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An experienced lineup under a new coach has Gallatin’s boys looking to improve on last season’s 9-15 record, and make a run toward the Grand River Conference title.
"It’s been a smooth transition so far," said veteran, but first-year GHS Coach Brent Burke. "I’ve coached a lot of games over the years against GRC schools, so the familiarity is there," he adds. "It is nice to have more athletes to choose from," he said of the 27 boys out for basketball.
Burke, a Gilman City High School grad and past GIT all-tournament honoree, put together a record of 160-124 in 11 years coaching high school boys basketball. His 2010-2011 Gilman City team went undefeated in the HDC and won a Class 1 district title.
Last year’s Bulldog team was a young one. This year’s squad is young in the sense that players must learn a new system under a new coach, but for the second straight season, Burke gets to coach a team with a returning core of starters.
GHS gains last season were impressive. The Bulldogs finished fourth in the GRC (5-4) and were 9-7 against Class 1 and 2 opponents. Gallatin won ten of 11 games when holding an opponent to under 50 points.
"This will take time but I see us heading in the right direction, so far," said Coach Burke. "With four returning starters and just three seniors on the team, I would expect these young men to pick up on things a little quicker," he added. "Things are progressing quicker than I anticipated coming in."
Maturity, sportsmanship and discipline are aspects of the game that Coach Burke stresses every day at practice.
"These issues are very important in my coaching philosophy," he said. "We seem to be understanding the game and showing confidence in our abilities," he added. "Our mental toughness will be tested as the season progresses and the outcomes of games become more meaningful."
Not all has been smooth sailing for the Bulldogs. Projected point guard Isaac Mattis, a junior, underwent knee surgery on Nov. 10 and is lost for the season. That leaves four players, Wes Cole, Zach Lollar, Derrick Lin and Jacob Boyd, competing for starting and backup point guard.
Gallatin also sports a good balance of inside players and those who can handle either guard or post duties.
"I really like our depth at the forward/center position with great competition in Brandon (Hunt), Dexter (Daniel) and Daltonn (Tompkins)," Coach Burke said. "Mitchell (Vanderslice), Preston (Turley), Chris (Cameron) and Palmer (Turley) are players who can go either way if we need them to," he added.
With a limited number of experienced subs, it’s important for everyone to know the roles of each spot on the floor.
"In my offenses, all players need to be able to run nearly all positions as it requires a lot of movement," Coach Burke stated. "This is what we are working on right now, getting the ‘bigs’ used to facing the basket, making good passes and taking care of the ball," he continued. "At the same time, we want our guards to be able to post up and play in the paint to give defenses different looks."
Coach Burke sees defensive savvy as a team strength, but the Bulldogs must work on ball-handling and rebounding if they hope to be a significant factor in conference and district races. Gallatin has some good shooters in the paint, but needs more consistency and scoring contributions from the guard spot, he added.
Coach Burke sees a few different aspects of coaching night after night in the GRC as opposed to coaching in the HDC, including having more and sometimes bigger athletes to choose from.
"The physical nature of the game is different when comparing the two conferences," he said. "I remember trying to prepare my teams from Gilman City to be mentally and physically prepared for the Gallatin Tournament and the non-conference GRC games," he added. "Being football schools, its seems to be more physical, especially at the beginning of the basketball season, just coming off football season."
Burke describes how he sees the Bulldogs stacking up against conference competition this season.
"We have stressed to the team that we can compete with anybody in the conference," he said. "My feeling is that there will be four or five teams that could be in the mix for the top spot this year, and there is usually a surprise team," he added. "If all goes well, we could be one of those teams. We will take one opponent at a time and see where we land."