THE GAZETTE
Page B-4
Wednesday, December 11, 2013 d
Einstein’s freshman guard getting the point n
JD Guerrero expected to play big role for Titans BY ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
Albert Einstein High School’s upperclassmen said they want to take some of the pressure off their freshman starting point guard early in the season as he figures out his role in the offense. But come playoff time, don’t be shocked if the 15-year-old returns the favor and takes the pressure off his senior team-
mates. JD Guerrero, 6-foot-0, is a talented point guard with a high basketball IQ, solid court vision and tremendous ball-handling skills. For an Einstein team that already has established scorers — among them senior forward Joe Bradshaw (6-7) and junior guard Rahim Hayes (6-4) — Guerrero could be the perfect fit. “What he gives is a little bit of stability for us,” Einstein coach Rich Porac said. Guerrero, who attended St. Jude Regional Catholic School in eighth grade, has played under
Porac in summer league. This season, he wants to be a lead distributor for the Titans, getting everybody involved in the offense while also putting up points when necessary. “I want to be a ‘Chris Paul,’” Guerrero said, referring to the Los Angeles Clippers’ pass-first point guard. The Titans lacked a natural point guard last season but won nine of their last 13 games, taking an astronomical leap forward after their 2-10 start. In spite of the strong finish, the end-result was a playoff exit: a 64-54 loss to Ur-
bana in the Class 3A West Region semifinals. While the Titans hung around with the Hawks — thanks in large part to then-senior Josh Ogburn’s team-high 16 points — they were outscored in the fourth quarter and let the game slip away. Einstein didn’t fare any better against Urbana in Friday’s 62-47 loss in the season-opener, but the players saw positive signs in the loss with the offense running smoothly late in the game. “The nice thing about JD is he will take that pressure off [them],” Porac said.
Growing pains are inevitable for the Titans and their freshman point guard, particularly with upcoming games scheduled against Col. Zadok Magruder and Springbrook. But the challenging regular season schedule will give Guerrero time to adjust to his new role. “He’s young, so he has to get more mature, basketball-wise,” Bradshaw said. The freshman point guard has been a willing learner thus far. “At 15 years old, are you going to be mentally able to handle
it when things aren’t going well and we’re playing at packed gyms?” Porac said. But Porac, a third-year coach, is optimistic about Guerrero’s long-term prospects with the Titans. “He’s an outstanding gem that’s in the program for four years,” he said. For now, the freshman is focused on improving his game and making his teammates better. “If we all work together, then anything’s possible,” Guerrero said.
Churchill’s new basketball coach is just one of the boys Former Magruder assistant Robert Bean hopes to continue program’s success
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BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER
First-year Winston Churchill High School boys’ basketball coach Robert Bean figures if he can do it, so can his teen-aged players. The former six-year assistant to Dan Harwood at Col. Zadok Magruder doesn’t just bark orders at the Bulldogs, he runs alongside them. “I’m 40, I’m still young, I’m having fun and I want to stay in shape,” Bean said. “I kind of take thewholerolemodelapproach[to coaching]. I think it maybe helps with motivation.”
It does, junior Bobby ArthurWilliams said. It also helped gain Churchill’s trust in the short amount of time the team had with their new leader before Friday’s season opener — the Bulldogs got off to a good start with a 67-62 win over Paint Branch. The energy and enthusiasm for the sport of basketball and imparting his wisdom upon the Bulldogs that Bean brings to the gym every single day, senior guard Allen Njumbe said, quickly earned the former Hobart College point guard the Bulldogs’ respect. “[Bean] does a good job being with us,” Arthur-Williams said. “Most coaches make you run, you do conditioning and they just watch you do it. [Bean] does it with us and it’s like he’s part of the team.”
Though Bean was only appointed just a few short weeks before tryouts in mid-November — former five-year coach Matt Miller resigned this fall after accepting an assistant coaching position at Shepherd (W. Va.) University — he was by no means a stranger to the program. In fact, a second-year counselor at the school, he developed a unique bond with many of his currentplayersashe’shelpedsupport them through the tragic suicide death of a former teammate last May. The Bulldogs have dedicated this season to Evan Rosenstock and will wear his initials on their shooting shirts, Bean said. “First of all, Robert is just a really caring person, he was a great counselor at Magruder for six or seven years,” Harwood said.
“Forget about being a basketball coach, when he left Magruder, people were devastated that we lost a great counselor. Many times what you’re doing when you work with young student-athletes, you’re almost like a psychiatrist, so his counseling background is really going to help him.” Bean stepped back from coaching at Magruder three years ago after the birth of his second child to spend more time at home. In the spring, he started helping with offseason training, and he and Miller discussed the possibilities helping out next winter if he was ready to return to the sidelines. Bean said at the start of this year he had no intention of coaching again just yet, but this opportunity was not something he could turn his back on.
Churchill had a system in place that worked. Under Miller the Bulldogs (18-6 record a year ago) have won 18 or more games in each of the past three division title-winning seasons and in 2012, madeitsfirstClass4AWestRegion appearance in more than three decades. While keeping some of the same basic principles intact — pushing the ball, getting it inside — Bean implemented an entirely new structure in just 12 practices and his players didn’t put up any resistance. Churchill’s new motion offense allows players to freelance, to read opponents’ defenses and play accordingly. Six-foot-6 center Arthur-Williams is a dynamic bigman type player and his presence inside helps open up opportunities for Njumbe and Jesse Locke
on the perimeter. The three returning starters are the focal point of Churchill’s offense, but are surrounded by a talented supporting cast, Bean said. Though Friday’s win was just the beginning and Bean said the team has a long way to go, the Bulldogs certainly seem to be on the right path despite all the changes within the program. Locke, Njumbe and Arthur-Williams said they suspect opponents will underestimate them but that would be a mistake. “A lot of times point guards make very good coaches, they have a different perspective,” Harwood said. “... He’s got the whole package other than just being the head coach. I’m sure Matt did a great job and I’m sure Robert will continue to build on it.”
Confident freshman emerges as Jewish Day gets off to hot start BY TRAVIS MEWHIRTER STAFF WRITER
Two years ago, Dave McCloud wasn’t at a Charles E. Smith Jewish Day Middle School practice to see Bryan Knapp. In fact, he didn’t even know Knapp. The Lions’ current high school varsity coach can’trememberexactlywhoitwas he was checking out, but only that
it is totally irrelevant now. The eighth-grader McCloud had gone to see play didn’t leave much of an impression and wound up transferring. McCloud thinks he wound up at Winston Churchill. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Knapp and the unforgettable athleticism he displayed as a seventh-grader matters. “Hewasn’tevenonmyradar,” said McCloud, who now oversees Knapp, a 6-foot-1 freshman averaging 12.5 points per game, on varsity. “And I saw him, and I said,
hand, a rare display of ambidexterity for a middle school player. “I said, ‘Whoa,’” McCloud recalled. “He went to the basket confidently.” Afterwards, the coach approached Knapp about his future with the school. The confidence the youngster displayed at the rim bordered on hubris when it came down to evaluating his own ability. “I got a pretty good conversation with him,” McCloud said. “I said, ‘I look forward to you coming
up, playing on the [junior varsity],’ and he said, ‘Coach, I look forward to playing on varsity.’” The timing for Knapp’s promotion to the top level — McCloud’s first ever freshman starter on a varsity team — couldn’t have been any better. The Lions lost top scorer Ethan Walfish and his 17.4 points per game to graduation, and while Danny Kravitz (13.7 ppg last season) would be returning for his senior season, he needed a complement. Enter Knapp. “I think it’s been really inter-
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esting to see how I fit in,” he said. “I’m still making the adjustment to high school ball. It’s different.” Through the first four regular season games, Kravitz and Knapp have combined for 110 points and neither has been held to single digits in leading the Lions to a 3-1 record, including a 54-41 win over defendingPotomacValleyAthletic Conference champion McLean. “This kid’s got some ability,” McCloud said. tmewhirter@gazette.net
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‘What about this kid? He moves pretty good, he moves different. He’s not robotic at all, very fluid.’” If McCloud was impressed simply by the athletic manner in which Knapp navigated the court, he was blown away by the middle schooler’s ability to finish. The coach remembers a particular sequence when Knapp slashed through the lane, cut back and finished at the rim, slapping the backboard for emphasis. The next possession down, Knapp did the same thing only to his opposite
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Knapp is averaging doublefigures in scoring for Lions
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