Oakland Golden Grizzlies
Summit League (22-12, 13-5)
RPI: 122
Big Wins: 12/18 at Wisconsin Green Bay (79-76), 1/2 North Dakota State (77-76), 2/5 Oral Roberts (81-69)
Bad Losses: 12/2 at Southern Utah (66-82), 1/8 at Centenary (60-80), 1/31 at South Dakota State (68-74)
Coach: Greg Kampe
Probable Starters:
Johnathon Jones, Junior, Guard, 13.6 ppg, 7.8 apg
Erik Kangas, Senior, Guard, 18.7 ppg, 1.8 apg
Drew Maynard, Freshman, Guard, 7.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Will Hudson, Sophomore, Forward, 7.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Keith Benson, Sophomore, Center, 14.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.5 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Blake Cushingberry, Freshman, Guard, 6.3 ppg, 1.1 apg
Matt Samuels, Freshman, Guard, 2.4 ppg, 1.1 apg
Dan Waterstradt, Senior, Center, 4.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg
Why They Can Surprise:
If a team has a great shooter, an interior scorer and somebody to get those two the ball, they usually win a lot of games. Oakland has all three. The shooter is Erik Kangas. The 6-3 senior connects on an incredible 3.8 three-pointers per game and hits 41.9 percent of his attempts. Obviously he does most of his scoring from outside, but he will finish around the basket on occasion and is a great free-throw shooter. When Kangas’ shot is falling, which is just about all the time since he has only failed to reach double digits once all season, the Golden Grizzlies offense is difficult to defend.
The big man of the group is Keith Benson. The 6-11 center is the team’s second leading scorer and has exploded for 20 or more points on seven occasions. Benson is also a superb rebounder and shot blocker. In January at South Dakota State he tallied 18 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks. With another game like that, Oakland could win a game in the tournament. Johnathan Jones is the playmaker and averages a nation high 7.8 assists per game. Usually when somebody has that many assists they do not score much, but that is not the case with Jones. The 5-11 junior averages 13.6 points per game.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The offense can outscore people, but the defense is not that great. Oakland allows the opposition to shoot over 37 percent from beyond the arc. Matched up against a good outside shooting team, Oakland will struggle. The other concern is the lack of depth. Blake Cushingberry and Dan Waterstradt are both quality players who have earned at least a dozen starts on the season, but if there is any major foul trouble, Coach Greg Kampe will not feel safe looking further down his bench.
Who To Watch:
Drew Maynard and Will Hudson are usually the other two starters, but Cushingberry and Waterstradt will see just as many minutes off the bench as those two. That gives the Grizzlies three stars and four roleplayers. In order to have success in March, at least one of those four need to step up. Maynard and Cushinberry are both capable three-point shooters and Hudson and Waterstradt will do the dirty work under the basket. Hudson can provide the team with another interior scoring threat and that will be crucial if Benson finds himself in foul trouble…which seems to happen more often than not.
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 75.2 (59th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 71.1 (255, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.8 (25, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.9 (199, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.5 (61, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.7 (45, 4)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.8 (133, 7)
Rebound Margin: 0.3 (173, 6)
Assists Per Game: 14.9 (66, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.0 (90, 5)
