Primed for progress

Bryce Alderton

In basketball, if you don’t have a very tall team, you have to

beat your opponent with a shooting touch and be quick of feet.

Those are the qualities second-year Orange Coast College men’s

basketball coach Steve Spencer expects from this year’s team, a team

whose tallest player, freshman forward Sam Bailey, stands at

6-foot-6.

“Big guys are a rare commodity other than Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal)

and maybe Tim Duncan in the (National Basketball Association),”

Spencer said. “Not a lot of guys want to go down in the post anymore

at any level. Our point guards are going to have to post up and our

6-2 guys will have to post up and we will have to get it done with

quickness and be strong in (the low post). Not everyone can have an

aircraft carrier.”

The Pirates don’t have an “aircraft carrier,” and are coming off a

7-21 season with a 4-10 record in the Orange Empire Conference,

though Spencer likes what he sees from preseason workouts.

The Bucs lost two inside scoring threats from last year’s squad in

6-7 Mark Meyers, 13.6 points per game, and Brice Buchanan, a 6-4

forward, who is redshirting this season.

Those who will start in the Bucs’ season opener tonight at Oxnard

at 5 p.m. include freshman 5-11 point guard Alphonso James and he

will be joined in the backcourt by Jason Garey, also 5-11, and in the

front court by 6-3 freshman guard/forward Aaron Bobik, returning 6-3

sophomore guard/forward Bryan Williams and 180-pound freshman

guard/forward Brian Bobik, Aaron’s brother.

Returning 5-11 sophomore guard Stephon Seales, one of Coast’s

scoring leaders last season, will not play tonight due to a sprained

ankle.

“We have to shoot better than we did last year and have to get out

on defense to cut off a supply line to guys inside,” Spencer said.

“We think we have guys who can shoot the ball. Garey, Chad Vakili

(freshman 5-11 guard), 6-3, 215-pound freshman forward Andre Walters

and Kevin Stacey (6-4 freshman guard/forward) can shoot and Lanier

Brown (6-3 sophomore guard/forward) can score. We’re going to have

some balanced scoring.”

Coast also features 6-3 freshman forward David Evans from

Northeast High in Maryland and Dimitrius Alexander, a 6-3, 215-pound

freshman, should add some bulk to OCC’s inside game, along with 6-4,

205-pound freshman Matt Hatch, 6-3, 215-pound forward Andre Walters

and 230-pound, 6-3 freshman James Webster, brother of Ryan Webster,

who played for Coast last season.

Nykolas Peppers, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore guard, is one of four

Coast players to play high school basketball at Corona’s Centennial

High School and will be joined in the backcourt by 6-foot, 190-pound

sophomore Ali Shaheim.

Derron Putnam, a 6-2, 175-pound freshman guard/forward should also

be a scoring threat, Spencer said.

With an expected height disadvantage against opponents, Spencer

said he wants his team to run several fast-breaks when they get the

opportunity, though he also knows the Pirates will have to execute

the half-court offense to be successful.

“We have to work on scoring in two gears, fast and slow. Early in

the season turnovers will dictate how fast we’re playing,” said

Spencer.