By Rex Kirts
As South gets ready to open the basketball season, coach J.R. Holmes said the key element is trust among teammates.
"My word for this team is trust," Holmes said. "They've got to trust each other that they can do what they've practiced to do, that they can score. That trust comes through practice."
As the scrimmage against North last week showed, there is still much to accomplish in practice before the Panthers can live up to their pre-season No. 2 ranking in the state.
Shooting needs improved, free throw shooting needs improved, people movement needs to get better. Holmes' offense has always been a beauty to watch, but it wasn't in the scrimmage.
The potential for another outstanding year is there, with Dee Davis, Spencer Turner and Joey Forney back. The Panthers were 23-1 last year, and they were 18-2 in the summer even though Forney passed up basketball to play baseball.
HOLMES HAS SAID this is the toughest schedule he's ever had, and there will be no waiting to find out how the Panthers handle it. They travel to New Albany for the season opener Saturday night.
This will be a clash of two of the state's best programs in recent years. South has ranked first in the state in winning percentage in 14 of the last 16 years and is currently No. 1 with a percentage of .777. New Albany is fifth at .757.
Joining seniors Davis, Turner and Forney in the starting lineup will be seniors Desmond Marks and Ben Stowell.
Davis, headed for Xavier, is a spectacular point guard who averaged 15.7 points per game last year. Turner, going to Belmont, is a 3-point shooting whiz who averaged 11.2. Forney, going to Xavier for baseball, is strong inside and averaged 4.2. Marks, a hefty 6-5, 250 and counted on to get rebounds, averaged 3.4 in limited action. Stowell played only a few minutes on varsity last year but led the JVs in scoring.
This unit did not play well in the scrimmage at North.
"We missed layups, missed free throws, missed shots," Holmes said. "We didn't make the extra pass, didn't get the ball to the open man. I think we're straightening that out.
"Our rebounding was good, but our shooting was horrible. It was 'show me what I can do.' We had a lot of spectators (no movement)."
Oddly, Holmes said he wasn't discouraged by the performance. But that's because it can be used as a lesson.
"I WAS SORT of happy . . . because that's the way we practiced. I think it got their attention. We need more competition in practice. Our depth is not as deep as the last two years."
One of the great strengths of the last two seasons, the 26-0 state championship run two years ago and the 23-1 last year, was the second five pushed the starters hard in practice.
Holmes is anxious to see if the lessons learned from the scrimmage produce positive results at New Albany. "It will be interesting to see what happens."
This team has to learn its roles, he agreed. "Dee has to be the leader. We have to get an identity and a pecking order, but I don't want it to be predictable that Dee always has to take the shot."
And that puts it back to the trust factor.
Another emphasis in practice this week was working against a triangle-and-2 defense. "Everbody will play that against us," Holmes said.
That means teams will chase Davis and Turner, forcing the others to step up and score. Marks, Stowell and Forney can all hit from the perimeter.
