MONTGOMERY—The Alabama State men's basketball team has had several days off since their last game at Troy on Nov. 25 and with the upcoming week  being finals week the team will not play again until Dec. 8 when they travel to Chicago to face Chicago State.
 
It has been a good week of practice and Head Coach Lewis Jackson has seen some improvement in the team during the week of practice.
 
“It has been a good week of practice,” Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  “We have players communicating better on defense and we have guys rotating more and guys are just playing a lot harder.  Those are the things you want.  We are taking baby steps into the season and if we continue to do these things as we move forward we will be a better team.”
 
ASU has had problems scoring this season, but has also had problems on defense with so many new players trying to learn a new system.
 
“We have tried to work on a number of things; offensively we are working on getting to our second and third options within our offense and adding some additional plays,” Jackson said.  “Defensively we are continuing to work at getting better on the ball and of course our boxing out and rebounding.  Those are things we know we have to improve on to be competitive as we move forward.”
 
The coaches have moved practice times around a little for finals week to help the players have more time to study for their exams.
 
“We are going early in the morning so the guys will have the days and nights to study,” Jackson said.  “They can take all the time they need to study and prepare for exams.”
 
The Hornets will leave on Thursday Dec. 6 for their road trip at Chicago State and for their Dec. 10 game at Detroit.