Coaches Corner with Basketball’s Luke Chapman
The ReSporter: How low does your turnovers need to be in order to be in games and a chance for wins? You are averaging right at 20 per game after 12 games.
Coach Chapman: “Our goal is to have 15 or less turnovers a game or a 20% turnover rate. Right now we are at a 28% turnover rate, which is way too high. We just have to be more disciplined with the ball and make more crisp passes. That has been our emphasis for a while now, so we will continue to work on it.”
The ReSporter: The team blocks seem to be coming from anyone on the court is that just the athleticism of the team or do you look for match-ups that can give you that type of advantage?
Coach Chapman: “Well we have a lot of size, which always helps. Really we don’t ever talk about blocks. We are more focused on not fouling and taking a charge when we get dribble penetrations, but obviously in certain situations it is nice to have some length and size and get some blocks.”
The ReSporter: What number of assists per game do you want to see to know your offense is in gear?
Coach Chapman: “Right now we are at almost a 60% assist rate on made baskets, which is good. We can always have that higher. When we move the ball and share it we are much more affective scoring the basketball.”
The ReSporter: You played a very tough Boerne Champion in the tournament, how does playing a team with that caliber of players help your team as district approaches?
Coach Chapman: “It really helps to see a quality team like that early in the season. It tests you and allows you opportunities to work on some weaknesses. Unfortunately we played an hour and a half after a tough loss, so we were emotionally and physically drained. That certainly didn’t help playing a really good team.”
The ReSporter: What is the main difference in this year’s team compared to last year’s team?
Coach Chapman: “I think our defensive pressure and play has been much better. We have had some game where we didn’t play with energy and allowed teams to score some points, but for the most part we have done a great job on the defensive end of the floor. It is also nice to have several offensive options. We have several guys who can score points in bunches, so that makes offense a lot easier.”
The ReSporter: What would you like to see in the final games before district to know you can hold your own with the other schools?
Coach Chapman: “I really think we need to be able to execute in the half court offensively, especially against a zone. Sometimes we settle to much for outside shots and don’t attack like we should. When we play Boerne we are going to have to score against their zone.”
The ReSporter: Thanks Coach and good luck this Friday and The ReSporter hopes you have a fun time with your daughters during Christmas time.