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By Brenden Paul
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – As the clock struck 7 p.m. before the ring ceremony began, the student section known as the Havocs started singing “Be Ready” by Sovereign Grace Music in complete unison and without music, engulfing Global Credit Union Arena with their voices.
The Havocs’ impromptu celebration carried Grand Canyon University’s men’s basketball team into its emotional Western Athletic Conference championship ring and banner reveal ceremony Tuesday night, a reminder of the Lopes’ accomplishments from last season and what they have on the line this year.
It’s safe to say GCU fans are more than ready for the start of college basketball season. However, the Lopes have work to do to live up to the hype expected from the Havocs this season.
Even though GCU has played a handful of exhibition games, there are still kinks to work out, as Tuesday night’s game against the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds revealed. The Lopes, who open the regular season at home Monday against Cal State Fullerton, know that when a WAC championship is on the line, the pressure is kicked up an extra notch.
GCU is back-to-back WAC defending champions, and the Lopes want one more trophy on the shelf. In front of energy-filled fans at Global Credit Union Arena Tuesday night, the Lopes received their 2023-24 WAC championship rings in a pregame ceremony, a bittersweet moment for some returners and an incentive to win for newcomers.
The ring ceremony and banner reveal were reminders for the Lopes to set the tone and the stage for what’s to come this season. Despite beating the Greyhounds, 87-57, the Lopes have quite a few areas of improvement they still need to address.
“I think they’re all sitting there and seeing the rings handed out, and seeing how nice they are, and it definitely motivates them to want to be able to hopefully achieve one,” GCU coach Bryce Drew said. “But, we got a lot of work to do. Tonight definitely showed some things we need to improve very quickly.”
For any team, rebounds are crucial to defensive gameplay. Even while the Lopes bested their opponent on the boards, pulling down 44 rebounds compared to the Greyhounds’ 42, GCU missed multiple opportunities to return the ball to its side of the court.
Missed rebounds didn’t remain on the defensive side of play; the Lopes missed multiple opportunities to recover their shots, which could have brought a more significant game-winning margin.
“I don’t think Coach Drew has a great rebounding team,” sophomore guard Makaih Williams said. “Besides, last year, they had Gabe McGlothan out there, so he was a big piece of rebounding.
“He’s not here no more,” Williams said of McGlothan, the former GCU power forward who is attempting to catch on with an NBA team. “So we got to pick it up on the front end one to the five.”
Williams, who had 18 points, and senior forward JaKobe Coles, with 19, led the Lopes in scoring. Despite the great offensive night, both players noticed the need for rebounds.
Coles averaged 10 points and 3.8 rebounds at Texas Christian University last season and led the Lopes with nine rebounds against the Greyhounds. He remembers the Horned Frogs leading the Big 12 conference in rebounds during the 2021-22 season when they averaged 39.1 per game, and Coles feels like he should bring that rebounding mentality to the Lopes.
While taking control of the ball is essential, keeping that control is imperative. GCU struggled to perform on fast-break opportunities and take care of the ball. The Lopes were on the low side of turnovers Tuesday night with 14 compared to the Greyhounds’ 20, but Drew knows they could have significantly less.
“We had some careless turnovers and careless plays that we weren’t locked in that we need to be more locked in and take care of the ball better,” Drew said.
GCU is a fast team. It’s hard to tell what the athletes will do next, which gives them a massive advantage over their opponents. However, this advantage is only useful if it’s done correctly. The Lopes’ passing game is solid and quick about 75% of the time, but it could be cleaner and more organized to prevent turnovers.
Capitalizing on their speed will be essential this season. GCU quickly passes and scores, but the Lopes missed some key opportunities for fast-break plays.
“(Fast breaks were) something we really talked about too much at the end of the game,” Coles said. “But we got very fast athletic guys, and I think we should push the ball, get out, transition a lot more than we have.”
Coles said he’s been on fast transitioning teams before, and the dynamic a high-octane offense brings to a team is unmatched. He believes GCU will bring it together and implement that aspect of the game as the season progresses.
Even with much to work on, there is no doubt the Lopes still have an excellent roster for a potentially winning team. Drew spoke about Coles’s ability to come off the bench and make plays happen against Eastern New Mexico.
“JaKobe can really score in bunches, really fast, can really shoot,” Drew said. “He’s creative with his shot-making ability. When we signed (Coles and Williams), they both were over 40% 3-point shooters and tonight they were terrific.”
Williams exceeded those expectations Tuesday with 100% accuracy on field goals and 3-pointers, proving he will be a necessary contributor to the Lopes offense. Despite knowing he was on top of his game in the exhibition, he knows any player on the roster could do that this season.
“Our depth is really high, so it could be us two one night, could be another two another night, could be one person,” Williams said. “Just knowing, as a team, that we have everybody who could do everything. It’s just amazing to see.”
Coles agreed about the team’s immense talent and capabilities this season. He expressed gratitude to the program and his faith for putting him at GCU, but he knows the work doesn’t stop here.
“The talent means a lot, but it doesn’t mean nothing if it doesn’t have execution with it,” Coles said. “There was a couple things today that we didn’t really execute great on … But if we can execute those little things, I don’t really see a team beating us this year, to be honest with you, and I played on some great teams.”
