T-Wolves have high expectations

OREM — One of Timpanogos High's basketball teams would like a repeat of last season, while the other would like to forget the 2005-06 campaign ever happened.

The girls team turned a corner last year and is hoping that the beginning of a long winning tradition has been planted. The boys, on the other hand, are still looking for those winning ways and believe that they could get things going in that direction this year.

To accomplish their goals, both teams will count heavily on many new faces. Both squads lost the core of their starting lineups to graduation, which means a lot of inexperienced players will take the court for the Timberwolves this season.

BOYS: Coach Clay Anderson and his staff have worked hard in the offseason to instill a new attitude and new determination in this year's version of the T-Wolves. The coaches know things need to change, it's just a matter of getting the players to buy off on the concepts and then spend the energy to make it happen on the court.

"If we're going to win, we can't continue to do the same things that we've done in the past," Anderson said. "We can't do the same things over and over again and expect different results."

First, the T-Wolves need to play better defense and hustle more.

"We were real soft last year. We didn't like to take charges. We didn't want to go after loose balls, and we didn't want to rebound and do all the dirty work. But I think we're going to be better at doing those things this year."

One reason Anderson is expecting a better defensive effort is the strength his players gained over the summer in the weight room. The T-Wolves, led by the speedy Ryan Clark, are also much quicker.

"We're not going to get beat up physically like we did last year, and we're going to be a lot stronger at the end of games," Anderson said.

The T-Wolves will again feature an uptempo pace and an "in-your-face" defense. Anderson expect his players will show more patience in the half-court offense and he says he's got much better shooters this season — especially with the return of junior sharpshooter Skyler Halford. To win more games, the T-Wolves will need to do a lot better on the fast break.

"As small as we are, we need to get about 40 percent of our offense off the break, and I think we're going to be much better at running the break this year," Anderson said.