Pacesetters at the Pointsmith, Cousin Try to Bring Faster Tempo to Redbirds

Summary

---

NORMAL - Kenyon Smith used to guard Derrick Rose every day during basketball practice at Simeon High School in Chicago. It had to be that way, Smith said. His coach wouldn't let anyone else even try.

Rose quickly is emerging as an NBA superstar with his hometown Bulls. Smith is a sophomore point guard in his first season with Illinois State. His new coach, Tim Jankovich, is relaying a message that Smith has heard before.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Pacesetters at the Pointsmith, Cousin Try to Bring Faster Tempo to Redbirds

"As a team one thing coach wants to make sure is we guard someone," said Smith. "That's what I was taught and love to do."

Smith and another newcomer, Anthony Cousin, are in charge of setting the tone for this year's ISU squad which starts the season at 2:05 p.m. Sunday against Southern Illinois Edwardsville at Redbird Arena.

In other words, Smith and Cousin want to hound the opposing point guard 94 feet on defense and get the Redbirds quickly up the court on offense.

Jankovich, starting his fourth season as the Redbird coach, believes fans could see a different style than they have the last three years.

"I never felt like we were deep enough to force the pace I would like to play at. This year it appears we (are)," he said. "Sometimes that changes. We haven't played games y...

See the full content of this document

---