Lawrence Tynes

January 23, 2008

Drew Champlin

Just got off the phone with Lawrence Tynes, the New York Giants kicker who made the game-winning field goal in overtime to send the Giants to the Super Bowl against the Patriots. I’ll have a story on that FRIDAY in the Dothan Eagle.

He had just gotten out of taping for the David Letterman Show, where he was a guest. That airing will be at 10:30 p.m. CST on CBS.

Some highlights:

***He played two years at Troy with Giants teammate Osi Umenyiora. The two hugged after the game for a good 45 seconds. “How weird is it that two guys from Troy State are going to be playing in the Super Bowl?“ he said.

***He still calls it Troy State, partly because that’s what it was called when he played. “I need to drop that (the State). My license plate still says Troy State alumni. I’ve been corrected by a few people when I say Troy State.“

***Tynes was sick with a 36-hour bug from 4 a.m. Sunday till sometime Tuesday, but it was an airborne virus, he said. It didn’t have anything to do with the temperatures at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, which dropped as low as (-1) with a wind chill of (-24).

***The game-winning kick went for 47 yards. He said the limit on that end of the field, because of the weather, would have been 50 yards. On the other end, probably 44-45 yards.

***We talked a lot about Troy and coach Larry Blakeney. “I feel bad for him over the years having to replace so many assistant coaches,“ Tynes said. “To do what he does replacing all those coaches and keep winning, it’s very impressive.“

***He watches Troy on ESPN, but hasn’t been back in a few years. He was at the 56-0 loss to Nebraska in 2006. He talked to former teammate Matt Allen after Troy’s season-ending loss to FAU, which left the Trojans 8-4 and out of a bowl game. “Matt lives in Birmingham and he goes to a lot of the games. He was so bummed out. That’s ridiculous for them not to go to a bowl game. Three of the losses came to three SEC teams in the BCS and they dang near beat all three of them.“

***On Troy’s rise to the Division I-A (FBS) ranks. “The initial thought was to be another Southern Miss-type team. We’re better than that. We need to shoot for high rankings. To do that, we need to get out of that conference and get in a better conference that would help out more. We might be a better fit than Vanderbilt or another one of those SEC teams that gets their butt kicked all the time.“

He did say a conference like Conference USA would be a much better fit than where the Trojans are now.

Not sure what direction I’ll take with the story, since I’ll write it later, but those were some of the highlights of the conversation. He’s gotten a lot more media attention and I’m sure several media outlets around the state will have stories on him in the next few days.

Troy hoops talk

Drew Champlin

Spoke with Troy senior forward Justin Jonus Tuesday afternoon for my Thursday preview. Turns out it was back spasms that contributed to his sluggish performance (in scoring) over a four-game stretch where he didn’t score double digits once. The knee is what it is and he can play and do well even with it hurt. The back, not so much. He wore a back brace in a couple of those games.

He’s more than made up for it the last three games, hitting double figures every time. Secret for success? A better back. The spasms aren’t coming like they did, and he can drive to the bucket and either finish, get to the line or dish to an open teammate.

Jonus scored 30, the most he’s scored against a Division I-A team in his career, in an 89-80 win at Arkansas State last week.

Troy hosts Arkansas-Little Rock Thursday night. The UALR Trojans have a winning record, but played a very weak schedule. They’re not that good offensively, but have a few shooters that could find success against Troy’s zone if they move the ball around well. If they don’t move the ball around well, they won’t score a lot. From my early thoughts, it’s a game Troy could win by 15-20 or a game UALR could win 59-55.

I will be there around the start of the women’s game against UALR at 5:15 p.m. If you’re a faithful blog reader in attendance, feel free to come and say hello. I sit on press row across from the benches and scorers table, usually next to the legendary radio broadcasting duo of Barry McKnight and Jerry Miller.

Troy women’s basketball

January 22, 2008

Drew Champlin

I try to do a couple of features on the women each year, and if they win in their half of the doubleheader with the men, write about them a little more.

Today, I wrote about Amy Lewis, the first of the Australians on the roster to come over. She has a chance to leave as Troy’s 3rd-leading all-time scorer and perhaps its best player ever as you look at the level of competition that she’s been facing compared to her predecessors.

Here’s some stuff that didn’t make it into the story

Lewis, on stepping up as a leader last year when senior Laura Lee Holman took a leave of absence
“We had the impression that it was going to happen. To see your teammate going down that road, it was really hard to watch. We did respect her decision and we were behind her the whole way.“

“Coach (Craig) Kennedy came up to me and said that I have to step up and be a leader. From then, I knew for this team to do well, I had to take it on my own to lead.“

Transitioning to the college game: The biggest difficulty she had was keeping up with the athleticism of the game, but that’s all freshmen and I don’t care what sport you’re in.
Lewis as a great player: Great players are able to play at the speed of the game and get themselves to slow down for that brief second to make a play.
On Lewis’ added leadership role when Holman left last year (Holman is back this year): She stepped outside of her comfort zone as to who she is to help us and it had a profound impact on this team.
A little recruiting nugget with Australians: My watch has a second time zone on it and it’s set to Australian time.
On Lewis’ pro potential: Amy will play at the next level. Where that’s at, time will tell. If she can get the right opportunity in the WNBA, she’ll make it.

Troy beats Arkansas State

January 19, 2008

Drew Champlin

POSTGAME LINKS

TroyTrojans.com: Trojans use free throw shooting to win
Jonesboro (Ark.) Sun: ASU star plays on bad ankle while another ASU starter is injured during shootaround; Troy too much for hobbled ASU.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Bad night all-around for ASU

Looks like my hunch regarding Troy basketball was right. Trojans steal a road win at Arkansas State, 89-80 and are now 9-9, 2-5 in conference play. Justin Jonus keeps playing well and exploded for 30 points tonight and O’Darien Bassett scored 24.

Troy’s next three games are at home and are all winnable - vs. Ark-Little Rock, UL-Lafayette and UL-Monroe. Not gimmes, but neither of the three teams have a decided talent advantage over the Trojans.

I don’t have game details as I couldn’t listen but to the last two minutes of the game because of desk duties, but the Trojans hit all their free throws. ASU star guard Adrian Banks did play though he was battling a high ankle sprain, but the combo of Jonus and Bassett were too much to overcome.

When they’re scoring 54 combined points, Troy’s going to win in this league.

I’ll link game stories tomorrow. I’m sure the Jonesboro Sun was covering the game. Here’s a Sun Belt scoreboard from Saturday night.

Hoops look: Troy at Arkansas State

January 18, 2008

Drew Champlin

GAMEDAY LINKS

Dothan Eagle: Troy needs to start winning now
Jonesboro Sun: ASU’s Banks may not play.
That’s big news as Adrian Banks is a big-time player for ASU. I did not know he was hurt until I read this story this morning.
————————————————————————————————————-

What: Troy (8-9, 1-5 Sun Belt) at Arkansas State (8-9, 3-4)
When: 7:05 p.m. CST Jan. 19
Where: Convocation Center, Jonesboro, Ark.
Last time out: Troy lost to MTSU 65-64, ASU lost at Denver 59-52

Probable starting lineups
TROY
G-Jerome Odem (6’1, 160, Sr.) - 7.1 ppg
G-O’Darien Bassett (6’2, 190, Sr.) - 19.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg
F-Justin Jonus (6’6, 220, Sr.) - 12.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg
F-Trayce Macon (6’8, 191, Soph.) - 8.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg
C-Jarvis Acker (6’6, 210, Sr.) - 6.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg

ARKANSAS STATE
G-Adrian Banks (6’3, 200, Sr.) 20 ppg, 4.6 rpg
G-Ryan Wedel (5’10, 175, So.) 15.2 ppg
F-Yima Chia-Kur(6’5, 225, Jr.) 10.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F-Kewain Gant(6’7, 225, Sr.) 4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg
F-Shawn Morgan (6’6, 215, Jr.) 8.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg

What to watch for: We’ll start with some opinion here. When I look at both teams, I see carbon copies, except for the fact ASU has more wins. Both teams have a star (Banks, Bassett) and both teams have a supporting player who likes to fill it up from the outside (Wedel, Jonus). Neither team has that much size, but both teams are probably pretty athletic. ASU has a big advantage in that it’s at home and guys like Wedel and Banks can absolutely shoot the lights out. They have to be licking their chops when they see Troy’s zone and Banks nearly scored 30 points in the first half last year against Troy at Troy before the Trojans rallied for a win.

What could help Troy is the fact that ASU is coming off a tough trip to Denver. The Pioneers are the story of the Belt so far with a 4-2 record. All four wins have come at home and they’re probably the least-talented team, but are very well-coached, play tough defense and run an offense that’s hard to defend. Plus, the minute other teams step off the plane in Denver, they feel like they want to throw up. The high altitude is in Denver’s favor and they may not lose a game at home. They may not win a game on the road, either.

What will hurt Troy is obviously the fact that it’s on the road and the Trojans just aren’t a very good road team this year. Their defense stepped up big-time in the second half against MTSU, even though they lost, so the Trojans will need that to step up again.

Player to watch, Troy: Justin Jonus. The 6-foot-6 senior is now starting to get closer to 100 percent after a bad knee injury in the summer limited his mobility. Him adding extra dimensions to his game makes Troy more of a threat.

Player to watch, ASU: Yima Chia-Kur. Don’t know anything about him except I like his name. Not too bad of a player, either.

Troy will win if: it shoots at a decent clip and blankets Wedel and Banks. Also, it won’t hurt a bit if ASU is jet-lagged.

ASU will win if: Wedel and Banks get hot.

Drew’s prediction: Troy needs to steal a road win here and for some reason I think they do. Troy 82-75