DECATUR -- With the 2014 football season at an end, all eyes are turning to the basketball team and head coach John Unger.
Unger, in his forth year as athletic director and head basketball coach, is transitioning his players from a football mindset to that of basketball. Since the Bulldogs failed to make the play offs, Unger was able to get all of his players together and gain an extra week of practice before the first game with was Nov. 20.
Unger continues to put his players through their paces by stressing the fundamentals of the game. All but two players, Matt Lee and Trey Kell, are returning from last year's district championship team.
"I have high expectations because everybody is coming back," Unger said. "We are coming back from a good year and adding a good group of 10th graders, Jay Porter, Ryan Shaffer, Bracey Owens, Jaffett Puga. We add this to the original group from the senior high to get a good group of 16 guys that can play. It makes it good at our level to have that kind of depth."
In July the Bulldogs had a chance to play in the Gentry Summer Basketball league. They had a chance to play bigger, more experienced 3A, 4A and 5A conference teams included the 7A Rogers Heritage.
"It wasn't about winning games; it was about giving the younger players a chance to play against more experienced teams like Rogers," Unger said. "I wanted them to gain confidence in games that don't count on the record."
And Unger's strategy worked. In the last game of the league, against Rogers, Unger played Porter, Shaffer, Owens and Ray Hiasman. As the game progressed, the players began to gain that confidence Unger was hoping for and ultimately made a few outstanding plays during the final half of the game.
The seniors this season are playing with an intensity missing from last year. The reason for this is clear, according to Terry Kell.
"We are all seniors this year," Kell said. "This is our last chance, so we will give it our all."
Returning this season to lead the Bulldogs is senior forward Mario Urquidi. He decided to skip the football season to stay healthy and improve on his basketball fundamentals. Urquidi went to a summer camp in Oklahoma City for rising high school and college basketball stars. When he returned he was a more improved and intense player, a team leader. He is not afraid to share his knowledge with his fellow Bulldogs to make them better players, smarter players..
"I expect a lot of leadership, a lot of role players because we all want to win," Urquidi said. "I work my hardest. I try to do the drill the right way, I listen to coach, and they see how competitive I am and hopefully they do the same."
"The nice thing about Mario and that group, Victor (Urquidi) , Terry (Kell), and Allan (Castaneda) is they just work so hard and I hope that rubs off on the younger guys. I think it has; I can see it," Unger said. "The young guys want to beat those other guys in practice just to prove they belong."
With all these elements in place, the 2014-15 basketball season is shaping up to be a championship one.
"I always talk about sport as just a game like a board game or a card game or any game," Unger said. "You got to learn the tricks of basketball. How to trick the defense, for example, to move the wrong way."
"I am really excited and ready to play," Unger concluded.
Sports on 11/26/2014