New Look, New Year

Preseason basketball was good to the Mailmen.

A 54-43 victory over PBR's Finest this past Sunday night gives the good guys some ground to build off of.

After a change in uniform and a few tweaks to the roster, the Mailmen saw a lot that they liked.

The team shot 41% from three, 38% from the field total, as they continued the trend from last season of taking control in the second half of games. With only 6 players available due to various situations, the Mailmen extended their 10 point lead slightly to 11 to finish 1-0 in the preseason.

Brent Hunter led the team with 19 points, hitting three of six from deep. Brandon Hunter followed suit. 18 points, four of 10 from three and added 9 rebounds.

Rebounding was key Sunday. The Mailmen were the smaller team, a theme similar to last year. Four of the six players had more than 5 rebounds. Andy Kempf grabbed 10, Brandon 9, newly acquired Pat Cripple (10 points) had 8, and coach Jason Hunter (7 points) added 6. The Mailmen used their legs in the second half, taking control of the boards and the game.

"We aren't in the best shape," injured big man Kerry Hunter said afterwards. Kerry was highly involved on the bench, taking control of subsitutions, calling plays from the sidelines. "You could see us doing more standing late in the first half. We got back into it after the break. We will need to talk and move more because we will always be the smallest team on the floor."

Being small showed in the shooting percentage. The Mailmen only shot 36% from inside the three point line. Most of those shots coming within 5 feet of the basket.

"It's tough once we get to the key," Coach Hunter said, "we are small, we get banged up in there. Not a lot of clear shooting lanes once we get close. Brandon took some shots inside. We did well driving, we know we can't rely on the three point shot all the time. I liked what I saw, we had guys playing extended minutes tonight. We will take a W."

The Mailmen actually signed former player Ryan Stuver to a 10-day contract Saturday night in order to have bodies for rest. The team will look at his contract situation later and may sign him to a second 10-day contract this week. Johno Reminder should be back next week as should Michael Giardina, giving the team more depth. Kerry Hunter is still looking to be out at least 4 weeks, rehabbing his knee.

The schedule for the year will be released tomorrow and we will get a first look to see where the team sits division wise. Most analysts believe they will be slated in Division II again this year, as they came up short in the playoffs last year.