There are some new faces in the Van-Far boys basketball ranks.
Brett Reading definitely isn’t new but is stepping into the head coaching role after assisting Pat Connaway for the last 17 …
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There are some new faces in the Van-Far boys basketball ranks.
Brett Reading definitely isn’t new but is stepping into the head coaching role after assisting Pat Connaway for the last 17 years. He and the Indians have been busy this summer with shootouts, including June 10 at New Bloomfield.
The New Bloomfield shootout was Van-Far’s third slate of games in as many days and its fourth overall slate this summer. Reading said the Indians were more comfortable later in their first game June 10 against New Bloomfield, cutting a 17-point deficit to five points late with the running clock used throughout summer games.
“It’s the first time we’ve seen zone all summer really,” Reading said. “We were a little shell-shocked about what to do. We have a little bit of a size issue making passes — making the easy pass and the correct pass. The ball movement in the late part of the third and fourth quarter got a lot better.”
Reading said it is also a matter of Van-Far being comfortable with its new roster. He noted that Van-Far hasn’t always had its full roster either due to other commitments, so there have been plenty of freshmen and less experienced players who have played.
There have been four freshmen who have shown up consistently this summer to go along with returners who are new to varsity. Reading said Van-Far looks at it as “not losing” but “learning.”
“They do not know where they need to go, and we’re working through that,” Reading said. “That’s why we’re here. Summer is to get better and figure out these things and not figure them out in the middle of the season.”
The Indians should be “dogs,” meaning Reading wants to see some physicality and aggressiveness on defense before they close their summer schedule. An example would be sacrificing the body for a charge instead of having “a soft mentality.”
Reading said Van-Far isn’t as big going into this season after a sizable football senior class graduated. He said the roster is quicker, but he wants them to show some resistance inside.
“Right now, we want to move out of the way and we avoid contact,” Reading said. “We also want smart basketball plays defensively. It’s a knowledge problem, and it’s a physicality-mentality problem.”
Van-Far has a junior varsity shootout scheduled Monday at Montgomery County and a varsity one scheduled June 24 at Eugene.
