Post by wgt on May 15, 2015 9:21:56 GMT -5
Herd's Kambola contributing
Feb. 13, 2015 @ 12:01 AM
By RICK McCANN
HUNTINGTON - J.P. Kambola joined the Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball starting lineup five games ago, and the team won four of the five.
That's not completely coincidental.
"He's played better," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said. "And he's practiced better."
Kambola started two early-season games, but his action fell off as Marshall got into Conference USA play. He was in the Jan. 4 conference opener at Western Kentucky for only four minutes and was benched for three of the next four games.
D'Antoni said the Herd's most talented big man (6-foot-9, 244 pounds) needed to show that he wanted to play by coming to practice every day and working hard.
The Canadian got the message and earned a promotion for the UTEP game. Marshall won and he had 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Kambola has played for an average of 23.4 minutes in the last five games while contributing 8.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots. He recorded the first double-double performance of his career Saturday with 14 points and 12 rebounds in a Conference USA victory against North Texas.
"Personally, I'm just proud of the success of people around me," he said.
Having Kambola as a starter allows Marshall to bring 6-9 senior Cheikh Sane's and 6-9 freshman Milan Mijovic off the bench to provide some energy. Kambola said winning four out of five games with him starting shows that he's helping out, but he said other players are improving too.
Marshall (8-16 overall and 4-7 in conference games) will attempt to win for the fifth time in six games at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when Western Kentucky (16-7, 9-2) visits Cam Henderson Center for a televised contest on WVAH-11. Marshall and Western Kentucky had Thursday off while other C-USA teams played.
D'Antoni joked on his Tuesday night radio show that he was either the dumbest coach around for not using Kambola earlier, or the smartest coach around for using bench time to motivate the senior.
Looking back, Kambola realizes what was going on.
"With the coach, he always knew what I could do but he wanted me to believe that I could actually do it," the Toronto, Ontario, native said. "Coach didn't want me to feel like things were going to be given to me this season. When he sat me down it was to let me know that nothing was given easy unless you go out there and work for it. So I had to work to even get on the court."
Marshall had a 4-10 record and was in the midst of a nine-game losing streak after the first meeting with Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers built a 32-point lead and took an 81-62 victory at home in Bowling Green, Ky.
Kambola, who had zero points and two rebounds in a four-minute appearance, said the Herd is a different kind of team now.
"That's the thing about a young team," he said. "As the season gets going the older they get and the smarter they get. We've got young kids like Alex (freshman point guard Aleksa Nikolic) - he's not even from this country so he's not used to the pace of the game - and you can see as the games go on he's just getting better and better. Ryan (Taylor) is building confidence. (Austin) Loop's starting to shoot the ball.
"I mean, the team is just coming together."
Kambola is familiar with the games of Western Kentucky guard T.J. Price and forward George Fant from their time as teammates on a Sports Reach USA team that went on a tour of China in summer 2013 following his freshman season.
Price and Fant were both on the preseason All-CUSA team. Price entered Thursday tied for the league lead with 17.7 points a game. The 6-6, 250-pound Fant averages 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds.
"I kind of know what they like to do and kind of know what they don't like to do," Kambola said.
Kambola, 23, missed all of last season because of an NCAA eligibility issue after not playing many minutes in his first two seasons. He'll appeal to the NCAA trying to get his lost year back.
His numbers this season for 21 game appearances (14.7 minutes a game) include 5.5 points on 51.7 percent shooting and 3.9 rebounds with 17 blocked shots.
Feb. 13, 2015 @ 12:01 AM
By RICK McCANN
HUNTINGTON - J.P. Kambola joined the Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball starting lineup five games ago, and the team won four of the five.
That's not completely coincidental.
"He's played better," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said. "And he's practiced better."
Kambola started two early-season games, but his action fell off as Marshall got into Conference USA play. He was in the Jan. 4 conference opener at Western Kentucky for only four minutes and was benched for three of the next four games.
D'Antoni said the Herd's most talented big man (6-foot-9, 244 pounds) needed to show that he wanted to play by coming to practice every day and working hard.
The Canadian got the message and earned a promotion for the UTEP game. Marshall won and he had 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Kambola has played for an average of 23.4 minutes in the last five games while contributing 8.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots. He recorded the first double-double performance of his career Saturday with 14 points and 12 rebounds in a Conference USA victory against North Texas.
"Personally, I'm just proud of the success of people around me," he said.
Having Kambola as a starter allows Marshall to bring 6-9 senior Cheikh Sane's and 6-9 freshman Milan Mijovic off the bench to provide some energy. Kambola said winning four out of five games with him starting shows that he's helping out, but he said other players are improving too.
Marshall (8-16 overall and 4-7 in conference games) will attempt to win for the fifth time in six games at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when Western Kentucky (16-7, 9-2) visits Cam Henderson Center for a televised contest on WVAH-11. Marshall and Western Kentucky had Thursday off while other C-USA teams played.
D'Antoni joked on his Tuesday night radio show that he was either the dumbest coach around for not using Kambola earlier, or the smartest coach around for using bench time to motivate the senior.
Looking back, Kambola realizes what was going on.
"With the coach, he always knew what I could do but he wanted me to believe that I could actually do it," the Toronto, Ontario, native said. "Coach didn't want me to feel like things were going to be given to me this season. When he sat me down it was to let me know that nothing was given easy unless you go out there and work for it. So I had to work to even get on the court."
Marshall had a 4-10 record and was in the midst of a nine-game losing streak after the first meeting with Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers built a 32-point lead and took an 81-62 victory at home in Bowling Green, Ky.
Kambola, who had zero points and two rebounds in a four-minute appearance, said the Herd is a different kind of team now.
"That's the thing about a young team," he said. "As the season gets going the older they get and the smarter they get. We've got young kids like Alex (freshman point guard Aleksa Nikolic) - he's not even from this country so he's not used to the pace of the game - and you can see as the games go on he's just getting better and better. Ryan (Taylor) is building confidence. (Austin) Loop's starting to shoot the ball.
"I mean, the team is just coming together."
Kambola is familiar with the games of Western Kentucky guard T.J. Price and forward George Fant from their time as teammates on a Sports Reach USA team that went on a tour of China in summer 2013 following his freshman season.
Price and Fant were both on the preseason All-CUSA team. Price entered Thursday tied for the league lead with 17.7 points a game. The 6-6, 250-pound Fant averages 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds.
"I kind of know what they like to do and kind of know what they don't like to do," Kambola said.
Kambola, 23, missed all of last season because of an NCAA eligibility issue after not playing many minutes in his first two seasons. He'll appeal to the NCAA trying to get his lost year back.
His numbers this season for 21 game appearances (14.7 minutes a game) include 5.5 points on 51.7 percent shooting and 3.9 rebounds with 17 blocked shots.