Back to Basics: coach puts big hope in new players and the gym
By: Lloyd Quansah
Courier Staff
The men’s extramural basketball team has been assembled after tryouts that took place Jan. 8 –9. Coach Ken Wade ran the practices to determine the new team.
With last year’s group moving on, he had to quickly add to the team. He still has guard/forward Jerel Beals from last year’s team. He also mentions guard/forward Tommy Murphy as another key component for the team.
“They have a lot of skills in terms of they could take their man off the dribble, they’re very good shooters, they’re great one-on-one defenders, teams leaders. As a matter of fact, very great team leaders,” Wade said about both players. “And those are the players you want to build your team around.”
He expressed disappointment in the lack of athletes available at the college. He is hoping Centennial’s new initiative will result in more active people.
“As a matter of fact I was thinking, ‘where (are) all the athletes down in Toronto?’” he said. “For some apparent reason, as years go by, it seems we have less and less athletes who what to really to take part in sports and so on.”
“Now Centennial College is trying to move on by building a gym and I hope that will draw a lot of attention in there so we could get so good athletes into the program,” he said.
He has lowered his expectations for the team because of the new players and the fact that most of them have not played many years of organized basketball. He said they are known to play more of “street ball” style, he needs to be patient and instill his system.
“These guys are new, they’re learning the system; a lot of guys learning a system. It takes time. And as a coach, trust me, (you’re) scratching your head, you’re thinking forever.” Wade said. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of guys are not ready as yet.”
Wade is hoping his style of coaching will help them learn the plays.
“It takes time and patience and effort, but you have to have the right coach to do those kind of things. You have to be patient with them also. And that’s where I’m at right now, to be honest with you. Things are going great right now, so it doesn’t matter if these guys buy into the system I’m trying to teach them. If they buy into the system, then they’ll be good,” he said.
