With center Cady Lalanne still suspended, Derek Kellogg says he'll look to give forward Tyler Bergantino more minutes.
UMass forward Tyler Bergantino is likely to see more playing time in the coming games, says coach Derek Kellogg
AMHERST — Freshman forward Tyler Bergantino played 1:54 in the first half University of Massachusetts basketball team’s most recent game against Northeastern.
While in the game, the Huskies picked up four fast-break points while UMass didn’t score at all. On his final possession, Bergantino fumbled a pass in the paint that was thrown at his ankles. The ball skipped off his hands and out of bounds, giving the Huskies the ball, and prompting UMass coach Derek Kellogg to immediately turn to Sampson Carter and tell him to “Get back in there.”
Bergantino sat on the bench for the remainder of the game.
“Watching it, it was a bad pass,” Kellogg said more than a week later before Wednesday afternoon’s practice. “But I think you look at your freshmen in a different way, and they went on a 4-0 run when he was in the game. I just told him that can’t happen whether it’s your fault or not your fault, I need you to come in and be positive.”
Kellogg, though, knows he will likely need Bergantino for more than 1:54 if center Cady Lalanne’s suspension continues (Lalanne was again absent from practice Wednesday). Senior Sampson Carter played 34 solid minutes at center against Northeastern, and sophomore Maxie Esho contributed in the frontcourt as well, but Kellogg said fans will likely see more of the 6-foot-9 Bergantino soon.
“He’s working hard in practice, and he actually deserves an opportunity,” Kellogg said. “I think really almost out of necessity he’s going to get an opportunity here pretty soon.”
The Springhill, Fla. native said that playing against Carter in practice has opened his eyes to different parts of his defensive game than what he was doing against Lalanne.
“I think right now I’m just working on a different type of defense in the post,” Bergantino said. “Sampson faces up, can shoot the three. It’s different than when Cady is just inside and posting up.”
Bergantino, who averaged 17.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.7 blocks at Nature Coast Technical High School last season, has learned plenty this year from watching Carter on defense working against bigger opposition.
“Sampson’s footwork is really good when he’s guarding big guys like that,” Bergantino said. “He’s always a step ahead of them. Watching him, that’s something that I’ve got to do.”
Bergantino has appeared in five games thus far in 2012-13, averaging 2.4 minutes, a product of the team’s tough early schedule more than anything else, according to Kellogg.
“We’ve just played in so many tight games or games against teams from the BCS level that I really haven’t had enough time to work a guy like Tyler or (freshman guard) Trey (Davis) in as much as maybe I would have liked,” Kellogg said. “I think there’s an opportunity right now for those guys to get some more minutes.”
That opportunity comes as the Minutemen finish the non-conference portion of their schedule against four teams from the Mid-American Conference (as part of the school’s arrangement to play football in the MAC) along with East Carolina and Elon.
The first of those comes against Elon at Noon on Saturday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.
Despite his own personal increase in playing time, Carter said Wednesday that he knew how important it is for guys like Bergantino to get going.
“We need all of the extra energy we can for this team,” Carter said. “For us to be where we’re supposed to be, this has to be a team effort all the way. Any extra boost of energy is needed from anybody.”