Star City properly motivated
Optimism has been the driving force for the Star City boys basketball team since it has been allowed to hold on-campus workouts. But Coach Reggie Turner also can sense anxiousness.
“Like any other team, they want to get out there and really play,” said Turner, who’s in his first season as head coach after Johnny Taylor left in June for the same position at Farmington. “They just haven’t been able to do that. A lot of the things we’ve been doing is fundamental work, shooting drills, footwork drills and ball-handling drills. They’ve gotten use to that.
“The only thing they haven’t gotten use to is not being able to compete against each other every day. They’re kind of getting tired of that. But like I told them, it’s something that we just have to do right now in order for us to have a season later.”
Turner has been installing a “finish” mentality in his players. The Bulldogs went 13-11 last season but fell one game short of earning a berth in the Class 4A South Regional tournament by losing four of their last five games. That ending has stuck with the Bulldogs.
“We probably had three or four games where we didn’t play well and probably should’ve won,” said Turner, who served as an assistant under Taylor. “I think the expectation is always to be playing in the postseason where you have a shot at regionals and ultimately a shot at the state tournament.
“To come up one game short at going to regionals, that was tough. So that’s kind of what we’re setting our sights on. I think they’ll be hungry enough to go out and try to make it happen.”
The Bulldogs lost seven seniors from last season’s team, but they’ll have
5-11 guard Marvion Scott returning after a junior season in which he averaged 26 points per game.
Turner said he isn’t going to deviate much from the team’s style of play. He plans to push a fast pace while operating out of a freeflowing offense.
“I just want to try to play to the strengths of the kids,” he said. “I’ve got a bunch of good athletes that will be able to get up and down the floor and create their own shots. In workouts, they’ve been doing a really good job.
“We’re limited in what we can do right now. But the guys have been coming in and doing as much as they can to try to get ready for this upcoming season, however that may go.”