Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Ten Days of A-Sun Basketball gives fans a sneak peek at the Mercer Bears. Chemistry…blending the old with the new…a renewed commitment…it's no easy challenge, but that's the task facing the dean of Atlantic Sun coaches, Mercer head coach Mark Slonaker in the 2006-07 campaign. Then there's the old axiom, "offense wins games, but defense wins championships." One of the keys to the Bears' success this season is how well the newcomers fit into the system.

Coach Mark Slonaker on the Bears

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SEASON PREVIEW - (Courtesy Mercer Media Relations)

"The focus of this year's squad is team chemistry and defensive intensity," said Slonaker. "Following last season, there were areas we felt like we needed to address statistically with our defense, rebounding and assist-to-turnover ratio, but we feel like, more than anything else we didn't have the team chemistry and the family atmosphere we've been known for here at Mercer for the last several years."

The coaching staff hit the recruiting trail looking for players of good character, who came from winning programs, met the stringent academic requirements of Mercer University and players described as "gym-rats".

"We think we hit a home run with every one of our newcomers and met that criteria. Anytime you have the ingredients of six returning scholarship players who were really upset and disappointed with the way last year played out, and came back determined to do something about it, you have guys go out and work on their weaknesses, whatever they had to in order to get better, anytime you incorporate new players into that, it just makes practices more challenging, more competitive and starting spots open."

Look for the Bears' coaches to play several different combinations, especially early in the season, to see what certain players are capable of doing and how they perform. Slonaker and the coaching staff have focused on stressing the needed commitment to the seven newcomers.

"The returning players are very committed to turning this program around and getting us back on the winning track again."

With the top three scorers gone from a year ago, the Bears are a team in transition. "When you lose your three top scorers it obviously impacts you on the offensive side of the ball. Andrew Brown had a sensational senior season. He played as well as he could possibly play. Will Emerson was a guy that drew a lot of attention because of how well he played as a junior. Both those guys were major contributors, and Jacob Skogen could score. On paper, people may look at it and say Mercer doesn't have much back, but to people that know basketball know there's more to the game than just scoring that goes on."

Read the full season preview

10 Days of A-Sun Basketball Schedule
Oct. 16 - Belmont
Oct. 17 - Campbell
Oct. 18 - ETSU
Oct. 19 - Gardner-Webb
Oct. 20 - Jacksonville
Oct. 23 - Kennesaw State
Oct. 24 - Lipscomb
Oct. 25 - Mercer
Oct. 26 - UNF
Oct. 27 - Stetson