“Bader isn’t shooting the 3 as well as he was last year, but if you back off and let him shoot it, he will kill you,” Kampe said.

Grizzlies’ postseason push begins now

2012-01-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

After dropping four straight conference games to round out 2011 and begin the new year, Oakland has since gone 3-1, losing only a hotly contested shootout at Oral Roberts last weekend. In this span, the Grizzlies are outshooting their opponents, something expected but unheard of earlier in the season.
“If we can to keep shooting the ball the way we have been, we’ll be a typical Oakland team down the stretch this last month of the season,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said on WXOU Tuesday afternoon.
The Grizzlies have been shooting 53 percent over their last four games, while holding opponents to just 47 percent.
By this weekend, Oakland will have played Oral Roberts, South Dakota State and North Dakota State, the league’s top three teams, twice. The Grizzlies stand in a three-way tie for fourth place at 5-5 with Western Illinois and Southern Utah. Kampe has conceded, although they’re not mathematically eliminated yet, the Grizzlies won’t be three-peating in the regular season.
“If we’re going to make a run in March, we need to start in February,” Kampe reiterated. “The one thing we have going for us in that tournament is that we’ve won it.
“We’re not going to win the second prize, but we can win the biggest prize.”
The competitive nature of the league this season will be on full display in early March at the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. The conference had an RPI as high as 11 earlier this season and peaked at No. 12 in the Sagarin Ratings Dec.19. The conference is also home to five of the nation’s top 14 scorers, all of which Kampe asserted on his program would be professional players somewhere, if not in the NBA.
Longtime conference rival Oral Roberts is still without a conference loss, leaving open the possibility of going undefeated more than halfway through the season. The second- and third-place Dakotas are no pushovers, either.
“You’re going to have to win three really good games to win that thing,” Kampe said. “The league is just that good.”
Kampe also noted the rest of the league’s apparent lack of depth, pointing out that Oakland’s bench outscored Oral Roberts’, 30-12. The Grizzlies’ reserves have been formidable since Kampe sent Laval Lucas-Perry back to the bench, only to follow with Travis Bader.
“Nobody is really deep in our league,” Kampe said. “If a team gets an injury in February, that can change the whole axis of the league. An injury to a starter, not even a star player can change this whole thing.”
While time lets that scenario breath, Kampe and the Grizzlies can do themselves a favor beating South Dakota State in the O’rena Thursday.

Acclaim continues for Reggie Hamilton

2012-01-25T15:33:00.001-08:00

Just a day after CBS analyst Seth Davis called Oakland guard Reggie Hamilton one of the best players nobody has ever heard of, the Associated Press lists Hamilton as one of six mid-major players helping fill the
"Jimmer void" left by the BYU phenom.
"Hamilton isn’t a particularly imposing figure at 5-foot-11, 176 pounds, but he’s ultra-quick with a first step that’s about like wet soap slipping through your fingers — gone before you know it. He’s also fearless, driving to the basket no matter who’s in there."
.... Although he was somehow edged out a consecutive Summit League Player of the Week nod, Hamilton still got props from StatSheet, receiving a similar honor from the site for his outstanding week.
"Hamilton was the best in the Summit League in assists (7.0 per game) and3-pointers (4.5 per game). He also registered great stats in rebounding (2.5 per game) and scoring (25.5 pts per game)."
South Dakota State's Nate Wolters was second place and Oral Roberts' Dominique Morrison was honorable mention, as Hamilton earned his third such award.
Wolters did lead the league in scoring for the week, averaging 27 points per game.
Corey Petros was also named Freshman of the Week once again, his fourth such honor.
Oral Roberts' Steven Roundtree was Sixth Man of the Week after putting up nine points and eight rebounds on Oakland Saturday. The Grizzlies' Laval Lucas-Perry was the runner-up for the award.

Keith Benson may land in a familiar city in NBA D League

2012-01-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

With the news former Oakland star center Keith Benson has signed to the NBA's Developmental League, what's even more intriguing are his possible landing places. A report by SB Nation indicates Benson could fall to either the Sioux Falls Skyforce or Tulsa 66ers in the waiver order.
The report speculates Benson could instantly become one of the league's premier players.
"Former D-Leaguer Ivan Johnson took the spot that was presumed to be Benson's in training camp, but the 6-foot-11 center will likely be one of the best big men in the D-League as soon as he joins a roster."
The Golden Grizzlies won the past two Summit League Tournament championships at Sioux Falls Arena, home to the NBDL's Skyforce, and appeared in another final. In all, Benson has played nine games inside the venue.
The Grizzlies also played their most recent NCAA tournament game in Tulsa after playing conference rival Oral Roberts once each season at the Mabee Center. While the 66ers play in the Tulsa Convention Center, Benson is likely familiar with the area at this point.
The Skyforce are affiliated with the Heat, Magic and Timberwolves, while the 66ers feed the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Two other teams high in the waiver pecking order are the Los Angeles D-Fenders, a Lakers affiliate; and the Springfield (Mass.) Armor, which aligns itself with the Nets.
An announcement was expected Thursday.

Reggie Hamilton’s big nights aren’t problematic, if Oakland is winning

2012-01-23T17:59:00.001-08:00

With another 30-point outing, this time behind seven 3-pointers Saturday against Oral Roberts, Reggie Hamilton improved his scoring average to 23.7 points per game, good enough for second in the country. His premier scoring talent is reminiscent of former Oakland standout Mike Helms, who scored 27 points per game in 2002-03, finishing third in the nation and earning Mid-Con player of the year honors.
“Thirty-four years of stats have shown me that when you have one of the top scorers in the country, you don’t win,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said on “The Greg Kampe Show” on WXOU last week.
With Helms leading the nation in scoring for much of the season, the Grizzlies were still losing. They were 17-11 in 2002-03 and just 13-17 the following season.
“That’s a scar that never healed,” Kampe said. “I care that Reggie plays well and we win.”
Hamilton is the only Oakland player to reach double figures in each game this season and has scored at least 20 points in 10 of his last 11 games. Although his scoring accounts for 30 percent of Oakland’s overall, Kampe was hesitant to say the Grizzlies’ scoring is imbalanced.
“We have five guys averaging in double figures,” Kampe said. “With (Ryan) Bass’ emergence, that could be six before long. … If you’re averaging 25 on a team that only scores 60, that’s almost half. And that’s not good.
“I like that Reggie’s been able to score that many and not have to take 30 shots to get there.”
Hamilton represents just 28 percent of Oakland’s field goal attempts. He does, though, have more than 100 more attempts than the team’s next most-frequent shooter, Travis Bader, and leads the nation in attempts, according to StatSheet.
Helms went undrafted in 2004 and has bounced around various professional leagues including the CBA. The Grizzlies made their first NCAA tournament a year later as a sub. 500 team the following season. Hamilton and Oakland's fates remains to be seen.
More stats on Hamilton:
It’s not just his shooting, which he’s been doing at a 43-percent pace, Hamilton Saturday also became just the Grizzlies’ second player in the program’s Division I era to reach 100 assists in consecutive seasons. Hamilton has reduced the turnovers that plagued him early last season, but has the Summit League’s 25th-best assist-to-turnover ratio. With 79 giveaways, Hamilton has made 27 percent of Oakland’s turnovers. Conversely, he’s fourth in the nation with 54 steals.
While third in attempted free throws, Hamilton leads the nation with 144 free throws made.
When the list of finalists for the Bob Cousy award for point guards was released last month, Hamilton was omitted in favor of familiar names like Detroit’s Ray McCallum and Michigan freshman Trey Burke.

Greg Kampe matches ‘Moneyball’ with gut instinct

2012-01-23T17:15:00.001-08:00

While Sabermetrics and other new-fangled stat interpretation consumes modern scouting and coaching strategies, Oakland coach Greg Kampe doesn’t bother himself with those. After more than 30 years of coaching, he goes by his gut instinct and a few tried-and-true statistics.
“I’m not into that. The only numbers that matter to me are our points per possession and our points given up per possession, and our turnover rate,” Kampe said on WXOU’s “The Greg Kampe Show” Jan. 17.
“I’ve got every game I’ve ever been a part of for 34 years in the business, and those stats usually ring pretty true.”
Kampe boasted he can calculate a team’s overall record with relative certainty based on those stats above.
“All that other stuff, I don’t really care about that,” he said.
Kampe added field goal percentage, which Oakland has much improved in its past four games to the tune of 45 percent, are key. He also noted rebounding margins play a factor. The Grizzlies’ is currently a lean -0.3 after the spoils of the Keith Benson-Will Hudson era.
“You can be the greatest defensive team in the world, but if you can’t rebound the ball,” Kampe said. “We’ve found, statistically, that most people shoot about 40 percent on the first shot. The second shot raises it to 60 percent and third to 80 percent.”
The 28-year Oakland coach said marketers of various statistic analysis programs try to lure him to the dark side.
“I don’t need shot charts to tell me what’s going on,” Kampe said. “All I have to do is look at that. … When I grab a stat sheet before I go talk to my team, I look at field goal percentage and rebounds. What I really pay attention to is minutes played. I want to study what I’ve done as a coach. Then I look to see what they’re doing. Your strategy is based on your players. I have a tendency to keep my best players on the floor probably longer than I should. It’s a bad tendency.“
The talk about statistical analysis came after the show’s hosts, Bryan Everson and Matt Pocket, asked Kampe about the Grizzlies’ program on Fox Sports Detroit, in which Kampe described his workaholic in-season schedule which doesn’t leave much, if any, time for sleep.
“When you’re in this business and the margin of victory is so slim, you want to know everything there is,” he said. “I’m just not a guy that, analytically, can look at all that stuff. I will sit there and see all that and it will weigh on me. ‘What does this mean?’ I’ll spend so much of my time trying to figure it out and I’ll never be able to sleep.”
Kampe said he’s willing to listen to “new” info, but “I know if we’re scoring 1.07 points per possession, we ’aint gonna win.”
Numbers like that during the Grizzlies’ six-game skid led Kampe to diagnose their offense as the main culprit.

Wrapping it up: Notes from Oakland’s final visit to Mabee Center

2012-01-22T16:09:00.001-08:00

Positives: Oakland made seasons-high nine 3-pointers in the first half and 15 in all, shooting a season’s-best 53.6 percent from long range (15 for 28). Reggie Hamilton led the Grizzlies with seven 3s … Travis Bader was 4 of 8 from 3-point range, reaching double figures for the 14th time this season and moved into ninth place in program history with 153 made 3s. … Hamilton had seven assists, becoming just the second player in Oakland’s Division I era to reach 100 assists or more in consecutive seasons. … Freshman Kyle Sikora blocked two shots and got a team-high five rebounds in a career-high 19 minutes. … Eight of nine Oakland players who saw the floor collected a rebound, four of which had four rebounds or more. … The Oakland bench held a huge advantage, outscoring the Golden Eagles’ reserves, 30-12, who are thin behind Steven Roundtree. … The Golden Eagles shot 73 percent in the first half, but Oakland limited them to 43 percent in the second half. The Grizzlies were more consistent, shooting 54 percent in the first half and 60 percent in the second. … Oakland is averaging 86.75 points over the last four games with a 3-1 record.
Negatives: Oakland handled the ball well, committing just 12 turnovers, but the Golden Eagles converted those miscues for 25 points. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies turned eight Oral Roberts turnovers into just three points … The Grizzlies shot just 65 percent (11 of 17) from the free-throw line in their seven-point loss. It was their second consecutive game in the low-to-mid 60-percent range from the line. … Oakland held its largest lead, a 10-point advantage, with 12:38 to play. Just over six minutes later, Oral Roberts had its largest lead of the game, nine points, with 5:58 to play. … The Grizzlies had just 13 assists while scoring 86 points.

Grizzlies find another European import

2012-01-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

Oakland has lined up 6-foot-8 power forward Viktoras Merkevicius from Lithuania, who is currently playing for Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., a northern suburb of Los Angeles.
According to assistant coach David Rice, Merkevicius is averaging 12.5 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25 minutes per game.
"He's become more of a force defensively inside" in the last year at Stoneridge, Rice said. "He's got a really good motor. He doesn't quit. He's very good on the offensive glass and very athletic."

Merkevciuc said the biggest change would be moving to the "four" after playing center this season for Stoneridge.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe doesn't shy away from European players, most recently inking freshman Korab Imami after it was learned the Grizzlies would be losing senior Ilija Milutinovic to a European pro league in the offseason.
"They know what they're doing," said Merkevicius,who also added he's not afraid to take a jump shot, but prefers to drive aggressively to the basket.
Kampe and the players left a good impression in their first meeting with Merkevicius, who made an official visit Jan. 2.
"(Kampe) is very honest and he says what he thinks, and the players are very friendly, he said. "That's why I chose Oakland."

... Reggie Hamilton won his third Summit League Player of the Week award of the season and fifth overall after a 30-point night at IPFW Saturday in Oakland's only game of the week. Hamilton twice split the award with South Dakota State's Nate Wolters earlier this season.

More notes from the road

2012-01-14T21:52:00.001-08:00

Oakland won its first game in 10 where an opponent shoots 50 percent or better. The Mastodons shot 53 percent Saturday. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, have shot 50 percent or better in consecutive games for the first time this season. ...Despite graduating shot-blocking dynamo Keith Benson to the pros, freshman Kyle Sikora turned away four shots Saturday, a career high. … Travis Bader missed his first three 3-point shots, but recovered to finish 4 of 10 en route to a 21-point night. Also, Ryan Bass was a career-best 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. Reggie Hamilton took top honors, going 5 for 10. … Hamilton, who dished out eight assists, now has three 30-point games against IPFW since coming to Oakland. … All three of Laval Lucas-Perry’s points came from the free-throw line and he tied for the team-high with seven rebounds. … Freshman Corey Petros has been atrocious from the line, was 5 for 5 tonight. … With 14 points, Drew Valentine reached double figures scoring for the 14th time this season. He also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Oakland Gaines confidence at IPFW, settles in

2012-01-14T21:28:00.001-08:00

IPFW forward Frank Gaines averaged 22 points in two games against Oakland last season. The Grizzlies held him to just 19 points Saturday on 6-of-11 shooting.
”I was very pleased with us defensively. Many of those baskets were tough to get and Drew Valentine did a wonderful job on Gaines,” Kampe said.
Gaines played 35 minutes, 11 more than anyone else on the team. With him on lockdown, that left Mario Hines as IPFW’s biggest contributor.
“Everybody is shooting it well against us,” Kampe said. “We shut them down in the second half, but our young bigs couldn’t guard (Hines). He was too athletic. We’ve got to learn how to defend a guy like that and maybe as coaches, we have to help him. As we get closer to March and maybe we’ll put some double (-teams) in.”
Hines finished with a team-high 20 for the Mastodons.
With four losses in conference play before the month of February, Kampe thinks his Grizzlies are in a better position than before.
“We’re good shooters,” Kampe said. “The pressure of three-peating and everything is off. The pressure of all the winning streaks are all of us. This young team doesn’t feel the pressure and it’s like ‘Let’s go play’ and you’re seeing a team that’s starting to get its feet.”
The Grizzlies continue their three-game road trip at Southern Utah, the longest trip in conference play, and then their final stop at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla. next Saturday.
“We’ve been playing like we did in November,” Kampe said. “We’ve got a tough road trip. Can we keep that going?
“Can we get back in this thing? I’ll let you know in two weeks.”
The Grizzlies are back to .500 in conference play after losing four straight.

Kampe on Ryan Bass: “Ryan Bass is getting a chance because of somebody else’s diminished time. Ryan has stepped up and if he continues to play the way he has, when March comes around, we’re going to be a tough out.”
Bass had a career-high 15 points in 22 minutes in his third consecutive start.

Uniform change spurs Oakland to victory

2012-01-11T16:58:00.001-08:00

There has been a mixed reaction to the Grizzlies’ alternate gray uniforms they’ve worn a handful of times (personally, I like them even though they don’t incorporate the black and gold Oakland is known for). Regardless, coach Greg Kampe likes the message the unis bring along with them, opting for them for the third time this season Saturday against IUPUI. As you may have heard by now, the Grizzlies broke a six-game losing streak in emphatic fashion with a 93-81 win.
“The whole thing was ‘we’re wearing gray tonight,' ” he said. “'We have to win tonight. This has to be changed.’ We payed it like it was a ‘gray’ game. I’m very pleased with what I saw. It wasn’t a one-point win where the other team played terrible. We played tonight like we did in November, and that was a good sign.”
The Grizzlies shot better and played with swagger that’s been on layaway since before the holiday season. They’re now 2-1 in gray this season after a win over Tennessee and a loss to Michigan. Saturday was the first time they’ve worn the alternate uniforms, introduced last season, during a league (and untelevised) game. They wore the grays last season vs. Michigan State at The Palace among other games, going 2-2 with the new alternates.
“We played with confidence on offense I haven’t seen in a month,” Kampe said about his team, which shot better than 50 percent from the floor for just the second time this season. The Grizzlies also snapped a seven-game streak of allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent or better. Guard Reggie Hamilton was in line with Kampe, saying the Grizzlies need to have the same kind of vigor at the conference tournament.
“A win is a win,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s good to have that swagger back, but it’s all about March, though.”

Growing pains: “I thought we’d have some early, but when you’re Oakland, nobody expects you to lose at home,” Kampe said following Saturday’s victory. “And you don’t expect to lose three in a row at home. We’ve lost four in the O’rena this year. You never expect something like that. We have too proud of a tradition and too proud of a program to think something like this could happen. But it did. You accept it and you battle your way out of it. And that’s what we did. Now, we want to take the next step forward.”

Team rebounding: “In the last two weeks, we haven’t gotten any rebounds, because they haven’t missed,” Kampe said. “Never in my life have I seen numbers like what teams are putting up against us. You could go in the gym without a defense and not put those numbers up. We didn’t rebound very well in the first half, but that was our one weak point. We shored that up in the second half.
“You’ve got to have help from everywhere and we had that tonight.”
The Grizzlies had seven of nine players with a rebound, four which had six or more. They outrebounded the Jaguars, 40-33, and are now 7-3 this season when winning on the glass.

Ryan Bass kicks himself in the Bass

2012-01-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

Sophomore Ryan Bass got extended minutes Saturday against IUPUI, making his second straight start. After a poor showing against Western Illinois Thursday, Bass came through with a career-high 14 points and five assists in 27 minutes. He was 0 for 5 from the floor with four turnovers to just one assist in 25 minutes in his first start two days prior.
“The insertion of Bass into the lineup with confidence, before he was injured, he was heading toward this,” Kampe said. “The get the ball to the rim harder and more often.”
Bass was 4 of 6 from the free-throw line in the six-game-slump-ending victory.
“I like that (Ryan) Bass has a chance to establish himself as a player. Instead of waiting until next year to find out, he’s getting his opportunity now,” Kampe said.
Teams know to gameplan against an established guard like Reggie Hamilton. They’re going to have a hard time stopping both.
“With Ryan’s scoring ability, pressure on me gave Ryan a wide-open lane several times,” Hamilton said. “There’s not a lot of players who can guard Bass one on one when he gets hot.”
Kampe said on WXOU Tuesday afternoon he regrets burning Matt Poches’ redshirt so quickly, but the situation regarding Bass’ absence is a tricky situation because concussion symptoms take much observation and precaution. Kampe said it was unfair to the team’s seniors to not do everything in his power to keep the team up to speed on the fly, rather than potentially losing without trying to stem the tide.
On “The Greg Kampe Show,” a WXOU staple (Tuesdays at 4 p.m.), Kampe went better into detail regarding the instance in which Bass suffered the concussion, the second in his life, which led to a five-game absence. Kampe said Bass fell victim to a Blake Cushingberry ball screen and hit his head on the court on his way to the ground.
Greg Kampe said they "haven't gone down that road yet" regarding whether Cushingberry, who was later dismissed from the team, will return to the team next season.

Notes: The Grizzlies snapped a seven-game streak in which they didn’t lead at halftime. Their 12-point halftime lead was their largest since defeating South Dakota Dec. 1, a span of 12 games. … In all nine of Oakland’s wins this season, it has attempted more free throws than its opponents. The Grizzlies shot 31 attempts to IUPUI’s 17, making 24. Hamilton was perfect from the line for the 12th time this season, going 9 for 9. … Hamilton shot 10 of 14 for a season-high 71 percent from the floor. … With 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting, Corey Petros has reached double figures in three of his last four games and reached a career high against a conference opponent. … Drew Valentine chipped in nine points and eight rebounds, but his biggest contribution could’ve been holding conference leading scorer Alex Young to only six points in the first half (1 for 7). Thirteen of Young’s 16 second-half points came during the final 12:26, after Oakland had amassed a double-digit lead.

Oakland All-Access finally coming to FSD

2012-01-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

The much-anticipated Fox Sports Detroit All-Access program will be a three-episode series featuring both men's and women's teams, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, announced Monday.
"They had to bleep a lot of it out," Grizzlies coach Greg Kampe joked on WXOU Tuesday afternoon.

"Fans are going to get a good look at what Oakland basketball is like and what our kids are like. It will be interesting to see what people think."

The first episode will feature point guard Reggie Hamilton in addition to profiles on both Kampe, who is in his 28th season at Oakland, and women's coach Beckie Francis. The FS Detroit team traveled with the men's team on its recent trip to the Dakotas just before the new year, so the show will document travel in the Summit League.
When thinking of a winter trip out west, fans might immediately think about how cold it is, but should remember the climate there is is similar to the Midwest, but slightly colder. That being said, Kampe noted there was a 69-degree difference in temperature from the Grizzlies' last visit in late January 2011 than their trip two weeks ago.
"It gives fans, recruits, high school coaches, anybody that is part of the Oakland nation an inside look at how the program is run and what our kids stand for," Kampe said in a press release. "It's a unique opportunity for those people to have an in-depth view of life at Oakland. Hopefullythat will continue to help us recruit nationally, along with regionally as we continue the tradition of this program."
Kampe was on hand at the FSD studios Tuesday to screen a copy of the first episode.
The second episode will launch in February and the third episode will take place in March. The first episode is scheduled to re-air several times over the course of the month. Check your local listings for more info. According to TVguide.com, the program will re-air Friday at 10:30 p.m., 9 a.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Saturday and noon on Sunday.


			UPDATE: Oakland released a promo clip from the series. Watch below.

Postgame video after win over IUPUI

2012-01-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

For the full, uncut press conference video, click here.

IUPUI at Oakland live chat

2012-01-07T12:06:00.001-08:00

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=61fe0ce6b5" &amp;gt;IUPUI at Oakland&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Oakland finally getting a break after IUPUI visit

2012-01-06T13:37:00.001-08:00

Win or lose Saturday against IUPUI, Oakland is guaranteed a seven-day break before its next game at IPFW Jan. 14. That will be the Grizzlies’ longest break of the season, after playing on two-day’s rest in three of four games. Oakland did get a five-day rest between the Western Michigan loss Dec. 23 and a rout at North Dakota State Dec. 28. Of course, they weren’t able to practice over the Christmas holiday and had to travel.
“What we’ve got to do is like a football team that has to get to halftime, Kampe said. “We have not had practice time. We played all those games right before Christmas. We went home for two days and came back and played on the 28th and 30th and then we had a day off and then Tuesday, tonight and Saturday.
“We get a week off. We’re going to be able to get in the gym and have some real practices where we don’t kill the kids. We probably could’ve had some of those this week and not have worried that we were playing games.”

Bad news first: The Grizzlies had 20 turnovers and just six assists on 19 baskets. … The Grizzlies shot less than 40 percent (39 percent) in the first half for the fifth time in the last six games. … The 61 points scored is the fifth-lowest output for Oakland inside the O’rena. Ever. … Oakland is 0-4 this season when scoring between 60-69 points.... Hamilton, after his first turnover-free game Tuesday against Oral Roberts, committed five Thursday and had just three assists.
Some good: Oakland shot 35 percent from 3-point range (7 of 20), its highest in its last seven games dating back to a 41-percent outing Dec. 17 at Valparaiso. …. With 13 points on 4-of-8 3-point shooting, Travis Bader reached double figures for the 12th time in 18 games. With 15 points, Drew Valentine has done so 13 times. Reggie Hamilton, 16 points, is the only Oakland player to reach double figures each game this season.

Grizzlies holding, then folding in second half

2012-01-06T13:09:00.001-08:00

Thursday’s halftime tie was just the first time in seven games, the last being non-Division I opponent Rochester College, the Golden Grizzlies didn’t trail at the half. They have trailed by as little as two (twice) and as many as 20 at North Dakota State.
The Grizzlies have only outscored one opponent in the second half during this stretch, going plus three vs. Western Michigan in a 15-point loss at the O’rena. They are negative 35 in second-half scoring otherwise.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe acknowledged the his young squad has been a first-half team during its six-game losing streak.
“The other night we scored, but we gave up (more points than we scored),” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said about Tuesday’s loss to Oral Roberts. “We need to get stops. We have a goal to get four stops every half. Obviously, we’re not reaching that goal or even getting close to it.”
The Grizzlies scored 54 second-half points against the Golden Eagles. But in turn, Oakland allowed 57 points, the most it’s surrendered in a half this season.
Kampe said the Grizzlies defended well in the first half, holding the Leathernecks to 55-percent shooting from the floor.
Oakland led twice in the first half, but never in the second, as Western Illinois went ahead by seven with 10:18 to play. The Leathernecks’ stretched their lead to double digits with less than four minutes to play.
Thursday was the second time this season the Grizzlies have been tied at half, the other coming Dec. 10 against Michigan at The Palace.
Kampe wasn’t quick to judge his reformed starting lineup, which featured Ryan Bass and Kyle Sikora both for the first time, and reinserted freshman Dante Williams after five games coming off the bench.
“We didn’t start the second half very well and that worries me,” Kampe said. “We might need one more scorer out there to start the second half. You can’t judge that on one game.”
The three new starters combined for just five points with Bass getting the most minutes, 25. Sikora was on the floor for just 13 minutes, scoring three points.
“He just needs minutes,” Kampe said “If you look back to Will Hudson and Keith Benson, those guys when they were freshmen, Sikora’s numbers are very similar to Benson’s and Petros’ are to Will. And Petros’ numbers are way better. Hudson and Benson had veteran players around them. They weren’t playing with freshmen like these guys are. That might be a reason Petros’ numbers are better than those guys.
“It’s a learning process and these guys have to play minutes.”
Bass, statistically, had his worst performance since returning from a five-game absence, going scoreless, committing four fouls and as many turnovers to just one assist. His intensity from the opening tip didn’t go unnoticed. He remained upbeat following the game.
“I just have to keep bringing it and encouraging the guys to have an impact,” Bass said.
It’s uncertain we’ll see the same starting five Saturday against IUPUI, but Kampe has gone at least four games with each of his previous three lineups.

Where’s the deef(ense)?

2012-01-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe sounded exhausted when he reached the mic after Tuesday’s loss to rival Oral Roberts.
“It’s obviously not getting any better,” he said to open the post-game press conference.
“Those first 10 minutes of the game, I was just looking at them like ‘What is going on?’ ”
He further lambasted his defense, but did offer an explanation.
“We get beat off the dribble a little too much, which creates an odd-man rush as in hockey and they pass it around for an open shot,” he said. “And everybody is making them for about six or seven games in a row. … Our field-goal percentage was very low through the first eight games and we were 6-2. We had tremendous stats through eight games. Now, it’s unbelievable (how bad) it is.
“We’re so bad on offense, we make so many mistakes that it leads to odd-man rushes.”
Both teams started poorly from the floor Tuesday, going 1 for 5 in the opening minutes. The Golden Eagles recovered to shoot 54 percent for the half, while Oakland went to the break at a 39-percent clip to a season-low 26 points. Oral Roberts then began the second half 7 of 8 from the floor and 4 of 4 from 3-point range en route to a season-high 69 percent (11 of 16) from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles were the second team in the past three games to shoot better than 60 percent from the floor against Oakland, going 34 for 51 (67 percent).
Guard Reggie Hamilton had an idea what’s happening on defense.
“Most of the time, it’s just a lack of effort, somebody doing the little thing that can make a play,” he said. “It’s people depending on someone else to get things done.”
Whatever the reason or the cure, Kampe and fans alike know it needs to be resolved quickly. The Grizzlies were 4-2 in the first half-month of the season with wins over Houston, Tennessee and Utah Valley, but just 4-6 in December.
“We were a darn good team in November and had a chance to be a really, really good team,” he said. “We’ve gone in the other direction. We have to find a way to get that changed back to change that back.”
After Western Illinois’ visit Thursday, Oakland hosts IUPUI Saturday before heading back to the road for a three-game trip at IPFW, Southern Utah and Oral Roberts.

Rotation in line for a kick in the Bass

2012-01-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

Oakland has now lost five in a row for the first time since the season it miraculously won the Summit League (former Mid-Con) in 2004-05 as a seven seed and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time. Coach Greg Kampe sounded like he was ready for a change, but didn’t exactly spell it out. The only thing we know is backup guard Ryan Bass will be getting more minutes.
“You lose five in a row and obviously you need to make some changes,” Kampe said. “There will be some changes when we play in two days. Ryan Bass is a spark plug and he was really playing well when he got injured and he was moving into some major minutes. When you miss six games, it’s hard to get back into your flow. … He was pretty good in the second half and he brings some defensive pressure to the table and he also brings quickness with the basketball. You’ll see him have a chance to get more minutes now.”
The Grizzlies were 2-3 without Bass, with one of those wins coming against Rochester College.
Bass had six points in 16 minutes after going scoreless against South Dakota State following his nine-point return at North Dakota State.
Kampe repeatedly notes Bass was showing positive signs of his ability to score as well as his attentive defensive efforts during Bass’ five-game absence. Bass was 3 of 7 shooting and had a career-high five assists Tuesday.
Only eight teams qualify for the league’s postseason tournament in early March. Kampe didn’t have time to think about that following Tuesday’s loss to long-time rival Oral Roberts.
“Have we even qualified for the conference tournament?,” he responded when asked (by me) about playing from a low seed in March. “ I’m just going to worry about Western Illinois and trying to figure this out.”
It’s not likely Oakland slips past eight, where it currently resides at 2-3, past UMKC (1-4) and newcomer South Dakota (0-5).
The Leathernecks visit at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Good: Reggie Hamilton had his first turnover-free game of the season and Oakland also coughed up the rock a season-low seven times as well. They forced 18 Oral Roberts turnovers for 18 points as well. Eight of Hamilton’s game-high 28 points came in the final 1:25, well after the game had been decided. Kampe denounced the final minutes as “pickup ball” and “garbage.”… Freshman Corey Petros had 10 points, reaching double figures for the ninth time this season and second consecutive game after four games without doing so. … Travis Bader broke an 0-for-9 slump from 3-point range, going 3 for 6 from long range.
The Bad and the Ugly: The Grizzlies scored a season- first-half low 26 points Tuesday led by Hamilton’s ineffective 1-of-7 shooting. They were just 39 percent from the floor in the half as a team. … The Golden Eagles became the latest team to scorch the nets on Oakland, shooting a season-best 69 percent from 3-point range. … Petros was the only Grizzlies player to miss a free throw, going 0 for 6. The rest of the team was 11 for 11, led by Hamilton’s 6-for-6 effort. … Oakland’s bench was outscored, 24-8, with all but two of those points coming from Bass.

Reggie Hamilton left off list for Cousy point guard award

2012-01-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

Among his many accomplishments, Oakland guard Reggie Hamilton had been among the early list of candidates for the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year awarded by the Basketball Hall of Fame. However, Hamilton was left off the list of the award's 20 finalists.
Some familiar names appear as finalists including Detroit sophomore Ray McCallum and Michigan freshman Trey Burke.
Hamilton is third in the nation in scoring, including a 41-point effort at Valparaiso last month.
McCallum and Hamilton, for comparison, have nearly identical numbers, but Hamilton has nearly a full assist more per game on a team in which he is the leading scorer. Hamilton's assist-to-turnover ratio is also nearly identical to McCallum and Hamilton is averaging a full steal more per game.
The chart below looks funny, but basically says Hamilton is the superior point guard in this case.
IUPUI's Stephen Thomas was also nominated, but South Dakota State's Nate Wolters was not included.
UConn's Kemba Walker won the award last season and other past winners include Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton, both out of North Carolina.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Live chat: Oral Roberts at Oakland

2012-01-03T15:20:00.001-08:00

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8d989e686e" &amp;gt;Oral Roberts' final* visit&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Fox Sports Detroit grants All-Access pass

2012-01-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

The Oakland athletics website is promoting Fox Sports Detroit's All-Access program about the Golden Grizzlies, which will air Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m. The program is scheduled to re-air several times throughout the month, but it's unclear if this is a one-time deal or an ongoing series. More information is expected to be released this week.

Slow your role: Oakland takes a different approach

2011-12-31T12:43:00.000-08:00

After getting blown out by North Dakota State Wednesday, Oakland coach Greg Kampe made the critical decision to slow the team's offense in an effort to control the game's tempo. The result was a much closer game, trailing by just two at half, albeit a loss to the surging Jackrabbits at South Dakota State. The loss was Oakland's fourth straight, something it hasn't done since 2006-07.
The decision to walk the ball up the court Friday came because the uptempo pace the Grizzlies have become known for had failed them on the defensive end.
"We didn't believe we could come in here and run with them," Kampe said in postgame video from the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls. "We're a very young team and we learned if we play fast, we don't control the ball and we play sloppy. We made a decision tonight, if we're going to compete for a championship, we're going to have to control the tempo and take care of the basketball.
"Maybe in a year or two, these guys can go back to playing the pace they like to play. ... If we had done that tonight, they would have beaten us 120-80."
Other positives to take from the game: Oakland outrebounded the Jackrabbits, 29-27, and had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (+1) for just the fifth time this season. The Grizzlies also shot 49 percent from the floor. Corey Petros reached double figures scoring with 12 points for the first time in five games. Drew Valentine got his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
More woe: Travis Bader failed to connect on a 3-point shot for the second straight game. Reggie Hamilton and Drew Valentine played all 40 minutes, while fellow starters Laval Lucas-Perry and Bader were forced to play 37 minutes apiece. The Grizzlies bench contributed just two points in 19 minutes to the cause, as Corey Petros was forced to sit because of foul trouble. Petros scored eight points early, but picked up his third foul with seven minutes remaining before halftime. Ryan Bass played just six minutes in second game back after sitting out six games due to concussion symptoms.

Grizzlies already in ‘must-win’ conference games after blowout

2011-12-29T12:17:00.001-08:00

Prior to Wednesday's 27-point loss to North Dakota State, Oakland coach Greg Kampe pointed out the league race could actually be settled by the second week in January, something unlikely in almost any conference. That’s because all the top-tier programs play each other in the next week. Oakland lost to the Bison, faces South Dakota State Friday and then comes home to Oral Roberts and IUPUI next week.
It's also worth mentioning the Golden Grizzlies have lost just one conference game each of the past two seasons, yet find themselves at 2-1 in late December.
“The league is good,” Kampe said. “There’s a reason it’s a 13 RPI. We’ve been as high as 24 and we’re usually between 18-25. It’s going to be a heck of a year. I’m hoping there isn’t going to be another 17-1 team this year. It’s possible you could be 14-4 and win this league. … This is going to be as competitive of a three-, four- or five-team race we’ve seen since 2000.”
That aforementioned conference race was won by Oakland. But the Bison threw their names into the fray, dominating Oakland in historic fashion. Previously, South Dakota State was to be the third team in an Oral Roberts-Oakland battle (like most seasons.) However, the Jackrabbits, with a historic win of their own over Washington, combined with Oakland’s struggles, have likely moved into the second, or even first spot in the minds of Summit followers. The Grizzlies could even be No. 5 in the minds of some behind the Golden Eagles, Jackrabbits, IUPUI and even North Dakota State.
North Dakota State became just the second Summit League team to beat Oakland in regular-season play in the past three seasons, handing the Grizzlies their fourth-worst conference loss in program history. The only other team to do beat Oakland, albeit on the road each time, is IUPUI. The Grizzlies host the Jaguars Jan. 7 after a brief respite vs. Western Illinois Jan. 5.
“If we have a disastrous trip at the Dakotas and come home with a hangover against Oral Roberts … this is a big week,” Kampe said.
The long-tenured Oakland coach uttered that statement Tuesday prior to leaving for the Dakotas. It took on added importance in light of Wednesday’s disaster.
The possibility of an 0-3 run from the Dakotas and back with the Oral Roberts game became an all-too-real scenario for Oakland with an upset in Fargo, N.D. This predicament adds even more importance to its showdown with Nate Wolters and the Jackrabbits Friday.

GRIZZ TALK: Summit race could be decided in first full week

2011-12-29T11:23:00.001-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe joins beat writer Paul Kampe to discuss the Golden Grizzlies' road trip to the Dakotas and the ensuing conference race, which could be over shortly after it began.

For complete interviews with players and Coach Kampe, click below:

Coach Greg Kampe

Forward Drew Valentine

Former PG Johnathon Jones

Oakland coach Greg Kampe taking in BCS National Championship

2011-12-28T16:16:00.000-08:00

After playing every one of the upper-tier teams of the Summit League over the next week, Oakland coach Greg Kampe will likely be ready for a vacation. Having a week between games, he’ll have quite a trip, going to the BCS National Championship Game Jan. 9 between LSU and Alabama.
While he could be scouting high school basketball players on the trip, the official purpose of the getaway is to watch son Branch, who is an LSU freshman. Branch Kampe, a quarterback at Royal Oak Shrine a season ago, plays linebacker for the Tigers. He has yet to see the field, but will remain on the sidelines, potentially earning a national championship ring.
“He gets the crap kicked out of him every day in practice,” his proud father joked. “He may not get one play in that game, but he’s got all the bumps and bruises to show he was part of it."
Branch Kampe’s ring wouldn’t be the first in the family trophy room. Greg Kampe’s father was on the 1947 U-M national championship team.
“It looks like my son is going to beat me to a national championship ring,” he joked.
The Coaches Trophy, awarded to the game’s winner, is also sponsored by Greg Kampe’s favorite soft drink, Dr. Pepper.

Oakland has a history of limiting Nate Wolters

2011-12-28T16:01:00.001-08:00

Reggie Hamilton has earned two Summit League Player of the Week awards this season. Both times he’s had to share with South Dakota State standout Nate Wolters, who is also receiving similar national attention.
Hamilton hit a game-winner in a 41-point performance against Valparaiso nearly two weeks ago. The next day, Wolters had 34 points in 40 minutes, as the Jackrabbits upset Pac-12 opponent Washington, ending the Huskies’ 32-game home-court winning streak.
“What they did to Washington, that was a clinic,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “It was as well played of a game I’ve seen by a mid-major on a BCS floor.”
That combined with Oakland’s late-November win over Tennessee and Oral Roberts’ win over No. 9 Xavier the same day as SDSU’s upset, have propelled the Summit League to its highest-ever Sagarin Rating.
“It’s going to be a heck of a year,” Kampe said.
Oakland visits South Dakota State Friday in the second of three early tests in the conference season. Hamilton is third in the nation in scoring at 23 points per game, while Wolters is fifth (21.5).
“In the past, (Wolters has) gotten numbers against us,” Kampe said. “But he’s gotten his numbers with 22 to 25 shots. We’ve rotated players on him and you really can’t stop him. The big key is keeping him off the free-throw line.
“If he gets those 25 points on just 12 or 13 shots, we’re in trouble. … I don’t care how many points he gets, as long as it’s a high number of shots.”
Wolters went for 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting in the teams’ last meeting in the conference tournament semifinal in Sioux Falls, S.D., last March. He had 29 points on 24 shots Feb. 19 at Oakland and just 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting last Jan. 20.
Of course Oakland won all three of those games and the two regular-season meetings the season prior.
Wolters and the Jackrabbits should make a good home game for the Grizzlies when they visit the O’rena Jan. 26, as well.

What a difference two years makes

2011-12-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

Former point guard Johnathon Jones, a four-year starter under Greg Kampe, visited practice Tuesday. He made light of the obvious difference between the last team he captained in 2009-10 and this year’s squad.
“We had a different system (with Keith Benson),” Jones said. “They’re more up and down and shoot a lot of jump shots.”
That they do. Especially 3-pointers. Oakland has taken 353 to be exact, but are connecting on just 31 percent of those. Those numbers will likely increase during conference play, as they typically do. The Grizzlies will be putting up a lot more points if they can boost that percentage even single percentage points, as 40 percent of Oakland’s shots are coming from beyond the arc.
The Grizzlies' field-goal percentage was 45 percent, their 3-point percentage was just 32 percent Jones’ final season, but Oakland’s offense was predicated around its big men, Benson and forward Will Hudson.
“When you have a 7-footer and a 6-8, 6-9 guy, you try to use that,” Jones said. “Here, they have a lot of wings and Coach Kampe is just using his strength.”
The Grizzlies are ranked No. 66 in offensive efficiency, but are still shooting just 43 percent through 14 games. Drew Valentine (54 percent) and Corey Petros (50 percent) are the only starters shooting better than 50 percent. Excluding those two players, nobody in the rotation who has played in all 14 games has shot better than Reggie Hamilton’s 42 percent.
The Grizzlies shot a season-low (35 percent) in the season’s second game at Arkansas Nov. 16, but their best performance (52 percent) came Dec. 7 against Ohio, a two-point loss.
The Grizzlies’ coaches and players would be the first to tell you, their biggest strength has yet to be realized.

A tale of two Coreys

2011-12-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

After starting his collegiate career with a bang, averaging a double-double at one point, Oakland freshman Corey Petros fouled out scoreless in consecutive games at Valparaiso and Arizona. He came back with a nine-rebound, five-point effort in his next game against Western Michigan Friday.
“He hasn’t handled success very well, and that’s good,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said.
“It’s simple to sit here and point a finger, but when you’re out there living the experience … he’s just a freshman and all of a sudden he’s being written about in national magazines and showing up on scouting reports. Nobody knew who he was and now they’re scheming and gameplanning and hitting him and doubling him. When shots go up, they make sure they find him.
“It’s part of the maturation process.”
Petros put up seven points and seven rebounds in his debut against No. 16 Alabama Nov. 14 and was quickly putting up double figures in each category. He corralled 16 rebounds against Ohio Dec. 7, the most by any league player this season. That outing earned him StatSheet Freshman of the Week, as Petros was averaging 17.5 points and 12.5 rebounds and shooting 83 percent from the floor. He has four double-doubles this season, but hasn’t had one since the meeting with the Bobcats.
Petros is still averaging 9.9 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game.
“He played really well for a freshman early and nobody expected that,” Kampe said. “He hasn’t played as well and everybody wants to know what’s wrong. It’s part of the process. He’ll be fine.”

The (d)evolution of Oakland’s defensive play

2011-12-28T14:42:00.001-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe hoped that Friday’s 15-point blowout at home against Western Michigan was an aberration, but quickly pointed out teams are exploiting ball-screens against struggling Grizzlies. With a shortened eight-man rotation that features four freshmen and two sophomores, it could take longer than anticipated.
“Dribble-penetration got teams to the basket and wide-open 3s,” Kampe said. “We tried to take those 3s away and it led to wide-open layups. We have to fix that. It’s easy to talk about and show, but these are young kids … they have to learn and communicate. That’s the biggest problem. We’ve spent a lot of time on that the last few days. It’s not going to be fixed overnight because they’re freshmen.
“We’re going to find out (if Western Michigan) was an aberration in the next three games.”
The Grizzlies are at North Dakota State tonight and visit acclaimed South Dakota State, which entered the mid-major poll for the first time this season at No. 23, Friday. Then preseason No. 1 Oral Roberts visits the O’rena Tuesday.
The Grizzlies’ defense was playing better during the season’s early games, before the scouting report on Oakland began its evolution.
“Our team defense was outstanding at the beginning of the year,” Kampe said. “We’re such a young team that grabbed the concepts early. Then people found we didn’t guard the ball-screen very well.”
Oakland’s first two league contests, both at home, came before they began getting exposed on defense. That resulted in an 18-point win over conference newcomer South Dakota (Dec. 1) and 13-point defeat of UMKC (Dec. 3).
“We were guarding the 3-point shot at about 29 percent,” Kampe said. “In two league games, the 3 was shot at 19 percent against us. Somewhere after the Ohio game, people figured out if they spread us out they’d get some open looks.”
Oakland’s defensive performance in this season has been poor enough to land the Grizzlies dead last in the conference in 3-point field goal defense (.362) through 14 games thus far. They are ninth out of 10 conference teams in overall field goal defense (.478).
“We’ve not been good. It’s been a real struggle the last two weeks. … Our young kids are going to figure it out and we’re going to be OK,” Kampe said.

How good could Oakland be when it's hitting shots?

2011-12-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

Aside from unprecedented depth, Oakland's ability to shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor was heavily promoted prior to the season. The depth is being tested regularly, as Ryan Bass missed his fourth straight game with concussion symptoms and the team dismissed junior guard Blake Cushinberry last week.
That leaves the shooting to be addressed. Besides clutch defensive stops, the Golden Grizzlies could have helped themselves back into the lead Tuesday by shooting better.
Averaging just 44 percent from the floor entering Tuesday, the Grizzlies shot just 42 percent against the Wildcats, who have been holding visitors to just 38-percent shooting at McKale Center.
“We haven’t shot well all year,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe told WDFN postgame. “When are we going to start making shots?"
In addition, the Grizzlies slumped just a bit from 3-point range, going 9 of 32 against the Wildcats.
“You’re not going to beat a team shooting 30 percent from the 3," Kampe said. "We got a lot of good looks.”
Travis Bader broke a 1-for-18, two-game slump from long range, hitting three 3s. The downside: Bader had 14 attempts, nearly half of Oakland's attempts.
The poor shooting led Kampe to suggest: “I wonder how good this team can be if we start making shots.”
Chances are they would be unstoppable. They shot a season-high 52 percent against Ohio, but hasn't shot better than 44 percent in the four games since.
Never one to hold back, Reggie Hamilton (12 of 21) was the only Oakland player to shoot better than 50 percent Tuesday. He finished with a game-high 31 points, his second-best outing against a "BCS" opponent.
"We have some great shooters," Hamilton told WDFN after the game. "You have to shoot and whatever happens, happens.”

Notes: Kampe switched his starting lineup for the third time Tuesday, inserting Laval Lucas-Perry against his former team (he played five games in 2007 before transferring to Michigan) in favor of freshman Dante Williams, who started the previous eight games. Lucas-Perry scored 11 points (seven from the free-throw line) in 29 minutes. He has reached double figures scoring in nine games this season. The previous lineup was 6-2 with wins over Utah Valley, Tennessee and Valparaiso. Hamilton, Bader, Corey Petros and Drew Valentine have started every game this season.
... Oakland failed in its potentially last chance to defeat a "BCS" team twice in the same season with Tuesday's 85-73 loss to Arizona. It hasn't beaten a "BCS" team other than Oregon or Tennessee since 2003, when the Golden Grizzlies beat Texas A&M at the O'rena.
... Freshman Corey Petros fouled out scoreless in his second consecutive game.
“Teams are starting to scheme against Corey and he’s struggling with it," Kampe said. "Part of it is him being a freshman and he’ll learn from it and get better.” Kampe, however, was encouraged with his other freshman center, Kyle Sikora, who scored two points in 11 minutes.
... Oakland moved up two spots to No. 19 in the latest Mid-Major poll, while conference foe South Dakota State made its first appearance of the season at No. 25. Oral Roberts and North Dakota State are the only other Summit League teams receiving votes.

Reggie Hamilton puts nation on notice

2011-12-21T15:02:00.001-08:00

As he's done almost every time Oakland has taken on a "BCS" school, Reggie Hamilton came through on the big stage. With another primetime performance, 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting, which came after a career night Saturday against Valparaiso. Tuesday was his second game with 30 or more points in a "BCS" showdown after scoring 28 two weeks ago vs. Michigan. More notably, the output raised Hamilton's scoring average to 22.7 points, good for third in the nation.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe, who has been recruiting Division I talent for more than a decade, is floored by the performance.
“I’m impressed by him,” said Kampe, in his 28th season as Oakland's coach.
After Saturday's career-high 41, which surpassed his previous high of 35 set Nov. 28 in a win over Tennessee, Hamilton earned his second Summit League Player of the Week award of the season. He was also named player of the week by Beyond the Arc, an NBC affiliated college basketball site.
Hamilton scored 11 of his 20 first-half points Tuesday over the final six minutes before the break, pulling Oakland within a manageable four-point halftime deficit. That came on the heels of a 14-0 Arizona run.
“He almost plays better when a team makes a run on us. It’s almost like he has the freedom to go stop the run," Kampe said.
Oakland slashed a 19-point second-half lead to just six with just under six minutes remaining, but Hamilton quickly thereafter picked up his fourth foul. He, Laval Lucas-Perry and Corey Petros; who later fouled out scoreless for the second consecutive game; all played with four fouls late in the game.
A short Oakland bench forced Kampe to play three of his starters 37 minutes or more Tuesday, as Hamilton played a team-high 39.
“I have to fight through," Hamilton told WDFN after the game. "I can’t get tired, I can’t get fatigued.”
If he keeps it up, and he's shown no evidence of stopping, fans aren't likely to get tired, either.

VIDEO: Reggie Hamilton's game-winner at Valparaiso

2011-12-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

The announcer, who sounds sort of like Jonah Hill, was none-too-impressed with Reggie Hamilton's 40th and 41st points Saturday night at Valparaiso.
Hamilton set a career high for the third time this season, a feat that didn't quite seem possible after his consistently high-scoring feats last season. Hamilton topped his previous career high, 35 set against Tennessee nearly three weeks ago, by six more points. The last two were some of the best.

Postgame video from Rochester College

2011-12-14T16:48:00.001-08:00

Oakland bench even shorter without Blake Cushingberry

2011-12-13T23:48:00.001-08:00

The Golden Grizzlies announced pregame Tuesday that Blake Cushingberry will not be with the team for the rest of the season. Without him, that makes Oakland’s bench even shorter. Oakland coach Greg Kampe used just eight players against Rochester College, including freshman Matt Poches, who just played Saturday for the first time this season. Poches got 13 minutes Tuesday, making some freshman mistakes, but Kampe insisted Poches would be fine.
“He’s supposed to get that out of him the first couple game,” Kampe said.
Ryan Bass missed his second consecutive game with concussion symptoms, but Kampe sounded optimistic the Grizzlies would have him back in time for their trip to the Dakotas at the end of the calendar year.
“Not having (Ryan) Bass Saturday at Michigan was a big deal, because he’s a kid that could guard Trey Burke,” Kampe said. “We got in trouble late in that game because we couldn’t keep Burke out of the paint and Bass could’ve done that.”
That defensive intensity wouldn’t have gone unnoticed Tuesday.
“(Rochester) isn’t used to the type of pressure we put on them,” Kampe said. “They don’t see that every day. Bass could’ve had a field day out there tonight.”
Laval Lucas-Perry played a season-high 36 minutes against Rochester, but the rest of the bench consisted of just two players and 14 minutes and play (13 of which went to Poches).
Because Tuesday’s game was close, Oakland didn’t take its first double-digit lead until the final 10 minutes, Kampe was forced to play five players more than 30 minutes. As Kampe pointed out, that doesn’t often happen in a game against a non-Division I opponent.
Kyle Sikora earned his third consecutive did not play Tuesday. Kampe anticipates Sikora will see more minutes as Oakland faces teams with traditional big men. Sikora has played just 33 minutes this season, including a season-high 10 vs. South Dakota.
The Grizzlies’ reserves outscored Rochester, 23-7, Tuesday, but all of those points came from Lucas-Perry.
Prior to the season, Kampe touted the team’s depth, but his bench is being tested early and often.

Another slow start for Oakland; Petros looks like a freshman and Bader breaks his streak

2011-12-13T23:04:00.001-08:00

Slow starts doomed Oakland in its two losses last week and put them behind early Tuesday against Rochester. The Warriors’ early eight-point lead was their largest in the all-time series and they came within two points twice in the second half.
“We didn’t come out sluggish against Michigan, the ball just didn’t go in,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe clarified. “We were too hyped against Michigan. As for Ohio, we played during exam week, which you shouldn’t do. … After a 10-day road trip, we come home to Utah Valley and Tennessee. We turn around and there’s Ohio, one of the best mid-majors in the country, and then Michigan. You come home and you look at a non-DI game, and if you’re a mid-major power, you’re supposed to take care of this. But I’m smart enough to know how well this team is coached and that it’s going to be tough, but it’s a win and we move on. We’ll worry about how we played tonight when we’re getting ready next summer.”
… Corey Petros had a season-low four rebounds, but still chipped in 13 points.
“Tonight might have been the first night (Petros) was a freshman in my eyes. They swarmed him underneath and he didn’t handle it well. Eventually, when you’re 6-foot-10 and you’re that big and talented, you’re going to wear people down, and he got a few (baskets),” Kampe said.
Petros has already had four double-doubles this season and was named freshman of the week by StatSheet.
“He wasn’t awful tonight, but it isn’t what we’ve come to expect from him. He wasn’t physically or mentally ready to play today,” Kampe said. ...
Travis Bader missed all nine 3-point attempts he made Tuesday, his first game without a 3 since Feb. 17, 2011, a streak of 18 games. He’s made 3s in 42 of 46 games in his career.
“Bader got a lot of good looks and had two or three of them just rattle out. It just wasn’t meant to be. We had to find a different way to win the game,” Kampe said. …
Laval Lucas-Perry, who set a new career high with 23 points, played a season-high 36 minutes. He’s averaging 26 minutes per game.

Grizzlies draw for big games, but get icy reception otherwise

2011-12-13T20:05:00.001-08:00

While he appreciated the break from the road, Oakland coach Greg Kampe was unsettled by the attendance for a seven-game home stretch, except for the Tennessee and Michigan games.
Just over 2,000 fans showed up Tuesday to the O’rena one game after the Grizzlies played in front of more than 17,000 fans at The Palace Saturday. The attendance against Tennessee was just the seventh-largest in the O’rena’s history and just the third-highest for a contest vs. a team from the so-called BCS conferences.
Oakland is 42-3 in last 45 games at home.
“It’s very seldom people walk out of here with a loss. Fans are used to winning and they expect it,” he said. “I’m gravely disappointed in the turnouts.”
Oakland has lost just three home games in each of the past three seasons inside the O’rena. Those losses came by a combined margin of five points. Ohio beat Oakland by just two last week.
“I’m disappointed we lost the Ohio game and I can see why we did lose that game,” Kampe said. “They’re a heck of a basketball team.”
The actual home games at the O’rena all broke the 2,000 mark in the 3,000-seat arena, but the largest attendance outside of the Tennessee game was 2,285 to see UMKC.
All the games at the O’rea fell on weeknights, the only Saturday contest came when the Kangaroos visited. The homestand stretched across Thanksgiving weekend, finals week and now the beginning of holiday break, notable dead periods for student social activity.
Kampe suggested the fans possibly aren’t used to having the team around so often this early in the season, as they just wrapped an unprecedented seven-game homestand.
“If I worry about that kind of stuff, I won’t be coaching basketball here,” Kampe said.
Oakland hits the road for a game at former conference rival Valparaiso Saturday and visits Arizona Tuesday. The Grizzlies return home Dec. 23 to host Western Michigan.

The Lions weren't the only crazy finish Sunday

2011-12-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

Oakland guard Sharise Calhoun, in just her fifth game of the season, hit her first 3-pointer, a running, line-drive heave from halfcourt to win the game Sunday. Watch below and hear her reaction and comments from coach Beckie Francis.

What my story would've looked like if the wi-fi never returned

2011-12-11T11:14:00.001-08:00

Highlight of the night

2011-12-10T22:57:00.001-08:00

I knew right after I'd seen it that Laval Lucas-Perry's reverse, hanging lay-in and foul, on which he completed the three-point play was my favorite play of the season. It's still early, but that was amazing. Watch below, as it's the first highlight in Fox Sports Detroit's recap.

<a href='http://www.foxsportsdetroit.com/pages/video?UUID=bb23a063-55fc-4506-a41f-fdd42def019a&src=FLPl:embed::uuids' target='_new' title='Highlights: Michigan outmaneuvers Oakland 90-80' >Video: Highlights: Michigan outmaneuvers Oakland 90-80</a>

Michigan game just like any other for Laval Lucas-Perry

2011-12-10T19:13:00.001-08:00

Oakland guard Laval Lucas-Perry, like his teammates, started off cold Saturday, but he and the Grizzlies turned up the heat late in the second half Saturday against No. 20 Michigan at The Palace. He finished with 14 points in his first game against his former team, including an incredible hanging, reverse lay-in off the backboard that drew a foul.
“It wasn’t as emotional as I thought it would be,” Lucas-Perry said. “It just felt like another team we had to beat.”
Lucas-Perry said after the game he didn’t speak to any of his former teammates, but he can’t remember a team at any level shooting as well as the Wolverines did Saturday, going 63 percent from 3-point range in the second half.
Oakland had a chance to cut the Wolverines’ lead down to four when Lucas-Perry’s 3 rimmed out with 4:07 to play.
“I thought it was going in,” he said. “It felt good. It went in, out and back in, then out again. That was a game-changing play that could’ve cut the lead to three.”
The Golden Grizzlies take on Lucas-Perry’s other former team, Arizona, Dec. 20. Oakland coach Greg Kampe insisted this week it was a coincidence both teams are on the schedule this season.

Missing backup PG becoming a pain in the Bass

2011-12-10T18:59:00.001-08:00

The concussion issues for Ryan Bass led to a shortened bench for Oakland coach Greg Kampe Saturday against Michigan at The Palace. Kampe opted to play just seven players most of the game, opting to bring in freshman Matt Poches late Saturday.
“(Bass) could have done a really good job on Trey Burke," Kampe said. "That’s what his calling card is. He’s a little guy who’s a great athlete and can really get after it. Not having that hurt us, but it wasn’t a game-changer.”
Playing Poches Saturday means Bass isn't likely to return this season because the team had initially planned to red-shirt the guard from Hartland because of a logjam at the position. That option is no longer available since Poches saw time, less than a minute, Saturday.
“Every team has injuries and has bad things happen to them and you play through them,” Kampe said.
Bass collided with Blake Cushingberry in practice this week and the team says Bass is out indefinitely.

GRIZZ TALK: Oakland takes on No. 20 U-M at The Palace

2011-12-09T14:23:00.001-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe, freshman Corey Petros and guard Laval Lucas-Perry talk about Saturday's game at The Palace against No. 20 Michigan.

Click on each name for a full version of each interview:
Coach Kampe
Laval Lucas-Perry
Corey Petros

Oakland on the upswing could have negative effect on in-state rivalries

2011-12-08T16:16:00.001-08:00

Oakland is finally at the point where it expects to win big games, but there is a down side to that. After losing by one point to then-No. 7 at The Palace last season, Michigan State wasn’t on the schedule this season. However, coach Greg Kampe insisted after the schedule was released it was just a one-year hiatus for the Spartans.
There has been talk even before Oakland beat Tennessee (not in-state, but still a big name) last week that the three-year deal would be the end of that.
And now there comes word from Kampe himself that Saturday’s matchup with Michigan at The Palace could be the last time the programs meet for quite a while.
“He said they can’t afford to lose to us because we got too good, and it makes no sense to play us because their fanbase wouldn’t understand losing to Oakland,” Kampe said. “He complimented us and those types of things we can handle, when someone is honest.”
Honesty is key, as the saying goes. But the end of that comment is sort of vague and came shortly after he discussed refusing to play Detroit in the ESPN Bracketbuster on WXOU’s “The Greg Kampe Show.”
Oakland hosts Western Michigan Dec. 23 and Central Michigan was rumored to be on the schedule at one point. Eastern visited the O’rena, handing Oakland a loss in its home opener (my first game on press row) in 2009.
Beating Michigan would not only help Oakland’s status at large in the state, but the residual effects for the program are endless.
“Beating Michigan is a very good game to lay claim to what we’re trying to do here,” Kampe said.
The short of it is, as Oakland gets better, you’re more likely to see the M-A-C in the O’rena than the B-1-G.
The Palace is even offering $10 seats to Saturday’s affair with a special log-in and password (P1210, Pass: BASKET). Groupon was also sharing a deal on group tickets earlier this week. So, if you missed Tennessee, here’s your chance to see the Grizzlies on another big stage against a marquee team they probably won’t see for quite some time.

WXOU - The Greg Kampe Show Dec. 6, 2011 by paulkampe

Tennessee crowd symptomatic of flagging attendance

2011-12-08T15:47:00.001-08:00

Attendance has been down through the first five games of the home schedule for the Golden Grizzlies. Fans are wondering about a ticket increase, most notably after the Tennessee game. As a member of the media, I don’t pay for tickets, as you may have guessed, and I wasn’t aware of a price increase. Coach Greg Kampe wasn’t aware of the increase, either, when asked on “The Greg Kampe Show” Tuesday on WXOU.
“They don’t call me in to talk about ticket pricing,” he said.
Kampe suggested the increase isn’t necessarily related to the sagging attendance figures.
“We’ve never drawn well in November and December and we’ve never had a home schedule like this,” he said.
Oakland is in the midst of a seven-game homestand that includes Saturday’s game at The Palace, hosting Michigan.
The long-time Oakland coach did admit prices “probably” affected attendance vs. Tennessee, for which more than 3,700 were reported in attendance. Many remarks were made during the game by those in attendance concerning the relative emptiness of the 3,000-seat arena. Several spots in the bleachers were vacant throughout the game.
The reported attendance was just the seventh-largest in the venue’s 13-year history. The O’rena draws more fans for games against conference rival Oral Roberts. Its largest audience, more than 4,000, came to see then-No. 3 Missouri in 2003.
Fans complained about the increased price for last week’s marquee matchup, chief among their concerns was the facts students were being charged for admission. They usually get in for free. Also, some fans were unhappy that tickets were being bundled into three-game packages. And yes, some fans were even mad at me for incorrectly tweeting that tickets had been sold out. (I corrected that tweet less than an hour later after a helpful phone call from the athletic department.) I found one ticket stub on the ground after the game left for “Ben,” seated in row 10, seat 26. The price, though, was blank, so that doesn’t particularly help my comprehension.
Kampe credited the crowd with helping Oakland beat Tennessee for the second consecutive season.
“From start to finish, I thought we were in the Breslin Center,” he said. “I can’t tell you how big of a homecourt advantage that was.”
The Golden Grizzlies traditionally pick up more fans as the season progresses, but Kampe didn’t sound terribly optimistic about the idea of packing fans in for their late-season schedule.
Oakland hosts just two games in February, the last month of the season and neither is a traditional seat-filler. IPFW visits, minus coach Dane Fife, now an MSU assistant, Feb. 11, and Southern Utah enters the O’rena Feb. 15. The Grizzlies’ final three games are on the road.
January, however, is more promising, as perennial Summit contender Oral Roberts visits for possibly the final time Jan. 3. Alex Young and IUPUI arrive Jan. 7 and Nate Wolters brings South Dakota State to Rochester Jan. 26.

Practice facility in the 'development stage'

2011-12-08T15:22:00.001-08:00

Late last season, there was word Oakland was working toward funding a practice facility. Then we didn’t hear much else. That was until Tuesday, when WXOU’s Matt Pocket breached the subject on the “Greg Kampe Show,” which now airs Tuesday’s at 4 p.m. on 88.3 FM.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe said the facility is very much in the developmental stage and could vary in cost from the reported $11 million reported last season.
“We know if we want to continue to improve our status in the world of college basketball, we have to upgrade our facilities,” Kampe said.
“We have to put that vision down and find the people willing to share the vision and fund it. The University isn’t going to ask students to pay for an athletic building. … It’s a dream and a vision and there are people working to make it a reality.”
Kampe mentioned prior to Tennessee’s visit to the O’rena last week he dreams of a day when the Golden Grizzlies outgrow the 13-year-old arena, but the arena isn’t in a position to be expanded.

WXOU - The Greg Kampe Show Dec. 6, 2011 by paulkampe

'Zero' chance Oakland pairs with Detroit in ESPN's Bracketbusters

2011-12-08T15:18:00.001-08:00

The Summit League, to Oakland coach Greg Kampe’s dismay, is participating in ESPN’s Bracketbusters series this season. The defending conference champions are scheduled to be a road team in their matchup Feb. 18. The Grizzlies’ opponent will not be known until Jan. 30, however.
The minds of fans and the media collectively wandered, supposing the four-letter network pairs Oakland with Detroit, two area schools everyone wants to see, in a game that would likely be a regional ratings bonanza and a cash cow at the box office.
Apparently, Oakland coach Greg Kampe has already spoken with ESPN, telling the network Oakland will not play at Detroit, because the Titans still owe Oakland a return visit to the O’rena.
In fact, Kampe said there’s “zero” percent chance the two meet.
“We said we won’t play them if it’s a BracketBuster,” Kampe told Matt Pocket and Bryan Everson on “The Greg Kampe Show" Tuesday. “We’re not playing them there. They owe us a game. They can come here and play us and everything will be all nice again, but until (then) it’s not going to happen.
“We just said if they pair us up with Detroit, we’re not going.”
The programs met for three consecutive seasons from 2000-03, with Detroit taking two of those three, with both wins coming on its home floor. The Oakland losses came by 16- and 21-point margins. Oakland's win at the O'rena Dec. 6, 2001, was a 26-point blowout.
I jokingly came up with some other spots they could play the game, but they weren’t serious (Aboard the Boblo Boat, Cobo roof), but I wonder if the game will eventually get shifted to a neutral site, like even The Palace. But with the remodeling of Cobo Center, I wonder if it’s possible to put a basketball court in there. Whenever, wherever it is, I’m sure fans will show up.

WXOU - The Greg Kampe Show Dec. 6, 2011 by paulkampe

'Glue' guy Dante Williams pasted up in feature story

2011-12-06T16:46:00.001-08:00

Our sister paper, the Ann Arbor Journal, ran a feature in this week's edition about native Dante Williams. The story focuses on Williams' ascension to the starting lineup and his ability to remain as coach Greg Kampe's glue guy. Enjoy!
A2SportsFront 12-8-11

Oakland freshmen continue to make strides

2011-12-02T18:57:00.001-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe was quick to point out after Thursday's 101-83 win over South Dakota that the Grizzlies played well through what could have been a mental letdown after an emotional win over Tennessee Monday. Starting two freshmen in that situation could have been troublesome to other teams, but not Oakland.
Kampe can't praise Corey Petros enough and fans can now see why, as Oakland has played three straight games at home, including one on ESPNU. Petros got his second double-double of the season in just Oakland's seventh game, picking up 10 points and 10 rebounds Thursday vs. South Dakota.
Petros has been joined by true freshman Dante Williams, a long and athletic trump card for Kampe's lineup. Williams is averaging just two points per game in his 16 minutes per game average as as starter, but it's his presence that Kampe can't get enough of.
“He brings something to the table we don’t have and that’s a body between 6-foot-5 and 6-9," Kampe said. "He’s 6-6, he’s long and athletic and when he’s on the floor, he’s not a guy that looks to score. It’s comforting to have one guy out there who doesn’t have to have the basketball in his hands.”
Kampe likes to compare Williams to another former freshman he couldn't get enough of: Drew Valentine.
“You have to have a glue guy," Kampe said. "That role player. Two years from now, he’s going to be starting for us, but right now, he’s similar to Valentine was, he’s playing a role and I’m very pleased with how he’s playing it.”
Kyle Sikora had his best game of the season, getting his most significant playing time ,10 minutes, contributing nine points on 4-of-5 shooting to go with six rebounds.
“He was playing against our league, not Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee," Kampe said. "He got some good minutes tonight because they have a couple big guys and that was a good matchup to have him running around chasing some 6-7 guy, which will happen in our league at times. He’s not ready for (BCS opponents), but he’s ready for a 6-10 guy like he saw tonight. I’m pleased he played with confidence and tried to score.
"Our freshmen centers had 19 points and 16 rebounds in a league game. That’s pretty good production," Kampe said.
Being Thursday's game was just the first of 18 conference games, all three freshmen should continue to see the ball coming their way.

Travis Bader runs wild on Coyotes

2011-12-02T18:34:00.001-08:00

Judging by his postgame comments regarding his shooting, it seems some have questioned Travis Bader's ability this season. After his meteoric rise to a starting role as a freshman, Bader drew early comparisons to Erik Kangas -- comparisons that could still come to fruition.
Thus far this season, Bader is playing several more minutes and scoring more, averaging 15 points per game in 34 minutes per game. His shooting percentage is down slightly (38 percent), but many of Oakland's early games came against tough non-conference play.
“Some games I may go 2 for 7 and people ask me questions like ‘You’re not shooting as well as last year, what’s going on?’ ” Bader said.
Enter South Dakota. The Summit League newcomer brought the best in Bader Thursday, as he opened the game with consecutive 3-pointers, eventually hitting a career-high eight triples.
“I was surprised they zoned us. Nobody really ever comes in here and zones us," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said.
“It allowed Travis to get some open looks. He’s not going to get a lot of open looks against Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee. They’re going to be draped to him. It was good for him to get in a rhythm and get him where he can set his feet and get some shots off.”
Bader was 10 of 16 shooting and reached a new career high 38 points. Let the Kangas comparisons commence once again.

Postgame video from win over Tennessee

2011-11-29T17:23:00.001-08:00

Late finish made it difficult to finish this Monday night, but here are some postgame comments from Coach Kampe, Drew Valentine (camera cuts him off) and Reggie Hamilton.

Greg Kampe continues to suit up

2011-11-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe has been making it a habit to wear suits at Oakland's games this season. He may lose the jacket early in the game, but he's been ditching the tried and true sweater vest. In a "Coach's Corner" interview with Neal Ruhl, Kampe said he's had a special suit made for Monday's game against Tennessee. He indicated it will match the Oakland uniforms, but didn't say what color it is: White or just black and gold. He did, though, assure fans "It will be ugly as all get out."

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ESPN won't make that mistake again

2011-11-25T13:57:00.001-08:00

ESPN's coverage of the women's final from the Summit League Tournament last March was most noted not for the game, but the factual errors made by the network's broadcasting team. The four-letter network took the proactive step, assigning Clay Matvick and noted analyst Tim McCormick on the game.

Regarding the mistakes of the network's previous missteps, Dan Steir, ESPNU senior coordinating producer, said the following in a statement:

"ESPN strives for accuracy. The personnel involved with ESPNU's content pride themselves on providing the most detailed and accurate information. Unfortunately, with over 5,000 hours of live inventory, mistakes will occur. As a network we do our best to correct those errors in a timely manner and continue to learn and improve along the way."

ESPN covers college basketball all around the country at the most prestigious arenas the game has ever seen. The network is confident viewers will see a great scene.

“We see all kinds of venues, the small, large and everything in-between," said Nick Dawson, ESPN's director of programming and acquisitions. "A jam-packed, 3,000-seat arena is what we’re looking for. Whether it’s 3,000 or 10 to 12,000 seats, what translates well on TV is a great atmosphere and a full arena with fans that are passionate about their team and fired up for the game."

Oakland expects a standing-room only crowd Monday night for the 9 p.m. tipoff.

Although the O'rena was built to accompany the burgeoning program's rise in cache, Oakland coach Greg Kampe has bigger plans.

“I’m hoping we grow out of it. I’m hoping we get to the day where there just aren’t enough seats," he said.

Monday will definitely be one of those days.

Keith Benson returning to campus

2011-11-24T20:11:00.001-08:00

Oakland alum Keith Benson will have his number retired at halftime of Monday's game against Tennessee, which will be broadcast on ESPNU at 9 p.m. Benson will be the third Oakland player to have his jerseyretired, joining No. 5 Scott Bittinger ('84-'88) and No. 1 Rawle Marshall ('02-'05).When the banners were taken down for the recent GOP debate at the O'rena, the previous banners for Bittinger and Marshall were replaced and moved from the north to the south end of the arena, next to the scoreboard, as seen in the grainy cellphone picture above.
Benson was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks No. 48 in June's NBA draft and worked out with the team sparingly before the NBA lockout began July 1. He played briefly in Italy until recently.

... Also, Oakland's Dec. 20 tip at No. 23 Arizona will be carried on Fox Sports Detroit Plus and may be moved to FSD's primary channel if the Pistons' game is canceled due to the NBA lockout.

O'rena touch-ups include rearranging banners

2011-11-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

The campus at Oakland University was getting fixed up here and there to prepare for the CNBC Republican Debate last Wednesday. The debate was also a good excuse to shuffle the order of the men's and women's teams' Summit League championship and NCAA tournament banners. They were stowed away during the debate, as fans may have noticed, and then arranged by classification, i.e. NCAA banners together, with the heavy equipment the university otherwise wouldn't have had a need for.

“I wanted to change the order of them anyway and it turned out good,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “If they want to put the cameras up there to show the banners, all the NCAA banners and Summit tournament banners are all together instead of chronological order."

Security around campus was tight all day Wednesday and the basketball teams weren't allowed to use the facilities for a week leading up to the event.

"We got great attention," Kampe said, noting Oakland's popularity in Google searches last week. "The O’rena looked phenomenal on TV and the university looked great. It was a real success and I’m very happy about it.”

The arena, opened in Nov. 1998, got some TLC such as a coat of shimmering finish on the stairs of the main stands.

“They really spiced up the building. They did a lot of painting ... the building is 13 years old, so it was in need of some of that. So it was good. The timing was perfect," Kampe said.

The University was even displayed prominently in the opening of "Saturday Night Live" last night.

The O'rena will be ready for its next spotlight, Nov. 28, as ESPN comes to Rochester for the first time. Fans will have their first chance to see the results of the makeover beginning Nov. 25, when the Golden Grizzlies play five straight games on campus.
Attendance records are expected to be broken when Tennessee visits, leaving some to wonder if the O'rena could ever be expanded.

"(That) can’t be done, Kampe said. “We looked into it and it cannot be expanded. The pool is on one side and the framework would not allow for it.
“If we wanted to do something, we either have to play at The Palace or build an 8,000 seat arena."

Sounds like the spiffed up O'rena will remain home to the Grizzlies for a while.

Wednesday will be big for Oakland hoops, too

2011-11-09T00:13:00.000-08:00

By now you know the GOP Debate will be occupying the O'rena Wednesday night, but the Golden Grizzlies are going to make noise as well. Oakland is expected to sign Detroit Crockett's Lloyd Neely and Michael Lewis from Slidell, La. on Signing Day.
Neely, a 6-foot-5 forward, was an all-state selection last season.
Neely was considering the University of Detroit, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and Akron, according to his coach, Juan Rickman.
ESPN ranks Neely 70th at his position.
Lewis is a 6-foot-10 forward who played for Dynasty in AAU.

Scholarship stipend might leave some conferences at a disadvantage, Kampe says

2011-11-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

Last week, the NCAA decided to allow schools to give students an additional $2,000 in scholarship money to account for the "true cost of attendance" in an attempt to appease the "pay student-athletes" movement. Conferences will be able to opt-in to begin allocated the additional funds.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe said that could put smaller conferences, such as the Summit League, at a disadvantage in recruiting.
"It's a big deal," he said. "If you're being recruited and one school can give you $2,000 and the other can't, where are you going to go?
"It's the new wave of where things are going. I'm old. I've been around a long time and I've seen a lot of things come and go. This could last a few years and it could be gone, too. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully our league will be proactive about it."

CNBC's Darren Rovell, host of "Sports Biz" on Versus, said it will be "harder than you think for middle of the road schools" to offer the additional funds in an ESPN interview.
The Argus Leader reports individual schools would have the right to decide to offer the stipend if the Summit League were to approve it and could even decide which sports are eligible and for what amount.
Additionally, the NCAA has also loosened recruiting restrictions, such as contact with recruits like allowing unlimited texting.
It's a new day in college recruiting and it will be worth watching how it affects Oakland.
UPDATE: The Horizon League, a fellow mid-major conference home to such programs as Valparaiso, Butler and Detroit, announced Monday it will be adopting the "cost of living" increase for men's and women's basketball.

Exhibition affords Kampe more time to tinker

2011-11-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

There were points during Wednesday's exhibition where Oakland coach Greg Kampe ran with the much-anticipated five-guard lineup, something he expects to use once the Golden Grizzlies reach conference play.
The much-heralded backcourt of Laval Lucas-Perry and Reggie Hamilton were rarely seen together, but that's unexpected during the regular season.
“We played little guys for a while there," Kampe said. "A lot is dependent on (Blake Cushingberry). If he plays well, he’s going to get minutes. You're going to see Reggie and Laval a lot. They’re going to play 30 minutes a night, so they’re going to have to be out there together. We’re going to play 31 games and I might not know my lineup after 30."
Hamilton logged 20 minutes and Lucas-Perry just 18, scoring a team-high 15 points. Hamilton had 13.
“It’s a team of interchangeable parts," Kampe said. "The guys that have it going are going to play."
Kampe opted to start Cushingberry Wednesday citing his desire to have a scoring presence off the bench. Cushingberry had nine points on 3-of-8 shooting, getting his footing after an early airball.
The move worked to perfection against Spring Arbor, it's likely Windsor will provide more of a test in Tuesday's final exhibition. The Lancers split with Oakland in mid-August, when the Grizzlies embarked on a three-game Canadian excursion.

Corey Petros impresses in game action

2011-11-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Freshman Corey Petros led the Golden Grizzlies with 10 rebounds paired with eight points in Wednesday's exhibition victory vs. Spring Arbor, earning praise from coach Greg Kampe.
“Petros showed everybody what we’ve been saying about him that he’s got a chance to be the next great big at Oakland," Kampe said.
Oakland outrebounded Spring Arbor, 46-24, maintaining its preseason dominance on the boards.
“His first stint out there wasn’t very good," Kampe said. "That was expected, but he came back and handled the game very well and played his tail off. He got us a lot of second chances. In the future, as he grows, he’s going to score more with that instead of kicking out the ball. The way we can shoot it, (that’s) a wide-open 3."
The Grizzlies proved capable of hitting those shots Wednesday, shooting 10 of 24 from long range, led by Travis Bader's four 3s.
“Our other freshmen were very freshman-ish," Kampe said of Matt Poches, Dante Williams and Korab Imami.
"Poches showed some very good signs of why we recruited him. Sikora was outstanding in his first stint."

GRIZZ TALK: Season debut

2011-11-01T17:24:00.001-07:00

Oakland University coach Greg Kampe and guards Laval Lucas-Perry and Reggie Hamilton talk about the upcoming season.

Click the names below to watch full interviews:
Greg Kampe
Laval Lucas-Perry
Reggie Hamilton

Two more Oakland games added to FSD lineup

2011-11-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

The TV and radio lineup was announced today, adding the Jan. 26 home game vs. South Dakota State and Feb. 11 vs. IPFW to the Fox Sports Detroit slate of Oakland games, in addition to the previously announced Dec. 10 showdown with U-M at The Palace.
WDFN-AM (1130) will carry all but three Oakland road games as well as the Tennessee game from the O'rena Nov. 28 and the Feb. 18 Bracketbuster game. That game will be carried by ESPNU, marking the first time the four-letter network has been to the campus in Rochester.
Fox Sports Arizona will carry the Dec. 20 meeting between the Golden Grizzlies and the Wildcats.

CollegeInsider poll ranks Oakland ahead of Oral Roberts

2011-10-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

Bucking the trend of picking Oral Roberts to win the Summit League, CollegeInsider.com, a top source of info in the Mid-Major landscape, has Oakland ranked No. 24 to begin the season, ahead of unranked Oral Roberts.
The Golden Eagles did, however, receive 54 votes, not enough to enter the top 25.
The Golden Grizzlies finished eighth in the final poll for last season after their second straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Polls from Athlon, Lindy's, Sporting News, Blue Ribbon; as well as the league-wide preseason poll, picked Oral Roberts and Oakland to finish 1-2.
Detroit is one of three Horizon League teams listed, checking in at No. 15. Butler (2) and Cleveland State (22) also charted.
Summit League counterpart South Dakota State received votes, as did Oakland opponents Ohio, Valparaiso and Western Michigan.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe is part of the voting panel.
The next poll debuts Nov. 14. The Grizzlies open the season that night at Alabama.

Who becomes Oakland's top rival remains to be seen

2011-10-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Oral Roberts' impending departure from the Summit League leaves a void in term's of Oakland's primary rival. Prior to the Golden Eagles, I've been told it was Valparaiso, which left the conference for the Horizon League in 2006.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe has repeated his sorrow for Oral Roberts' departure, but reiterated the league's current position is just a case of history repeating itself.
“Across the college landscape, that’s what’s going on. We have to dig in and get ready to play. We don’t sit here and prepare to beat Oral Roberts. We prepare to win a league championship and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
While Oakland's road to the conference title and subsequent NCAA tournament automatic bid could be less rocky, it won't replace the history between the programs.
"We had some games. Both teams have to win them,” Kampe said. “That’s what you play for, to have games like that and rivalries like that. At the same token, five years from now, that’s going to be past history. Nobody is even going to think about it and the league is going to continue to grow and getting better as it has. Great things are happening for this league and we’re going to keep pushing forward.”
So who steps up to the plate and becomes Oakland's primary adversary? IUPUI? IPFW? South Dakota State? Even North Dakota State, they already have a recent classic finish that could even be considered a birth of the rivalry.
Proximity says the Indiana schools could be a natural fit. But as evidenced by the Golden Eagles rivalry, distance doesn't have much of an effect in a league as widespread as the Summit.
"Rivalries are born by championship quality teams," Kampe said. "I can’t tell you how that’s going to work out. If we stay good and somebody else is there and on a roll ... That’s how it happened with Oral Roberts. It certainly wasn’t because of location.”
The Jackrabbits appear to have things going their way, becoming an analysts' darling, but to become true rivals, teams will have to be perennial contenders. None of the conference's remaining schools can claim that except Oakland. Whomever comes to be the Grizzlies' chief rival is up to everyone else.

Could Oakland leave the Summit League? Never say never

2011-10-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

Oral Roberts' long-rumored departure from the Summit League became reality in a Tuesday press conference. The reaction from league was brief, highlighted by comments from commissioner Tom Douple, which gave the impression the move was long-awaited:

"It is not a surprise Oral Roberts accepted the opportunity to align itself with a more geographic conference," he said. "The decision further tightens the Summit League’s midwestern footprint."

The program has to pay a $250,000 buyout fee to leave the league and another $100,000 to join the Southland Conference, according to the Tulsa World, which the university intends to do next summer.

That leaves Oakland fans buzzing, wondering if and when Oakland could or would ever leave the Summit League for a closer league such as the Horizon League.

"You never say never about something like that," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. "Oral Roberts did what they think is best for their university. Oakland and our president will always do what they think is best for our university. Could that mean moving leagues? Sure. Could that mean staying for 20 more years? Sure. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future."

Kampe presumes Oral Roberts' departure to be a cost-cutting measure, with Southland opponents being closer in proximity than those of the Summit, which is notoriously spread across the country.

Oral Roberts will be the sixth team to leave the conference, formerly the Mid-Continent, in Kampe's nearly 30-year tenure. Long-time rival Valparaiso, which is again on Oakland's non-conference schedule, left the Mid-Con in 2006.

“This league has grown," Kampe said. "I’m going to miss that rivalry. It takes a long time to build that. We had some games. Both teams have to win them.”

Greg Kampe would be sorry to see Oral Roberts leave Summit League

2011-10-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

The Summit League held its annual conference call with coaches Tuesday. Greg Kampe was asked about the possibility of long-time rival Oral Roberts leaving the Summit League for the Southland Conference (as transcribed by Mike Brown of the Tulsa World):
"That’s life. I don’t want ORU to leave because I have all the respect for Mike Carter and Scott Sutton and what they do. They’re a tremendous asset to our league. We’ve had tremendous games with them. We’ve had championship games that have gone down to buzzer-beaters that have been highlighted by ESPN that have brought great notoriety to our league. I think our fan base wants to beat Oral Roberts and I think Oral Roberts’ fan base wants to beat Oakland."
Former Mid-Con rival Valparaiso left for the Horizon League in 2007.
"It takes a while to build those rivalries, so to lose that, I think in the short term would not be good, but when Valpo left, a lot of people wondered what would happen and the league is bigger and stronger than it’s ever been. If Oral Roberts leaves, I’ll cheer for them every time they don’t play one of our league teams, but our league’s gonna grow and get bigger and better."
Valparaiso is on Oakland's schedule for the second year in a row, as the Grizzlies travel to Indiana Dec. 17.
Golden Eagles coach Scott Sutton is keeping his team in check after the smattering of preseason polls unanimously picked his team to win the conference title.
"We haven’t done anything yet. ... All we’ve done is get beat by Oakland about five or six straight times the past two years, so they’d better be hungry. Obviously, on paper, we have a chance to be very good because of the experience we have coming back, but we haven’t been to the NCAA tournament (since 2008) and believe me, I remind them of that if not daily, almost every other day. So I think they’re very grounded and very hungry."
Fans are going to have to wait several weeks to see if the Golden Eagles can back the hype. Oakland and Oral Roberts meet for the first time this season Jan. 3 at the O'rena.

Oakland's schedule as easy as A, B, C

2011-10-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Greg Kampe has been trumpeting Oakland's 2011-12 schedule as the best ever since its finalization last month and referred to it as an "ambitious, tremendous schedule” during media day.
“We just decided we were going to play the ‘A’ schools this year," Kampe joked.
The Golden Grizzlies open the season at Alabama Nov. 14, then travel to Arkansas Nov. 16. A date at Arizona is scheduled for Dec. 20.
“Next year, we’ll look into the ‘B’s,” Kampe finished.
Does that mean a tilt with consecutive NCAA Championship Game contestant Butler is in the works for next season? Maybe a tip with Kampe's alma-mater Bowling Green? What about UConn in 2013-14?

Travis Bader, Drew Valentine snubbed on preseason polls

2011-10-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

Reggie Hamilton continued to receive recognition for his talents and breakthrough season a year ago when the preseason polls began to hit the presses (and web days earlier).

Coach Greg Kampe said during Friday's media day he doesn't put much stock in to preseason prognostication, in particular the poll of league media members and coaches, which, like the others, picked Oral Roberts to win the conference.

League personnel and media also picked IUPUI's Alex Young as the player of the year. Hamilton got first-team honors, but no other Oakland players got any recognition.

Kampe was frustrated, wondering why Travis Bader and Drew Valentine didn't get any publicity. Kampe said if he were starting a team, he'd go with Valentine for the junior's versatility.

“I would have voted for Drew Valentine. What can’t he do? All the things he does collectively, from guarding to his leadership — there’s a reason we’ve won a championship every season Drew Valentine has been in our program," Kampe said.

When it came to Bader, a red-shirt sophomore, Kampe was a little more indignant.

"Travis Bader made 94 3s in the league last year," Kampe said. "Did anyone else do that? And he’s not an all-league player?

Bader was ninth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (44.3) in his first season.
The Mid-Major Freshman All-American said he's been improving other assets besides his well-known cannon.
"I’m trying to attack more and be more of a passer," he said. “I’m just focusing on the team."

The end of Keith Benson's Italian job?

2011-10-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Two-time defending Summit League Player of the Year Keith Benson is struggling in Italy. Sportando Basket is reporting the Hawks' draftee is close to being waived by Dinamo Sassari after just two games, in which he averaged six points and four rebounds in 21.5 minutes. The site says Benson could play one more game because the team doesn't yet have a replacement for him.
Benson was drafted No. 48 by Atlanta in June's draft.
Roto World hypothesized Benson's struggles in Italy could mean he has a chance of being cut by the Hawks, whenever the NBA season resumes.
Benson, like many of this year's picks, opted for fancier pastures, signing with the club in mid-August.
Benson led the Golden Grizzlies to back-to-back conference regular-season and tournament championships and subsequent NCAA tournament appearances.
Prior to the draft, Benson had been rumored to be selected as a high as a lottery pick. Benson, also the league's top defensive player a season ago, averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Videos from media day

2011-10-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

Men's coach Greg Kampe

Women's coach Beckie Francis and guard Sharise Calhoun

Former Oakland guard Larry Wright to play in Germany

2011-10-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

MLive reports former Oakland reserve guard and Summit League Sixth Man of the Year Larry Wright will be playing for the Frankfurt Skyliners in the Pro B League in Germany. He left Tuesday, the report said.
“I was just trying to get an opportunity to play. My agent called and said I had an opportunity in Germany. Do I want it?," Wright told MLive.
Wright is the third player off the 2010-11 Oakland team, which repeated as Summit League champions, to play professionally.
Keith Benson, drafted by the Atlanta Hawks late in the second round of the NBA Draft, has moved to Italy to play during the lockout. Scrappy rebounder Will Hudson is playing in Australia.
Wright transferred to Oakland from St. John's and sat out a season before becoming a starter in 2009-10. He began coming off the bench midway through last season and flourished in the role.
Wright also told MLive he was happy with how his college career played out, but wishes he hadn't been hurt as much.

Get ready to attend more games if you want to see Oakland

2011-09-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Last year, it was as if you couldn't keep the Oakland Golden Grizzlies off television. In fact, coach Greg Kampe once joked his team would be on the Big Ten Network more than Northwestern. The Grizzlies were on BTN, ESPN and Fox Sports Detroit three times each during the regular season. And then there were postseason appearances from the Summit League Tournament and NCAA tournament, where Oakland got lofty CBS coverage, as Turner Sports deflected its coverage onto several different networks under its umbrella.
This year is shaping up to be a little bit different.
The schedule was released Wednesday with just two televised games: Nov. 28 vs. Tennessee (ESPNU) and Dec. 10 vs. Michigan at The Palace (FSD).
It's likely any Grizzlies fans who would watch those games will already be sitting in an arena seat. It will be interesting, however, as the Tennessee game is a 9 p.m. start. Kampe said that's the latest an Oakland game has ever started.
The Tennessee game will be the first time ESPN has carried a game on Oakland's campus.
"We're very excited about that," Kampe said.
Kampe said more Oakland games could be picked up by FSD, including Western Michigan's visit to the O'rena Dec. 23, which has been reported to be carried by FSD, but Kampe said negotiations were ongoing.
"There's a lot of scheduling they're going to lose and they're going to be looking for things," he said.
"The Western Michigan game would make sense because it's two Michigan schools. I can't be definitive because it's really just speculation."
As the NBA lockout drags on and more pundits pile on their pessimism about a resolution, the more likely it becomes fans will get to see the Grizzlies from the seat of their couch, while the pros spend the winter skiing.
"Until the lockout situation is resolved, we won't know a lot of stuff," Kampe said.
As it concerns the Grizzlies, it seems to be a wait and (maybe) see situation.

Oakland games won't move despite NBA lockout

2011-09-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

There has been some buzz lately about the possibility of Oakland moving some games from the O'rena to The Palace, which is only 3 1/2 miles from the Rochester campus, in the event the NBA lockout persists into the winter.
Grizzlies coach Greg Kampe put an end to that speculation, saying Wednesday following the release of Oakland's schedule no games that aren't already scheduled to be played at The Palace will be played at the Pistons' home.
"We want teams to play us in the O'rena," Kampe said.
The Grizzlies have one game, Dec. 10 against Michigan, scheduled for The Palace. Oakland suffered a one-point loss to then-No. 7 Michigan State there last season. The Grizzlies picked up their first top-25 win in 2007, taking down then-No. 21 Oregon, in Auburn Hills.
Oakland of course got its second win over a top-25 program, beating Tennessee last December. The Volunteers visit the O'Rena Nov. 28 in the second of a three-game deal and it could set a new record for attendance at Oakland's home floor.
The attendance record at the O'rena, 4,055, was set when then-No. 3 Missouri visited in 2003 (which was also former beat writer and good friend Dave Pemberton's first Oakland game). An extra set of bleachers was brought in for the day to expand the capacity of the 3,000 seat arena.
Kampe was unsure what seating arrangements will be made to accommodate the likely overflow crowd.
Director of Athletics Tracy Huth said last July:
"If we could blow the roof off for one day and put a couple more thousand seats, we certainly would. But we’ll definitely put in there what we can."
Huth also touched on the importance of getting Tennessee to visit Rochester.
"The excitement level is several times higher than it would be if we were at a neutral site.”
The Grizzlies pulled off a program-defining upset in Knoxville, Tenn., last season and this year's game should help them set another program benchmark in attendance. And you can't do that at The Palace.

Offseason injury news

2011-09-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

The three-game Canadian exhibition was supposed to be a good test for Oakland's freshmen, but it could prove to be a good test of coach Greg Kampe's patience. It seems junior forward Drew Valentine triggered an old knee injury on a dunk attempt, which needed surgery to repair cartilage. Kampe said his staff wouldn't know Valentine's status for the upcoming season for 6-8 weeks. Valentine is once again expected to be the glue in the Grizzlies' starting lineup.
"We're in a lot of trouble if he can't play," Kampe said.
Surgeons removed a quarter-sized piece of cartilage in a procedure Kampe called "fairly complicated."
Kampe said he is planning at this point to have Valentine available when the season rolls around.
If that wasn't big enough injury news, point guard Reggie Hamilton had a growth removed from his chest this week. Hamilton's family has a history of breast cancer, Kampe said. Hamilton also has a lingering hip problem and Kampe is hoping the rest between now and the beginning will help rest his gunslinging PG.
"I'm probably the only one who is healthy," joked Kampe, who had double knee replacement surgery in May.
Practice begins in October and the Grizzlies open the season vs. Spring Arbor at the O'rena Nov. 3.

Double-OT exhibition win timeline

2011-08-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

I can understand if even the most dedicated Oakland fans didn't make the trip to Windsor for Saturday's exhibition, though I did recognize a few faces. I was told afterward my Twitter timeline for the day was quite entertaining, so here it is:

The Grizzlies continued their Canadian schedule Sunday and face Western Ontario Monday at 7 p.m.

Grizzlies land Crockett star Lloyd Neely

2011-08-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

Oakland recently secured a verbal commitment from Detroit Crockett senior power forward Lloyd Neely for 2012-13. Neely, 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, was an all-state selection last season after averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds per game.
Neely was considering University of Detroit, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and Akron, according to his coach, Juan Rickman.
ESPN.com says Neely is undersized and gets himself into foul trouble, but he’s a good rebounder and he can finish below the rim.
“Neely is a tough, competitive but under sized power forward that can score inside and out when put in the right situations. He is a good rebounder but must develop his ball skills and extend his range along to aid him in reaching his potential.”
ESPN ranks Neely 70th at his position.
Neely plays for the Detroit Stars AAU team.
Neely was named to the Class B all-state team following his junior season alongside other Oakland pursuits in Patrick Lucas-Perry (Flint Powers), brother of guard Laval Lucas-Perry, and Denzel Valentine (Lansing Sexton), brother of guard Drew Valentine. Patrick Lucas-Perry opted for Pennsylvania and Denzel Valentine chose Michigan State.

Offseason Grizz Talk: Preparing for a trip to Canada

2011-08-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Oakland coach Greg Kampe is preparing his team for a visit to Windsor this weekend, while enjoying the 10 additional summer practices afforded his Golden Grizzlies.

Freshman guard Dante Williams talks about adjusting to the college game and what he's looking forward to in his first year.

Freshman guard Matt Poches reveals he's never been to Canada.

Providence transfer Duke Mondy reportedly headed to Oakland

2011-08-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Multiple college basketball message boards have Providence transfer Duke Mondy, from Grand Rapids, on course to land at Oakland.
Mondy was released from the team in May after sitting the season's final four games of his sophomore season. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season, his best coming against a nationally-ranked Georgetown team in February, where Mondy scored 19 points. He led the Big East with 2.1 steals per game.
Mondy found himself "in disciplinary trouble at PC on several occasions in his two years at the school," according to the Providence Journal. Announcing Mondy's dismissal, Providence personnel declined to specify the reason for his departure.
A Twitter account, which appears to belong to Mondy indicates in different tweets "I live in Rochester now" and "I'm at Oakland University."

Trip to Canada will be good for freshmen

2011-08-08T07:55:00.001-07:00

The Golden Grizzlies will be smaller and younger when the season begins in November. It's fortunate for them, Oakland is taking part in the Tipoff Classic in Windsor Friday-Monday with three exhibitions, two against the University of Windsor and another against Western Ontario. In addition, the Grizzlies will be granted 10 practices that won't count against them when the season begins.
The team's freshmen, three true and two red-shirts, will be the most likely to benefit from the extra time.
"Three or four freshmen are going to play a major role (this season)," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. "We need to see them under fire."
The Grizzlies' defense was anchored by NBA draft pick Keith Benson in recent seasons, but with his departure, their defense will be in flux. Having played mostly man-on-man schemes, the Grizzlies are expecting to return to zone matchups.
"(Benson's) skills didn't fit what that defense did. We put in the vault, now we're smaller, we're going to play some zone," Kampe said.
"We're excited to see how good this defense can be."
Oakland's schedule is as follows:

Saturday, at Windsor, 2 p.m.
Sunday, at Windsor, 4 p.m.
Monday, at Western Ontario, 7 p.m.

Teams are eligible for foreign trips every four years. Oakland visited Toronto in 2006, opting not to visit Canada last season because they already had a veteran-laden team.
Kampe said he had originally thought about visiting the intense competition of South America.
Western Ontario also plays Virginia Tech next Wednesday.
Tickets are $5 and available at the door before the event.

Kito making NBA debut despite lockout

2011-07-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Former Oakland center Keith Benson was hurried into a makeshift camp with the Hawks right after the NBA draft and has likely continued in a holding pattern since. Regardless, he's about to make his NBA debut in NBA 2K12, which, if it follow the pattern of previous editions, should be released in October.
Compare the image above that has been making the rounds online with a similar image from 2009-10 media day below. It looks like they did a pretty good job, but they didn't quite get that tattoos. I'm sure his character's skill level will be of much more importance to his former Oakland teammates and fans, as they sit down to play this fall.