New-look Bear team adjusting Injuries, departures resulting in overhaul

ORONO – While the injuries sustained by versatile star Errick Greene weren’t as severe as initially thought, University of Maine basketball coach John Giannini will still be without the services of two other starters as they continue to recuperate from the effects of a Nov. 23 car crash.

Greene averaged 23.5 points per game in two games in the Spartan Coca-Cola Classic at Michigan State after being cleared to play. Doctors discovered that what had been diagnosed as a fractured xiphoid process wasn’t fractured after all. Greene was an all-tournament selection and was also named the America East Player of the Week.

But the injuries to fellow starters Derrick Jackson (torn deltoid in his right shoulder) and Clayton Brown (fractured right wrist) are more severe.

Giannini expects Jackson to miss a total of 2-4 weeks, while Brown will be in a cast for four weeks and won’t likely be cleared to play before the middle of January.

Those injuries, combined with the disciplinary loss of Huggy Dye and the departure for personal reasons of Ricky Green, has left the backcourt cupboard nearly bare. Jackson is a guard, while Brown is a power forward who can shoot from the perimeter.

“From a basketball perspective, we have a radically different team than what we expected right now,” Giannini said. “The good news is, we have two players (Greene and 7-footer Justin Rowe) who are playing at an elite level. … the other good thing is that if we do get healthy, players like Freddy Petkus and Joe Campbell and Todd Tibbetts and maybe David Dubois will be far more prepared to give us quality depth than they would have otherwise.”

Still, the fact that Greene is the only true point guard, save walk-on Jon Wallingford, on the roster, is a concern. Wallingford was a star at Edward Little of Auburn in high school, but his last hoop action before this year came in a UMaine intramural league last winter.

If Greene had been lost due to his injuries, the Bears would have been left with shooting guard Petkus and 6-foot-10 Mark Flavin as the top two point guards on the depth chart, Giannini said.

Despite the early misfortune, and a 1-7 start, Giannini is philosophical.

“I think the best thing we’ve done is not lower our expectations or standards,” Giannini said. “We still talk about what it takes to out-compete people.”

Giannini’s Bears sign guard

The troubles in his backcourt have simplified Giannini’s recruiting plan in one way: There’s no doubt where his priorities have to be.

“We hope to bring in at least three guards for next year’s team,” he said. “Basically, we need to do a 3-for-1 trade for Errick, and as good as Errick is, we might need three good players to compensate for him.”

The Bears have begun to fill that backcourt void with the signing of 5-10 guard Thomas Hill, a junior college player at Westark College in Fort Smith, Ark.

While Hill is a top player, Giannini stressed some non-basketball qualities in the future Black Bear.

“He’s a great person. He’s a serious student,” said Giannini. “He has played at an elite level [for a team that was fifth in the nation last season], he’s an older player, an outstanding shooter who can play the point. He’s a very strong defender and he’s exactly what we were looking for.”