Author: Soo Jin Kim
It should be another great season for Occidental Men’s Basketball and the team is enthusiastic about their changes. “We are progressing every day,” Head Coach Brian Newhall said. He believes that his team can win the 2008 SCIAC Championship and make it to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in six years.
“This team has the potential to do great things,” Newhall said. The men’s basketball team at Oxy has been ranked regionally and nationally for the past five years, a record Newhall feels passionate about keeping.
Newhall has been the Occidental College coach for 19 seasons, and with his seven senior players on this year’s varsity team, his expectations for the 07-08 season are as high as they have ever been. Newhall states that rebounding and team defense are the “cornerstones of our program” and that “this will never change.” He also added that the team is working hard to improve their offensive decision making, which “translates to cutting our team turnovers to 12 or less per game.”
When asked about the biggest strength of the team, Newhall replies that it is “our ‘team-first attitude’ and commitment to each other.” He adds that the Tigers “have an excellent work ethic and all the players are very unselfish.”
The players echo Coach Newhall’s enthusiasm and his characterization about the team and its forthcoming season.John Impelman (senior), who plays both guard and forward for the Tigers, agrees with Newhall about the team’s strength. “Our strong point is our unselfishness,” Impelman said. “No one on the team is concerned with who gets the credit—we all just want to win.”
Connor Whitman, a senior guard who hopes to play basketball professionally in Europe, also attributes the team’s forte to cohesion. “Nobody’s selfish. Nobody’s going for a personal goal,” Whitman said. “They’re going for a team goal. We play really well as a team.”
Whitman says that the main team goal is to win the SCIAC and his personal goal is to continue to “improve every game, have confidence and play to the best of my ability.”
The Tigers definitely see themselves as the sum of all the collective parts. Newhall likens his basketball team to puzzle pieces fitting together. “Our individual pieces may not be impressive on paper, but when you put them together I think you will like what you see in March,” he said.
The Tigers are looking forward to making some noise in SCIAC play this season, but they know it will not come easy. “There are no weak teams this year,” Newhall said of the SCIAC. “We need to be ready to play 14 nights.”
The season is already off to an impressive start with the Tigers racking up two impressive wins against a strong La Sierra team. “I’m very excited,” Impelman said. “We played La Sierra, which is a team that has gotten better every year since I have been at Oxy and we beat them at home and away.”
There is a new twist to SCIAC play this season: the first ever SCIAC post-season tournament. “The winner of the SCAIC tournament advances to the NCAA Tournament,” Newhall said. He optimistically added that the Tigers have not lost an NCAA Tournament game at home.
Although the Tigers have the goal of winning conference and are very confident in their ability, do not expect them to overlook any of their opponents. “Our next game is always the one we focus on,” Newhall said. “The journey is better than the inn.”
With the Tigers’ combination of Cervantes-inspired focus and ambition, their winning traditions should continue this season.
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