Bulldogs more than ready for basketball season to begin
Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2008
The high pitch of anticipation for the season opener against Little Rock Central will finally abate today at Bulldog Gym.
While many teams have already embarked on the 2008-09 campaign, Fayetteville has remained idle. Head coach Barry Gebhart said his charges are ready to get the season underway.
“ I know they’re excited, ” he said. “ It seems like everybody else has already played, looking at schedules and looking at the paper. We’ll be one of the last teams to have played that first game. I think they’re a little bit antsy and looking forward to it. It will be quite a challenge, because Central is going to be very good. ”
Today’s game pits the defending 7 A-Central and 7 A-West conference champions. The Bulldogs won their second 7 A-West Conference title in three years last season. They were 20-8 and reached the semifinals of the state tournament.
Little Rock Central posted a 25-5 record en route to its conference crown. A second-round loss to Cabot ended the Tigers’ state tournament run.
Three Central starters return from last year’s team. Senior center Chukwudi Ekeh (6-5 ) was an all-conference performer in 2007-08. Senior guard / forward Alandise Harris (6-5 ) and senior forward Jordan Talbert (6-5 ) were both mem- bers of the all-state team.
Central has been Fayetteville’s season-opening opponent for almost a decade. Gebhart said the Tigers are a departure from what Fayetteville sees during conference play and help prepare the Bulldogs for the state tournament.
“ It’s always a good matchup for us, ” he said. “ We always know that they’re going to be very athletic. They style of play that they like to play is one we don’t see a lot of in our league. We have to test ourselves in our nonconference schedule to see that style, because then we see it again in our state tournament. ”
Central head coach Oliver Fitzpatrick agreed with Gebhart. He said the Bulldogs present a different set of challenges than Central’s conference opponents.
“ We like to get a taste of the Western conference and see what it’s like, ” Fitzpatrick said. “[Fayetteville ] plays a different style than what we see on this side of the state. It sharpens up what we do. ”
Fitzpatrick wants to get a look at Fayetteville but said he’s seen enough of Bulldog senior guard Fred Gulley, who has a penchant for playing some of best games against the Tigers.
Gulley scored 27 points in his varsity debut two years ago, a 59-50 Central win. Last season he scored 28 despite playing with what was thought to be a sports hernia. The season-high scoring total paced the Bulldogs’ 74-66 win.
“ He’s been a thorn in our side for two years, ” Fitzpatrick said. “ I’ll be glad to see him go. ”
Gebhart said Gulley welcomes the more frenetic tempo that typically arises when Fayetteville plays Central. It’s a pace akin to the one employed by Gulley’s AAU team and the Team Reebok USA squad he played on over the summer.
“ Fred is more accustomed to playing that way, ” Gebhart said. “ That’s kind of his style anyway. He has had some good games against them. ”
Hogue on the mend The Bulldogs’ other returning all-state player, senior post man Cable Hogue, is recovering from stress fractures in both of his shins. The fractures idled him for six weeks during the fall offseason. Gebhart said one of the shins is still sore and prevents Hogue from fully participating in practice.
“ He goes for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, ” Gebhart said. “ We get him out and he ices it. It’s probably going to be something that we’re going to have to keep an eye on throughout the year.
“ We don’t want to get him pounded on and pounded on up and down the floor in practice and hopefully save his best minutes for games rather than practice time. ”
Hogue scored 11 points in Fayetteville’s win at Alma in the exhibition opener. The muscle he added to his 6-7 frame over the offseason made him look considerably bigger.
“ I think he’s put on 10 or 15 pounds, ” Gebhart said. “ He’s never had any body fat. He’s about 4 or 5 percent body fat. I think he’s stronger. He was strong last year, but I think he has put on some strength as well. ”
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