Chapman Takes Case to Full Court

Chapman men’s basketball Coach Mike Bokosky, a traditionalist at heart, has staged a bit of a coup against himself.

In four previous seasons with the Panthers, Bokosky kept things simple. Chapman was a solid team that tried to win with a half-court game.

But circumstances prompted a change. When players reported this fall, Bokosky discovered he lacked a “go-to guy” but had plenty of talented players.

Bokosky decided he should take advantage of the depth by becoming more of a full-court team. The Panthers now regularly pick up their man-to-man defense in the backcourt. To guard against worn-out players, Bokosky is often going 11 of 12 deep on the bench instead of his usual eight to nine.

The approach isn’t especially innovative, Bokosky says, just new to him. “I’m not in my comfort zone doing this,” he said, “but I like the journey.”

This path has taken the Panthers (7-1) to their best start in 15 years. Chapman plays at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps tonight and will host Whittier Tuesday.

In 1981-82, Chapman was 9-1, but that team struggled to a 15-11 finish. Bokosky says he isn’t sure how good these Panthers are, but so far the signs are good.

Guard Toby Curto, a four-year starter, says he has never seen Chapman’s defense stronger. Chapman is forcing opponents into an average of more than 24 turnovers a game.

“We have the capability,” Curto said, “of actually taking teams out of their offense.”

It’s a fun way to play, Curto said. “It’s the style I like and I think a lot of people like. As long as you have to play defense, you might as well play it intensely and get in people’s faces.”

The Panthers are remarkably balanced on offense. Curto is the leading scorer with a 10.9-point average. Six other regular players average at least 7.6 points.

Another indication of Chapman’s balance is that in three tournaments the Panthers have had six different players make all-tournament teams. Curto (the most valuable player) and point guard Wayemon Powell were selected at the Redlands tournament. Senior center Aaron Aguilera and sophomore guard Richard Johnson were picked at the Pacific Christian tournament and senior forward Norm Coulter and sophomore guard Derek Mitchell were selection at the Panthers’ season-opening tournament.

Of those players, only Curto has started every game.

“It’s one of those years we got lucky,” Bokosky said. “We got some guys who wanted to come here. It’s given us an opportunity to try something different and so far it’s worked pretty good.”