PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT?; DESPITE PAIN, LACK OF PRACTICE, SANDERS EXCELS AS LONG-RANGE BOMBER

Most basketball coaches hold firm to the belief that a player is going to pretty much perform in games like he does in practice. Suffice to say, coaches consider practice to be vital.

But what Southeast Missouri State University senior guard Amory Sanders is doing this season appears to blow that theory right out of the water.

Sanders, because of a painful foot injury, has been held out of much of the Indians' practice sessions in recent weeks in order to save him for games.

But the lack of practice time sure hasn't affected Sanders' ability to find the basket. The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder leads the Ohio Valley Conference in 3-point shooting at 54.2 percent and he ranked second in the most recent national statistics for NCAA Division I players.

"I don't think a lot of people could do what Amory has been doing, not practicing all that much but still being ready to play in games," said an admiring Southeast coach Gary Garner. "But Amory is such an intelligent player. He knows the game so well, and he's really a tough kid. He's playing with a lot of pain, but he never complains."

Sanders, who has hit 32 of 59 3-point attempts, originally suffered his injury -- which is basically a deep bone bruise -- during practice early in the season. When the condition did not soon improve, he was told that the only way to truly get well would be to put the foot in a cast and sit out for up to six weeks.

But that never entered Sanders' mind.

"That wasn't going to happen," he said with a laugh. "I wasn't about to lose that much time out of my senior season."

With Sanders really hobbling several weeks back -- he had to miss three straight games -- Garner made the decision to seriously limit Sanders' practice time for the rest of the season, hoping to keep his sharpshooter as fresh as possible for actual competition.

In his first game back after missing those three contests -- and with virtually no practice time -- Sanders went 5-for-5 from 3-point range during a win at Tennessee State.

Sanders, who is Southeast's fourth-leading scorer at 9.7 points per game while coming off the bench, has actually been able to practice a bit more than originally anticipated, but he uses his own judgment as to when and how long he can go.

"I pretty much know it's going to hurt all the time, but I'm just dealing with it," he said. "Lately it's been feeling a little bit better, so I've been able to practice some. I take pain medication and the days it really bothers me, I don't practice."

One of Garner's main concerns when Sanders isn't able to practice much is that the player will lose his conditioning, but Sanders said, "I ride a (stationary) bike at practice even when I can't go. It's not totally the same (as playing), but it helps me stay in shape."

And working on his shooting is not a problem.

"I work on it before practice a lot with coach (assistant Chris) Lowery," said Sanders, who actually was hitting nearly 60 percent from 3-point range until a recent mini-slump. "I get a lot of shots at practice."

Sanders is particularly pleased that his shooting has picked up this season after what he considered to be a disappointing rookie campaign with the Indians.

A transfer from Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Sanders came into the Southeast program last season with a reputation from 3-point range similar to that of former Southeast shooting star Cory Johnson, a fellow TRCC product.

But Sanders, although he averaged 5.6 points per game off the bench last season while playing a key role for the OVC champion Indians, never displayed the shooting touch that Garner had expected. Sanders hit just 34.5 percent of his 3-point attempts as a junior.

"I really thought we didn't see the real Amory last year, as far as his shooting," Garner said. "In junior college, Gene Bess (longtime TRCC coach) said Amory was every bit as good a shooter at Cory Johnson, which is saying a lot. That's why I really looked for Amory to shoot the ball well this year."

Said Sanders, "I didn't shoot well last year, not nearly as good as I wanted. I struggled. I came in overweight and I think that was a big part of it. I did a lot of running and exercising on my own over the summer, just to get in a lot better shape. And I think it's made a big difference. I really feel like I'm shooting well."

Outside shooting has never been a problem for Sanders, who said he hit about 50 percent of his 3-pointers while playing for a Bartlett High School program in Memphis, Tenn., that went 35-2 and ranked 17th nationally during Sanders' senior season. Current Southeast player Daniel Weaver was also on that Bartlett squad.

"I think we had two of the best high school coaches in the United States at Bartlett and they really worked with me," Sanders said. "I've always worked on my shooting, the fundamentals, the follow through, all the little things that help you."

Next season, Sanders plans to return to his old high school as an assistant coach, although up until recently the business management major had not figured on a coaching career.

"I really like working with kids and I think I know the game well," he said. "Not being as athletic as other guys, I've learned how to get my shot off, how to score and how to get guys involved in the game."

And he's also learned how to play in plenty of pain.