West's team ready to acheive goals
By JARED PUTNAM

Brittany Odom passes to a teammate.

After an injury plagued season in 2005-2006, the Lady Panthers basketball team is healthy and hungry for the upcoming season. "This is going to be a good basketball team," said Head Coach Mike West. "It's not going to be a team where we go out there hoping to be competitive."

The coach said that last year the team's goal had to be put on hold due to so many injuries. But now the coach feels the team is in a position to realize many of those goals. "After we get started I think we'll do pretty well. We have some goals this year that we have never had since I've been here," said the coach.

Asked about the hurdles the team has to overcome in order to be successful, the coach acknowledged that height disadvantages can lead to matchup problems. "We're short," said Coach West. "There's no way around that. Our guards are short for guards and our posts are short for posts."

Coach West said that the key is to take advantage of the strengths you do have. One of things we really found success with this summer was pressure. We are short, we are quick, we are scrappy and it's something we really like doing. We thrive on pressure."

Jordan West gets set to inbound the ball.

He explained that because not every team can be pressed, the Lady Panthers will have to work to control the game tempo in some cases. Likewise, on offense, the team will have to play different styles in different situations.

"I'm asking my team to do two different styles of basketball," said Coach West. "How well they are able to figure that out will determine how well we do." While the transition could take some time early on, the coach said that by the time the playoffs arrive, if they are adept at more than one style of play, it will be a big benefit.

"I don't have a go-to player" said the coach. "I have a lot of players who have to contribute. It is a weakness in some ways, but can also be a strength. You

have to guard all our players because all our players can score."