It’s about time: basketball preview
Junior Addy Phillips (black shirt) jumps to block a shot by junior Blake Phillips, as, from left to right, senior Joey Morones, junior Rasheed Butler and junior Isaac Baker look on.
Sweat, competition, repetition and excitement. Here comes the inevitable Lin- coln basketball season! Following a successful fall sports season, the basketball teams have their hands full if they look to continue the streak. Even though ex- pectations are high, the coaches and players are ready to shine.
Women’s varsity basketball coach Glen Lee is animated for the upcoming season. “We are excited about the new season and what the possibilities are,” he says.
Heading into the winter, the girls are extremely confident, following a pos- itive offseason. Whether the progress they have made can push them past oth- er teams is something the team is excit- ed to find out.
All positives aside, the team does have
some points they are stressing. They look to strictly grow on their ability to rebound the ball and communicate ef- fectively on defense. Lee looks to focus on these points as he believes they are the backbone of the program.
A new idea he is going to test out this year is bringing the “younger players up to speed quicker than they’re sometimes ready for.” If proven successful, this will add immensely to the program’s chem- istry.
Speaking of team culture, Lee has great respect for this aspect, so much so that this is always his key point. Lee says, “Our program is about creating memories and friendships, and how we represent ourselves and our entire pro- gram within the Lincoln community.”
The team holds many events to strengthen team chemistry, such as the one coming up to kick off the season, “Sisterhood day with the Cards,” a day where the whole program comes togeth- er to bond and get to know each other.
Come opening night, the coach and girls will be ready to go. A quote Lee says they live and play by is: “‘We give 109% every time we step on the court. We use 109% because we feel 110% is out of control!”
Catch them in their first home game on December 2 against the Newberg Ti- gers.
Men’s basketball varsity coach Pat Ad- leman is excited to be entering his sec- ond year with Lincoln. He believes that the base of the team he came to last year was perfect due the young talent. How- ever, with this comes a price.
“As long as you can cancel out the out- side noise and just worry about what’s going on in the locker room that’s all that matters. It’s not really a concern, just something to be aware of with such a young team,” says Adelman. “We have to embrace the process.”
Overall, the program is definitely headed in a positive direction.
Adleman believes the team embodies the school’s community spirit. “At every level we have guys who care about one another and that play for one another,” expresses Adelman. He believes that this is the whole mentality of the program.
As with every other year, the goal is to win state. This would be great, but this is unachievable without taking the small steps first. To make it to this point, Adle- man and his team looks to become more disciplined on defense, as well as work together on offense more efficiently.
Once the season is all said and done, Adelman has goals for his players be- yond the sport.
“I want the relationships these guys make on the team are kids they know the rest of their lives, friendships that they create that when they leave our program it’s something they hold on to and it’s something they never forget,” says Adelman.
He believes it’s just as important as any other piece of the game. Adelman knows from high school ball at Lake Oswego, that, rather than the wins and losses, “it’s the relationships that you can make that last forever.”
