Preseason Honors Continue for Rohnert - 10/28/09

DENVER - The 2009-10 basketball season starts in 16 days, and practices are in full swing.

The preseason predictions are rolling in, and it should come as no real surprise to anyone who watched the Pioneers last year that senior captain Nate Rohnert is gaining more and more respect from around the nation.

Rohnert was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference First Team by the league's head coaches, as well as the one by Rivals.com, which also put Rob Lewis on their All-SBC Second Team. Rohnert made the Blue Ribbon Preseason Team last month.

RushTheCourt.net has been running a series of impact players in each region of the country, and it put out the Mountain Region yesterday. Rohnert joined BYU's Jimmer Fredette, Colorado's Cory Higgins, Idaho's Mac Hopson and Montana's Anthony Johnson (who will play at Magness Arena on Nov. 19) on the list. Rob Lewis was an honorable mention on this list, as well.

This is what the writer had to say about Rohnert:

Nate Rohnert is the type of player coaches love because you pretty much have to cast a net over him to get him off of the basketball floor.  Described by coach Joe Scott as "a relentless worker" who's always in the gym trying to improve his skills, Rohnert, a 6′5 senior guard/forward, averaged 37 minutes per game last year, leading the entire Sun Belt and ranking 21st in the nation.  To that end, he also led his team in points (15.3 PPG), rebounds (5.4 RPG), assists (4.7 APG), and steals (1.3 SPG).  Certainly no surprise that Scott anointed him with the captaincy of the 2009-10 edition of the Pioneers.  Denver lands somewhere in the 3rd to 5th range in terms of most preseason predictions for the Sun Belt overall, and they have never been to the NCAA Tournament.  We're willing to bet that this is something that bothers Mr. Rohnert and is something he's thinking about during all that time in the gym on his own.  Despite the fact that Denver returns its four other starters and most of the scoring from last year's 9-9 Sun Belt team, it will be hard to get by the likes of Western Kentucky and North Texas.  One thing of which we're sure - it'll be a pleasure to watch Nate Rohnert make a run at it.

The Sun Belt coaches and Rivals picked Denver to finish second in the SBC West Division in their preseason polls.

Head coach Joe Scott, like most other coaches (including DU hockey coach George Gwozdecky, whose team was No. 1 in the nation in a few preseason polls), would tell you that it's nice to be picked highly in preseason polls, but they are a lot more concerned with the postseason polls.

And judging from the SBC coaches' poll, in which five SBC West teams including the Pioneers received at least one first place vote, the Sun Belt Conference should have a lot of very good teams.

Speaking of preseason polls, Denver's opponent in the Nov. 13 opener at Magness Arena is Northern Iowa, which was picked to repeat as Missouri Valley Conference champions in the MVC Coaches' Poll, The Sporting News College Basketball Preview, Lindy's College Basketball Preview and Athlon Sports College Basketball Preview. In last season's opening game in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the Pioneers led the Panthers with 4:22 remaining but were ultimately edged by five points, thanks to UNI free throws down the stretch.

Expect another battle on November 13. And tickets for all 16 games at Magness Arena are on sale now.

First Practice - 10/16/09

DENVER - It's the first official practice of the year, so we're going to be blogging throughout.

5:00 p.m. - Coach Joe Scott gathers the players on the sidelines to let everyone know what the team is doing today.

5:04 p.m. - It's good to hear Coach Scott yelling out instructions again. It's been a long offseason without basketball.

5:05 p.m. - Andrew Hooper just drilled a three-pointer at the end of a play.

5:14 p.m. - The team broke up into three courts with each group working on different fundamentals.

5:18 p.m. - To outsiders, these practices probably look like chaos. Everyone is acting based on what other players are doing. It's part of the beauty of this offensive, because it makes everything fluid.

5:25 p.m. - The groups have already switched courts twice. Each rotation is quick, so it's important for the players to utilize their time and energy.

5:28 p.m. - When you see these guys nearly every day, you don't always noticed how much they are growing and how much stronger they look. But guys like Sabatino Chen and Rob Lewis look like they hit the weight room quite a bit over the summer. And, of course, Nate Rohnert has been seen in the gym or weight room nearly every day since he arrived on campus. Clearly all the players worked hard during the offseason.

5:34 p.m. - Former player David Kummer just stopped in to watch for a while. It's not too hard for him to get to the Ritchie Center, since he's working fulltime at the Daniels College of Business now.

5:42 p.m. - This is the first year the team has really had upperclassmen who can help the new players. Last year, DU was the youngest team in the nation. With Rohnert as the only fourth-year player, and Rob Lewis and Kyle Lewis as the only third-year players, this team is still young. However, these freshmen don't look quite as intimidated as they learn the system, and that is because guys like Nate, Rob and Kyle are doing a good job of making sure the new guys understand what's going on.

5:46 p.m. - Most of the early part of practice involved five guys running the offense, but now five more guys are out there playing defense.

5:48 p.m. - Backdoor cuts are tough to guard, even when it's our own guys playing defense.

5:49 p.m. - Even sophomore player/manager Alex Pickert is pulling the freshmen aside to give them pointers.

5:53 p.m. - Freshman 6-foot-7 forward Blake Foeman just swished a three-pointer in what was a well-run play.

5:55 p.m. - Freshman Chase Hallam is guarding his older brother Travis, a sophomore. There seems to be some healthy competitive fire between them.

5:57 p.m. - The women's basketball team is standing on the sidelines, ready to start their first practice of the season in a couple minutes. They kind of look like their in the starting blocks, ready to sprint. There's some obvious excitement in the air for the new basketball season for both the men and women.

5:58 p.m. - Just heard the first "knucklehead" comment of the season.

6:00 p.m. - With the women taking the court, the men's team heads into the locker room for a post-practice talk from Coach Scott. And so ends the first practice of the season.