LITTLE ROCK — Key for this year's Melbourne Bearkatz boys team will be how quickly they can mature.
Head coach Mike Watson will has a good group of seniors and a good group of sophomores. How well those two groups can mesh may determine the level of success the Bearkatz attain.
Melbourne will look to rebound from last year, when it started the season at 8-4 before two players were suspended for disciplinary reasons, and the team went into a tailspin, winning just two of its final 13 games.
Seniors Kyle Taylor and Michael Lunsford will be expected to lead the team, though it will be the play of sophomores like point guard Derek Bairdthat will be the X-factor for the Bearkatz.
"No matter how good your 10th-graders are, there's a big difference between junior high and senior high," Watson said. "It's junior high boys and senior high men."
Watson, who is entering his 10th year as Melbourne's coach, said his team's stature (or lack thereof) will determine its playing style this year, though he was reluctant to claim to be a true run-and-gun team.
"We're little," he said. "That's going to be a big deal for us. We're small. But we're going to adjust.
"We can get up and down the floor, but we're not UNLV or anything."
Three Rivers, Pages 133 on 10/28/2007