Glendora, CA (Men’s Basketball) -- Throughout the Citrus College Men’s Basketball team’s journey through the 2012 CCCAA State Playoffs, sophomore point guard Nolan Abernathy will be blogging. Abernathy will give the Owls faithful, insight into what is going on with the team, and what their expectations are during this journey. Today’s installment is the first edition of the 2012 Basketball Blog.
The whole regular season seems to have come and gone in an instant. Looking back now it feels as though we just started the season. Over the past short months we were able to accomplish a couple of the goals we set while on our preseason ‘break-away’ trip. We proved ourselves many times throughout the season. We beat some very talented and highly ranked teams; some coming in the form of relentless comebacks and big time plays from a number of players. We sealed an undefeated conference record with our win on Saturday over Santa Monica.
Heading into our last few games, Coach Vic was adamant about starting to play at a higher level so we would be ready for the playoffs, which were quickly approaching. We did exactly that during our blowout win at Bakersfield. Bakersfield is always a tough place to play, for a number of reasons. However, we showed a glimpse of the type of basketball that this team is capable of playing. When we play together, we cannot be stopped. I feel that this is the most important thing we’re learning right now as we look forward to the playoffs.
Closing out a strong regular season was obviously a goal for our team this year, but as everyone knows, the postseason is what teams are remembered for. We are all happy with what we’ve done so far, but not a single person in the program is satisfied. This first week of practice is going to be crucial heading into our first game of the playoffs. It seems like this is where the great teams start to lock in on everything that will help the program get better.
Coach Ack [Assistant Coach Chris Acker] was just talking to us about how we need to focus on the details if we want to win. We don’t have time to waste anymore, whether it is on the court distractions or off the court distractions. No more egos. No more excuses. The practices that have become mundane to other teams have to become paramount in our program. We have to practice exactly how we want to play next Saturday.
I look at it as another team coming into our gym, and trying to end our team’s season and journey. Win or go home. With the people and culture we have in our program there is no way we will let that happen.
Another timely piece of advice our team received was from a Citrus legend named Darren Moore [ed. note, Moore led the Owls to their only State Championship in 2008]. He came into our practice to talk about his State Championship team back in 2007-2008. He told us that going into playoffs was when his team was the closest it ever was. Hopefully this is another aspect of our journey that we can get done very quickly.
All of the hard work we’ve done as a team is starting to pay off. We’ve earned the best position a team could be in right now. This time of the year is why we all love the game. These next few weeks will define our legacy as a team. The best teams peak in March. I know that with everyone in the program locked in, we will play our best basketball when it is most important.