CL Hawks Basketball Open District Play, January 2nd at 12 Noon

The Hawks finished non district play this week after a 1-3 record in the Fredericksburg Tourney.

Will Gray is hoping the Hawks are prepared for start of the District Season.

Now Canyon Lake will see if they can put their best foot forward for another try of making the playoffs.

The ReSporter caught up with Head Coach Lucas Chapman to talk about how this team will perform.

The ReSporter: What was your main problem in the Tourney this past week?

Coach Chapman: “Poor defense and turnovers. We shot the ball pretty well from the field during the tournament, but when you turn it over you waste possessions and you can’t score. We also did a poor job of keeping teams out of the paint defensively, and allowing a few opposing players to put up some big points against us.”

The ReSporter:  Did see some good things studying the stats, Will Gray did keep his turnover rate low and also led the team in rebounds for those 4 games. Is having Gray lead in rebounds a good stat to have?
Coach Chapman: “I think a lot of that had to do with our poor defense and really not having many opportunities to rebound the ball defensively. I don’t think we did a bad job of rebounding during the tournament, and I don’t necessarily care who gets the rebounds as long as they are wearing green and gold.”

The ReSporter: Jacob Ramirez also had a good tournament, give me your thoughts on how his outside shot will come in handy for district play.
Coach Chapman: “Jacob played well. We are still trying to get him to be more aggressive and look for his shot more. He is a talented offensive player and his skills will really help us in the next few weeks.”

The ReSporter: What stat line is the most important for this team, Assists or Steals and why?
Coach Chapman: “Assists are most important for us. When we have a high assist rate and move the ball well we play well offensively and score points.”

The ReSporter: You averaged right at 21 turnovers per game this week, what is a number you would like this team to be below in that respect?
Coach Chapman: “Our goal each game is less than 15 turnovers. Obviously, that number will move some depending on the pace and style of the game. What was disappointing was that we didn’t play a team that pressed us in the tournament and still turned it over. Most of the time we faced a zone, and just made some bad decisions with the ball. That is something that we absolutely have to get a handle on it.”

The ReSporter: Is there any answer on free throw shooting?
Coach Chapman: “Keep practicing it. We do a great job of knocking them down in practice. We just need to carry that over to the games and shoot with confidence.”

The ReSporter: Your field goal percentage was decent but your ‘bigs’ did not help in that part of the game, what happened in those games that led that part of the team being down?
Coach Chapman: “We missed a lot of point blank shots. Our bigs just need to be more physical offensively, and go strong to the basket. We are getting great opportunities, and we need to capitalize on them. We worked for about 20 minutes during practice today on just that, so hopefully it will help come Saturday.”

The ReSporter: How many wins do you need to reach in order to be put in contention for a playoff spot?
Coach Chapman: “6 wins will get us in for sure, maybe 5.”

The ReSporter: Thanks Coach and we will be ready to see how this year will commence this Saturday.