It’s difficult to gauge a team after two games, but for Bay Rockets coach Jared Shetzer, his situation was quite extraordinary compared to other area basketball teams.
On Shetzer’s 11-man roster, six players were part of the football team and two were part of the soccer team. The dilemma? The football team made it to Week 12 before losing to Benedictine, ending its season on Nov. 13. The soccer team made it to the Division II state finals before losing Columbus St. Francis DeSales, ending its season on Nov. 14.
Bay’s first basketball game was two weeks away and the team hardly had time to practice together.
“Obviously we’re two games in, we’re 1-1 and we kind of saw that we needed to do a little work in terms of getting our legs back, getting our shots back, some of those things,” Shetzer said. “Luckily the kids played football together and they played soccer together so they know each other so there are no issues there in terms of relationships. Just in terms of trying to get everyone on the same page, get everybody healthy, get everybody ready for basketball shape. That’s been the biggest struggle right now.”
Shetzer noted that getting into basketball shape is essential for the system that he is running, which he simply calls ‘The System.’
The style of place mirrors that of Paul Westhead who was known for his run-and-gun offense. During his coaching tenure at Loyola Marymount from 1985 to 1990, the program was averaging between 110 and 120 points per game.
“We’re trying to do that since I took over here at Bay. Our assistants are disciples of Westhead, believing in the run-and-gun system, that tempo style of play,” Shetzer said. “I love it, our kids love it. It may look very unstructured when we’re playing, but it’s very structured at practice. It looks like chaos, but it’s very organized chaos.
“Last year I was fortunate enough to coach the same kids for three years, once on JV two on varsity and teach them the system, teach them how to run and score 90 to 100 points a game.
“Last year we averaged 75, 76 points per game but we’d like to average between 80-85 points per game if we could. We feel that this is the way basketball is going right now.
“Everyone is wanting to play fast and move the ball. We’d rather be ahead of the curve than behind the curve.”
To keep things organized, Shetzer is relying on senior John Koz, a D-II All-Ohio honorable mention last season, to provide leadership for the Rockets, unifying the team both offensively and defensively.
“He’s kind of our LeBron James in a way. He’s kind of a big bully who can get into the lane and do some things.
“But he can also shoot it from the outside, he can get into guys to make them play a lot harder. He’s just a great kid and we’re not surprised with the start that he has had this year,” Shetzer said.
Koz is averaging 29.5 points, five rebounds and three steals per game.
If you would like to witness the up tempo offense, Bay will be on the road against Holy Name on Dec. 4 with a tip-off time of 7:30 p.m.
And-1
* North Olmsted senior Paris Villanueva has had quite the week to help lead the Eagles to a 2-0 start. He had 21 points and six rebounds in a road victory at Bay on Nov. 27 and hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer at Midview on Dec. 1. He led the team with 13 points and four rebounds.
* The 2015-16 season may be another record-breaking year for the Lorain Titans, and they have played only one game. On Feb. 13 of this year, Lorain scored a school record 100 points in a 100-41 victory over Euclid. On Dec. 1 in a game against John Marshall, the Titans won, 101-53, setting the single-game scoring record.
Game to watch
* Avon at North Olmsted: It is the first Southwestern Conference matchup for the newly added Avon. North Olmsted and Avon are both at 2-0. It’ll be a nice early season test for Avon as it faces a quality opponent with the scoring trio of Paris Villanueva (17.0 PPG), Josh Hufstetler (14.5 PPG) and Ryan Coleman (12.0 PPG). Andy Lucien provides a great interior presence, standing at 6-feet-8, snagging 11.5 rebounds per game and blocking 2.5 shots per game.
