Published: 10:56 AM, 11/04/2009

Last updated: 12:52 PM, 11/17/2009

By: Steve Behr Sports Editor

The next two days will be busy for Appalachian State's men's basketball team.
The Mountaineers begin their 48 hours of the 2009-10 season with Mountaineer Madness, which is Thursday at the Holmes Center at 8:30 p.m., which follows Basketball 101, a clinic hosted by men's coach Buzz Peterson and his staff and players. The doors open at 8 p.m. One day later, Appalachian State opens its season at home against Mars Hill in an exhibition game beginning at 7 p.m.
The Mountaineers, beginning their second Peterson era this year, have practiced 15 times since officially being allowed to conduct full-team workouts. Peterson said he'd like to have several more before beginning the regular season for real on Nov. 13 at home against UNC Wilmington.
"I feel like we need 20 more practices," Peterson said. "It used to be we could have 35 or 38 practices because we couldn't play after Thanksgiving. Now we've had 15 not counting the scrimmage against Winston-Salem State or the intersquad scrimmage. We did do the Bahamas thing, which did help."
The Bahamas thing was the trip Appalachian State made to the Bahamas in August to play two exhibition games. It allowed the Mountaineers to practice for two weeks as a team, and for Peterson to get to know his players better.
Since regular practices have begun, the Mountaineers have struggled just to get their full roster on the court. Both Josh Hunter and Ike Butts underwent knee surgery, and though Hunter has since returned, Butts didn't practice in a contact situation until Thursday.
A.J. Highsmith also has an injured biceps muscle, and other players have been sick with a variety of illnesses.
"For us, it's been kind of strange because we haven't had a complete squad yet," Peterson said. "We've been missing one or two guys every day."
Peterson said the Mountaineer Madness will allow the player to have some fun, but also to scrimmage for 10 minutes. Players will also compete in a slam-dunk contest toward the end of the event.
Appalachian State also hosts Division II Mars Hill. Peterson was very aware that Division II Le Moyne College beat Syracuse in an exhibition game Tuesday night.
"I was speaking at a group in Charlotte and I told them that's what happens nowadays when teams are only getting 17 practices," Peterson said. "Another group at a different level with some experience has a good chance of beating you. It's why you see a Le Moyne beat a Syracuse, or why a VMI can beat Kentucky."
Peterson said he wants to see Butts get plenty of minutes against Lees-McRae. He'll also look at different guard combinations, "to see how they respond to each other. We'll try to do different things and experiment a little bit."