Boys’ Basketball Adapts to Second New Coach
Although they have had a few losses, the boys’ freshmen basketball team is hopeful for upcoming games. As new Head Coach Monte, a first-time coach and former player for Pasadena City College, leads them into the rest of the season.
“He pushes us a lot more [than the previous coach]. It gets really tiring, but in the end, it will pay off more [in] the games,” said forward Chris Rodriguez. “We want to be the team that works together [well] and that other teams fear.”
A new coach in the middle of the season presents some obstacles that still need to be settled out, such as adjusting to new training methods. However, there are other aspects that the team needs to focus on, such as their rebound and defense during games. They must also cope with a decreased number of players, which went down to 14 after some were promoted to the JV level.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Monte, “The defense is a major concern and is part of the fundamentals. Once they tackle that, they can tackle almost anything. We’re all here […] to aim for the League title.”
Despite losing with a score of 60-80 in their Jan. 29 game against the Montebello Oilers, the team picked up their performance in their following game on Feb. 2 against the Schurr Spartans. The Moors won by two points in the final shot of the game.
“We put in more effort in that [game] and [cooperated] better in what we needed to do,” said point guard Wai Sett.
The team played their last game against the Mark Keppel Aztecs on Feb. 12 as they end their season.
by Johnny Huynh
Staff Writer