Rising expectations
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The Carrollton High School boys basketball team won 25 games last season, exceeding expectations for a young, unproven team in a major way.
But Trojan coach Tim Criswell fully understands with the bulk of that team returning, people are going to look for much of the same this year. His ball club will no longer be viewed as a bunch of overachievers. Rather a team that is expected to win plenty of ball games once again in 2009-10.
“Last year we maybe didn’t have as high of expectations and did real well. This year I think we’ve got some pretty high expectations. So it’ll be pretty interesting to see how we respond to be expected to play well and win, whereas last year that wasn’t quite the case,” Criswell said.
And the Trojan coach knows having back-to-back seasons like that — even with a disappointing first-round exit from the Class AAA state playoffs — is no easy task.
“You say put together a good year, but we won 25 games last year. That ain’t easy to do. I don’t care how good you are and how many good players you’ve got,” Criswell said.
“I really preach to our guys a lot, as far as competition, it’s really not how good you are, it’s how good you play. You can line up here in the gym and do good in practice. Play somebody 1-on-1, 2-on-2 and where them out. But the bottom line is, ‘What are you doing when the game starts? What are you doing to help us win?’ So they’ve got to buy into their roles, and that’s not something that happens overnight. It occurs over the year.”
Criswell said the No. 1 concern right now is figuring out how to replace one of the few losses to graduation in point guard Tyler Davis. Because while the Trojans didn’t lose a lot numbers-wise, Davis’ absence created a huge void in itself.
“That’s the big thing. Filling Tyler Davis’ shoes is not going to be easy for anybody to do,” Criswell said. “You know, we’ve got some guys that are competing for that spot. J.R. Freeland, Ivory Easley, Telvin Brown. We can go to more of a combination-guard offense with Josh Barge and Louis (Hudson) and Shermod Cochran. We’ve got a lot of opportunities for competition there that’s going to make everybody better.”
Cochran said the team is focused on another strong season, and it definitely remembers the early exit from the playoffs last year.
“Well, the top of the headline of the paper last year was, ‘One and done.’ And we’ve been quoting that up to this point,” Cochran said. “So we use that as motivation to get past the first round, as well as go as far as we can in the state and hopefully win a state championship.”
The Trojans, who will be relying on several players that just began practice this week following football season, should be just as deep, if not deeper, than last year. That depth will be a major weapon with Criswell having the luxury of running fresh bodies in and out of the game and wearing teams down.
Criswell was impressed with the football guys’ mental approach after seeing their season end earlier than they wanted, saying they were at practice on Monday ready to go.
“That’s the thing. They come in and they love to play. Obviously, they’re disappointed in the way football ended. But for the most part, they were all in here (Monday) except for one that was gone on a family trip. We had a good practice. They didn’t say a word. They were a little winded because it’s a different kind of conditioning. For the most part, I think once we get going, time soothes that stuff and they’ll be ready to go,” Criswell said.
And with 12 or 13 players that will likely see action at the start of the season, there will be a bit of an evaluation process early on to see who fits best in certain rotations and situations.
“Obviously, it’s hard to play that many. So over time, we’ll have to narrow it down and get it down to nine or 10 and then decide who’s going to be our guys in there at the end of the game,” Criswell said. “I really think different situations are going to call for different lineups.”
Carrollton, which opens its season against Lithia Springs on Tuesday night at home, has also had to deal with the loss of junior guard D’Vante “Rashad” Williams, who was killed in an accidental shooting in August.
Criswell said the team is dedicating the season to its fallen teammate, and that Williams is always on the players’ minds and in their hearts.
“They bring it up a lot. They’ll bring his name up. We talk about it a lot, the situation,” Criswell said. “We want to make sure that that never leaves our mind and that’s always there. I think these guys are committed to that.”
Cochran said Williams’ spirit will push the team all season long.
“Rashad, right now, is definitely our motivation. He’s the reason why we go to work as hard as we can this year,” Cochran said.
“He’s the fire that’s going to be behind everything we do — whether on or off the court and at practice to become a better person. We’re just going to play as hard as we can every second we’re out there.”
But Trojan coach Tim Criswell fully understands with the bulk of that team returning, people are going to look for much of the same this year. His ball club will no longer be viewed as a bunch of overachievers. Rather a team that is expected to win plenty of ball games once again in 2009-10.
“Last year we maybe didn’t have as high of expectations and did real well. This year I think we’ve got some pretty high expectations. So it’ll be pretty interesting to see how we respond to be expected to play well and win, whereas last year that wasn’t quite the case,” Criswell said.
And the Trojan coach knows having back-to-back seasons like that — even with a disappointing first-round exit from the Class AAA state playoffs — is no easy task.
“You say put together a good year, but we won 25 games last year. That ain’t easy to do. I don’t care how good you are and how many good players you’ve got,” Criswell said.
“I really preach to our guys a lot, as far as competition, it’s really not how good you are, it’s how good you play. You can line up here in the gym and do good in practice. Play somebody 1-on-1, 2-on-2 and where them out. But the bottom line is, ‘What are you doing when the game starts? What are you doing to help us win?’ So they’ve got to buy into their roles, and that’s not something that happens overnight. It occurs over the year.”
Criswell said the No. 1 concern right now is figuring out how to replace one of the few losses to graduation in point guard Tyler Davis. Because while the Trojans didn’t lose a lot numbers-wise, Davis’ absence created a huge void in itself.
“That’s the big thing. Filling Tyler Davis’ shoes is not going to be easy for anybody to do,” Criswell said. “You know, we’ve got some guys that are competing for that spot. J.R. Freeland, Ivory Easley, Telvin Brown. We can go to more of a combination-guard offense with Josh Barge and Louis (Hudson) and Shermod Cochran. We’ve got a lot of opportunities for competition there that’s going to make everybody better.”
Cochran said the team is focused on another strong season, and it definitely remembers the early exit from the playoffs last year.
“Well, the top of the headline of the paper last year was, ‘One and done.’ And we’ve been quoting that up to this point,” Cochran said. “So we use that as motivation to get past the first round, as well as go as far as we can in the state and hopefully win a state championship.”
The Trojans, who will be relying on several players that just began practice this week following football season, should be just as deep, if not deeper, than last year. That depth will be a major weapon with Criswell having the luxury of running fresh bodies in and out of the game and wearing teams down.
Criswell was impressed with the football guys’ mental approach after seeing their season end earlier than they wanted, saying they were at practice on Monday ready to go.
“That’s the thing. They come in and they love to play. Obviously, they’re disappointed in the way football ended. But for the most part, they were all in here (Monday) except for one that was gone on a family trip. We had a good practice. They didn’t say a word. They were a little winded because it’s a different kind of conditioning. For the most part, I think once we get going, time soothes that stuff and they’ll be ready to go,” Criswell said.
And with 12 or 13 players that will likely see action at the start of the season, there will be a bit of an evaluation process early on to see who fits best in certain rotations and situations.
“Obviously, it’s hard to play that many. So over time, we’ll have to narrow it down and get it down to nine or 10 and then decide who’s going to be our guys in there at the end of the game,” Criswell said. “I really think different situations are going to call for different lineups.”
Carrollton, which opens its season against Lithia Springs on Tuesday night at home, has also had to deal with the loss of junior guard D’Vante “Rashad” Williams, who was killed in an accidental shooting in August.
Criswell said the team is dedicating the season to its fallen teammate, and that Williams is always on the players’ minds and in their hearts.
“They bring it up a lot. They’ll bring his name up. We talk about it a lot, the situation,” Criswell said. “We want to make sure that that never leaves our mind and that’s always there. I think these guys are committed to that.”
Cochran said Williams’ spirit will push the team all season long.
“Rashad, right now, is definitely our motivation. He’s the reason why we go to work as hard as we can this year,” Cochran said.
“He’s the fire that’s going to be behind everything we do — whether on or off the court and at practice to become a better person. We’re just going to play as hard as we can every second we’re out there.”
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