Prep basketball players hone skills in large summer tourneys

July 4 2011 by Taylah Cosgrove in Education Sport Tips |No Comments

Terry Battenberg remembers when summer basketball was a little less hectic and a lot less demanding.

“We’d go six weeks and maybe play 12 games,” said Battenberg, who has coached high school basketball in the area on and off since 1969.

“I know some people who were playing 75 games in the summer (two years ago),” said Battenberg, 65, who came out of retirement this season to coach Capital Christian’s boys team. “I can’t say if it’s better or not as good. It’s all arguable. But that’s what they are doing nowadays if you want to keep up with the Joneses. Personally, I think it’s too much.”

Still, Battenberg, like dozens of other area coaches, worked last weekend’s 32-team Valley-Cosumnes River College Summer Challenge, one of several large tournaments that have sprouted in Northern California in recent years.

Up next is this weekend’s 47-team Sac Area Summer Showcase, put on by former Rocklin boys coach Steve Taylor at the Hardwood Palace in Rocklin.

That will be followed by Monterey Trail coach Ken Manfredi’s 60-team Sheldon-Trail Summer Jam next weekend at Sheldon, Monterey Trail and Valley high schools.

Those events are part of a whirlwind of games and tournaments packed into a two-month period for area teams trying to improve.

Among those participating at the Valley-CRC Summer Challenge were Sheldon, the two-time Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champions, and upstart Antelope, which became the first area team to win two CIF Northern California Regional playoff games with a school’s first senior class.

Period considered critical for teams

Although the atmosphere and attire are more casual during the summer coaches Rob Richards of Antelope and Joey Rollings of Sheldon wore shorts and T-shirts instead of slacks and dress shirts the period is critical in a team’s development, both say.

“You’ve got to find that eighth to 12th guy who is going to make the winning shot in February and March,” Richards said. “This is when you find him.”

With 21 players hoping to land a limited number of roster spots at Antelope next winter, they will play up to 40 to 44 games this month between tournaments and the summer league Richards runs with Mesa Verde coach Pat Pavelchik.

“It’s just the nature of the beast now,” said Richards, The Bee Coach of the Year this past season. “If you don’t do it, you get behind, and kids will go elsewhere. But when we get to the end of June, we shut it down. I tell them, ‘I don’t want to see you until school starts. Go play AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), go play baseball, go to football camp.’ “

‘No such thing as too much basketball’

The players, however, rarely shut it down.

Sheldon incoming juniors Dakarai Allen and D’Erryl Williams are national recruits who also play for the Sacramento-based Play Hard, Play Smart AAU team that competes in tournaments throughout the nation during the spring and summer. Allen and Williams participate in skill and conditioning training nearly every morning, then practice with the Sheldon team or their AAU squads in the afternoons or evenings.

Neither has any idea how many basketball games he plays in a year. But the total easily rivals an NBA player’s schedule.

“There’s no such thing as too much basketball for me,” said Allen, a 6-foot-4 wing. “Sometimes I’ll wake up with a headache because I’m so tired. But if you want to play D-I basketball, you have to have the love and the passion, and I definitely have that.”

Added Williams, a 6-3 point guard: “I don’t really tally them. All I know is that we play a lot of games. But I’m trying to get my education paid for in college. If this is what I have to do to do that, I’ll do it.”

Sheldon and Antelope played extensively last weekend, including an intense “playoff atmosphere” second-round matchup between the two in which Sheldon prevailed 54-51 when a three-point attempt by Antelope’s Caleb King at the buzzer rimmed in and out.

Summer leagues wane in interest

The tournament concept has taken hold in recent years and thrived Sacramento State, Jesuit, Granite Bay and Folsom also hold high school summer tourneys as the traditional weekday summer leagues have waned in interest.

“I think it works better for your program,” said Valley coach Mat Bradley, the organizer of the Valley CRC Challenge. “You can play a lot of games in a short span without burning yourself or your players out. It’s better for the multisport athlete because there are fewer conflicts when you don’t play games during the week.”

Manfredi said the format is ideal because coaches can use time during the week for practice, instruction and skill development.

“The kids want to play games, and that’s definitely a good thing,” Manfredi said. “But I want to be able to teach them my philosophy. They practice hard during the week, then enjoy the rewards of playing on the weekends.”

Both Manfredi’s and Bradley’s players are competing in six tournaments this summer. They use the money raised from their events to enter tournaments and pay for other items not covered by the cash-strapped Elk Grove Unified School District.

“Instead of selling candy or coupon books, you’re conducting a positive fundraiser and selling basketball while at the same time raising enough money to operate the program for the entire year,” Manfredi said.

‘Kids need some time off,’ coach says

Capital Christian’s Battenberg isn’t as enamored with the tournament format as his colleagues, although he’s coaching in two this summer because “the players like them.”

The former Jesuit, Ponderosa and Union Mine coach sees competing twice a week in the Florin Summer League, one of the few still in existence, as being more beneficial than tourney play.

“I’d rather play a game, then have a practice the next day and treat it more like a regular season than to get worn out playing five or six games in three days,” said Battenberg, who had only eight players. “Playing five and six tournaments in the summer is too much. I think the kids need to have some time off on weekends to enjoy their summer.”

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