Success for UMKC hoops likely to start in the backcourt

Martez Harrison and LaVell Boyd shared the UMKC backcourt for the first time last year.

The minutes (33.1 per game and 32.7, respectively), points (15.4 and 14.1) and rebounds (3.7 and 3.4) all suggest a natural merge of style and talents.

The actual experience, well … not so much.

“I have to say it took a while for us to get our chemistry together,” said Boyd, who had transferred to the UMKC from South Suburban Community College in Illinois.

His fellow guard agreed.

“It took a while, but about conference play was when we really hit our groove together, and figured out what each other wanted to do,” Harrison said.

UMKC coach Kareem Richardson wants 40 frenetic minutes from the Roos every game — high-pressure, up-tempo defense with arms everywhere backed by a soundtrack of shoes screeching.

Richardson wasn’t looking for chaos in his own backcourt.

“LaVell is such a great kid, he didn’t want to feel like he was stepping on Martez’s toes, and he really wasn’t playing the style of basketball we witnessed in junior college,” Richardson said. “It evolved as the year went along, and I’m really excited about how they starting meshing toward the latter part of the year. Going into summer, they’re always together. They’ve come up with a strong bond.”

Harrison and Boyd, along with fellow senior Dashawn King, a forward, are the only three starters returning from last year’s team.

If the Roos are going to rebound from what Richardson called a disappointing 12-19 season — including a 4-10 record in the Western Athletic Conference and an exit in the conference tournament semifinals to top-seeded New Mexico State — it will start with the guards.

UMKC opens the 2016-17 season at 4:05 p.m. Saturday with an exhibition game against Missouri S&T at Municipal Auditorium.

“I feel like we have the chance to take a step forward,” Boyd said. “We have a lot of talented pieces that we recruited, and by the time conference comes, I feel like we should be settled in.”

Harrison starts the season fourth in program history with 1,553 career points.

“I’m really anxious to get the season started. This is one of the most talented teams we’ve had since I’ve been here. It’s one of the most fun group of guys I’ve been around,” Harrison said. “Getting to know each other, along with (LaVell), going out to eat and getting shots up together; that will be big for us contributing to this team and help us go a long way.”

UMKC had to abandon its up-tempo ways midway through last season. A litany of injuries robbed the Roos of the depth needed to sustain that pace.

“We struggled finding our identity through last year,” Richardson said. “That style is what we’d like to be. Our first two years here, we were one of the national leaders in terms of turnovers and steals, and we took a big-time drop off. We want to turn teams over. We want to be out getting steals and getting buckets in transition and making things hectic.”

Everybody is healthy. The new season is filled with blank pages, and UMKC is ready to start filling them in.

“I like our ceiling,” Richardson said. “If we can stick together and stay healthy, I like where this team could be.”

▪ The UMKC women, who finished last season 10-18 overall and 5-8 in the WAC, also open the season Saturday with an exhibition against Kansas Christian. The Kangaroos return their top three scorers: Junior guard Aries Washington (11.2), junior forward Kiana Law (10.0) and junior guard Samantha Waldron (9.3).

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Success for UMKC hoops likely to start in the backcourt."