Safe to say, every coach has had their fill of Covid related issues over the last two seasons. Independence head boys basketball coach Mike Green definitely had had his.
In his first year as head coach, a chance to earn a trip to the state tournament was halted by the original Covid shutdown.
Last year, prior to game one of sectional play, Green lost his two top scorers to quarantine.
“When I first came in, we had a really experienced team that I inherited. Last year was a struggle and we learned a lot about patience because of Covid,” Green said. “I am not a very patient person and I had to learn that. We were shutdown twice for over two weeks and in the sectional game, we lost Michael (McKinney) and Cyrus (Goodson).”
This season, the Independence roster will have some key players back, but it will also be filled with inexperience.
“We will have four guys back that played a lot including Michael and Cyrus. Carter (Adkins) played a little bit last year and Logan Phalin played a little bit for us at the end of the year,” Green said. “After that, we are really thin on any experience, not just varsity experience. It is going to be a big learning curve for them and me trying to teach them basketball.”
McKinney is the player that runs the Independence machine and Green is expecting a big year from his senior leader.
“A couple weeks ago, Michael was signing a Letter of Intent with Div. I North Carolina State for baseball. I have told people since I have been here that Michael has Div. I basketball talent as well,” Green said. “Michael has come out with a passion that I have not seen the last two years. He is just one of those freakish athletes and we are going to rely on him.”
After averaging 20-plus points per game last year, Green is hoping to make McKinney an even bigger threat this year.
“Michael is an excellent shooter, but he probably only averaged two free throws a game last year,” Green said. “If we can get him attacking the rim and in the mindset of getting 10 or 12 free throws per game, Michael could be the best player in this area.”
Goodson is another athletic nightmare for opponents and Green is hoping he can use his abilities to create even more frustration for defenses this season.
“Cyrus is probably overall one of the best athletes in Southern West Virginia, if not West Virginia,” Green said. “He has that head down, attack the rim mentality. Once he gets in that paint, he has to realize and understand to kick out for the wide open three. He can jump out of the gym and is fast.”
Adkins and Phalin did not play major minutes last year, but made an impact when they were in the game. They will be counted upon a lot more this season.
“Carter has worked hard in the off season and has spent a lot of time in the gym working to hone his basketball skills. I expect big things from him,” Green said. “Logan was out twice because of Covid and missed some extra time. He probably only played five or six games. The last four or five games though, Logan found himself and was a big physical presence.”
The challenge for Independence will be finding pieces to compliment its returning players and shoring up a defense that was not up to the coaches’ standard last year.
“We need to find that fifth player and a little bit of depth on the bench,” Green said. “We have a great core group of kids and some really great athletes, but we have to get that defensive mentality that I want them to have, in order for us to have a great season.”
With the football team making such a deep run in the playoffs this season, Independence could also get off to a slow start.
“I am happy for the football team and this community, but we will be behind the eight-ball a little bit early. We have six games scheduled before the new year,” Green said. “We won’t have those five kids until Dec. 6 and our first game is Dec. 11.”
