Lopes set to make 1st impression

Wednesday, October 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

CSU San Bernardino

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10/29/2019 8:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

GCU Game Notes GCU Media Guide

GCU Arena season debut to display quicker team

By: Paul Coro

Wednesday, Oct. 30 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (0-0)	VS	CSU SAN BERNARDINO COYOTES (0-0)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra, ESPN3, GCULopes.com \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View \| FOLLOW: @GCU_MBB

It could be love at first sight for Grand Canyon basketball fans when the 2019-20 team makes its GCU Arena debut on Wednesday night but it will take a season to get the Lopes lowdown on what is possible for a made-over team.

Introductions will be in order when GCU returns to face CSU San Bernardino in a 7 p.m. exhibition with a mostly new roster. Last season's leading scorers, senior guard Carlos Johnson and junior center Alessandro Lever, return but the look of the Lopes will shift from one of the nation's tallest teams last season to a smaller, quicker squad this season.

"This is the tone-setter for us so we are going to go out there and give it our best," said Johnson, who averaged 14.3 points for last season's 20-14 team. "It's going to be a little different. We're not as big this year but we're going to show you things you haven't seen yet in GCU basketball. The main thing is going out there and proving to ourselves that we belong out there every night and that we'll play hard every night and give 110 percent."

As with all previous six years of the Lopes' Division I era, head coach Dan Majerle will lean on a team personality of high energy and intense defense as the base for success. With this team, the lack of size should not be mistaken for a lack of toughness. Practices have proven it to be a tenacious group, which will have to be that way to compensate on the boards for an average roster height of 6 feet 4.5 inches.

The Lopes are getting a first test from a team whose top two players are its big men, Coyotes junior Daytone Jennings (6-9 and 205 pounds) and senior Andres Villa (6-5 and 275 pounds).

"Our goal is always to be playing our best basketball when the conference season hits," Majerle said. "It's going to kind of be a feeling-out process for everybody, for me to get to know these guys and where they'll be successful. We're going to be a lot smaller this year than we were last year. We were a really large team last year. This year, we're going to be more guard-oriented and a little bit quicker. I'm excited to see where it goes. We'll have a good team."

Majerle perennially prefers to play an uptempo style with floor spacing and has personnel to play that way this year, especially with Lever on the post to draw defenses away from the perimeter.

The last time GCU returned its top two scorers (DeWayne Russell and Joshua Braun in 2014-15), the team went 27-7.

"There's a lot more dog to this team because we have dominant personalities," Johnson said. "We've got people who don't like losing but they love winning so they're going to be even tougher on teammates. It's creating a winning atmosphere and we're taking no shortcuts."

There are seven newcomers who will experience the GCU Arena bedlam for the first time Wednesday and two more players, juniors Northwestern transfer Isiah Brown and Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College transfer J.J. Rhymes, who are champing at the bit to play in front of the Havocs after redshirting at GCU last season. Guard Mikey Dixon can begin playing games after the fall semester because he was a midseason transfer from St. John's.

"It'll be special for our guys who haven't seen it before and are playing in front of that crowd for the first time," Majerle said.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.