AMHERST — On paper, Luwane Pipkins’ return should be a great thing for UMass.
The Minutemen will be adding their leading scorer back into the lineup, not to mention the team’s undisputed leader. His creativity on offense has opened up the floor this season for UMass and he’s one of the few players who can create their own shot.
But as Pipkins prepares to return to uniform for UMass (9-16, 2-10 Atlantic 10) on Wednesday at George Washington (7-18, 3-9), coach Matt McCall has other concerns about how adding his star player back into the fold will affect what has been brewing the last two weeks.
“I’m concerned about injecting Pip back into the lineup from our team’s standpoint mentally,” McCall said. “How do guys respond if he’s ‘taking minutes away from someone,’ how does that affect us mentally? Do we get caught up in that? Can we stay focused on our job and what we have to do in the game to be successful?”
That concern also transfers to Pipkins, who only knows one speed when he’s on the court. The junior guard is known for his tenacity and competitive fire when he’s playing, and McCall said he isn’t sure how Pipkins will react to the limitations of playing on a hamstring that still isn’t at 100 percent.
“How does Pip respond? How does he play?” McCall asked. “He’s a dynamic personality who’s going to want to be out on the floor, is he ready to go out there for 30 minutes? Probably not, how will he respond, how will he handle that?”
Pipkins likely won’t start for the Minutemen against the Colonials as McCall said he’ll probably go with the same starting five that has played the last two games. That group — Keon Clergeot, Carl Pierre, Unique McLean, Samba Diallo and Djery Baptiste — has helped UMass start fast and that will be just as important in a critical late-season matchup.
That lineup has also set a tone for the Minutemen on offense of sharing the ball, something they’ve struggled to do consistently this season. It has allowed Pierre to string together consecutive 20-point outings for the first time this season, including a career-best 26 last week at George Mason.
Pipkins’ presence has been a detriment to ball movement at times, especially when his teammates stay stagnant or look mesmerized by the junior dribbling the ball. Yet it will take the same commitment to ball movement to help UMass.
“The one thing that we’ve had the last two games is the ball has really, really moved,” McCall said. “We didn’t score an enormous amount of points against Davidson, but we had 270-plus passes in the game, follow it up with 221 against Mason. So the ball is moving, we’ve got to continue that trend of ball movement, and it can’t stick when it hits certain guys’ hands.”
STUCK IN THE CAGE — The Minutemen will likely be practicing in the Curry Hicks Cage for awhile longer. The team has been barred from the Champions Center since UMass’ 85-67 loss to Fordham two weeks ago, and it doesn’t seem like the exile will end any time soon.
Although the Minutemen have played better since McCall moved practices away from the $30 million facility, the second-year coach needs to see just as much progress off the court to allow his team back into the building.
“We have to earn our way back into (the Champions Center) and that’s through not only how we compete every single day, but going to class, going to tutoring, being on time, being respectful,” McCall said. “Sometimes people think it’s just about hooping. It’s more than that when you want to win and be a champion. We’ve still go a long way to go with regards to that.”
COBBOUT — Redshirt junior Curtis Cobb is still in his walking boot and will not play against George Washington. McCall said the guard has a chip in his right foot or ankle and Cobb’s return to action is dependent on his pain tolerance once he is able to remove the boot.