Raiders' mission: confuse and disrupt.

Byline: Adam Pruiett

Oct. 31--NICEVILLE -- As a star guard at Alabama, Brittney Ezell would always tune out haphazard shooting nights by focusing on defense.

That mentality is something the Okaloosa-Walton College women's coach has tried to instill in the Raiders. She won't deny there's been some forcefeeding involved. That's what happens when you intend to utilize about a dozen different defenses.

"It's pretty funny right now to watch their heads spin around when they're trying to figure out what we're calling," Ezell said. "They'll get it."

Ezell said last season she basically used three different defenses: a man-to-man, 2-3 zone and 1-2-2 halfcourt trap. In addition to those, Ezell will now throw a variety of presses and other halfcourt looks at opposing offenses. The idea, especially when Panhandle Conference play arrives, is to cause confusion and disruption.

"It will give people a different look almost every time down the floor if we choose to do it," Ezell said. "The talent level is so good in our conference that if you give them a steady dose of one defense they adjust and find ways to score. We're going to try to keep other teams on their heels with what we try to do defensively and create some more offense from changing up our defenses."

Ezell refers to OWC's transition game as "controlled chaos." With the institution of several presses, she wants to see a lot of it.