Expect tough Provo teams

PROVO — The folks at Provo High look forward to basketball season more than any other. Perhaps no other Utah school has a richer basketball tradition than the Bulldogs.

This upcoming season should only add to that tradition. However, both the boys and girls teams are beginning the season with a few question marks. Can the girls team, loaded with tall and strong inside players, win in a league full of smaller and much quicker teams? Can the boys team repeat its success despite losing eight of the 10 main players from last year's team? Coaches from both teams say the answers to those questions are "yes."

"We will be very competitive, and I think we'll be very good," boys coach Craig Drury said.

Of course, it's easy to be that confident when one of the two returning players just happens to be one of the best high school players in Utah. When teams play the Bulldogs they'll surely focus most of their attention on 6-foot-7 senior Tai Wesley. The BYU-bound power forward is great around the basket, has a soft shot, strong footwork and sure hands.

"He has a lot of the traditional Provo post abilities, but he can also play away from the basket and do it effectively," Drury said.

The Bulldogs also have guards capable of hurting teams who devote too much attention to Wesley. Drury said his guardline is tough, has good leadership, can penetrate to the basket and burn the nets from outside.

"When teams double and triple Tai, I'm expecting our guards to make them pay," Drury said.

Defensively, senior guard Kade Koop is as good as they come. If the rest of Provo's team can play with the same intensity, the Bulldogs will be difficult to score on.

"You don't win with individual defense, you win with team defense," Drury said.

First-year girls coach Cory Green has a luxury that many coaches would love, a lot of returning inside players. For that reason, most of the scoring on the Bulldogs girls team should come in the paint.

"We will look to take advantage of our size inside," Green said.

But Green is not sure how his bigger and stronger team will do against his mainly outside-shooting Region 6 opponents. Perimeter defense might be the key to Provo's success.

"We are very aware of all the great shooters in this league, and we will have to find some way to defend them," Green said.

The girls can also expect opponents to try to use their strengths to make it difficult for the Bulldogs to bring the ball upcourt and get into that half-court game.

"We're spending a lot of time working on playing against pressure, because we expect to see a lot of that this season," Green said.

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E-mail: jimr@desnews.com