PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Emil Rossi (in white) tries to drive through the defense of Eury Matos.
By HAROLD RIVERA
LYNN — The English boys basketball team has high hopes for the upcoming season.
Coach Mike Carr lost a handful of seniors from last season’s group, but the young players on this year’s team have given him plenty of reasons to look forward to 2016-2017.
“It was a good group of kids” Carr said of last year’s team. “It wasn’t a super-chemistry team but we found our way into the tournament. We lost nail-biter at home in the first round. I don’t know if we underachieved but we weren’t as good as we’ve been in the past. Chemistry was a factor.”
This season’s team is younger than the Bulldogs have been in the past, and Carr feels the youth will pay dividends for English.
“It’s a young group,” Carr said. “We don’t have too many returning varsity kids but our junior varsity team was undefeated last year. This is a group that I’m excited to coach. I just have that feeling.”
Key players to watch this season for English include seniors Iverson Lopes (guard), Eury Matos (forward/center) and Tommy Rijo (guard). Lopes was the team’s point guard last year, but will be moving to a new position at shooting guard this season.
“He was a kid that last year got thrust into playing the point for us,” Carr said. “It’s not his natural position but he was willing to take the reigns and he stepped up and did the job. This year we’re trying to get him to be our shooting guard.”
Another player to keep an eye on is junior Javaris Hill (forward).
“He’s so versatile for us,” Carr said. “He can play anywhere on the court except point guard.”
The strength of this season’s team will be its athleticism. The Bulldogs don’t have height on their roster, but they aren’t lacking speed and quickness.
“We’re not a big group,” Carr said. “My philosophy has always been pressure defense. This is a group that’s already, in the first week, we’ve already got quite a bit of our offense and defense. Our defensive pressure is probably going to be our strength.”
Carr added, “We live and die off our up-tempo game. We try to press.We’re pretty predictable year in and year out. We play defense. Sometimes we give up a lot of points but whether or not a team scores on us or not we will try to wear our opponents down.”
The Bulldogs will also rely on their depth. In the past, Carr has coached a rotation that consists of six to eight players. This year his rotation includes 10.
“We’re trying to do 10-deep,” Carr said. “In the past it has been six to eight. This group has kids that can play interchangeably. It’s a fun style of basketball to play and coach.”
As for English’s chances in the Northeastern Conference this season, Carr noted that his team has a good chance to compete with its opponents. Although the Bulldogs have a handful of players making the jump from junior varsity to varsity, Carr said he thinks they’ll be competitive if they can dictate the tempo of their contests.
“Some teams project to be good,” Carr said. “We always have wars with Classical, I think they’ll be strong again. The NEC is what it is. I truly feel that we have a shot at contending. It’s a big jump going from junior varsity to varsity. I think we’ll be, top to bottom, a decent group. I think we’ll be in the thick of things.”
He added, “People aren’t probably looking at us to be a powerhouse this season. We’re looking to surprise a lot of people. Hopefully, that’s the case.”
The Bulldogs open their new season on Dec. 16 at Danvers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Harold Rivera can be reached at [email protected].