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Players and coaches up the Tiger Cub tempo
Greencastle will play one boys' basketball game on the road before it hits the Putnam County Classic on Dec. 6 and while the Tiger Cubs have returning seniors that have played together for at least a few years, GHS coach Troy Greenlee is still focused on chemistry in the early days of practice.
"Anytime you are early in the season you are just working on getting guys used to each other a little bit," Greenlee said. "So far I think we've done a great job of meshing. We have five seniors and about three or four underclassmen that are going to contribute for us. We are just trying to get them accustomed to playing with each other. "
The Tiger Cubs went 8-11 last season, beating every conference team except the Putnam County Champion Clovers. The record was a grand improvement from two seasons ago and Greenlee is planning to press the purple advantage on offense and continue improving the record.
"We'll mesh everybody together," Greenlee said. "We're trying to work on things that we think could be our strengths. Defensively I think we can get after people a little bit. Offensively we'll probably be able to run a bit more than we have in the past. So that's where our focus is heading into the season."
Speed will be the weapon of choice when the Purple Pride attack on offense and players have embraced the lifestyle choice.
"They are excited about (playing uptempo). The one thing they want to do is get the ball out and get up and down a little bit. If you are a basketball player, that's what you want to do. You want to play fast. We feel like we have some guys that can make some good decisions in the full court. Hopefully that's the way we can approach every game."
Greencastle players have noticed that the level of basketball play seems to increase with the amount of passion the players play with.
"I think this is a lot different than in years past," GHS senior Brody Bollman said. "Obviously we were younger but it just wasn't as intense. The offseason was lot more intense. Everyone has improved. Coach (Jimmy) Beasley came in and he's helped a lot with the offseason workouts. In general we are a much better team. We are deeper than we were. Everyone got better. I do know that."
The Tiger Cubs may be better this season physically and mentally but Greenlee said the team will have to stay with the basics to overcome a possible height disadvantage.
"We are not going to be a real big team," Greenlee said. "But we can make up for that by just being fundamentally sound. Defensively having good close-outs and positioning off the ball. All those things may not seem like a big deal but can help you when you are not a big team."
Senior Tiger Cubs believe the team has the ability to score a lot and make stops and that could make Greencastle a very tough team to beat.
"What I like about this team is that we are pretty solid inside and out," senior Adam Gerard said. "Our guards are smart with the ball. They can get it where it needs to be and our big guys are smart inside and know when to get the ball out to them."
That confidence and intelligence comes from the experience that Greencastle has gained over the years with Greenlee.
"We have a lot of guys that have played a lot of minutes of varsity basketball here in the last three or four years," Greenlee said. "Not only are they good players, they are great kids and great leaders. We've already seen it in the first week of practice. Those guys really step up and help the younger guys. They've been very unselfish and team-oriented. That's something you always look for as a coach. They don't have to have the stats. They can do what ever they have to do to help the team. "
Senior Calvin Hughes is first and foremost focused on making the stops necessary to control the score and the game.
"I think our strength is going to be our defense this year," the 5-11 forward said. "Our two-three (zone) is really good. We work well as a team. We are pretty tight."
The first game of the season is Nov. 26 at Crawfordsville and with defense and up-tempo offense on tap for Greencastle fans should expect to see exciting basketball.
"I think we are going to be a fun team to watch," Greenlee said. "I think fans like to see basketball played at a fast pace. We're going to try and do that. They are really going to be impressed with how hard our guys play. We have kids that really love to play the game and have really worked over the summer to get into shape and become better basketball players. I think it's going to be a great combination for our fans to enjoy."