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Dixie Basketball - Experienced and Aggressive.
J. C. Tilton
The Dixie athletic director did not have to look far for a new coach for this season. He did things in a similar fashion to the girls side when he moved Coach Miller from Junior Varsity to the head coach of the Varsity squad for the 2005-2006 season. One benefit from this approach is that the coach does not have to start from ground zero - they have experience with the team, know the players, and can hit the ground running with the team.
This year's squad returns a lot of varsity experience. Returning starters are Jon Adams, Ben Spahr, Kevin McBain, Sean Kumer. There are a lot of experienced seniors on this team. Coach Miller is emphasizing the team concept this season, no individuals, 5 players on the court working as one. So far the seniors seem to be buying into this. Defense is a big point of emphasis in the preseason and will be the entire year. Although I did not stay for the entire scrimmage, I did see some heads up defense play when Dixie went up against Franklin. Points off of turnovers will be a key for Dixie, they have solid post players, but no one with dominating height. That could the only Achilles heel of this team. They will have to be very aggressive on the boards and smother opposing post players on defense.
When asked about goals for the season, Coach Miller responded that every year one goal will be to win league - that will be a given. He would like to get this first year started with a winning season. He wants the team to play aggressive team ball every night. The team showed some of this against Franklin. Sure there were some miscues, but I saw a team working the ball around for the open shot, generating some turnovers, and playing with spirit. This should be an interesting season for the Greyhounds, if they get some early success and generate some momentum and confidence, it will be interesting to see how far they can go. Comments: email: Chris Tilton
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