CSNbbs

Patton kicks off basketball season at NIU
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts03.txt

Oct 14, 2007
By Bobby Narang - Staff Writer

Quote:DeKALB - The Ricardo Patton era has officially started.

Hired in late March, Patton took over the reins of the Northern Illinois University men's basketball program after Rob Judson was fired after six years.

The former Colorado basketball coach kicked off his first official practice Saturday morning prior to the Northern Illinois-Western Michigan football game.

“It was a good beginning,” Patton said. “It's exciting to start something new. It was a high-intensity workout for three hours. We have to display patience with the guys. We're putting in a lot of new stuff. The last few minutes of practice we went up and down the floor. We put in our primary defensive philosophy and did a lot of defensive drills.”

Senior guard Ryan Paradise is the leading returning scorer (10.1 ppg) and three-point shooter (42.5 percent) from last year. Paradise said the first practice under Patton was spirited.

“The first practice is always ugly,” Paradise said. “It's was a transition period. We have a lot of new guys not accostumed to college basketball. We saw some good things in practice today that we hope to build upon. We haven't had a lot of success the last couple of years. We want that to change.”

Patton signaled out the play of senior forward Shaun Logan. The former junior college transfer is the team's leading returner in rebounds (5.5 rpg) and assists (74).

“Shaun Logan really stood out to me,” Patton said. “He has a great IQ for the game. He's probably our most consistent player.”

The Huskies will have 19 players on the roster and dress 17 players, with nine newcomers slated to make their first appearance in a Huskie uniform.

Former Colorado 6-foot-11 center Sean Kowal will sit out this season after transferring to Northern Illinois.

Patton stressed the importance of conditioning to his team in the off-season. Evidently, the team got his message.

“We've been running a lot since last spring,” Paradise said. “We haven't really slowed down. Even in practice (today), we did a lot of running.”

Patton repeated his desire to push the ball on offense.

“We want to bring the ball up the floor,” Patton said. “We're trying to get the guys up to speed.”

Btw, according to the article it seems as Cody Yelder is still on the team. This was on the page featuring the article, but there was no image accompanying it.

Quote:Northern Illinois sophomore point guard Cody Yelder puts his whole body into a long pass on a fast break during the Huskies’ first practice this season Saturday at the Convocation Cetner.

epasnoopy Wrote:Btw, according to the article it seems as Cody Yelder is still on the team. This was on the page featuring the article, but there was no image accompanying it.

Quote:Northern Illinois sophomore point guard Cody Yelder puts his whole body into a long pass on a fast break during the Huskies’ first practice this season Saturday at the Convocation Cetner.

:ncaabbs::domokun:

to all those who say he means nothing......... he's still our best player

I don't know about you guys, but I am getting so pumped about Huskie basketball, that my goosebumps have gone beyond just being erect.