As Jordan Starr or any other Mustang initiates a fast break, they must strike a delicate balance.
The Master's University men's basketball team wants to play at a rapid pace. They hope to reach or surpass last year's average of 90 points a game, something they can't achieve by plodding.
However, they don't subscribe to a reckless brand of basketball.
"Obviously our first goal is to get something up ahead," Starr said, "but when we don't have something up ahead, then we want to make sure that we're under control and not still rushed because you can't played rushed all the time."
That was one component of the team's identity the Mustangs tried to iron out in Saturday's 73-56 win over Occidental College in the MacArthur Center. Starr feels the Mustangs made progress in that department after halftime, when Master's turned a tight game into a comfortable win.
"I think for sure we took our time," said Starr, who finished with 15 points and five assists. "I mean, we slowed it down, we were more intentional as far as getting through the offense and doing what we need to do offensively. We weren't as rushed or sped up."
The Mustangs (1-0) know they won't necessarily be able to accelerate the growing process this season. Master's is still learning how to operate offensively without Hansel Atencia and Delewis Johnson, a pair of star guards who graduated after last season.
Despite a promising group of guards, the Mustangs' star power now lies primarily in the front court, and the team is still adjusting to a new mode of operation.
"Right now we're making it more difficult than it needs to be offensively," said TMU head coach Kelvin Starr. "That's not a bad thing. It's just learning each other. Look, whenever you take guys like Hansel and DJ out of our lineup, and those guys had the ball in their hands a lot, it's a different look. It's a different flow."
The Mustangs found that flow in spurts Saturday, knocking down 7 of 20 three-pointers and shooting 48% from the floor as a whole.
Tim Soares scored a team-high 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and Brock Gardner scored 13 points with seven rebounds. But the key to putting away the Tigers, after the teams entered halftime deadlocked at 35, came on the defensive end.
After Occidental hit 7 of 14 threes in the first half, the Mustangs limited the Tigers to 2 of 6 shooting from distance, blocked four shots and allowed only 21 points the rest of the way.
So, while the Mustangs continued working on their offensive identity, the game ultimately pointed to something more important.
"We have to be elite defensively this year," Kelvin Starr said. "If we can lock in defensively and be elite and be even better than we have been in the last couple years, it doesn't matter either way. That's where the games are won or lost at the end of the day."
