Stability gives Boulder City hoops an advantage

By Brent Hinckley

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009 | 11:58 p.m.

I'm a basketball junkie.

I love the game. It doesn't matter whether it's NBA, college or high school. It is all the same game.

I love trying to determine if a defense is playing man-to-man, a 2-3 zone or even the rare box-and-1. I love watching the offense to see what plays are going to be run. Is the offense going to spread the floor to try to create a 1-on-1 situation or will they throw the ball into the high post?

I go to UNLV games and often times I don't know what the halftime score is, because I was paying attention to some individual matchups.

I grew up playing basketball at the Boys & Girls Club and with my friends whether it was on the playground or in a church.

Don't think that I consider myself to be an expert, because really I am not. I do not know enough X's and O's to be a good coach ­— I could stand on the sidelines and yell out advice though. Things like "C'mon ref what game are you watching," or "take a shot like that again and you're on the bench the rest of the season."

The reason I bring all this up is to give myself some credibility that I know what I am talking about when it comes to basketball so I don't sound too crazy when I say that Boulder City High has a unique advantage ­— stability.

The high school teams are in the middle of their season and the middle school programs are about to get underway. There's also the city Parks and Recreation Department's youth basketball programs for elementary school-aged children.

The way the system is set up in Boulder City, it is possible that players could be together from as early as third grade all the way through 12th grade.

That gives players nine years to spend working with each other. There is one characteristic coaches always emphasize and that is chemistry. A team with good chemistry is usually better than a talented team without chemistry, and a talented team with chemistry is the best.

It's possible that young players in Las Vegas or other cities can grow up playing with the same group, but it's a rarity and gives Boulder City an advantage.

Rick Campbell, the Elton M. Garrett Middle School boys coach designed his program to keep the sixth graders on one team, the seventh graders on another and the eighth graders on another as well. The system is designed to get the players used to playing alongside each other.

Building chemistry at a younger age leaves the coaches at the upper levels free to focus on other aspects of the game like yelling at the referees.

Brent Hinckley is the Boulder City News sports writer and can be reached at 990-7822 or [email protected].