By: Dustin Kent - JCFloridan.com
The Chipola Indians men’s basketball team took on Talladega on Thursday night in the final preseason scrimmage before the Indians open the regular season Nov. 1 against East Georgia.
It has been a somewhat frustrating exhibition season for the Indians, who have gone 4-2 in six scrimmages but have yet to see their full roster in action at the same time.
“It’s been hard to get everybody on the court,” second-year Chipola head coach Patrick Blake said before Thursday’s scrimmage. “We’re a work in progress right now, but we’re excited about our potential.”
As usual, the Indians brought in another stellar recruiting class to go along with one of the best core groups of returning players in the nation featuring All Panhandle Conference players Carlos Morris, Demetrious Floyd, and Cinmeon Bowers.
There have been preseason wins over Central Florida, Hillsborough, Shelton State, and Gordon and losses to Daytona State and Chattanooga State, but a series of injuries have kept Blake and his staff from getting a true measure of where the team stacks up with just a week to go before the real season starts.
“It’s been tough to gauge because we’ve got so many injuries,” Blake said. “I love our talent and potential, but we’re nowhere near being on the same page as a team, and we’ve still got a long way to go defensively. (Chemistry) is a luxury that we’re not going to have early on. We’re just going to have to go in short-handed and just find a way to win and get better every day.”
Of the 13 players on the Chipola roster, eight were available for Thursday’s scrimmage.
Despite the lingering health issues, Blake said he doesn’t anticipate it being a long-term problem.
“I’m not concerned right now. That’s stuff that’s out of our control, so we worry about stuff we can control,” he said. “We have a lot of talent; we’re just making sure the guys who are out there can execute the game plan. It’s just about getting everyone on the same page. Not having everyone out there has kind of hurt the chemistry. We need to get guys out there playing together and exerting the type of effort and energy we need on the defensive end.”