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PHS coach focuses on defense
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| Senior Wes Crossno (left) looks for a teammate to pass to as Koy Garmrath defends during an intrasquad scrimmage by the Rams at the PHS gym. The Rams, after winning their season opener over Valley View, look for their second straight victory tonight when they host Marmaduke. Action starts at 5 p.m. Mike McKinney/Daily Press |
Inexperienced Rams look for success in 2009-10 under Robertson
By Mike McKinney
sports@paragoulddailypress.com
Jay Robertson was pleased to see the Paragould Rams open the 2009-10 basketball season on a winning note Tuesday night. But the first-year PHS coach said his team still has some questions that need answered if it expects to be competitive in the rugged 5A-East.
The Rams hope more answers surface tonight when they host county rival Marmaduke for a non-conference matchup.
Robertson, a former PHS basketball standout, returned to his alma mater this year after spending seven years as a member of the Greene County Tech coaching staff. At Tech, three of his four junior high teams won 5A-East championships, and he was part of a senior high program that captured two state titles in three seasons.
But now Robertson has donned the red and blue again and readily accepted the challenge of rebuilding the Rams’ program.
“It was different (at first) because I had been at Tech so long,” Robertson said of his return to PHS. “It took me a while to get used to this place again, and now I’m back where I was my whole life.”
Robertson takes over an inexperienced team that returns only one starter — junior guard Chance Sugg — and two post players who logged significant minutes on the floor as sophomores. He said, however, no one has a starting spot locked up, as 10 players are currently battling for the top eight spots in the rotation.
“It’s wide open. It’s whoever works the hardest,
whoever contributes and has the best attitude will be out there in the rotation,” he said.
The deciding factor as far as who gets minutes on the floor could emerge on the defensive end of the court.
“We’re going to have to hang our hat on defense to carry us,” Robertson said. “We’ve got to learn that if we defend and rebound, we’ll have a chance to win games regardless of how we shoot the ball.”
While inexperience and defense are key issues for the Rams, size isn’t — nine players on the roster are 6-foot-1 or taller. Chase Simpson (6-4) and Cody Fielder (6-1) are the returning juniors in the paint. Simpson had 11 points in the Rams’ season-opening 54-51 win over Valley View on Tuesday night.
Others vying for playing time in the post are 6-5 senior transfer Wes Crossno, 6-3 senior Colin Hunt, 6-2 junior Austin Miller, 6-2 senior Jackson Hailey and 6-2 junior Jacob White. Crossno, who transferred from GCT, sat out his junior season due to health problems. He was in the Rams’ starting lineup Tuesday and scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“We’ve got Wes Crossno, who’s a senior, and hopefully he can get us some points. We’ve also got Chase Simpson in the post and Colin Hunt, who’s a senior and a very athletic kid, and Jackson Hailey will get some minutes,” Robertson said.
On the perimeter, Sugg leads a youthful but talented group that includes senior Austin Moss and juniors Koy Garmrath and Zach Burroughs.
“He’s a gritty guy,” Robertson said of Sugg. “He’s got to get more of point guard mentality about himself. He’ll get an opportunity at the point. Zach Burroughs and Koy Garmrath may get an opportunity at the point. Austin Moss, he played some last year; he can score in bunches.”
Others expected to contribute this season, according to Robertson, are juniors Aaron Bell and Alex Burroughs, sophomore Logan Davis and 6-4 senior exchange student Po-Yuan Hsu (Ben).
Robertson said Bell is a “a guy who can shoot the ball pretty well” and the Rams will need that and more to help offset opposing defenses that focus solely on stopping Paragould’s big men.
“We’ve got to make some shots on the perimeter to open it up inside for our post players, Wes Crossno, Simpson and Fielder. We’ve got some guys who can score down low, if we can get the defense to spread out. If we can’t hit our shots and they pack it in on us, then we’re going to have to rely on our defense,” the PHS coach said.
He said another important factor to the season is developing team chemistry.
“We’re trying to get them believing in each other and hopefully believing in me. And hopefully we can move forward and start building on something,” Robertson said. “They’re learning to play harder and we’ve been on the weights and they’re getting stronger. Their skills are getting better; we’ve just got to get the (mental part) better along with everything else. They haven’t tasted success in a while and that’s part of it.”
Leading up to the season, Robertson has asked a lot of his players, and he said he’s beginning to see some signs of paying it off, even though there’s still room for improvement.
“It’s been a little overhwelming as far as the amount of work, and the amount of effort and time they’ve had to put in. I don’t think they realized the amount of work they were going to have to put in, on the weights and different things. They’re simple things, but they’re big things. But if you get better and better at them, it will pay. The formula apparently works. Hopefully, we can believe in it and keep working and striving to do some things.”
Last year, the Rams finished 1-13 in 5A-East play after winning no conference games in the previous season. Ready for change, the PHS coach issued a challenge to his players.
“I’ve told them it’s on you to get this program turned around,” he said. “This is the time to do it. Regardless of how good we are this year or not, it’s time to establish some things. We’re not going to be a pushover. Night in and night out we’re going to compete.”
Not only that, Robertson also has a lofty goal for his Rams.
“The conference is very, very tough. But we’ve got to find a way to compete, compete and compete and figure out a way to win ballgames,” Robertson said. “My goal is to go to the state tournament, and hopefully that’s their goal too.”
The Rams hope more answers surface tonight when they host county rival Marmaduke for a non-conference matchup.
Robertson, a former PHS basketball standout, returned to his alma mater this year after spending seven years as a member of the Greene County Tech coaching staff. At Tech, three of his four junior high teams won 5A-East championships, and he was part of a senior high program that captured two state titles in three seasons.
But now Robertson has donned the red and blue again and readily accepted the challenge of rebuilding the Rams’ program.
“It was different (at first) because I had been at Tech so long,” Robertson said of his return to PHS. “It took me a while to get used to this place again, and now I’m back where I was my whole life.”
Robertson takes over an inexperienced team that returns only one starter — junior guard Chance Sugg — and two post players who logged significant minutes on the floor as sophomores. He said, however, no one has a starting spot locked up, as 10 players are currently battling for the top eight spots in the rotation.
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whoever contributes and has the best attitude will be out there in the rotation,” he said.
The deciding factor as far as who gets minutes on the floor could emerge on the defensive end of the court.
“We’re going to have to hang our hat on defense to carry us,” Robertson said. “We’ve got to learn that if we defend and rebound, we’ll have a chance to win games regardless of how we shoot the ball.”
While inexperience and defense are key issues for the Rams, size isn’t — nine players on the roster are 6-foot-1 or taller. Chase Simpson (6-4) and Cody Fielder (6-1) are the returning juniors in the paint. Simpson had 11 points in the Rams’ season-opening 54-51 win over Valley View on Tuesday night.
Others vying for playing time in the post are 6-5 senior transfer Wes Crossno, 6-3 senior Colin Hunt, 6-2 junior Austin Miller, 6-2 senior Jackson Hailey and 6-2 junior Jacob White. Crossno, who transferred from GCT, sat out his junior season due to health problems. He was in the Rams’ starting lineup Tuesday and scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.
“We’ve got Wes Crossno, who’s a senior, and hopefully he can get us some points. We’ve also got Chase Simpson in the post and Colin Hunt, who’s a senior and a very athletic kid, and Jackson Hailey will get some minutes,” Robertson said.
On the perimeter, Sugg leads a youthful but talented group that includes senior Austin Moss and juniors Koy Garmrath and Zach Burroughs.
“He’s a gritty guy,” Robertson said of Sugg. “He’s got to get more of point guard mentality about himself. He’ll get an opportunity at the point. Zach Burroughs and Koy Garmrath may get an opportunity at the point. Austin Moss, he played some last year; he can score in bunches.”
Others expected to contribute this season, according to Robertson, are juniors Aaron Bell and Alex Burroughs, sophomore Logan Davis and 6-4 senior exchange student Po-Yuan Hsu (Ben).
Robertson said Bell is a “a guy who can shoot the ball pretty well” and the Rams will need that and more to help offset opposing defenses that focus solely on stopping Paragould’s big men.
“We’ve got to make some shots on the perimeter to open it up inside for our post players, Wes Crossno, Simpson and Fielder. We’ve got some guys who can score down low, if we can get the defense to spread out. If we can’t hit our shots and they pack it in on us, then we’re going to have to rely on our defense,” the PHS coach said.
He said another important factor to the season is developing team chemistry.
“We’re trying to get them believing in each other and hopefully believing in me. And hopefully we can move forward and start building on something,” Robertson said. “They’re learning to play harder and we’ve been on the weights and they’re getting stronger. Their skills are getting better; we’ve just got to get the (mental part) better along with everything else. They haven’t tasted success in a while and that’s part of it.”
Leading up to the season, Robertson has asked a lot of his players, and he said he’s beginning to see some signs of paying it off, even though there’s still room for improvement.
“It’s been a little overhwelming as far as the amount of work, and the amount of effort and time they’ve had to put in. I don’t think they realized the amount of work they were going to have to put in, on the weights and different things. They’re simple things, but they’re big things. But if you get better and better at them, it will pay. The formula apparently works. Hopefully, we can believe in it and keep working and striving to do some things.”
Last year, the Rams finished 1-13 in 5A-East play after winning no conference games in the previous season. Ready for change, the PHS coach issued a challenge to his players.
“I’ve told them it’s on you to get this program turned around,” he said. “This is the time to do it. Regardless of how good we are this year or not, it’s time to establish some things. We’re not going to be a pushover. Night in and night out we’re going to compete.”
Not only that, Robertson also has a lofty goal for his Rams.
“The conference is very, very tough. But we’ve got to find a way to compete, compete and compete and figure out a way to win ballgames,” Robertson said. “My goal is to go to the state tournament, and hopefully that’s their goal too.”
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