CAL LUTHERAN BASKETBALL PREVIEW : Rookie Coach Brings Big-Time Approach to Kingsmen Program

It sounds about as logical as watching Roseanne for edification and MacNeil-Lehrer for laughs, but Mike Dunlap, Cal Lutheran’s first-year basketball coach, will model his Cal Lutheran defense on that of Nevada Las Vegas and his offense on Indiana’s.

UNLV is not known as the Runnin’ Rebels for its low-scoring games, and Indiana is famous for its man-to-man defense, which makes a combination of the Runnin’ Rebel defense and Hoosier offense seem like the worst of both worlds.

However, UNLV’s unsung defense has produced perhaps college basketball’s best defender in Stacey Augmon, and gunners like Steve Alford and Jay Edwards have flourished in Indiana’s motion offense.

Dunlap does not have that kind of talent, but he knows Division I basketball after spending the past four years as an assistant for George Raveling at Iowa and USC. His basketball theories are a melange of concepts, and, having observed UNLV workouts, he is particularly influenced by Jerry Tarkanian’s system.

“I’m a disciple of their man-to-man defenses. We use a lot of their concepts,” said Dunlap, who has spent 70% of his preseason practice time on defense. “(The players) have been very receptive. I’ve been very pleased with their attitude.”

Like Tarkanian, Dunlap emphasizes a pressure system and defensive positioning, but what Cal Lutheran could really use would be a few UNLV players. Only one full-time starter returns from the 1988-89 team, which finished 11-17, and Cal Lutheran’s leading career scorer, Steve deLaveaga, has completed his eligibility and moved on to professional basketball in Australia.

Mike Demeter, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound center, is the only starter to have played a game for Cal Lutheran. He will be joined on the first team by a freshman, a sophomore transfer and two junior college transfers when Cal Lutheran opens its season Friday with a 3 p.m. game against Chico State in the opening round of the Cal Poly Pomona tournament.

Demeter averaged 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds a game last season, and he won’t be anchored to the low post in Cal Lutheran’s motion offense, which will emphasize screening, movement and passing.

If Cal Lutheran’s offense is patterned after Indiana’s, the Kingsmen’s closest approximation of a Hoosier hotshot is starting off-guard Jeff deLaveaga, Steve’s younger brother. DeLaveaga, a 6-3, 185-pound sophomore and team co-captain, averaged 12 points a game at Southern California College before transferring to Cal Lutheran last year.

“I would say we have five ‘go-to’ guys,” Dunlap said of his offense. “If we have someone to shoot a bomb, it would be deLaveaga, and if we look inside it would be to Demeter.”

Freshman Brendan Dillon (6-4, 193), a native of Australia, will run the offense. He beat out top reserve Brad Adam (5-10, 160) for the point guard position.

“He’s not very quick, but he passes the hell out of the ball,” Dunlap said of Dillon.

Juniors Carl Champion (6-4, 195) and Omar White (6-3, 180) will man the forward positions. Champion played at Golden West Junior College and has been a preseason surprise. Dunlap named White a co-captain.

“Omar White is our best athlete by far,” Dunlap said. “He can run and jump with anybody in Division I, II or III.”

White will have plenty of opportunities to do so.

In a schedule Dunlap called “a minor brush fire,” Cal Lutheran will compete for a berth in the NAIA District 3 playoffs but will play 12 games against Division II opponents and take difficult December trips to Eastern Montana and the Bay Area. Eastern Montana was undefeated at home last season, and the Kingsmen will play Cal State Stanislaus and Division II members Cal State Hayward and Sonoma State in a five-day span.

For Cal Lutheran, which has had only two winning seasons in 25 years, a UNLV-style defense and an Indiana offense might seem like odd bedfellows. However, they might lead to an even more unheard-of combination, Cal Lutheran basketball and victories.