By Mac Moore
The talk of wins and losses dominate the discussion of most sports. Basketball is a sport that allows a team to be judged by that standard, while also letting stats show there is a texture to the substance.
The men’s basketball team participated in nail-biters last season. 12 games were decided by five points or less. The team averaged 70.4 points a game offensively. Defensively they allowed 70.5 points a game. This led to a 16-20 season that was much stronger than the losing record would indicate.
The team has many new faces, but the remaining players know how close the hard work helped them become last season.
“We would like to improve that record and we expect to,” returning starter Christian Hildebrandt said. “We know it going to take a lot of hard work to do so.”
Early season play has been positive in outcome. The team won their first two games of the season. The victories were by an average of 12.5 points, but the team doesn’t expect such margins throughout the season.
“The schedule is so tough,” Mike Jeffers, head coach, said. “We are going to have some bumps along the way, but it will make us better.”
Jeffers is not so worried about records. Early season victories are far less important to the team’s outlook than simply setting the standard of improving daily. The coaches and the players know early success does not mean they are where they need to be.
“We have yet to put a whole game together,” Hildebrandt said. “I think it’s mostly because we are young. I think the biggest challenge for this team will be realizing what we can and can’t do at certain points in the game.”
Once they put together a whole game the team hopes it will translate to strong league play. The chances are high if Hildebrandt can keep performing like he did in the season opener. His stat line read 28 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“I hope we can expect some more six trey performances,” Hildebrandt said.
Contact Mac Moore, sports editor, at mmoore82@jccc.edu
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