Smith shares strategy as Bulldogs' basketball kicks off

Auctioneer Rob Hopkins took bids on a cream pie with the help of basketball players Taylor Pickup, Bobby Shaw and Evan Owens during the Meet the Bulldogs event on Friday night. The pie auction raised $642 to be used for junior high practice gear, according to coach Donnie Smith. Players were introduced at the event and displayed their skills with scrimmage games and drills.

Auctioneer Rob Hopkins took bids on a cream pie with the help of basketball players Taylor Pickup, Bobby Shaw and Evan Owens during the Meet the Bulldogs event on Friday night. The pie auction raised $642 to be used for junior high practice gear, according to coach Donnie Smith. Players were introduced at the event and displayed their skills with scrimmage games and drills.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

— Consider it a changing to the guard.

Decatur coach Donnie Smith will be relying heavily on his back court players - mainly out of necessity - if the Bulldogs want to turn things around this season.

“We don’t have a lot of size inside,” said Smith, who begins his third season with the team. “We’ll change things up a little bit and play with a threeguard and sometimes a four-guard lineup.

“We’re trying to push the ball a little bit this year and see how it develops. We need to get out of football shape right now, but I think we will be OK.”

Quality guard play will be essential for the Bulldogs. No post player is taller than 5-foot-11, and most of them are inexperienced, being sophomores or moving in from other schools - part of seven new players Smith inherited.

Two seniors return as starters in Decatur’s back court, with 6-foot Blake Wilkins being the Bulldogs’ tallest player. Wilkins averaged eight points per game last year, while fellow guard Mitchell Nelson (5-10) averaged six points per game.

Smith is also counting on senior point guard Brady Graves (5-8) to run the offense after he recovers from injuring his collarbone. The Bulldogs plan on using a nine-man rotation, mainly guards since the front court is thin.

“I think this group can come together and be a more cohesive unit,” Smith said. “I think we’ll have a more combined effort, and things will be more spread out because the talent level is a little more balanced.”

On the girls side, Decatur will do things a little bit differently. The Lady Bulldogs plan to be a little more deliberate with their offensive approach after an up-tempo pace backfired last season.

“We get in a half-court game and work the ball,” Smith said. “The faster style of game we wanted to play just doesn’t work with some of the teams we face in conference play.”

Sammy Jo Thompson returns as the leading scorer, averaging 10 points per game for a team that won only five games last season.

The 5-6 Thompson, a junior who will split time as a guard and on the post, averaged 10 points per games last season.

Hollee Coe, a 5-3 junior guard, and Seanna Shaw, a 5-7 sophomore, also return to the starting lineup.

Smith said he’s ready to see what Brittany Booth, a 5-6 junior guard, can do after playing only two games last season before suffering an injury.

“We won’t change up a whole lot with this group,”Smith said. “There’s a lot of experience on this team, and the girls are familiar with what we do.”

Smith said he thinks Decatur should improve its showing in the 2A-4 Conference, which will have two fewer schools than it had last season.

“I think we can be right in the middle of the pack,” he said. “If our players can develop like they should, and things go well, I can see us in the top four.

“The boys will need to develop a little further, but this league looks evenly matched. Beside a couple of traditionally tough schools, there’s nobody that can’t compete with the other schools.”

Sports, Pages 12 on 11/17/2010