Becker likes team’s work habits
By: Bob Nuse
Eric Becker likes the progress he has seen from his West Windsor-Plainsboro High North boys’ basketball team. Now the Knights coach just needs to get his team to finish, then they’ll be all set.
"I really like the way we’re playing defense," said Becker, whose team fell to 2-3 when it lost the championship game of the Michael Tucker Tournament, 72-56, to host Bordentown on Thursday. "But now we need to finish. We need to rebound. We’ll play good defense for long stretches, but then we don’t rebound and the other team gets three or four chances.
"We’re defending well, but we have to get that last part down. You need to be able to rebound in high school basketball and that’s something we’re going to continue to work on."
The Knights have been able to score points, averaging 53.8 points a game through their first five games. But they’ve also allowed 60.6 points a game, which is an area where the young team can still improve.
"We have a lot of new players in the lineup who are still trying to find their niche," said Becker, whose team will host Nottingham tonight at 7 p.m. "We only have two guys back with any real experience. But we’re getting better each game and I like what I’ve seen so far.
"Against Bordentown, we played a real nice game for about three quarters. It was a close game going into the fourth quarter and then they just pulled away from us down the stretch."
Conor Hayes led WW-P North with 20 points in the loss, while John Byrnes added 19. Byrnes, a junior, scored 21 points in the Knights 57-44 win over Pennington in the opening round of the tournament.
"John has really been coming along," Becker said. "He had a great game against Pennington. Beside the points he scored, he also had 12 rebounds and five steals. He’s played a few real solid games in a row for us.
"He’s a good rebounder and he finishes. I like the progress that he has been making."
Becker hopes that kind of play from his whole team will lead to success down the road. Right now, the Knights are still trying to figure things out.
"Fundamentals are what we’re trying to zone in on right now," Becker said. "As coaches, we’ve really tried to focus in on that and we hope it carries over into the games. We’re working on boxing out, making the extra pass, setting good screens. Those are the kinds of things that help you win games.
"One of the things I really like about this group is how unselfish they are. And they play hard all the time. I like that about this team."
So, as the Knights hit a tough portion of their schedule, Becker hopes the progress he has seen continues.
"Each one of these guys has stepped up and been a big part of our wins," Becker said. "The key now is that we have to finish on the defensive end. We can play good defense. Now we have to rebound. The CVC is a very tough league this year and we have to be ready to learn from what we’ve done so far this year."
And if the Knights can do that, Becker is confident his team can have a good season.
"I’m happy with the way these guys have been working," Becker said. "They’re putting in a lot of effort."
And that’s led to the kind of progress Becker likes to see.

