2018-19 #HLMBB Preview: Green Bay
Green Bay
Last season: 13-20 overall, 7-11 Horizon League
Head coach: Linc Darner (4th year)
By Joey Yashinsky, Horizon League Contributor. Follow on Twitter @OneSeatOver
Toward the end of last season’s Horizon League schedule, there was no hotter player in the conference than Sandy Cohen III. He poured in 131 points over the final five games for a 26.2 scoring average.
During the opening round of Motor City Madness, nobody could match the scorching Kam Hankerson as he rained down 36 points on Detroit Mercy, including a Steph Curry-esque 7-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Both players are back for the Phoenix and ready to put on the same show all winter long.
“The big thing for us is just having Sandy out there from the beginning of the season,” said Linc Darner, entering his fourth year as Green Bay’s head coach. (Cohen sat out the first part of 2017-18 after transferring from Marquette.) “I think Sandy has a chance to be one of the top players in the league. He can do a lot of different things: he can score, he can rebound, he handles the ball well, he’ll get steals and block shots. He’ll be up near the top of the league in a bunch of categories.”
Cohen was voted to the Preseason All-Horizon League first-team. His partner in crime, Hankerson, was given second-team honors.
“Kam is still young, last year was really his first year playing,” said Darner. “The biggest thing for him now is just that level of consistency. He goes out and scores 36, but the next night has five. It’s about getting to where he’s scoring 15, 18, every night.”
Guard PJ Pipes started 28 games as a freshman and will be a key member of the Green Bay rotation. He was Green Bay’s best foul shooter at 85.5 percent and hounded opposing ball-handlers on nightly basis.
“PJ has worked extremely hard and gotten himself into tremendous shape,” said Darner. “We’re hoping he’ll grow from his freshman year. He had some very good moments and then also had some moments that a typical freshman will have. We need him to be very good for us to have a chance to compete for a championship.”
Like Pipes, Manny Patterson is another player that saw significant court time as a rookie and will be counted on to progress in year two. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward averaged six points and five rebounds, and led the Phoenix in blocked shots. Patterson missed the last month of the season with a shoulder injury.
“Manny gives us something that we lacked when he got hurt,” said Darner. “He is a presence inside, both offensively and defensively. When we lost him, we kind of had to change the way we played to become a more perimeter-oriented team. He is back healthy and has been working very hard.”
Providing depth for the Phoenix up front will be a pair of 6-foot-8 forwards that can light it up from the outside. Redshirt junior Cody Schwartz is now eligible after sitting out a year following his transfer from San Jose State. Sophomore Will Chevalier did not play big minutes in his first year, but did manage to knock down 18 three-pointers at a respectable 36 percent clip.
“Both of those guys can step out and shoot it,” said Darner. “Cody got in the weight room during his year off and really worked. He will give us another perimeter threat that can make shots, which will help Sandy and Kam get to the rim. Both Cody and Will are going to help our inside players get space because of their outside shooting.”
Best nickname in the upcoming Horizon League season? Look no further than Green Bay’s ShanQuan “Tank” Hemphill, a junior college transfer from Florida Southwestern. The 6-foot-6, 190-pound, Hemphill is more of an aerial artist than someone who’s gonna bowl you over in the paint (as his nickname would suggest), but look for Tank to play important minutes as the year goes on.
Horizon League fans might find it strange watching the Phoenix this year and not seeing Khalil Small out there in the green and white. A four-year rock in the program, Small was the unquestioned leader of last year’s squad and replacing him is no easy task.
“That is a big question for us,” said Darner. “Khalil was a tremendous leader, both by his work ethic and how he would speak up. We have some guys that are trying to step to the forefront. For us to have a good year, we’re going to need someone to step up.”
Overall, Darner seems excited about his club’s prospects for the upcoming season and a return to his preferred “RP-40” brand of basketball (RP-40 = Relentless Pressure for 40 Minutes).
“I think our four newcomers are gonna give us a dimension that we were lacking last year,” said Darner. “They can play more the way we want to play, where we get up and pressure. We are a lot more athletic now. We have some great battles for positions. We are going to play faster, do more trapping, get up and pressure full court more.”
Needless to say, Horizon League opponents will not be in for a fun or pleasant evening when the Phoenix line up across the court this season. Darner has the depth and athleticism to get back to forcing turnovers on D and playing pinball with the scoreboard on offense.
And with two Preseason All-League players in Cohen and Hankerson leading the way, the sky is truly the limit for Green Bay in 2018-19.