College basketball: Odessa College teams try to keep on rolling

Odessa College men’s basketball coach Dennis Helms and women’s coach Ara Baten have spent the better part of two months preparing their teams for the 2009-2010 season and both squads have come out of the gate very quickly.

The women’s team is undefeated at 13-0 and ranked 13th in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association poll.

Helms’ men’s squad is 13-1 on the season and sits 19th in the men’s poll.

Now, however, comes the toughest test for both programs — the holiday break for Christmas.

After nearly 60 days of total control of where the players are, either in class or in the gym, both Baten and Helms are left wondering for the next two weeks about how their players are doing.

“You have to trust them to do things on their own,” Baten said. “For some of these kids, it’s the first time that they’ve seen their families since school started in August.

“We encourage them to work out on their own when they’re gone and we know some of them will and some might not work out as hard. One thing I tell them is if they work out and come back in shape, they’re going to put themselves in a better position when they come back.”

The women’s team will be back on the court on Dec. 26 for one day of practice before leaving on Dec. 27 for the Eastern Arizona Tournament. There, the Lady Wranglers will face Eastern Arizona, Pima College and Chandler-Gilbert College over three days of competition to get back into the swing of things.

For the men, the return date to the OC Sports Center is Dec. 27 in preparation for the New Mexico JC Tournament on Jan. 1 and 2, 2010. There, the Wranglers will face Cochise College of Arizona and Southwest Community College.

Cochise is ranked second in the nation in the latest poll.

“If coming back to face the No. 2 team in the nation isn’t motivation to stay in shape over Christmas, I don’t know what is,” Helms said. “We tell them that they know what they have to do to stay in shape and it’s all about their work ethic.

“For us, the break is actually coming at a good time because Thomas (Schoeps) got sick and has lost some weight so I told him to go home and eat a cow. He’ll be a lot stronger for us when he gets his weight back up.”

While the tournament games coming back from the break are important in the records for both teams, as well as the rankings, Baten and Helms are looking farther down the road and will use the two weeks in the gym after the holiday to get their squads ready for more important issues — Western Junior College Athletic Conference play.

Both teams open WJCAC action on Jan. 11 against Western Texas College at the OC Sports Center. The women play at 5:30 p.m., with the men taking the court at 7:30 p.m. against the Westerners.

“Jan. 11 really is the day we are preparing for when we get back,” Baten said. “That’s the date that’s important to this and quite honestly, I expect the play to be a little sloppy the first few games after the break.

“But if we can get our game back in shape and be playing better basketball by Jan. 11, then I’ll be happy. I’ve found that the teams that are the most successful in dealing with the transition from the first half of the season to the second half after the break are the ones that are the most successful in February and March.”