AMHERST — One year ago, Matt McCall began his first preseason at UMass filled with questions.
Within two weeks of the first practice, McCall announced Jaylen Brantley, a graduate transfer from Maryland who the Minutemen were going to rely upon to log a lot of minutes, would have to retire after doctors diagnosed him with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy during a preseason exam. There were concerns about who would fill Brantley’s minutes in the backcourt, especially since Luwane Pipkins had played mostly off the ball during his freshman year.
There were also issues with depth as McCall was down to eight scholarship players eligible to play in the season opener against UMass-Lowell.
“I think 12 months ago, there were so many unknowns, everything was new for everybody out on the floor,” McCall said Thursday after practice.
There are few uncertainties about this upcoming season, McCall’s second in charge of the Minutemen.
The four transfers who sat out last season due to NCAA policies will add much-needed depth as will the return of Rashaan Holloway, who was ruled academically ineligible for the second half of last season. The returning core is led by Pipkins, who averaged 21.2 points per game and was second-team All-Atlantic 10, and sophomores Unique McLean and Carl Pierre.
McCall said this preseason has been easier because of the depth and not having to be teaching his system as much. He said the comfort level the players have shown in practice have allowed the sessions to be more spirited.
“Now, there’s a lot more bodies on the floor,” McCall said. “What is different (from last year) is there’s lineups, we know when we set up to scrimmage in our exhibition game, we’ll have bodies out there that we didn’t have last year. Then the guys have a feeling and an understanding of what we’re doing. The four guys that were sitting out and the guys who are returning for us, every day’s not new and that’s different, so you’re able to compete more in practice.”
Pierre said he thought last season was difficult at times because of all the new ideas being thrown at the players every day. However, he said the offseason provided the much-needed time to digest and absorb those concepts, and now the offensive and defensive tactics are more natural for the returners.
“It was kind of a whirlwind last year,” Pierre said. “First year of learning a new offense, new defensive concepts, but I feel like after getting a whole summer to work on these things, a lot of guys are way more comfortable than they were last year. A lot of the plays and actions are becoming second-nature, so I feel like the development has been good.”
As McCall said, the players’ comfort within his schemes has allowed the first two weeks of practice to be energized and competitive. He said that has been an added bonus, but there have been times when he and the coaches have had to rein in the competitive fire during practice.
Still, McCall said it is clear he has a team that is willing to play hard for 40 minutes, an attribute that can’t be taught nearly as easily as the issues McCall has identified during the early portion of practices.
“The playing hard piece is there,” McCall said. “Now we have to get better at the execution piece, taking care of the basketball, executing our offense and utilizing each other. If I had a concern right now, it would be our turnovers and at time our shot selection. We’ve got to get better at utilizing each other and making the game easier for each other.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.