C URT CONNECTION

Coaches, players discuss camaraderie, effect on play

elena alaniz & ainsley guzman section editor & staff reporter

A new era of boy’s varsity basketball for the Tigers has officially started. Winning the title of district co-champs, shared with Rudder, it is easy to see that the team holds an abundance of promise.

Head coach Andrew Daily saw the potential in this year’s team right from the beginning.

“The initial reaction was that this could be a special year,” Daily said. “This could be a special bunch.”

The success of this “special bunch” stems from what senior Zay Jessie believes is a shared aim.

“The team comes together when we all realize [we] have a common goal, which is to win, and we all feed off each other,” Jessie said. “When one person’s really excited, we all get excited.”

The Tigers have been playing together for years, and this bond has resulted in improved play, junior Adam Jackson says.

“We’re doing better because we’ve been together for a little minute now,” Jackson said. “We’re more experienced, smarter [and] play better together.”

When on the court, the team works together as part of a larger whole.

“Everybody has a role to play,” Daily said. “Once they learn how to understand their role and [that] one role is not greater than the other, the better off we become as a team.”

While coaches and players alike agree that connection during games is important, perhaps the most crucial part is behind the scenes at practice.

“An average practice starts off with strategy,” Jessie said. “Then we’ll get into conditioning and running. Then we’ll go through our plays and our offenses and defenses. [After], we finish with free throws.”

Jackson explains that mindset is a vital part of the team’s strategy given the natural chaos of the sport.

“Typically, before games, we all go into the locker room [and] get our minds right,” Jackson said. “We get focused. We [also] pray before the game.”

Getting your mind right, so that the players are only focused on the game.

“It’s a competitive situation,” Daily said. “It’s chaotic. So many things go into a game for thirty-two minutes that, if you’re not paying attention, you can miss something. That’s the beauty of the game of basketball, you have so much going on at one time.”

When things start to go wrong, the team practices making adjustments instead of panicking.

“When our plays aren’t working, we come up with something to fix it,” Jessie said. “We either go into one of our basic sets, find someone that’s open, or we will ask coach [what to do.]”

However, the trust between the team is something just as important as manpower, Daily explains.

“They trust each other. They may have a relationship with the coaching staff,” Daily said. “And so their work ethic on the court trickles down from the mindset [and] attitude of the coaches but it fits the mold of what they envision themselves being able to do. It allows them to feed off of one another, [and] their play can ignite a fire and each individual in some type of way.”

This trust sparks a bond both on and off the court. While practice is serious, it can have jokes here and there.

“We joke all the time as a coaching staff, and even players, stating that we could have a reality TV show with our team,” Daily said. “There’s never a dull moment.”