The Upcoming Basketball Season

 

As we transition into winter, the Basketball team is getting ready for the delayed opening of their season.  

 

With the upcoming basketball season, last season’s players have been improving and practicing in spite of the coronavirus setbacks. 

 

Jack Kelly, a varsity player, and senior stated that they have been practicing at home and at Borough Park by playing pickup games with other teammates to stay in shape for the oncoming season. 

 

He said that when the season rolls around, “we are excited to get out there” and, “it’ll be interesting to see what it looks like you know with Covid and no fans”. Without the school’s infamous fans, the energy, and competitiveness of games is going to be different.

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“Everybody shares the mindset of if we can play let’s do it”

— Jack Kelly

. Everybody is going to do their best with being mindful around playing indoors and the pandemic. 

Varsity player and senior, Patrick Robertson says that he has been working on every aspect of the game individually, “I wanted to really focus on my ball-handling and shooting for this upcoming season”. He says that the team really stresses their improvement on defense and that is something that, “Coach Connolly emphasizes”.

Considering the number of key players Mendham lost last season, many players are going to have to step up and fill these roles wherever there needed. “If we need a rebounder, that is something Mike can do very well,” says Patrick. Filling these big man roles are crucial since Hunter Johnson and Jessie Halfmeister left last season. 

Since Mendham has one of the smaller teams compared to other schools, rebounding, defense, and the essence of the small ball are going to be crucial to winning games.

Will Connolly, coach of the varsity basketball team said, “We are fortunate to have smart, hardworking, and coachable players who are looking forward to returning to the court with their teammates”, and “We will try to put the players in the best possible situation to have success”. 

The season has been postponed to Jan. 26, regardless, the Minutemen basketball team is doing everything in its power to ready themselves for the new season.