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Tigers' Smith playing well for FHSU
2/10/2010
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Fort Hays State University men's basketball coach Mark Johnson made a series of personnel changes for last Saturday's contest versus Washburn University. He started senior forward Ryan Herrman and junior Dijon Smith instead of incumbent starters Tim Peintner and Ken Bowman. Johnson had several reasons for the move -- Herrman's defense helped against Washburn's DeAndre Washington, Peintner, a senior, has missed some time with an ankle injury and Bowman, a junior, has seen fewer minutes because of fouls.
But the key factor was Smith.
"Dijon can score the basketball," Johnson said. "He can score the ball around the basket. He is just kind of crafty. He figures out a way. One, the main reason that we did it is that Dijon has been playing well."
Smith, in his first start as a Tiger, responded with another solid performance, tallying 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds in 24 minutes. Fort Hays ended a two-game losing streak with a 74-62 road win against Washburn.
"We just had to play with a lot more energy," Smith said. "The last two games we weren't ready. We had to just come back, bounce back and play hard."
Smith, a 6-foot-8 transfer from State Fair (Mo.) Community College, collected his career-high third straight double-figure game and continued a strong second semester. Smith, who averages 8.5 points a contest, has averaged 11 points a night in his last eight games. Smith, known for his hook shot, is the team leader in field goal percentage (64 percent) and blocks (31). He has helped on both ends of the floor for Fort Hays, 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, second place in the conference and ranked 10th in NCAA Division II.
"Dijon can score," Johnson said. "He is our most skilled big guy. Ken is a little bigger, Ken is a little better athlete and Ken can step away from the basket and do some good things. But post moves, having a feel for being a post up player around the basket, Dijon is very good. He is (not a) physical player, but he is a physical player when he gets the ball."
On Thursday, the Tigers return home after playing five of their last six games on the road, a stretch that produced a 4-2 record. Overall, Fort Hays has played seven of its last 10 games away from Hays.
Johnson though, said, "the schedule turns in our favor now," starting with a home contest against last-place Truman State (Mo.) University (4-18, 2-13 MIAA). Game time is 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the Tigers hosts University of Central Missouri, the MIAA leader. Including this week, FHSU finishes the season with four of six games at home. In January, Fort Hays won at Truman State 71-47 before winning at Central Missouri, then ranked No. 1 in the nation, 81-71.
"We are in the same situation when we went on that road trip and I think our guys handled it tremendous," Johnson said. "I thought we were focused and played really hard at Truman. I gave the same speech (Saturday), don't have a letup and not come to play."
FHSU is 11-0 at home this season and could become the first Tiger team since 1997-98 to post a perfect home record. The Tigers are the lone MIAA squad still undefeated at home and have had a big improvement over 2008-09. Last season, the Tigers finished 12-8 in the conference, but was 6-4 at home and 6-4 on the road.
"We were good on the road last year, we were 6-4 in the conference, you would probably take that about every year," Johnson said. "The big thing for us this year, the focus for us is we have got to take care of business at home. You go 6-4 at home, that's not good enough."
Saturday's win yielded a return to normalcy for Fort Hays after two straight losses. The Tigers shot 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc and placed four players in double figures. Senior guard Willie Hassell scored a team-high 17 points, while junior Dominique Jones added 11.
Hassell averages 10 points a contest, while Jones and junior guard Corbin Kuntzsch are tied for the team lead at 13.7 points per game.
"These guys (Hassell, Jones) can really put pressure on the defense and I felt at times -- and I am probably a lot to blame for that -- I think we were getting a little too structured, a little too pass and catch. These guys have to be aggressive and make things happen for us," Johnson said.
Kuntzsch, whom Johnson calls "either hot or cold guy" shooting, went 4-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc for 10 points against Washburn.
"Really, it's a simple thing," Johnson said. "When Corbin is shooting the perimeter shot well, we are a very good basketball team. One, he is 6-foot-4, he can get it off, he can move without the ball better than anybody. He can find his shot and he is making them."
Smith has helped, too. While the forward had just one double-figure game in November and December and five since, his defense has put the Tigers in the conference lead in scoring defense (62.9) and field goal percentage defense (39.1). Masseyratings.com ranks FHSU as the No. 6 defense in Division II. Smith's length has helped him block a shot in all but three conference games, including one in his start against Washburn.
"You've got to have guys that change shots," Smith said. "You look at K-State, KU, how many times does Cole Aldrich make up for KU's mistakes? When you look at K-State, they have a number of guys that challenge the basketball if someone goes to the basket. If you are going to be a really good defensive team you have to have people like that."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |