In Banks, first-year head coach Pat Marlia is about change.
“We are trying to make our mark as a defensive team’” Malia said. “We are working on it in practice every day. It’s a big change for the kids to play defense on every possession. We’re trying to get the kids to play strong man defense and get ball pressure. We might run a 2-3 zone, but the top two are putting pressure on the ball.”
Malia said he plans to mix man-coverage and the 2-3 zone with a lot of constant ball pressure and half-court trap zones to raise his team’s defensive intensity. He hopes it will turn Banks, a 6-17 team from a year ago, into a playoff contender. A feat that has only been accomplished once in the past two decades.
“My goal is to get into the state playoffs,” Marlia said. “We want to still be playing in March. I think if the kids realize that defense is the number-one thing, it s an attainable goal. We want to sneak in in the three- or four-spot.”
The team returns all but two players from last season and features three seniors – including big-man John Criswell. This year’s junior-heavy team is led by juniors guards Chris Loza and Trask Bowden.
“We’re trying to get them into a triangle to try to work the inside-out side game,” Marlia said. “Down low, we have Colby Seyferth and John Criswell. We have a lot of juniors, and that’s big.”
The coaching staff is working on setting up a lot of quick jump shots for a team that is potentially stacked with shooters.
“We do quite a few quick hitters that lead into the triangle,” Marlia said. “The kids enjoy the quick hitters and the quick looks. They have had a lot of success hitting those shots.”
Banks (1-4, 0-0) is facing talented teams in the pre-season with hopes that it will prepare the team for the regular season.
“We’ve dropped [three of the] four games to good teams,” Marlia said. “We lost to Sheridan, they are in the Top-10 in 3A. Then we lost to Gladstone, they finished [14th in the coaches poll] last season. We lost to Marshall, a Top-10 team in the 5A.
“Then we went to Claskinie and beat them by 24.”
Marlia says the team needs to get some winds under our belt to convince the kids that defense wins championships.
“The kids want to play in March and want to get a taste of the playoffs,” he said. “We are pretty much Juniors so that would be a real big step for us. We have gone to the state playoffs once in last 20 years. As a coaching staff, we are battling against something they have never experienced before.
“If we get some wins and convince them that defense wins games. You can come to practice and know that the hard work pays off.”
Marlia says that on any given night his team can beat any team in the league. The Braves can shoot well and really surprise the opposition. He says, in the end, it’s all about defense.
“Keep preaching defense, he said. “Defense will win you games.”
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