By
Al Myatt
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It has been some time since East Carolina basketball coach Jeff Lebo
ventured within Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. The span is almost 25
years.
Lebo was an outstanding guard on a North Carolina team that topped the
homestanding Blue Devils, 91-71, on Jan. 18, 1989, his senior year with
the Tar Heels.
Lebo is scheduled to direct the Pirates against Norfolk State in the
building at 9:30 tonight in a first round game in the NIT Tip-Off
Tournament.
"That's a great environment, one of the best environments that you'll
ever play in in college basketball," Lebo said. "That's not changed
since Coach K's been there."
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will guide the Blue Devils in a matchup with
UNC-Asheville at 7 tonight (ESPNU).
"It's an interesting time to play," Lebo said. "We play the late game
after they play. That's a late start."
The Blue Devils are one of four top seeds and hosts in the NIT Tip-Off
regionals along with Arizona, Alabama and Rutgers. The early start
potentially allows Duke a little more rest with a quick turnaround for
the second round games.
ECU is seeded seventh in the 16-team field.
"It will be a unique day," Lebo said. "There's nothing worse for a
player or coach than waiting to play. It will be a long wait."
The Pirates spent Sunday night in the Triangle.
The two first-round winners and opening night losers will play Tuesday
night.
Duke is 2-1 with a 94-83 loss to Kansas in Chicago. A pair of newcomers,
freshman Jabari Parker (6 feet, 8 inches) and sophomore Rodney Hood
(6-8), a transfer from Mississippi State, have led the Blue Devils.
Parker is averaging 23.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. Hood is scoring at a
20.3 clip with 5.0 rebounds. Junior guard Quinn Cook is averaging 13
points and 6.7 assists.
The tournament format might allow some venue acclimation tonight if ECU
were to play the Blue Devils.
"Who knows?" Lebo said. "We're not worried about Duke right now. We're
trying to focus on Norfolk State. We'll have a heckuva time trying to
win that one. They're terrific."
The winner of Tuesday night's 8:30 game between Monday night's victors
advances to the semifinals at New York's Madison Square Garden on Nov.
27. The consolation and championship of the event are Nov. 29.
Focus: NSU
Lebo has been zeroed in on Norfolk State since
a 95-45 win at home over Division II Chowan
on Thursday night moved the youthful Pirates to 3-0 on the new season.
It was ECU's eighth straight win going back to the run to
last season's CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
"They've got eight seniors," Lebo said. "They're a team that has four
starters back off of a team that went 16-0 in their league (MEAC) last
year."
The Pirates led throughout
a 74-63 win over the Spartans
in Greenville on Dec. 29 of last season as Maurice Kemp had 23 points
and six rebounds. Miguel Paul had 19 points and eight assists. Robert
Sampson totaled 12 points and nine rebounds. None of those guys are
wearing ECU's purple and gold this season.
"It will be a tale of two types of teams — a young, inexperienced team
versus eight seniors, very physical, very big team," Lebo said. "They've
got terrific wing players and guard play. (Malcolm) Hawkins (6-5) and (Pendarvis)
Williams (6-6) are two wing players with size who are as good as we've
seen so far."
Norfolk State (2-1) opened with a 98-87 loss at Texas Southern but
regrouped to top Newbery (115-95) and Virginia Union (92-84). Robert
Jones was elevated to interim head coach after Anthony Evans left for
Florida International following a 21-12 season in 2012-13. This is
Jones' seventh season at NSU.
The Spartans gained national notoriety for beating Missouri, a No. 2
seed, in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Impact of new rules
College basketball has toughened up on defensive hand checking this
season and redefined some block/charge situations.
ECU is averaging 24.3 free throw attempts per game thus far compared to
22.4 last season.
"The players are making adjustments, the coaches are trying to make
adjustments and get a feel," Lebo said. "The referees, obviously, are
making adjustments, not only on guarding the dribbler but also on
secondary defenders. You're seeing less charges. You're seeing more
blocks.
"If they're consistent with it the whole year, I think most people will
kind of stay the same with their teaching. I think next year you're
going to see a lot of different schemes, a lot of different defenses. I
think you're going to see a lot more zone because of the way they're
calling it."
The new regulations were designed to allow more scoring.
"You're seeing a lot more foul shots right now," said the Pirates coach.
"The rhythm of the game is getting stopped a lot because of the fouls."
Lebo said if the officiating remains consistent there might be some lag
time before everyone adapts.
"We'll have to figure out the best way to play defense and what things
we need to change to teach it better," Lebo said. " ... When the guy
just dribbles right at you, you can't defend it. That's what you're
going to teach offensively now is just dribble right at the guy's chest.
"There's going to be a call. You're going to get something. That's the
biggest adjustment."
Help side defenders are also being watched.
"The secondary defender coming in — you're seeing a lot more blocks,"
Lebo said. "They're trying to cut down on the collisions at the basket
area. We're going to have to change how we teach that secondary defender
to come over.
"Shot blocking is going to become a little bit more of an emphasis
because they're going to call blocks when you come across as a secondary
defender. It's kind of unique when they put both of them in at the same
time. It's an adjustment with the defensive concepts."
Rookies contributing
Brandan Stith, son of Virginia's all-time leading scorer, Bryant Stith,
and Caleb White are playing significant roles for ECU as freshmen. White
is averaging 13.0 points. Stith is averaging 11.0 points and a team-high
10.0 rebounds.
Lebo has a good track record of evaluating talent and getting it into
his program.
"There's no exact science on that," he said. "These kids have come from
winning backgrounds. Obviously, Brandan comes from a basketball family.
That's important. I think both of them love to play. Both of them have
tremendous upside, athleticism and size for position.
"Brandan's motor is just terrific. He can really rebound the ball and
can run.
"Caleb's skill level is outstanding for a guy who's close to 6-8. He can
shoot it, put it down (drive). He's got a good basketball IQ and doesn't
make a lot of mistakes with the ball. He doesn't turn it over."
Still, both are just three games into their college careers.
"Both of them are making adjustments to the speed of the game — thinking
and playing at the speed at which they need to play," said the Pirates
coach. "They'll have times where they probably struggle as they make the
adjustment but those two guys are going to be in the mix for us. They're
going to play a lot."
Stith and White helped ECU to
an 85-84 comeback win at UNC-Greensboro.
"At the end, they're in the game," Lebo said. "That's 40 percent of your
team in there is freshmen, on the road in a tough situation. ... We're
excited about their growth and their willingness to learn. They're good
kids and I think they're going to have good careers here at East
Carolina."
Bryant Stith coached Brunswick County (VA) High School in Lawrencesville
to three straight 2-A state titles. Brandan Stith played a prominent
role in that success.
The older Stith has since joined the Old Dominion staff as an assistant,
which will make for an interesting dynamic when the Pirates meet the
Monarchs in Conference USA games in Greenville on Jan. 11 and in Norfolk
on March 6.
Netti fitting in
Lebo's own staff has undergone a change with Mike Netti replacing Tim
Craft, who left after three seasons at ECU to become head coach at
Gardner-Webb.
The Pirates essentially did a trade-out with the Bulldogs by bringing in
Netti, who had been a G-W assistant the previous three seasons.
"He's made the transition very well," Lebo said of the new addition. "He
reminds me a lot of Coach Craft. He's a 24/7 basketball junkie. He
spends countless hours on the court with our kids individually before
practice, during the day, getting extra shots in.
"He really invests in the kids' individual games. He's very good on the
court with them, teaching them.
"He's got high energy, very positive. He made the transition pretty
easily.
"When a new guy comes in, it takes about a year to kind of feel your way
in how things are done and what's expected of them but he's made the
transition pretty easily.
"We're excited to have him."
New hoops classroom
ECU's new $17 million basketball practice facility is already a huge
asset.
"It's been great for our kids," Lebo said. "It's been great for our
coaches. Our work environment is so much better. Having access to the
gym, 24/7, has been terrific.
"Having more up-to-date tools for your trade is vital. ... We're trying
to finish off the final touches but we're in and excited.
"It's really turned out very nice. It's just really great for our
players to have this court here and be able to practice at the same time
every day and be consistent with everything.
"To see it come from a drawing to actually being here — it's really
cool."
ECU
coach
Ruffin
McNeill
addressed
the
media
after
the
Pirates'
Senior
Day
win
over
UAB:
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate Radio 1250
on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. This week's guests
were high school coaches Jim Bob Bryant,
Brian Paschal, Paul Cornwell and Dave
Wojtecki:
