The Pack is looking to improve on last year’s subpar season, one in which it finished in 10tth place in the twelve-team ACC with a 6-10 record in conference play. Part of the problem was inconsistency at the point guard position, where junior Javier Gonzalez started 16 games, nine in conference play, redshirt senior Farnold Degand started 11, six in conference play, and sophomore Julius Mays started three, one of which was an ACC game.
Heading into Thursday’s regular season opener against Georgia State, it appears Gonzalez, who started the final 10 games last season and averaged 10 points per game in those contests, has the starting job at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season. In State’s exhibition win over St. Paul’s a week ago, the Puerto Rico native started and played for 17 minutes, scoring five points and dishing out six of the team’s 24 assists.
Over the summer, in an effort to build on his success over the final 10 games last season, which came after a stretch in which he saw just 18 minutes of action in the 12 games played from Dec. 17 to Jan. 27, Gonzalez worked to make himself a better scorer. Gonzalez averaged seven points per game last season, three more per game than he did as a freshman. And he is looking to improve his scoring ability yet again this year.
“I focused on shooting off the dribble and being more aggressive coming off the ball screen trying to score,” Gonzalez said. “Last year I would just come off the ball screen and try and get people the ball. [Being more aggressive] is what I’ve been working on this summer.”
Coach Sidney Lowe said he noticed Gonzalez has returned with much more intensity than he had a year ago.
“Javi’s done a great job. You can tell that he has come back with a different mindset,” Lowe said. “In practice he is more focused. Where last year something may have happened and he might chuckle about with it a player, up until this point he hasn’t done that. He seems to be more serious this year with it.”
Gonzalez will start the opener, but if last year was any indication, he most likely will not be the only player to start a game at the point guard position this season. Lowe said he wants leadership and a grasp of the offense from his point guard, regardless of who it may be.
“I don’t look for our point guards to go out and try to lead us in scoring,” Lowe said. “But can that happen? Absolutely, because there’s going to be shots available for them and we’d like for them to able to knock them down, but it’s more about the control. If we come down the floor on a break, I want them having the awareness to pull it out and call something and get everyone in position. We need more direction than anything. Other than that, I think [the point guards] will be fine.”
