HUNTINGTON - Marshall's Chris Lutz found his first brush with international basketball to be pretty much agreeable.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Bedford, N.H., was invited to practice with the Philippines national team late this summer and worked out for about two weeks. He found the international game compatible with what coach Donnie Jones is trying to do with the Thundering Herd.

"It was a little bit different," Lutz said. "I like that everybody played together. We moved the ball around a lot, pushed the ball. Defensively, the coaches were really on top of everything. I felt like I adjusted to it pretty well."

"They just grab the ball and go," Jones said of the international game. "We used to think we played fast at Florida [where Jones was an assistant], until we went overseas and we found out how they really play. We want to play as fast as we can, yeah, as long as we get a shot, a good one."

Lutz's mother, Luzviminda, is a Philippines native who pursued her nursing career in the U.S. after receiving her college degree. That makes Lutz eligible for the Philippines team without further question, but that possibility never crossed his mind until he was contacted by national team officials.

"Somebody tracked me down and found out I was half-Filipino," Lutz said. "I was able to go to a training camp in [Las] Vegas, and eventually they invited me to go out there to practice with them for a couple of weeks. That was my first time even out of the country, and it was definitely a good learning experience."

Like many other countries, the Philippines is gunning for the 2012 Olympics. The building of the team is taking place now, with an eye toward the qualifier, the 2011 FIBA Asia tournament.

Much like Jones, the Philippines team was looking for a pure shooter, with Lutz potentially filling the bill. The fact that he sank 47.2 percent of his 3-point attempts at Purdue in 2006-07 probably caught the attention of national team officials.

Lutz averaged 10.7 points last season for Marshall, but his long-ball percentage fell to 37.4. He showed his brightest flash of brilliance in a 37-point outing at Tulane, a game in which the Herd rallied from 15 down to win in overtime.

At other times he struggled, going scoreless at Memphis and Alabama-Birmingham. The UAB game came at the end of the regular season, and he followed that by going 1-for-10 from the floor in a season-ending loss to Rice.

There were some extenuating circumstances. Sitting out a season always invites a little competitive rust to set in, and there were injuries to Lutz's back, knee and hamstring.

The first and most unusual injury cost Lutz a summer of offseason conditioning.

HUNTINGTON - Marshall's Chris Lutz found his first brush with international basketball to be pretty much agreeable.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Bedford, N.H., was invited to practice with the Philippines national team late this summer and worked out for about two weeks. He found the international game compatible with what coach Donnie Jones is trying to do with the Thundering Herd.

"It was a little bit different," Lutz said. "I like that everybody played together. We moved the ball around a lot, pushed the ball. Defensively, the coaches were really on top of everything. I felt like I adjusted to it pretty well."

"They just grab the ball and go," Jones said of the international game. "We used to think we played fast at Florida [where Jones was an assistant], until we went overseas and we found out how they really play. We want to play as fast as we can, yeah, as long as we get a shot, a good one."

Lutz's mother, Luzviminda, is a Philippines native who pursued her nursing career in the U.S. after receiving her college degree. That makes Lutz eligible for the Philippines team without further question, but that possibility never crossed his mind until he was contacted by national team officials.

"Somebody tracked me down and found out I was half-Filipino," Lutz said. "I was able to go to a training camp in [Las] Vegas, and eventually they invited me to go out there to practice with them for a couple of weeks. That was my first time even out of the country, and it was definitely a good learning experience."

Like many other countries, the Philippines is gunning for the 2012 Olympics. The building of the team is taking place now, with an eye toward the qualifier, the 2011 FIBA Asia tournament.

Much like Jones, the Philippines team was looking for a pure shooter, with Lutz potentially filling the bill. The fact that he sank 47.2 percent of his 3-point attempts at Purdue in 2006-07 probably caught the attention of national team officials.

Lutz averaged 10.7 points last season for Marshall, but his long-ball percentage fell to 37.4. He showed his brightest flash of brilliance in a 37-point outing at Tulane, a game in which the Herd rallied from 15 down to win in overtime.

At other times he struggled, going scoreless at Memphis and Alabama-Birmingham. The UAB game came at the end of the regular season, and he followed that by going 1-for-10 from the floor in a season-ending loss to Rice.

There were some extenuating circumstances. Sitting out a season always invites a little competitive rust to set in, and there were injuries to Lutz's back, knee and hamstring.

The first and most unusual injury cost Lutz a summer of offseason conditioning.

"I had a back injury in June, and I tried a lot of different things," Lutz said. "I saw a lot of different people for it, and my hips were really out of line and causing a lot of pain in my back. Eventually, in September, I finally got it better. Then, it was the sprained MCL and pulled hamstring. Hopefully I don't run into any of those problems this year."

As the Herd prepares for its exhibition game Tuesday and its opener on Nov. 15, Lutz is in much better shape, thanks to staying healthy and thanks, perhaps, to his Pan-Pacific experience.

Jones is looking for Lutz to assume an elevated role as a senior leader, and to be more productive - in fewer minutes, if the Herd proves to be deeper, as expected.

"This year is the year everybody gets to see who Chris is," Jones said. "He had flashes of great games and great moments for our program last year, and I probably put a lot of pressure on him as a coach to make shots and make plays, because we needed them.

"He'll get to be himself a little more, because he's more than just a shooter. Chris is a basketball player - he can defend, he can pass, and now he can get one off the dribble. Now, in our system, I think he will flourish a little bit, because other people will get attention. They won't be chasing Chris Lutz all the time. We had that effect at Florida, where you couldn't just guard one guy, there were four other guys to make you pay."

Lutz wants to better himself, yes, and he does have an eye on life after basketball. But on the eve of his senior season, he is looking at leading the Herd to a big Conference USA run, and perhaps the program's first postseason appearance in 22 years.

A possible run to the Olympics can wait.

"I just wanted to focus on this year, and talk with them after the year's over," Lutz said.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.