Matt Brown figures to coach less this season.</p><p>Oh, he&rsquo;ll continue to do everything a coach is supposed to do. But during his first two years at UMKC, Brown didn&rsquo;t think there were enough hours in the day to accomplish all that needed to be done.</p><p>That changes this season.</p><p>Brown had bestowed ownership of the team on tri-captains Spencer Johnson, Jay Couisnard and LaTreze Mushatt &mdash; and the responsibilities are more than ceremonial.</p><p>&ldquo;In practice, he lets us do most of it,&rdquo; Johnson said.</p><p>Most of what?</p><p>&ldquo;He lets us take full control,&rdquo; Couisnard said. &ldquo;We call the plays, offense and defense. We can&rsquo;t look to coach at every possession during a game, so we have to set up our own stuff.&rdquo;</p><p>The first return was positive. The Kangaroos thrashed Bethel by 36 in Friday&rsquo;s exhibition opener.</p><p>Brown&rsquo;s confidence in this group is rooted in its experience. Although none of the captains are seniors, all have been part of the program for at least two seasons.</p><p>Johnson, a junior forward, is the team&rsquo;s most experienced player. He&rsquo;s a returning starter who has appeared in 62 games in his career. He&rsquo;s coming off a season in which he made a huge jump from his rookie stint, averaging 10.7 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds.</p><p>Mushatt, a sophomore forward, averaged 9.1 points and 5.5 rebound in a productive freshman season.</p><p>The main source of Brown&rsquo;s optimism for this season is Couisnard. He&rsquo;s a 6-6 junior forward from Houston who spent his first two seasons at Evansville, where he started a total of 34 times.</p><p>Couisnard, the brother of former Wichita State player P.J. Couisnard, averaged 3.2 points in his second year at Evansville, but Brown is excited about his newcomer&rsquo;s upside.</p><p>&ldquo;The way he leads us, he&rsquo;s given this team an unbelievable amount of confidence,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s pretty effortless, and he&rsquo;ll be a very good player in our league.&rdquo;</p><p>An area that UMKC looks to clean up is shooting, on both ends of the floor. The Roos shot a woeful 40.3 percent from the field and allowed opponents to shoot 47.3 percent.</p><p>The disparity contributed mightily to the Kangaroos&rsquo; 7-24 season, one in which they failed to qualify for the Summit League Tournament.</p><p>The players are convinced that a more up-tempo style should improve things on the offensive end.</p><p>&ldquo;Everybody will be in an attack mode,&rdquo; Couisnard said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll look to penetrate and kick, and it&rsquo;s not that difficult to hit the open jumper.&rdquo;</p><p>That was the case in the exhibition game for Couisnard, who made his first three-point shots on kick outs.