8TERRIFIC 10 – THE AREA’S TOP PLAYERS TO WATCH
Michael Rueffer
Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com • Friday, November 16, 2012
| 2012-13 PREP BASKETBALL PREVIEW
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Batavia • Senior • Guard What impressed you most about your team this offseason? The commitment, especially with not knowing who our coach would be until the end of our summer. When fall sports started, a bunch of us left, but we still had a big commitment to each other and to the program. We knew [athletic director Dave Andrews] would get a good guy in here for us and we knew it would be intense, but definitely the commitment level is extremely high. Who would be the best H-O-R-S-E player on the team? I would say Jake Pollack because he’s just got everything. He’s got long arms that help and he’s definitely more of a perimeter player, but he’s not afraid to go inside, and with the very long arms he’s got, he can finish up and over people. Can you usually tell if you’re going to have a good night in warmups? Yes and no. It all depends because warmups, there is usually not defense so it’s more just getting you in the groove, but there are some nights you can tell more it’s going to be a good night. But then if you have a lock-down defender on you, you can’t get open, so it depends, but I can usually tell halfway through warmups whether it’s going to be a good shooting night or not.
Sandy Bressner – sbressner@kcchronicle.com
Do you prefer college or pro basketball, and why? Definitely love college. Nothing against pros, they’re the best there is, but I like college better because it seems like there is more coaching and more real basketball because they play defense, they’re committed to it, and they’re not getting paid, so their playing time is based on how they perform.
Kendall Stephens St. Charles East • Senior • Guard/Forward
What impressed you most about your team this offseason? Just the depth of what we are. Each year I’ve been here, coaches have been finding ways to make our team deeper, with [former coach Brian Clodi] and coach Woods. Every year our team is getting deeper and it shows, having a lot of people who we can sub out and having someone else who can sub in and still not lose a beat when we’re trying to run an offense and focus on defense, too. Who would be best H-O-R-S-E player on your team? I don’t know, I’m pretty good at H-O-R-S-E. I’ll say Mike Woods. He’s a good H-O-R-S-E player, and Dom Adduci. Those two are pretty tough. Can you usually tell if you’re going to have a good night in warmups? To be honest with you, if you go in with the mindset every night is your night – you can’t have any less standard or you’re bound to mess up – if you go in thinking no one can stop you, you give yourself a better chance every night. Do you prefer college or pro basketball, and why? To be honest, it’s about 50-50. I just like the college atmosphere of the fans and stuff like that, and being more team basketball, but sometimes I just like watching NBA because it’s the best [players]. So it’s a mixture, but I keep up with both pretty well.
Sandy Bressner – sbressner@kcchronicle.com