4-0 Rocks Put Practice Time to Good Use
December 12, 2015
After last night’s win against Seneca, the Rocks are undefeated through four games. The victories have been by fairly wide margins with the exception of a two-point difference against Covington Catholic.
How did the Rocks reach this point? Simply practice, practice and more practice.
In the weeks prior to the opener — a Dec. 1 win against Jeffersonville — the team practiced offensive maneuvers — ball screens, press breaks and fast breaks — and plenty of defense.
Junior Jacob King, a 5-8 guard, said, “We work heavily on our defensive skills and rebounding because we’re going to be smaller than most teams.”
Junior Brendan King, Jacob’s twin and a guard, said, “The coaches are testing if we can handle any situation thrown at us, like referees not giving us any foul calls, or when we’re down by three with less than two minutes.”
Among the fundamentals the Rocks worked on, according to junior Lukas Burkman, were “communication on defense and offense, shooting, dribbling and passing. Fundamentals are the little things that we do that make a big difference.”
Head coach Mike Szabo was pleased with his young team’s progress while preparing for the season. He said, “First of all, we had a great preseason. We had an eight-week program that was designed to get us into great shape. Our guys did a super job in the weight room, and in conditioning, and in the skill work.”
With only two seniors on the team — Christian Terry and Gabe Schmitt — Szabo said the team’s play style has changed a bit for this year. He said, “We’re playing a little bit of a different style. We’re playing a lot faster, we’re pressing a lot more, and we’re gonna spread the floor out a lot more and utilize the three-point shot.”
If the 4-0 start is any indication, the Rocks’ preseason work was effective.
Jacob King said, “It’s a lot of work, no doubt, but we all know we have to pay the price if we want to be good and compete in the Seventh Region tournament this year.”
Check out one of the Rocks’ preseason workouts. Videos by Michael Webb:
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