2008 Woodie Awards
New legacy for men's basketball team
Date created: 11/11/04 Section: SPORTS
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There is a new legacy for the 2004-2005 basketball season for the Skyline Trojans. First-year head coach Justin Piergrossi has a young basketball team full of players that have never once played college basketball. Every player on the team is a freshman. On the 18-man roster, 16 of them are from the Bay Area and two are from overseas, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
From the practices in the past few months for the Trojans, Piergrossi thinks that the team captain, point guard Marques Benjamin, and guard Paul Phangureh may blossom this coming season.
"Marques, he is a player that is a great floor leader; he is a great decision maker, and he is the kind of kid that you want running your team on the floor," Piergrossi said. "A coach like me in his first year, it was very important to get a point guard like Marques. I trust him, I trust his decisions, and I think our team is in good hands with him running the team."
Phangureh from Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose was the most valuable player of the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL), one of the top leagues in Northern California.
"For us to get Paul, a quality player, was important," said Piergrossi. "Another great kid, plays hard, and a real competitor."
This season, the Trojans hope to be competitive in every game they play and to win all of them, if not most of them.
"We are going to be able to be competitive with everybody--that is the goal," Piergrossi said. "Especially for the first year, we want to have a chance to win every single game. A lot of things have to go well. We are going to play some teams that are more talented then we are."
With the youthful team that Piergrossi has, Skyline can play well with some key strengths such as energy, competitiveness, and a hunger to play basketball, which all add up to great chemistry.
"They have improved immensely in the past couple of months," Piergrossi said. "They have worked hard and team chemistry is good right now. They are a great group of kids; they get along well and play well together. We have a team out there instead of individuals."
From the practices in the past few months for the Trojans, Piergrossi thinks that the team captain, point guard Marques Benjamin, and guard Paul Phangureh may blossom this coming season.
"Marques, he is a player that is a great floor leader; he is a great decision maker, and he is the kind of kid that you want running your team on the floor," Piergrossi said. "A coach like me in his first year, it was very important to get a point guard like Marques. I trust him, I trust his decisions, and I think our team is in good hands with him running the team."
Phangureh from Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose was the most valuable player of the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL), one of the top leagues in Northern California.
"For us to get Paul, a quality player, was important," said Piergrossi. "Another great kid, plays hard, and a real competitor."
This season, the Trojans hope to be competitive in every game they play and to win all of them, if not most of them.
"We are going to be able to be competitive with everybody--that is the goal," Piergrossi said. "Especially for the first year, we want to have a chance to win every single game. A lot of things have to go well. We are going to play some teams that are more talented then we are."
With the youthful team that Piergrossi has, Skyline can play well with some key strengths such as energy, competitiveness, and a hunger to play basketball, which all add up to great chemistry.
"They have improved immensely in the past couple of months," Piergrossi said. "They have worked hard and team chemistry is good right now. They are a great group of kids; they get along well and play well together. We have a team out there instead of individuals."
