These days, the intensity at NAU men's basketball practice has been taken down a few notches.
Without coach Mike Adras, who resigned from his position last Friday, the Lumberjacks' practices no longer carry on with the same vigor.
Instead, the Jacks admit there's a bit of a more laid-back approach under interim coach Dave Brown. While the three assistant coaches -- Quintin Grogan, Will Hensley and Jay Collins -- do most of the talking, none of them have replaced Adras' fervor.
"With Coach (Adras), you're forced to go a lot harder," NAU point guard Stallon Saldivar said. "I didn't have a problem with it by any means. But the atmosphere isn't down ... we're still going hard, (there's) a little less intensity from our coaching staff."
The reduced intensity served the Jacks (3-7 overall) well in their first Division I win of the season last Saturday against Cal State Bakersfield, but it will be a different matter entering today's matchup with Arizona State (4-5).
Adras tended to guide each of his players with a stern hand, and with their newfound sense of flexibility under Brown it's a bit of a culture shock for some of the Jacks.
"It's kind of difficult to adjust to," Saldivar said of switching between coaching styles this far into the season. "Coach Brown gives you a lot more confidence than you probably need."
Said Gaellan Bewerick on Brown's coaching philosophy early on, "If you feel like you can make a shot, or feel like you can do something, do it."
NAU will face an Arizona State team that is 4-5 after a 60-57 win over North Dakota State last Saturday, one of two common opponents with the Lumberjacks, who lost to the Bison 70-58. Coach Herb Sendek's Sun Devils have three players scoring in double figures led by Trent Lockett at 14.2 points per game.
NAU is 0-6 away from Flagstaff this season, including three road games and three neutral contests. In the six losses NAU is averaging 57.4 points, shooting 36 percent and averaging 18.6 turnovers per game.
The Lumberjacks have played ASU 136 times, with the Sun Devils holding a 76-60 advantage in the series. NAU defeated the Sun Devils in the last meeting during the 2006-07 season.
"There were a lot of good feelings about what we were doing," Brown said. "I'm not changing a lot. Right now, they're in finals, they have all these mental things going on, they've got some old dude coaching them -- it's enough."
Jacob May can be reached at jmay@azdailysun.com or 556-2257.
Editor's Note: Some information in this report was provided by the NAU sports information department.
