Team hopes practice will make perfect against Baylor
12/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2009
UT ARLINGTON vs. BAYLOR GAMENOTES 
By Josh Bowe for utamavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - It's been 12 days since UT Arlington played its last game. It'll be another three before it plays it's next. That can either be described as a coach's best dream or worst nightmare.
Coach Scott Cross will go with the dream.
"The break couldn't have happened at a better time because there were some things that we obviously had to change to suite what we had right now," Cross said. "I'm really glad that we have this opportunity for our guys to get better defensively and offensively."
The "obvious" change Cross referred to is the changing of offensive and defensive sets since junior forward Tommy Moffitt went down with a broken left foot.
Not fearing a potential rust factor or an inability to keep focus during the long practice time, Cross has had to drill his players to get better with Moffitt out.
Freshman guard Cameron Catlett has taken to the practices exactly how Cross wants. Catlett expects his minutes to get a bump in the coming weeks and he's not wasting any of the extra practice time.
"I look at it as a chance to get better, just to play for fun but also its like a business," Catlett said. "We're trying to win games and I feel like we can succeed a lot more than we have."
Considering that the next game is Sunday and in Waco against the Baylor Bears (8-1), Cross is thankful his players are taking the right approach with a tough Big 12 team coming up.
"We played a really good game last year against Baylor," Cross said. "They've been playing really good and they're very talented."
The records are almost identical and the time and place are the same as last year. That's about where the similarities end in the rematch.
Last year, on December 20th UTA came into Waco with a 4-4 record, looking for an impact win against the 8-1, No. 21 ranked Baylor Bears. An inspired effort fell just short, as the Mavericks couldn't hold onto a nine point halftime lead to fall 79-76.
And while UTA comes back to Waco with a similar record (4-3), as does Baylor, the major players have changed.
Senior guards Marquez Haynes and Brandon Long are the only Mavs to have played 20 minutes in last year's game that will play on Sunday. Four year Baylor guard Curtis Jerrells, who revitalized the Bears' program during his tenure, has graduated.
"I think everybody's pretty confident that we can go in there and definitely be competitive and come out of there with a win," Haynes said. "If we focus."
Focus seemed to be a key theme for Cross and his players during practice this past week. Catlett reiterating that this is a team full of players wanting to get better and improve.
"Other teams might take it lightly," Catlett said of the long break between games. "But it's not the time to go light."
Cross summed it up when talking about championships. A conference title is not out of the imagination and he knows games like these against Baylor are good measuring sticks.
"Our slogan is championships are won today," Cross said. "You either get better or you get worse, you don't stay the same so everyday we've got to get better."
