Red Devils need game experience
By Bridget Bauer / Correspondent
Thursday, December 4, 2008 11:07 AM CST
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| Jacksonville’s Antonio Roy (21) defends as North Pulaski’s Kyron Ware, 13 goes up for a shot in a boys game last week (Chad Matchett). |
Having played only two games, the Jacksonville Red Devils and Coach Victor Joyner are hoping the next two weeks will give them a chance to mesh.
Additionally, the Red Devils (1-1) have the football players full time, so the next two weeks also should get them into playing shape. After winning its first contest against Little Rock McClellan two weeks ago, Jacksonville lost to North Pulaski, 49-43, last week. One difference was that point guard Stanley Appleby had just come from football.
“Not having a true point guard hurt us in that game,” Joyner said. “I think we pressed too much, and missed too many shots around the basket.”
Joyner said he did see some things the Red Devils could work on and took time during the Thanksgiving holiday to improve: One thing was to get the football players acclimated to basketball. Another goal was to work on defense. In addition to Appleby, Demetrius Harris is a football player expected to contribute.
Now, Joyner said, the team needs games so the Red Devils can see where they measure. They hosted Little Rock Central on Tuesday night and go to McClellan on Friday. Next week, they participate in the Conway tournament.
“Now that we have all the players, we can work on some solid rotations that we’ll use the rest of the season,” Joyner said. “Our overall team chemistry is not where it needs to be yet.”
Lady Red Devils
Coach Katrina Minns’ Lady Red Devils are even farther behind in game situations, as they have played just one game. North Pulaski had to cancel last week’s scheduled game, so Jacksonville (0-1) has just one game under its belt. That will change the next two weeks — the Lady Red Devils play in the Little Rock Mills tournament this week and the Conway tournament next week.
“We’ll have six games in the next two weeks,” Minns said. “Our problem is getting into game shape. We should be able to do that the next couple of weeks.”
Two weeks ago, Jacksonville lost to Benton. In that game, free throws were the Lady Red Devils’ downfall. They were 7-of-24 from the line, including a 0-for-6 performance when they were down by one. They also saw man-to-man defense the whole night, so they still need to see how they play against a zone. However, Minns is confident that her girls can handle a zone defense. She is basically looking forward to the next two weeks to see what Jacksonville comes up against.
“We are ready to get some games under our belts,” Minns said. “In the next two weeks, we’ll see a lot of different people and a lot of different looks. I’m hoping we see everything we need to see in the pre-season in the next two weeks.”
