Starters

G: Claus Robards

G: Kirby Wieland

F: Colby Dant

C: Clay Hennessey

C: Guy Hughes

 

News:

 

Dant Decks Robards, Team Responds

(By 36C, Feb. 14, 2004)

GARLAND--Well the week in Garland was not good. After going 2-1 to start the season out of conference, Garland opened up conference play against Beaumont. Coach 36C was very confident before the game, even predicting a win and looking past the Calamity. Garland came out strong as 36's confidence in his team seemed to be paying off. But as the game went on, Garland got sluggish offensively, and sophomore PG "Santa" Claus Robards was definitely in gift giving mode turning the ball over a Garland and maybe league high 11 times. When Robards wasnt handing the ball over to Beaumont, Colby Dant was busy throwing up bricks on his way to a pitiful 1-8 night from the field, while his counterpart at SF scored 17 on 7-13 shooting. Though Garland was pretty much dominated in the second half, there were a few bright spots. Despite Robards TO's he did go 11-18 from the field for 23 points. Kirby Wieland who has proven to be very consistent, scored  19 points on 9-16 from the field. 

We caught up with Wieland after the game and here is what he had to say when asked about the teams disappointing opening game performance. "Well Im pissed, we just didnt show up. We have guys who cant even get the ball past the damn halfcourt line, we have guys out there for no reason just throwing up bad shot. We played good D but couldnt score. Very frustrating for me".

 
Things got no better as Garland took on a struggling Laredo team on Wednesday. The team seemed to play with no heart whatsoever after Monday's game. They again came out sluggish on both ends. Robards still hadn't figured out which players were on his team and which weren't turning it over 5 times. When not turning it over he was 10-15 for 24 points. Colby Dant at least woke up with 22 points although on 19 shots. But this time Kirby Wieland took it has his turn to take a game off, taking only 4 shots. Guy Hughes who has been strongly instructed not to shoot the ball took more shots than Garland's best shooter. Garland's soft zone allowed Richie Gallahue to get off 27 shots while going for 35 points. Laredo got 23 more shots and 23 points from Leo Heath. 50 shots combined for two guys, shows maybe there is not enough pressure on guys to force different players to shoot the ball. Though Garland shot nearly 50% from the field, they were hammered on the boards 41-23 which proved to be the deciding factor in the game, with Laredo taking it 77-65. Tension seems to be building on the Garland squad as a scuffle between Claus Robards and Kirby Wieland had to be broken up by team officials. This young sophomore backcourt needs to learn to play together or it could be a long 3 years.
 
Garland had a team meeting before Friday's game against a Wichita team that seemed to totally outmatch Garland. What seems to be the problem is lack of leadership, and surprisingly the man who took over the team meeting was freshmen Colby Dant letting the guys know he thought they had a lot of talent, and were wasting it with uninspired play at long stretches throughout games. The talk seemed to work. Garland came out very strong, as they had a gameplan of upping the pace and trying to outrun the taller Vapor Trail. Garland lead by as many as 11 points, as Kirby Wieland got off to a hot start. Garland held that lead for awhile until the bench's had their say, and it was obvious Garland was thin there. Wichita came storming back and went into the half up 44-40. Garland needed to regroup, and again it was the play of steady Kirby Wieland that made it happen. He scored 10 points in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half, and Garland again showed that their starting five could hang with Wichita taking the lead back. However it wasnt meant to be as fatigue set in, and Garland's lack of firepower off of the bench killed them. Wichita quickly took the lead again and never looked back winning by 15. 

Despite the loss, all was not down in the Garland lockeroom as we spoke to Colby Dant. "Tough loss, but we hung around a bit. We are a very young team and because of that we will be inconsistent. But we always have to play hard, and I thought we did tonight". Kirby got in some foul trouble or we may have pushed them to the end". Wieland lead all scorers with 23, and Dant added 22 again. Robards had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Unfortunately the supercombo of Antoine Craft and Kerry Ashby was too much to handle as they combined for 55 points en route to a 89-74 Wichita win.

 
COACHES CORNER(Sit down interview by Jackie Jackson with coach 36C that will be done every week).
 
JJ- How do you feel about where your team is at right now coach?
 
36C- We are struggling. We don't seem to have the proper balance on the team. Very young team though, I expect things to get better. We have 3 big scorers. I just have to find a way to get them theirs, and have other guys contribute in other ways so that we can win games.
 
JJ- Kirby and Claus got into a fight after Wednesdays game. First off, do you know the reason, and second off, how did you handle it?
 
36C- Both guys are very competitive, and don't like losing. I think Kirby said some things after Monday's game that Claus didn't like, Claus confronted him about them after he felt Kirby didn't bring it on Wednesday, and Kirby took offense which lead to the fight. I talked to both guys, they settled it, and we had the team meeting to get things out in the open.
 
JJ- Any changes in store for next week?
 
36C- Yeah, we plan to apply some more pressure defensively, see if we cant force some TO's to get some easy hoops. Also going to slow things down and make the most out of every possession by trying to keep the ball in Claus, Kirby, or Colby's hands at all times. Clay Hennessey has shown to be a very good passer, and Guy is inside cleaning up the boards, so hopefully that strategy can pay off.
 
JJ- Thanks coach, good luck.
 
36C- No problem JJ.

 

 

 

Thugs Go Young, Will CD Be Sweet Music to UG Fans?

 

Garland-Give the Garland Thugs coaching staff some credit.  They had a plan, and they stuck to it.  The plan was obviously to get as many good young players, early in the draft, as possible.  The result?  A starting lineup with three sophomores and two freshmen.  You can't get much younger than that.

 

 

With the third pick overall Garland was forced between taking the best available player, 6'9 junior Richie Gallahue, or to stick with the youth strategy and take a youngster.  They stuck to their guns, dissed Gallahue and selected 6'6 freshman Colby Dant.  CD plays to a different beat than most, and it is clear that whatever beat that is, it is a little more uptempo than the norm.  CD averaged 16.4 points (per 30), 4.8 rebounds, while shooting nearly 50% from the field, and even above 50% from three-range.  The 6'6 small forward, a music major at Garland, does have his weaknesses.  "I'll be honest, I don't like playing defense.  I say we let them shoot it, so that we can get the ball back and get back on the offensive end.  That is what is fun, offense, shooting."  Additionally, the 6'6 freshman had a hard time with turnovers, averaging 2.1 per 30.  

 

 

Joining Dant are guards Kirby Wieland (6'2 So.) and Claus Robards (6'4 So.).  Before the summer scrimmages began, Robards was touted as one of the better players in the conference.  After a somewhat disappointing, only because expectations were so high to begin with, he finished averaging 13.9 points, 1.8 assists, 1.1 turnovers, but only 0.6 steals per game.  If he ends up closer to the player he was expected to be he may be one of the major coups of the draft.  

 

 

Wieland, like Robards, makes his living driving inside for close shots.  Neither player has range and should be instructed to never put the ball up from behind the arc, but both find ways to put pressure on the defense and get the ball in the hoop.  Wieland averaged 14.7 points but was turnover prone (2.3 top30).  Garland's coaching staff expects him to play shooting guard, which will take away some of the pressures of handling the ball.  The other question mark for Wieland is whether he can slow down opposing shooting guards.  Scouts said he was a "fair" defender going into the summer, but he performed well below expectations (0.2 sp30).

 

 

The big men up front are Clay Hennessey (6'8 So.) and Guy Hughes (6'9 Fr.) .  Shooting 36 and 42 percent from the field, and averaging a combined 11.9 points, these two are far from a viable option on offense.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that both can rebound (6.2/7.1), both are excellent passing big men (2.3/1.6) and both love to play defense.

 

 

A league scout's take on the team: "Overall, I don't expect this team to challenge for the conference championship right away.  They are just too young, not enough balance as the frontcourt can play defense, but not offense, and the backcourt is the exact opposite.  But this team is frightening because they stuck to their plan to build a young base.  They can build around these guys, and should be a power down the road."

 

 

Sooner or later, Garland fans want CD's sweet shot to mean a lot of sweet W's. (December 19, 2003) 

 

Bench

G: Deven Lukas

G: Anton Harlow

F: Gill Neichter

F: Tandre Green

F: Hunter Elery

G: Alan Kute

G/F: Neil Mask