Basketball season is quickly approaching for Ole Miss Men’s Basketball. Before the regular season kicks off, the Rebels have three preseason exhibition games. They play against Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 15, UAB at home on Oct. 27 and Houston at an unspecified time.
Head coach Chris Beard sees these games as important tests that will help the team learn more about itself.
“There’s nothing that duplicates live play, especially against outside competition, so it’s really a fact-finding mission,” Beard said in a press conference on Oct. 8. “It’s like a learning day, so our opponent will expose some things, and that’s by design.”
These games also serve as opportunities for the staff to figure out a more concrete plan for initial early-season rotations and different lineups.
“Part of our evaluation process, depending on minutes and rotations and things, will be how the guys perform,” Beard said. “Every guy will get an opportunity, some sooner than later, but everybody will get an opportunity at some point during these three exhibition games.”
Ole Miss Men’s Basketball fans and staff are not the only ones looking forward to live action. Two new Rebel additions, James Madison transfer Christian Brown and Pittsburgh transfer Roman Siulepa, spoke about their excitement to compete against another opponent in a press conference on Oct. 8.
“We’re very excited. We’ve been waiting all summer to get to face a different opponent than us, so we’ve been working hard. We’re ready to see our work translate to the game,” Brown said.
Team chemistry is an important part of basketball, a metric that cannot be measured but holds important weight on the court. Siulepa feels that this is a strong suit of the team and another opportunity to improve in that regard.
“We got a lot of guys, one through 15. We’re pretty deep, so … a lot of us can do a lot of different things,” Siulepa said. “I think we complement each other well. In Puerto Rico, I think we showed glimpses of it, but … now, I think we’re figuring it out way more.”
Rather than focusing on the outcome of the eligibility of Florida transfer Micah Handlogten and Florida International transfer Corey Stephenson, Beard’s goal for the preseason is to utilize their identity.
“We want to be a defensive team. We want to take care of the ball. We want to be a good rebounding team, so all these things we’ve been working on really since June, (it’s the) first opportunity to … put it up against someone else,” Beard said.
The Ole Miss Men’s Basketball season officially begins with a home contest against Alcorn State on Nov. 2.
