SHORELINE
Marv Morris has his work cut out for him but the veteran boys basketball coach likes a challenge.
After a seven-year run at King’s that included two state titles, Morris took last year off for health reasons. Instead of returning, he decided to resign from King’s and let assistant Bill Liley take over the program. A few weeks later Morris, who also coached at Shorecrest and led the Scots to second-place in 1992, resurfaced at Shorewood.
The Thunderbirds finished 0-20 last year after forfeiting their two wins for using an ineligible player, and struggled the year before, going 2-38 under coach Shawn Hall.
Morris is introducing a new offense for Shorewood that he hopes will help put more points on the board consistently.
“I’m trying to put some things together that fit their skills,” Morris said. “I’m trying to come up with an offense that will give us some motion and movement.”
The Thunderbirds will run the same defense that Morris used at King’s.
The defense is primarily a man-to-man defense with an occasional zone defense thrown in the mix.
“I’m seeing who can and who can’t,” Morris said. “It’s so new to them. They’re doing a lot more learning than playing. It’s hard. It’s mostly mental. They’re coming along, they really are.”
“We’re working a lot on defense and drills,” junior guard Micah Mitchell said.
“It’s a lot of little stuff we got to get in our heads,” senior guard Tomas Sanchez said.
Shorewood returns its leading scorer, the 6-2 Sanchez, but guard Stuart Harvey, who scored 54 points in game last year, had intended to try for a fifth eligibility but did not turn out.
“I think we’re going to be a little more balanced,” Morris said.
The T-birds will need a bigger offensive boost from Mitchell, a 6-2 point guard. Also 6-5 senior post Adam Wood and 6-6 senior post Andrew Haug will be needed to contribute with points in the paint. Daniel Pillay, a 5-9 senior guard, rounds out the starting lineup and 6-0 guard Jerry Smallwood, who has moved up from junior varsity, will also vie for playing time.
Senior Demetre Wilkins, a 6-0 guard, also figures to be in the mix if he gets eligible.
The Thunderbirds have several players who aren’t eligible yet so the roster isn’t completely filled out.
“A lot of those guys are varsity guys,” Morris said.
Shorewood isn’t a huge team and will run a four-guard lineup at times. As Sanchez put it, “we can exploit mismatches if big guys are trying to guard little guys.”
Even with a new coach trying to introduce a new offense and defense, the team has good chemistry from playing together for several years, Mitchell said.
“I think we’re going to surprise some people this year, ” Sanchez said.
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