Summer league hoops push younger players

The varsity season is still many months away.

But that’s not stopping several local high-school teams from learning valuable lessons this summer that they’ll need when making their district championship pushes.

Summer league basketball is well under way locally and most Tri-parish high schools are competing in various leagues throughout the state.

Coaches taking part at E.D. White’s summer league boasted this week that offseason basketball goes a long way in polishing a team before the games start to count in November.

“I think you can make huge strides in these summer months,” H.L. Bourgeois coach Andrew Caillouet said. “I think you can get bigger and you can get stronger and you can polish those kids who need to step up from minor varsity minutes to major varsity minutes. Mentally, those kids are able to click in these games. … Summer’s almost as important as the regular season now in our opinion, because that’s where player development occurs.”

“It’s so beneficial to everyone who participates,” E.D. White coach Jonathan Keife agreed. “You never hear anyone say anything negative about it because you get a chance to evaluate your players and the other teams heading into the fall.”

Step into a gymnasium where summer league action is taking place and it’s easy to see what Caillouet and Keife are talking about.

The first thing one is able to notice is the laid-back, low-pressure atmosphere within the games.

Players are playing in practice jerseys, while coaches coach in shorts and casual attire. Referees are also able to wear shorts with their customary zebra striped top.

The rules within the game are also relaxed.

At E.D. White’s summer league, teams played two, 20-minute halves with a running clock.

All of the little subtleties are designed to create a practice-like feel for the games.

That environment is designed to allow players to blossom against full-speed competition.

“This is not for power points or anything like that,” Keife said. “Now is the time to see who can and who can’t because once you get to the fall, every game counts and the stress level is much higher.”

With that low-stress environment, coaches are also able to experiment.

In last Wednesday’s game between Vandebilt and Terrebonne, Terriers coach Hank Washington executed multiple defenses to try and limit the Tigers’ length.

Some worked. Others didn’t.

Having the ability to tinker isn’t something that happens when the games count.

“These games are all about learning how we can create shots for one another while figuring out what we can do on defense,” Washington said. “Tonight, we were just trying a bunch of different stuff to see how we’d react. We played man, we did a 2-3, we did a 1-3-1. We tried a little bit of everything.”

“That’s what it’s there for,” Caillouet added in agreement. “To work the bugs out of some things.”

While coaches are perfecting their game plans, summer games also provide them an opportunity to get more players into the mix.

Every coach within E.D. White’s summer league boasted that their entire roster saw significant minutes in every game, regardless of a player’s position on the team’s actual depth chart.

“We play everybody,” Keife said. “We play all of our younger kids, and we’ll put them in during crucial situations, even if it might cost us the game, so to speak.”

Washington agreed and said he makes it a point to place his inexperienced players in spots that they are unaccustomed to being in.

For example, Washington intentionally pulled star guards Lionheart Leslie and Elijah McGuire from the team’s lineup during last Wednesday’s win against Terrebonne when the Tigers made a late first half run.

The coach said he did so because he wanted the team’s role players to have to battle through adversity on their own without having the ability to watch Leslie and McGuire make plays.

“We want to see how they respond and how they will react to doing certain things,” Washington said. “Lionheart and Elijah are sort of pulling on my shirt a little bit to get back in there, but I want to see how our sophomores can play when they are on their own out there.”

“This is the time,” Terrebonne coach Derek Szush said. “If you’re going to learn a lesson, you’ve got to do it right now.”

Score is kept in summer games and records are tallied throughout the season. But coaches stress that is probably the least important facet of these games.

Keife said he doesn’t even look at the scoreboard during games and added that he “doesn’t care” who wins.

“Not at all,” Keife said when asked how much stock he puts on summer results.

Caillouet agreed and said he’d rather his team play close, hard fought games than blow out an inferior opponent.

“I don’t care a lick who wins,” he said. “You just want that competitiveness to be there. Obviously, the competitive side of you wants to win and the kids want to win, but I personally could care less who wins in the summer. It’s far more important that you do the right things late in games when you have a chance to win.”

“You’re obviously not coming here to lose a basketball game,” Szush agreed. “You want to win, and we monitor the scoreboard. But this is more about preparing for the things you’ll see within the season. That’s more important than wins and losses in these games. It’s all about being ready for the season.”

Terrebonne High School’s Devonte Ross soars through the air to fire a shot over the out-stretched arms of Vandebilt Catholic defender Elijah McGuire. Ross scored 38 points in the Tigers’ game against Vandebilt.

CASEY GISCLAIR | TRI-PARISH TIMES