The Elmore County boys basketball team plans to play fearless basketball this summer, according to coach Nathan Taylor. But this team still has a long road ahead of them before they can reach the level of fearless basketball and compete in the playoffs.
At a playdate at 17 Springs on Wednesday, Taylor was pleased with some of what he saw from his boys but overall he hopes to see a lot of improvement before the season.
“I saw glimpses of some good stuff,” Taylor said. “But we’ve just got to be more consistent with the ball. We still turn it over way too much, but some of that is because we got a bunch of new faces.”
The Panthers have only had five practices so far, with Taylor juggling multiple players who are also attending summer workouts with the football team.
“We just don’t have much chemistry right now,” Taylor said. “But the effort is there so (with time), we can work with everything else.”
The team had three players, key offensive starters, graduate after last season although Taylor was able to recruit others, like senior forward Justin Brooks, to fill those gaps in the lineup. With the addition of more height to the team, Taylor plans to really emphasize rebounds to his team this season — something the Panthers struggled with last season.
Senior center Holden Hines will be a key player for Elmore County on both sides of the floor as far as rebounding.
“(Hines) is the longest guy on the team,” Taylor said. “But his ability, he never gets sped up in the post and he’s got good touch around the rim. But he’s developed a three-point shot, so his ability to stretch the floor is huge for us.”
With new faces on the floor this year, Taylor has altered his game-winning strategy for the team only slightly.
“We really try to load the paint and force teams to take contested twos and keep them out of or off the rim offensively,” he said. “Last year, we were a high-clip three-point shooting team. But this year, with our added size, we throw the ball into the post a lot more and run split actions with our guards. It’s the same formation, but just different execution.”
Overall, though, fearless basketball is and remains the mantra for this team.
“We can’t have any doubts on the floor,” Taylor said. “But the fearlessness comes from our preparation, so we practice hard.”