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SoCalHoops College News

Pepperdine Midnight Madness
Next Weekend--(Oct. 7, 1999)

In anciticpation of today's Coaches' Preview Luncheon (but without any reference thereto), the Daily News ran it's weekly column on Pepperdine sports, by Sportswriter Chris Branam, and it featured a small preview of the Waves men's basketball team, and what new coach Jan van Breda Kolff is expecting for the season. Because the articles in the Daily News are sort of hit or miss when it comes to checking their website (and they never did have an archive that was usable anyway) we've excerpted that portion of the article pertaining to the men's team. Interesting reading, particularly van Breda Kolff's take on how former head coach Lorenzo Romar ran the offense last season with virtually the same personnel:

Waves intend to be on the run

By Chris Branam, Daily News

LOS ANGELES -- Whether the new offense is going to be wildly successful, he's not yet sure about. But Jan van Breda Kolff enters his first season as the Pepperdine men's basketball coach with a new plan for a team that won 19 games last season and lost only one starter.

The Waves are going to run -- a lot.

"We're trying to get our players accustomed to a style they're not used to," said van Breda Kolff, who coached at Vanderbilt for six years before replacing Lorenzo Romar in April. "Last year it was hard to score against Pepperdine in the halfcourt ... but (the Waves) didn't get steals, they didn't block shots. There weren't many `big-play' situations."

The Waves were 9-5 and second in the West Coast Conference last year despite averaging just 65.7 points per game, sixth in the WCC. Defensively, Pepperdine was No. 2, giving up 63.2 points per game.

"(Scoring more) will generate excitement and enthusiasm for the fans," van Breda Kolff said. "The players are really going to enjoy it."

Pepperdine starts practice next Friday night with "Midnight Madness" at Firestone Fieldhouse. Junior forward Kelvin Gibbs, the Waves' leading returning scorer (11.0 ppg) and rebounder (7.3 rpg) said he can't wait to get into the Waves' new transition offense.

"It's probably something we've all wanted to do since we've been here," he said. "Last year we probably had the most athletic team in the conference. Having a slowed-down game probably held us back."