- Will Camp
The Boys Varsity Basketball team has been working hard to come back from a disappointing last season. Last year the team went 3-20, but they’ve had a promising start this season. The team beat Collegiate, one of the best teams in the league, 68-65 in their first game on December 4. Justin Ben-Ari (VI) had this to say about how the team is overcoming last season’s issues:
“I think that we had 3 main issues as a team last year: trust, communication, and commitment. By trust, I mean that we did not trust each other on the court. We did not have trust in our teammates that they would make the right play which led to many guys trying to take over games by themselves. The second issue was communication... as a team last year we were not very good at this, both in terms of how we communicated with each other and the frequency with which we did. The third issue was commitment. We only maybe once had a full practice and we also had two guys quit mid-season. It is hard to be a good team when not everyone is fully committed. This year we have fixed all of these issues, result[ing] in more focused and intense practices and much better team chemistry.”
As Ben-Ari said, trust, communication, and commitment are three necessary components to having both a well run and successful team. Communication between players before, during, and after games is crucial for a winning team. The team has obviously managed to overcome their issues from last year, which is apparent in their initial victory against Collegiate. The team showed potential to be one of the best in the league at the beginning of the season, but they are currently sitting at 3-7. The team was not able to continue their path of victory from the beginning of the season, but their ability for a comeback is evident in their new dynamic. Aaron Geller (V) said this about how the team has played so far this season and how he expects the team to do this year:
“We won our first two games of the season. What impresses me most is our resilience. We are relentless in our tenacity throughout the game. In the first game, this tenacity allowed us to overcome a double-digit second-half deficit. I expect great things from this team. We are supportive of each other, demand excellence and full effort. The league is very tough this year but I expect us to be very competitive.”
Aaron’s high prospects for the team mirror Ben-Ari’s prior statement about the team’s growth this season. The team’s resilience, tenacity, and support demonstrate their potential to be one of the best in the league. I look forward to keeping up with the team for the rest of the season and hope to see lots of students at the Boys Varsity Basketball game at WinterFest this afternoon (January 24).
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