Juneau men's basketball coach George Houston continually stressed one thing during a recent interview at Juneau-Douglas High School: Improvement.
In the wake of a 2-2 road trip to Anchorage this past weekend, the two-time defending state champion Crimson Bears must shrug off the blemishes and learn from the mishaps before this weekend's games, Houston said.
Juneau (12-2) faces region rival Ketchikan this Friday and Saturday at JDHS. Gametime is 8 p.m. both nights with the junior varsity games at 6 and C-team at 4:15.
"We just have to be ready to play," Houston said. "We've just gotta' be ready to go. Hopefully with things the way they went in Anchorage, we'll learn something about ourselves."
Ketchikan suffered some tough losses on a recent trip to Anchorage as well, but Houston said he was impressed with Kings' shooting guard Alexis Pahang and 6-foot-3 inch forward Hyrum Neilson, a transfer from Redmond, Ore. Both attended the Adidas Clinic in Juneau last fall.
The Anchorage road trip started on a dismal note, with the Crimson Bears' 25-game win streak dating back to last season halted by a determined Chugiak Mustang squad, 49-48. Juneau won its next two games, against North Pole and West in the Thunderbird Classic, before falling to hot-shooting East Anchorage 87-77.
The road trip was similar to JD's earlier forays into Anchorage territory, such as the past two seasons, when Juneau lost to Colony in 1996 and East in 1997. Those teams seemed to use the losses as springboards for winning the state championship. Houston said he stressed to the team not to rest on past accomplishments.
"I told the kids we can't count on that," Houston said. "Just because we did something in the past doesn't mean it will happen again. We can't have that type of attitude."
Against East, Juneau ran into a team that couldn't miss. Both teams shot well from the floor - East hit 54 percent (30-of-56); Juneau 52 (25-of-48) - but the difference was from long range. The Thunderbirds canned a whopping 56 percent of their shots from 3-point range (9-16), led by Garland Perry, who got the best of his matchup against Carlos Boozer by hitting 5-of-8 3-pointers and 19 points. Boozer leads the team in scoring (26.7 points per game), rebounding (10.9 per game) and shooting percentage (72 percent), but hit just 8-of-18 shots for 18 points against East and suffered seven turnovers.
As a team, all of East's starters scored in double figures. "I never expected they could shoot the ball like that," Houston said.
At times this season, Juneau has shown the ability to simply dominate games, no matter who the opponent. Houston said for that to happen, a team has to have balance.
"To have those games, it doesn't mean having five players score 10 points apiece, it means everybody's got a role to play. Guys you depend on to score have to do so, and everybody has to fit. Everybody's got to find their niche to fit the team."
Usually the scoring falls on the able shoulders of Boozer, but Houston said for the team to play up to expectations, others must contribute. Players like forward Christian Carpeneti (11.8 ppg) and guard James Wilson (14.1 ppg, 5.5) can put up impressive numbers when duty calls.
Saturday against East, it was Wilson, who couldn't miss in his 27-point performance. Wilson canned 12-of-17 shots, including 2-of-4 3-point attempts.
Four of Juneau's next five games are on the road, and the team's recent showing proves that even a two-time state champ can become complacent.
"We just can't be as good as it," Houston stressed. "It can't just be the Carlos Boozer show. There are things we need to shore up and improve upon. I hope we do. I told the kids it's not going to be for lack of trying."
