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Talented Bears Face tough IAC and non-league 2010-2011 schedule
The prognosis for the upcoming season is complex. In assessing what the next season holds, Coach Luther relates a number of variables with dynamic and maybe conflicting values. He recognizes that
he had a great season last year (19-6, 5-1 in IAC, Champions)
he lost a number of players to graduation,
he has a lot of talent not just from his Varsity team returning players but also from the very successful JV and Freshman teams,
the IAC teams include 7 or more future Division I players,
but
the calculus of all those pluses and minuses will only be known as the games are played!
What the Coach knows is that there are 5 Bears who had significant playing time on last year’s IAC champions and all of them spent the off season improving their games.
The center of opponents’ attention will likely be Darion Adkins, SR, 6’8”, 215#, who has already committed to play hoops for the Wahoos and who had an outstanding summer with AAU Team Takeover. His credentials—2 x All IAC and HM All Met—are the reason why other teams will watch him on the offensive end of the court and always aware of where his long, shot blocking arms are near the backboard.
While the paint will be Darion’s primary place of work, his buddy Joe McDonald, 6’1”, 180# will be managing the ball everywhere else. His ’09-’10 season earned him 1st team All IAC and 1st team All Montgomery County honors. He showed his ability to run an offense and shot playing for the 16 Team Advantage. Unusual for a point guard, Joe shares Derrick Rose’s propensity/ability to go to the boards and score among the big trees—due to his inordinate upper body strength.
Chris Hudnut, SR, 6’7”, 200#, played key minutes last year, showing increased aggressiveness around the boards and a nice shooting touch. He went to his father’s and my favorite summer camp and left as the Princeton Camp’s MVP.
Tim Hetterman,6’3, 185#, has the speed and strength to play both as a guard and move up to a forward position. With more playing time, he will be able to showcase his skills.
Aggressive guard defense play has always been a hallmark of Coach Luther’s teams, Addison Starter, 6’, 170# will be the Bears’ ball hawk. That is not to say that he can’t hit the big shot (he can), but he will start the offense by stripping opponents of the rock.
Those 5 will form the nucleus of this team, but Coach Luther will rely on Deion Wellington and Isiah Cockley to be major contributors. Tryouts were not completed at the time of the interview so the other team members were not yet identified.
The other half of the ’10-’11 team success equation involves the teams which the Bears will face. Coach Luther decided to avoid cupcakes and test his team in the early non-league games. On November 29, the Quakers of Sidwell Friends will come to Landon and will bring a very talented guard to measure the Bears’ defense. The WCAC member, McNamara, will host Coach Luther’s boys on December 1. The 2010 Champions of Philadelphia’s tough Independent League, Chestnut Hill Academy, will display their talents on Landon’s home court on December 4. The next two contests are away against tough WCAC foe St. Johns (12/7) and MIAA Loyola Blakefield. If those games have not measured the Bears, they will venture off to the Mercer Invitational (12/17-19) with potential match ups against host Hill School, Peddie School, Berkshire Academy (MA), Chestnut Hill, our league competitor EHS, Woodberry Forest (Landon will play again @ home) and New Hampton (the ’09 champion who beat the Bears last year).
The regular IAC season begins on January Bullis, SSSA and EHS all benefit from major transfers into their junior classes. The team from Rockville Pike (the school is nowhere near anything having to do with Georgetown) has a talented team starting with a player who has already committed to Holy Cross. StA features a big post player. As many as three of the teams should appear in the Washington Post’s Top 20, but the internecine league battles will add losses to all of the IAC records.
Landon will be a multi-faceted squad—inside game, speed, size, shooting, defense and strength. While the Bears will have an array of defensive sets, most opponents will be greeted with an aggressive man-to-man defense. Another big Bear asset, according to Coach Luther, is its home crowd. They are knowledgeable, vociferous, creative and loyal beyond belief. Since the renovation of the gym, the Bears have lost VERY FEW games at home.
The Bears’ program is showing its prowess at the next level with 4 players on Division I and III teams. Christian Webster is a starter for Harvard. Danny Rubin has already played for Boston College. Ersin Levent has earned a spot on the University of Maryland’s roster. Stephen Matthews is on his mission for this year, but he has a spot on the St. Mary’s College team. These players will be the basis for a lot of good material for Bear Tracks [which is a record of how alums are doing and benefits greatly from casual correspondents who send material. It is a major attraction to BSN for young alums].
Bear (hoop)Tracks
The AP ran a Bear headline on 11/20, “Christian Webster’s career best leads Harvard to victory”. The article began by noting that C Web “made 12 of 15 free throws and finished with a career-high 29 points to lead Harvard to a 75-69 victory over Mercer.” The Landon alum guard played 39 minutes, made 64% of his shots from the field, 75% of this 3 point attempts, 12 of 15 free throws, had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Macon, GA may be one of this Bear’s favorite cities. Upon hearing its name, he is likely to exclaim “Whoopee” as in the famous Eddie Cantor song.
Headline from the AP article on BC’s 69-54 win over Holy Cross, “Freshman Danny Rubin powers BC to victory” and the lead line continues that he “scored 14 points in his first career start, hitting a pair of 3-pointers as Boston College scored 12 straight points to pull away from Holy Cross and win on Monday night.” (11/22) The writer also notes that BC had just suffered an embarrassing loss to Ivy League ƛale, in which Danny did play.
Ersin Levent, the 6’7 forward for the Maryland, has played in 3 games and pulled down 4 rebounds, recorded an assist and had 1 steal so far for the 4-2 Terps.
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