Moon Township, Pa. - Andrew Toole could be a little different than most of his colleagues as the opening of the college basketball season approaches.
Oh, sure, the Robert Morris University coach is eager to see what he might have this season.
However, in the really short run, Toole is more interested in who he has.
Injuries have lent an air of uncertainty to what starting lineup Toole will use Friday night in the Colonials' season opener at Rider.
"It could be interesting,'' Toole said.
Colonial fans know that senior forward Lijah Thompson is out for the season because of a knee injury.
Then in last Thursday's exhibition game against Saint Vincent College, redshirt senior point guard Velton Jones sustained a groin injury late in the first half and didn't play in the second half. Redshirt senior forward Russell Johnson was slowed by a high ankle sprain in that same contest.
"That's why he was a little limited in his movements,'' Toole said. "We've been kind of nursing that.''
So ... who will start as the Colonials embark on Toole's season as the head coach?
Velton Jones, if he's healthy, of course. Maybe not Johnson. Go ahead and pencil in junior college transfer Vaughn Morgan, junior Mike McFadden, sophomore Lucky Jones and redshirt senior junior Coron Williams.
"Everybody's who's going to be available is going to have to play and contribute,'' Toole said.
Should Velton Jones be unable to play or aggravate his groin injury during the game, junior Anthony Myers-Pate will man the point guard spot. Junior college transfer Karvel Anderson, normally a shooting guard, would back up Myers-Pate.
"We've tried to create some situations this year where we've actually played Ant and Velton together in practice and made Coron and Karvel run some point,'' Toole said. "We're hopeful we'll never have to use it, but at least they've had a little bit of experience if they get pressed into service.''
Anderson, a high-scoring guard last season at Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan, knows his role will be a bit different this season.
"This is a completely different level,'' he said. "This is nothing compared to the past. I don't really find it hard. I look at it as a challenge, something I look to conquer. It's an opportunity for me. I don't look at it as something that's difficult for me to attain. It means I have to focus more. I have to work harder at learning what needs to be done. I have to adjust to this type of game and the style we play offensively and defensively.''
Anderson is one of three Colonials making their Division I debuts tonight at Rider. Morgan, from Pittsburgh's Perry Traditional Academy, and freshman forward Stephan Hawkins are the other two.
Anderson, Morgan and Hawkins each played at least 14 minutes against Saint Vincent as the injury situation forced Toole to play some different combinations.
"I thought it gave some other guys some opportunities to play and put them in some situations they haven't been in,'' Toole said. "We had some new faces out there - Karvel and Vaughn, Ant playing a lot of minutes (28) down the stretch without Velton. David Appolon in the game with 3:30 to go. Stephan Hawkins was in the game late, so I think it was a valuable experience for everybody.''
In the 81-67 victory over Saint Vincent, the Colonials built a 54-31 halftime lead based on exceptional shooting. In the first 20 minutes, they were 19-of-31 (61.3 percent) from the field, including a spectacular 11-of-13 (84.6) from beyond the arc.
In the second half, however, RMU shot just 27.3 percent from the field and at times seemed a bit out of control.
"I wouldn't say we got out of control,'' Toole said. "What I would say is the offensive performance we put on in the first half was not your typical Robert Morris offensive performance. The second half probably was worse than we're capable of playing offensively. We're probably going to end up somewhere in the middle.''
However and wherever the Colonials end up, Lucky Jones will be somewhere in the middle of it.
"He can play multiple positions,'' Toole said of the 6'6" guard/forward. "He plays bigger than he is. He makes a ton of winning plays for us whether it's loose balls, whether it's rebounds. Many times he's defending our opponent's best perimeter offensive player. He does bring a lot. As the year went on last year his shooting touch became much better.''
In his first 17 games last season, Jones shot only 29.5 percent from the field. Over his next 17 games, he shot 50 percent from the field en route to being named to the 2012 Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team.
"He was kind of able to make plays happen,'' Toole said. "He just kind of creates things. Some good, some bad, but more good than bad. He's always around the basketball, so he's always involved in the game. He obviously didn't play as well as he would have liked in the exhibition game (four points and three rebounds in 23 minutes). He didn't play as well as we would have liked him to. But I think it could be used as a good wakeup call for him to make sure he's doing things the right way all the time.''
Jones had a great Division I debut against Rider in the opener last season when he grabbed 13 rebounds and scored six points, helping the Colonials cruise to an 83-57 victory. Williams also contributed big-time with a career-high 28 points against a visiting team that two nights later took Pitt to the wire before losing, 86-78.
Don't count on the Colonials having another easy time of it against Rider Friday.
"I don't anticipate that for one second,'' Toole said. "I was actually surprised by the outcome of the game last year in terms of the way we shot the ball. I thought we had really good urgency early in the game that allowed us to build the lead. Because of the way we shot it, we were able to manage that lead for the rest of the game. They weren't playing at full strength. They had some injuries and suspensions at the start of last year.''
Rider, which beat Division III Scranton 76-59 in an exhibition last Saturday, finished 14-19 last season, including a 10-8 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
After the season, coach Tommy Dempsey left for the head coaching job at Binghamton. Kevin Baggett, who'd been the associate head coach at Rider, succeeded Dempsey.
"I know he's going to have those guys ready to play,'' Toole said. "We know how talented they are.''
The game at Rider begins a rough stretch of six games in 12 days for the Colonials, including three in the first five nights of the season. That means Toole and his staff must guard against players being fatigued.
"At the beginning of the year, you always want to try to manage health and guys' conditioning,'' he said. "I think there's also so much excitement at the beginning of the year that you just hope some of that excitement and adrenaline carries them through. We'll manage our practices. Once you get into January and February (and the NEC schedule) and you have a set Thursday/Saturday schedule, it's easy to manage your weeks.
"Now you just have to be a little more understanding of what you're doing in practice every day and maybe do more stuff not at game-speed but stuff that's maybe going to be able to clean up some mistakes you made. And you can walk through scouting reports and prepare their minds as much as you prepare their bodies.''
On the eve of this season opener, Toole was asked to assess where his current team is in terms of preparedness compared to his first two Colonial squads.
"To be honest with you, I think going into the first two years those two teams were overly prepared defensively because I think everyone felt there was so much to prove,'' he said. "This year's team? We've battled a little bit because we're fighting success. I think we're fighting complacency a little bit. You know, 'We've been good. We're just going to be good.' As most of us know, that's not how it works.''
In the previous five seasons, Robert Morris collected 117 wins and played in the NEC championship game four times, winning twice.
"Some of our effort and some of our focus has been inconsistent at times because I think the assumption is, 'Well, we've don't it before. We can do it again.' And that's not the way that you need to be going into a season.''
Wouldn't the current players realize how much work went into being successful in the past and want to put in that much work again?
"Maybe some of it is not being realistic about what you did go through to get to where you are in terms of all the work that you've done,'' Toole said. "Then another thing is that there are so many people patting them on their back that they still think they are that good. But each year is completely different from the last. You have to prepare just the same. Hopefully you don't learn the hard way. But if you don't take care of your business, that's exactly what happens.''
That said, the 2012-13 season opener is upon us. And that's special.
"I think it always is,'' Toole said. "It's your first time really going out there and having it count. There's so much anticipation on each side. No one's lost yet. No one's won yet. Everyone's usually feeling pretty good about themselves. It's always great to get out there and compete and play against an opponent.''
Or as Coron Williams said: "I'm excited. I can't wait. We're at it - at it again.''
