Nov. 19, 2009

UT ARLINGTON GAME NOTES vs. EWU

By Josh Bowe for utamavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - If the Mavericks are still thinking about North Texas Mean Green guard Josh White slashing their defense, they will have a chance at redemption.

Sort of.

While White will be no where near the court when the Mavs square off against the Eagles this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Texas Hall, the Eagles have their own talented point guard to test the Mavericks.

"They got a point guard similar to Josh White, in fact I think he's coming off the bench, Benny Valentine," coach Scott Cross said. "Really, really talented so we're going to have to be really focused."

Cross is right. Valentine, a senior, in fact does come off the bench. He has in all three games for Eastern Washington this season. But he still second on the team in minutes per game and first in points and assists.

At 5'7'' he also is of a similar size to White. So expect to see Valentine drive to the lane as much as White did against the Mavericks last Wednesday.

Cross still sticks to his guns however. His philosophy is to have tough man-to-man defense and don't expect to see too much zone to counter Valentines ability to get into the paint.

"We're 99 percent man-to-man," Cross said. "We have an alternate defense where se sag a little bit, our guys are quite comfortable with it."

Valentine won't be the only Eagle the Mavs will have to game plan around. Junior forward Brandon Moore is averaging a double-double with 14.3 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.

The Mavericks have been exposed in the paint, with Cross calling the Mavs post defense against Dallas Baptist to open the season "atrocious." But it improved against North Texas Wednesday night.

The Mavs and the Mean Green were even in points in the paint and the Mavs had six more offensive rebounds.

"We're going to get that corrected, we just have to toughen up a little bit," Cross said. "We've got to work at it in practice, but we'll get it right."

Another concern that could crop up against Eastern Washington is fatigue. Cross didn't get much production from his bench on Wednesday and each starter played at least 30 minutes. Senior guards Marquez Haynes and Brandon Long both logged in over 40 a piece.

Cross is hopeful that freshmen guards Cameron Catlett and Armani Williams will continue to grow to help give Long and Haynes more time to rest. The duo combined for 21 minutes against Dallas Baptist and 22 against North Texas, but Williams only played four of those 22 minutes against North Texas.

"Armani is the kind of the guy that can come in and hit any shot in a split second," Cross said. "Cameron Catlett's got great hands, great defender and great size."

It might have been a hard feeling to shake after Wednesday's double overtime we loss, but Haynes doesn't think there will be a lingering effect. After all, he has another shot and stopping a great point guard.

"We definitely learned a lot. I learned a lot," Haynes said. "We'll definitely be better from this."