The boys’ basketball team at Spotswood High School hopes to bounce back after falling short of expectations with a 7-20 record last season.
Head coach Steven Mate, who is set to begin his 23rd season at the helm for the Chargers, believes his team has what it takes to make this year one to remember.
“I expect us to turn that record around,” he said. “I expect us to win the division and move forward in both the state and county tournaments.”
In order to be successful, Mate thinks the team will need to buy into the program’s key principals.
“We’re going to have to understand the team concept, that everything we do is as a group,” the longtime coach said. “We need to understand that it’s not one person playing defense; it’s five people playing defense together. And on offense, it’s the same philosophy that we share the ball. We only take shots that are going to be good quality shots.”
Mate loves the talent and leadership his team possesses, and he believes that he will get production from his seniors all the way down to the sophomores on the team.
“We have a great senior class [with] Abdul Nieskens, Derek Buhl, Justin Dekovics, Vincent Guardiola, Solomon Tyson, Dominic Tesoriero, so we’ve got [several] seniors,” Mate said. “We also have a junior that we expect scoring from in Matt Vento. We have a couple of sophomores, including Andrew Bishara, who was a soccer goalie that we think can do some big things for us.
“So we have a big nucleus of players that should do well for us.”
Nieskens, who stars at point guard, and Dekovics, who is the starting shooting guard, both believe the team can win this year.
“We want to be the best team out there,” Nieskens said. “We want to share the ball. We have a good team out here. We just want to win some games.”
“This year, we’re working a lot harder,” Dekovics said. “We’re a lot more team-oriented. We should have a lot of fun this year.”
They also believe that in order to be successful, the players must trust each other and play together.
“We definitely need to share the ball more,” Nieskens said. “Last year, that was a problem for us. This year, I don’t think that will be a problem. If we share the ball, we will be a good team.”
“Defensively, we definitely need to play more as a unit, help each other when someone gets beat [and] gang rebound,” Dekovics said. “We’re not a big team, so hopefully we commit to boxing out and doing the dirty work.”
Both players know they are important leaders on this team and believe their offense will be needed to jump start the team.
“For me, it’s my jump shot,” Dekovics said. “It’s why I play, as well as pass the ball. I just have to let [Nieskens] break down the coverage, and then I’ll hit the open shot.”
“For me, it’s getting to the hole and looking for [Dekovics] or any of the other shooters out there,” Nieskens said. “If I can get right to the hole, we’ll be a good team.”
The Chargers open their season at home against Carteret High School on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.