(10) Keith Dean - 6-0,
155-pound senior guard
Keith played mostly on Merrillville's JV last
year. He was one of their leading scorers. He's a very good
athlete. Potentially could be a very good basketball player. He's going
to have to work harder and play under more control. He's a '2'
guard. Shooting guard.
(12) Stephen Albrecht -
6-2, 155-pound sophomore guard
Stephen has probably been our most steady
player. He's an old school player. Heady. Always
thinking. He's always paying attention. That's going to take him a
long way when it comes to being a successful basketball player in our
system. I need people who can think quickly out there on their feet and
react. He's doing that well.
(21) Ben Derks - 5-9,
145-pound sophomore guard
Ben has been the most pleasant
surprise. I thought he'd be a full time JV player, but right now, he'll
probably be our starting point guard. He's a smart guy on the court and
a good listener. He makes very good decisions with the basketball.
We need that out there.
(23) Mike Kvachkoff -
6-6, 175-pound senior forward
Mike is a very enthusiastic player, he comes
ready and wiling to learn and get better. He needs to slow his game
down. He tries to do things too quickly. Once he slows his game
down and takes what the defense gives him, he'll get a lot better. He's
a '4' so he needs to get stronger. There's not a lot of time left.
He's got to play a little lower and increase his center of gravity.
(24) Kyle Hanaway -
6-1, 175-pound sophomore guard
Kyle's going to split time between JV and
varsity. But he's really come on lately. He falls into the
(Stephen) Albrecht and (Ben) Derks mode. A great listener. A very
heady player. Very strong. Eventually he'll see time at the point.
(25) Nick Zolfo - 6-0,
150-pound junior guard
Nick is our 11th or 12th man. That will
probably be his role for the year. To get guys ready in practice.
I think he understands his role. His job is to work as hard as he can in
every practice to make his teammates better and, in turn, he'll get better as
well.
(30) Tommy Parks -
6-1, 205-pound junior guard
Tommy is a vocal leader. He works
hard. He's got a lot of spunk. I can see why he had a lot of
success in football. He's a dynamo. Not the tallest guy. But his
strength makes up for it. He can play inside or out. He just needs
to continue to work on his ball-handling and his shooting. He's not a
great skilled player but he's getting better.
He'll give us energy.
(33) Jacob Burkholder -
6-7, 205-pound sophomore center
He's got as much potential as any player I've
ever coached. He's got the potential to go to college for free playing
basketball. What he does with that potential is up to him. He's
got to maximize that potential and get stronger. He's got a great
combination of skill and size. He has to work on his skills constantly.
But you can't teach his size and he's got a few more inches to go.
There's no doubt about that.
(Jacob's father attended TF North high school
and played for Ray Meyer at DePaul in the 1980s)
(35) Andrew Krumwied -
6-5, 235-pound junior forward
He's a lot like Tommy Parks. A lot of
energy and he needs to learn to harness it. As the basketball season
progresses, hell get the football out of his system and get more of the
basketball in him. A great kid. A nice young man. Very
physical. Hopefully, he'll be a guy who can help us in the post.
Push people around. His playing time will depend on how well he can
defend and rebound.
(42) Danny Bouchee -
6-0, 180-pound junior guard
Danny's got a lot of potential, but he needs
to play the game under more control. Great players are always composed.
Sometimes, Danny tries to make too much happen instead of going with the
flow. Instead of trying to go all the way to the bucket, pull up and
take that eight footer. He's trying very hard and, at times, he's
been a great leader for us. He needs to keep that aspect of his game
consistent. Once he realizes exactly what we want done, he'll be a big
factor for us.
(44) Aleks Alavanja - 6-6
195-pound sophomore forward
Aleks is a very gifted athlete for a
sophomore. Obviously, he's not as gifted compared to seniors, but he's
got good size, pretty good hands, runs well. Very bright.
Straight-A student. It's very important for a basketball team to have
guys like that because smart guys tend to pick things up a lot quicker.
(55) Zach Cecich -
6-3, 225-pound center
Zach is a lot like Aleks (Alavanja).
Very smart. Excellent student. Our strongest player
physically. He positions himself well and he's got pretty good
hands. Obviously, he's not the tallest post player, but his strength
makes him play taller. It'll be scary if he gets taller. He could
be a very good player for us.
SHAUN BUSICK.....................(On
having only 2 seniors):
The disadvantage is that it might not
transfer into wins. But you cant focus on wins and losses. I never
have. Even the best year of my coaching career, we were 24-3 and I was
disappointed at the end because we got beat at Conseco Field house. You
can't put everything on wins and losses or you'll always be unhappy.
Another disadvantage is that we won't be a
consistent team. That's our biggest problem. I worry about our
mental toughness. How will they handle adversity? They might go
into a panic mode or a 'shutdown' mode and you just can't do that. You
overcome that with experience.
The advantage is, we have guys who are really competing and because of that,
we'll get better. We've already made some progress. We've taken
baby steps. I'd like to be sprinting but this is a marathon, not a
sprint.
I keep reminding myself that, with a young
team, it's a marathon, not a sprint. We're doing it for the
seniors. Our commitment is to each other. We're not out here for
anything else but to make ourselves the best team we can be this year.
In the meantime, we're learning a lot of lessons.
This is the seniors' last year. Our
year is dedicated to them. But 'next year' is here. But we think
we can make some noise at the sectional. Maybe we can get a good draw
and win a couple of games. Maybe we can get to the title game and pull
an upset. That's another advantage of a young team. They don't
know they aren't supposed to beat some team.
Let's face it. Our sophomores (CP's
freshman were 20-0 last season) haven't lost a high school basketball game
yet.
