Maine West Basketball Season Preview

Last year, a young Maine West High School basketball team fought through a tough season, finishing 9-18.

But what they lacked in victories they made up for in experience, and coach Erik McNeill is hoping the wounds of last season are converted into wins this season.

"We only had three seniors last year,'' McNeill said this week. "This year we have three returning starters, and that is a good nucleus to build around."

The returning starters are point guard Emmett Turner-Jackson, shooting guard Conor Hart (a junior) and forward Odera Eneogwe, who is the tallest player on relatively short in stature team, at 6-foot-3.

"We are not going to out rebound every single team we play,'' said Turner-Jackson about the size of the team, "but some of our players can get up with the best of them."

"We are athletic, which will hopefully make up for a lack of size,'' McNeill said.

The Warriors lost their leading scorer from last season, Alex Samuelson, and McNeill said he is not sure where those points will be made up. But the experience factor should help the players identify when their teammates are in position to score.

"Last year, I think we started out as individuals and we were going through the motions a little bit, but by the end of the year we grew as a team,'' Turner-Jackson said. "One thing I hope this team can do is have great team chemistry. That is the key to having success. Me and a couple of the other guys have a good understanding of where each other is going to be. I think we can reach a little higher than we did last year."

The athleticism factor is evident by the varied sports interests of the players on the team. Turner-Jackson is a sweeper for the Maine West soccer team (which reached the Elite Eight in the tournament this year) and a center fielder for the baseball team. Senior forward Pat Livingston is a leader on the Maine West volleyball team.

When you are a team that is height-challenged, you have to use your speed offensively and your quickness defensively. McNeill said the growth he wants to see most is on the defensive end of the court.

"We allowed teams to score how they wanted to score last year,'' McNeill said. "We want to hold teams to below 50 points. I think offensively we have players who can score, but we need to continue to move the basketball, not just come down and be stagnant on offense."  

McNeill is in his sixth season as coach of the Warriors.

"He will get on you when you are doing something wrong, but he will tell you how to fix it,'' Turner-Jackson said. "But we can have fun and play basketball at the same time."

McNeill said he does not want to measure the team's success this season in wins and losses. Instead, he hopes the team develops a successful pattern to the season that results in more wins.

"I want consistency throughout the season,'' McNeill said. "The basketball season is so long you are going to have peaks and valleys. You want to try to make sure you have consistent practices and effort. You want to go into the fourth quarters of games with the opportunity to win games."

Outside of the three returning starters, the Warriors have a total of nine players who had playing time with the team last season. That's a lot of experience returning.

"But experience doesn't guarantee anything,'' McNeill said.