CRESTVIEW — Greg Watson, Crestview High School's second-year boys basketball coach, will have a hard time topping his first year with the Bulldogs.
Watson led Crestview to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987, when the Bulldogs were the Class 3A state runners up. 1987 was the last time Crestview's boys won a playoff game before last season’s run.
So how does Watson approach the new season with expectations running high?
“I guess win the state,” Watson said with a laugh.
Getting serious, he added, “You can’t look at it that way. Every year is different. This is a totally new team.
“We have goals set and, hopefully, we can make it as far as we did last year and further. But that’s not in our mind right now. In our mind right now is to try and get better every day and improve, with the understanding that it’s not about how you are playing right now. It’s about how you are playing in February.”
The Bulldogs were hit hard by graduation losing four starters: Jerry "L.J." Aaron, Ronnie Baylark, Josh Hinton and Denzel Ware. Aaron and Baylark are currently playing junior college basketball in Alabama. Ware is a redshirt freshman defensive end on the University of Kentucky football team.
Watson said replacing Aaron and Ware on the inside might be the biggest challenge facing Crestview.
“Their size and presence inside was a thing a lot of teams couldn’t match up with,” Watson said. “They did some things that you didn’t have to coach. This year I feel like we’ve got some guys that can score and do some things inside, but we are going to have to play a little bit different.
“We are not just going to be able to throw it inside every time and count on Denzel or L.J. to get an offensive rebound when we really need it. We are going to have to find different ways to score and we are going to have to play a little differently. But this is a really good group.”
Watson expects this Bulldog squad, which is smaller physically than last year’s team, to be quicker and perhaps more guard oriented.
Seniors Tay King and Dakota Childree will provide the leadership on a young and talented team. King will call the shots from point guard and Childree will play a wing.
Rusty Moorer saw plenty of playing time as a freshman and will be looked upon to contribute even more as a sophomore. Watson said junior Marcelle Moorer is a good shooter who can give the team a boost coming off the bench.
Andrew Adkin is another talented sophomore who has the athleticism to give other teams problems.
Marquis McClain will try to fill some of the void left on the inside by Aaron and Ware's graduation.
“The good thing about this team is I feel like we have a lot of depth,” Watson said. “We have probably 10 or 11 guys that I feel very comfortable with on the floor, and that’s not always the case. I think that’s a good thing we have.”
With a new group of players comes a new set of challenges for a high school coach.
“As a high school coach, you don’t recruit, so you have to play with the hand you’re dealt,” Watkins said. “I think good high school coaches form their philosophies to the personnel they have and that’s what we are going to try to do.
"Right now, we are trying to learn how to play fast, but not to play chaotic. That’s going to be a process that we are going to have to learn. Once we do that, I think we have a chance to be a pretty decent team.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Boys basketball preview: Coach says 'Bulldogs should be quicker this year'