The boys’ basketball team has to get used to one major change this year: longtime coach Mike Davey has switched to coaching the girls’ team this year.
Taking Davey’s place is Trevor Naas, who coached the JV team last year.
“I think [Naas] is good, because he’s really tough on us,” said senior co-captain Ryan Pak. “He’s making us run and working us hard; it seems like he knows what he’s doing.”
In addition to having a new coach, the team will also be playing in a new league. After several years of playing in the De Anza League, the team has been moved down to the El Camino League.
“Our three best players were seniors, and we were in the bottom of the A-league,” said Pak. “[Because of that], we got moved down, and Los Altos and Wilcox moved up.”
Naas hopes to make the CCS playoffs. As of Dec. 11, the team has preseason wins over Los Altos, Prospect and Live Oak and losses to Leigh, Prospect and Willow Glen, taking their record to 3-3.
“We are trying to get better every day,” said Naas. “The team knows that every day we must be committed to playing hard, playing smart and playing together.”
The toughest competition, according to Naas, will come from Homestead, Lynbrook and Monta Vista.
“I would say talent-wise, we’re probably [the] best in the league,” said Pak. “It’s just a matter of us playing [up to our potential].”
Naas, however, feels the only way for the Falcons to play their best and win is if they constantly pressure opponent defensively and let their defense fuel their offense.
“Our success will be determined by our play on the defensive end of the court,” said Naas. “When we go after it defensively, that leads to opportunities for us to get out and run in the open court, and that is when we are at our best.”
Naas is relying on senior guards Jaime Turley and Owen Huang to lead the defensive end of the court.
“Turley and Huang are great on-ball defenders and provide a lot of energy in our back court,” said Naas.
On offense, Pak and junior guard Daniel Chou prove to be outside shooting threats who can score from all areas of the court. Senior Alvin Hsia is “a very solid post player” who will be a dominant inside scorer, according to Naas.
The team will have two additions to the team, senior forwards Christian Beiderman and Shawn Ra. Both “have had an immediate impact on the court and have shown many leadership qualities,” said Naas. In addition, co-captains seniors Alvin Hsia and Pak will lead the team.
The team will play against Soquel on Dec. 22 in a preseason game. Their preseason concludes on Jan. 3 against non-league rivals Los Gatos.