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The gym is filled with the sounds of shoes squeaking, balls bouncing, and the swish of the hoop. It seems almost like a normal practice but it’s not, the boys are wearing headsets.
The boys basketball record is 4-2 as of last Wednesday. They start region on Friday. when they play Carbon at home.
“What I’ve learned about this team is they’re very comfortable talking in a virtual sense but not in a reality sense,” head coach Bill Pollock said. ”When they’re just goofing off, and it doesn’t matter they talk all the time, but when they’re put in a position where they need to talk for us to be successful they’re uncomfortable and they don’t want to do it.”
Pollock implemented a new drill this year, the use of gaming headsets. This was done to help the boys communicate with each other on the court.
“That’s been our main goal the past couple of weeks is just talking to each other because for some reason we just don’t talk a lot,” said sophomore Bryce Swapp.
Another change can be seen this year is the people on and off the court. This lineup changes every game, but this doesn’t stop the team from adjusting quickly to the different players when they come off or when they leave the court.
“If you watch a lot of the kids that come from the JV game into the varsity game are usually step slow for a minute because things are happening so much faster,” Pollock said.
To the team experience is a big deal.
Many of the boys out on the court playing a varsity level have to get used to the speed of the game quickly and keep up while being consistent and being in sync with their teammates.
“We can play a bad team and beat them and think, ‘Oh we’re pretty good’, then you play a good team and they expose you,” Pollock said.
Region started on the 15th for boys basketball. This year they have a tough schedule, with a lot of big schools who are tough to beat.
“Everybody in our region looks just like South Summit, looks just like Grantstville – they’re all big, strong, quick athletes and we’ve got to figure out how to compete with those types of athletes and teams,” said Pollock.
For the boys on the bench they have to bring energy. If they don’t their energy can have an effect on their teammates and the crowd.
“If the bench is quiet that’s usually how the game is, the bench kinda controls the energy in the whole stadium,” said sophomore Bryce Swapp, “I always try to get hyped for my guys when they hit a shot.”
While being on the bench can seem easy to some, the boys aren’t just sitting there. They are cheering their teammates on as well as following the game and stay- ing involved.
“Any shot or any attempt just make sure you cheer on your teammates,” said Swapp, “get involved cause when you do get subbed in you’re gonna be more involved and know what you’re doing instead of just going in and know what you’re doing.”
