GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay men's basketball team returned home to Wisconsin on Saturday night, following a six-day trip to Puerto Rico where the team enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Caribbean while winning four games in four days. The trip was both beneficial and successful for the Phoenix, which has a host of new players in 2017-18.
THE RESULTS
Green Bay finished a perfect 4-0 on the trip, defeating the University of Central Bayamon Halcones, University of Turabo, American University and the San Juan All-Stars. The Phoenix averaged 98.0 points per game and shot over 44 percent from the international 3-point line (which is just over a foot further than the NCAA) and 78 percent from the free throw line.
Green Bay 91, Halcones 88
Green Bay 99, Turabo 73
Green Bay 100, American 79
Green Bay 102, All-Stars 83
QUICK TAKEAWAYS
It was obvious the team played better together and overall as the week went on. Even while there, the team did not practice or hold any shoot arounds, spending most of their time during the day on the beach and at the pool. Head coach
Linc Darner started four different starting lineups, with the majority of players getting over 60 minutes of action for the week. The game was played with four 10-minute quarters and with FIBA rules. The officials allowed the game to be played physically, letting a majority of typical foul calls go. Darner played a slew of lineups on the floor together, experimenting with different players on the court and sometimes at different positions. While the team obviously wanted to win every game, the substitution pattern, organization and individual development was more important.
TEAM BONDING TIME
The team took the morning and afternoon to tour Old San Juan on Tuesday, the oldest settlement in Puerto Rico and the historic section of the capital city of San Juan. Walking through and around the entire district, the team experienced historical sights like Plaza de Armas, Cathedral of San Juan Bautista and the gate to the city, along with home of the country's Governor. The experience led by a tour guide took around two hours.
??: Strike a pose.
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On Friday, the team hit the open water for an afternoon of paddle boarding, where the team was asked to stand on a surfboard and paddle with one oar. Naturally, the majority of players and coaches had difficulty staying on their feet on the board, and also expended a lot of energy to do so. Following that adventure, members of the team then jumped off a bridge into the Laguna del Condado, leaving from over 20 feet into the water below. What's more impressive, the team burned up all that energy during the day (along with spending time on the jet skis later in the afternoon), and still went on to score 102 points and win by 19 in its final game of the week against the San Juan All-Stars, knocking down 17 3s.
GAME ONE
The first game of the trip, following a long travel day on Monday and day visit to Old San Juan, saw Green Bay trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half. That deficit was quickly erased when the Phoenix exploded for a 21-2 run, forcing turnovers and scoring points in its typical RP40 fashion. The team outscored Bayamon 30-16 in the fourth quarter and had six players score seven points or more, led by
Sandy Cohen III with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Senior
Khalil Small scored 16 points and
Cody Schwartz added 12. Freshman guard
PJ Pipes led the team in assists, dishing out five and running the fast break offense effectively and efficiently.
GAME TWO
Green Bay enjoyed its largest margin of victory in its second game, cruising to a 99-73 win over Turabo. The team shot 85.2 percent (23-for-27) from the free throw line and had 11 players score five points or more. Schwartz led the way with 17 points and freshman
Will Chevalier totaled 15 points on a 7-for-8 shooting effort. Cohen III also finished in double-figures with 10 points, also adding six rebounds and three steals. Green Bay enjoyed a 16-2 run in the second half and outscored Turabo 55 to 36 in the second half. Four players registered three assists in the game, including Cohen III,
Trevian Bell,
Kameron Hankerson and
Hunter Crist.
GAME THREE
A 34-point fourth quarter gave the Phoenix 100 points for the first time on the island, running away with the 100-79 win over American University. Green Bay forced the home team into 24 turnovers and had four players reach double figures, with Small netting 19 points. Bell recorded double-figures once again with 13 points, while senior
David Jesperson scored 12 and Cohen III continued his strong presence with 10 points. Hankerson played a strong all-around game, recording nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals.
Sukhjot Bains scored nine points and helped the Phoenix reach 3-0 on the trip.
GAME FOUR
The Phoenix may have put together its best performance of the week in its final game, cruising to a 102-83 win after shooting 54.8 percent (17-for-31) from 3-point range, converting 17 made 3s. Schwartz made four of his five 3-point attempts to finish with a team-high 22 points, shooting 8-for-9 from the field in just under 20 minutes of action.
TJ Parham added 11 points and five rebounds, while
Manny Patterson and Crist each scored 10 points. Patterson narrowly missed a double-double, grabbing eight rebounds and going 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Jesperson and Bell each chipped in eight points and Small and Bains contributed seven each. Green Bay turned the ball over only 12 times in the game and dished out 21 assists, both team-bests during the week.
COACH DARNER'S THOUGHTS
Q: What are your overall thoughts on the trip?
A: We were able to play a ton of different lineups and see a bunch of different guys play together. Khalil led us in minutes played with only 19 minutes per game, and in every game we were able to play every guy over 12 minutes per game.
Q: What were you most pleased with?
A: It was impressive to see how well we shot the ball there. In our first game, we were down big late in the game before we went on a big run to close it out and get the win. In our final game we shot over 50 percent from the 3-point line, despite the activities we did that day and it being our fourth game in four days.
Off the court, it was nice to see the guys be able to do different things together, and the experiences they were able to get. Touring San Juan, paddle boarding and being able to spend quality time together in a relaxing setting. We were able to work on our system a lot earlier and more in depth than usual, which allowed us to get a jump start on the season, especially with all of our new guys.
Q: Thoughts moving forward?
A: I'm excited for school to start back up so we can keep working with our guys. This is a very exciting group to work with and they are a very coachable group as well. How we looked and played in Puerto Rico has our staff and team excited for this season.
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