Bulldogs learning under Watson
As basketball season begins in earnest across the state, Strong has spent the first few weeks getting acclimated with new coach Champ Watson.
The Bulldogs downed Hamburg in their opener before falling at Fordyce in their first road game of the year last week.
With the week of Thanksgiving winding down, Strong is slated to play in the FBT Bank & Mortgage Tournament starting next week at Fordyce.
The Bulldogs also have a return trip to Hamburg before starting conference play in the first week of December.
For Watson, November has been about teaching the Bulldogs how he wants things to be done.
“What I’ve seen is improvement,” Watson said of his team’s start to the season. “We had only a little over a week to prepare for the first games, so I’m having to teach them. I’m having to go down to the basics, even down to the fundamentals, and that’s what I love to do anyway is skill and development. As long as I see progression and improvement each day, I’m happy. If we just peak at the right time, I think we should be OK, but we’re young. They’re in a learning process right now. It’s an entirely different program. It’s an entirely different system, so we’ll pinpoint some things.”
Watson added that he has been working with the Bulldogs on several things.
“I’m still teaching how to not just stand and watch the ball,” Watson said. “You have to be able to move on offense. You just can’t stand there. I’m also teaching them defensive strategy as well. I’m trying to do a little bit of everything.”
Rebounding was an issue for the Bulldogs in the loss at Fordyce, and Watson said that is another area he is working to shore up.
“We let one slip away,” Watson said of the Fordyce loss. “They hit one jump shot, it was a three. The rest were layups and free throws.
I call layups like right up under the basket or in the lane. We have to hit the boards better. We have to box out, so I’m also teaching that as well. That’s where we lost it was on the glass. They had so many second-chance points and putbacks.”
Derrion Davis had a double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds against Hamburg along with 21 points against Fordyce, but Watson said there are areas where the junior can improve.
“As a head coach, I’m looking for improvement all across the board,” Watson said.
“Even Davis, who has led us in scoring, there’s still so much improvement that he can do, so I’m still teaching him basically how to play the game, pick your spots, things of that nature as a player. It’s a learning curve for all of my guys right now.”
Watson said a couple of players have played well early on.
“DeMarcus Baker had a good game against Hamburg,” Watson said. “He’s given us some good minutes. Troy Rowland (16 points against Hamburg) has been playing out on the wing as well as on the front. I’m looking for a few others to step up in that area.”
Junior Jamyron Thompson had 10 rebounds against Hamburg, and sophomore Caleb Chambers had four steals against Fordyce.
“He’s played a little point for me as well,” Watson said of Chambers.
“I’m trying to utilize his quickness. He had a crucial three against Hamburg as well, so he’s getting there. There’s a long way to go for all of my players to be honest. We’re not nearly where I want us to be, but I know I have to be patient. I just have to keep grinding and trust the process. That’s my slogan right now. Keep working and trust the process.”
Mental toughness is another focal point Watson has honed in on.
“Besides teaching the fundamentals of the game, I’m trying to instill some mental toughness,” Watson said. “I’m having to pull out some toughness drills. Defense wins championships, so we need to get more physical on defense. We need to start taking charges, box out and rebound the ball better and maybe our defense can turn into our offense. That helped us a lot in the Hamburg game. They didn’t do bad in the 2-3 matchup I played (against Fordyce), we just couldn’t rebound the ball, and that’s how they got second-chance points. Overall, if you limit a team to one jump shot, I thought they did pretty well, but we lost it toward the end.”
As the Bulldogs get used to Watson, the first-year coach said repetition will become important.
“I have to start doing the repetitions of everything so we’ll be mentally and physically prepared,” Watson said.