Baldwin Park Braves Basketball

Baldwin Park Basketball New Official Website

2010-10-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Baldwin Park Basketball has moved this website: www.baldwinparkbasketball.blogspot.com

Article in Today's SGV Tribune about Baldwin Park Basketball

2009-12-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to the article check it out: http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_13949061

First Week of 2009-2010 Season

2009-12-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Well the first week of the season is over for the 2009-2010 campaign and I have to admit I am shocked with how we are playing. I had feeling we were going to be good but this could be one of those really special seasons this year. With 7 returners back from the last year in seniors: Tomas Montes, Eddie Gamboa, Gus Vasquez, Joey De La Torre, and Fernie Morelos and juniors: Jimmy Ramirez and Andy Medina I knew we had a good nucleus but it was how would the rest of the players from JV last year blend in. So far we are playing great basketball below you can get a recap on all the games

Firebaugh 11/30

Mountain View (Don Bosco Tech Tourney)

San Gabriel (Don Bosco Tech Tourney)

Crossroads (Don Bosco Tech Tourney)

Firebaugh (Don Bosco Tech Tourney)

So after 1 week of the season in the books the Varsity team is 5-0 on the season and have won a tournament championship at the Don Bosco Tech Tournament. The first tournament championship the basketball program has won in over 26 years.

This week the Varsity takes the week off and practices to prepare for the Azusa Tournament.

JV plays in the Sierra Vista Tournament 12-8-12-10 first game is 4:30 at Sierra Vista
JV record is 1-1

Freshmen our hosting a tournament at Baldwin Park 12/9-12/12 playing at 7:30 Wed-Fri
Freshmen record is 1-0

Recap of San Gabriel Game

2009-12-06T10:27:00.001-08:00

This is courtesy of Mid Valley News who covered our game at Don Bosco Tech Tournament against San Gabriel.

Baldwin Park 71, San Gabriel 58
Baldwin Park (3-0) dipped a deuce and a pair of threes during the last 1:08 of the 3rd to pull away from a see saw battle and carry a nine point lead into the 4th before wrapping it up with a 12-2 run to claim a 71-58 win over San Gabriel (0-2).

Braves guard Tomas Montes knocked down 5 of 7 from trey land and finished atop all scorers with 19 points. Post player Joey De La Torre went 6 of 7 in the paint for 12 and snatched ten rebounds, two steals. Wingman Jimmy Ramirez scored another 14 on 6 for 10 FG while forward Fernie Morelos picked up 13 points, 6 boards and 4 takeaways.

The Matadors started well with a Dennis Le three point play and a pair of Derek Thai free throws for a 5-0 lead but Baldwin Park put together a 11-2 run to go ahead 11-7 halfway through the 1st.

The Braves put tremendous pressure on the SG offense in the 2nd, forcing two 10 second backcourt violations and a host of other turnovers that kept the Mats out of the frontcourt for well over a minute. BP took advantage offensively with a 12-0 blitz for a 30-18 lead before SG broke the ice and got back in the fray, 25-32, on five Alex Torres points and a pair at the line from Antonio Romero.

Thai was 5 of 8 from the field and converted all four shots at the charity stripe for a team high 16 points. Eric Martinez was next with 10 followed by 9 from both Torres (3 blk, 3 stl) and Romero (8 reb).

SG 16 9 21 12 - 58
BP 18 14 23 16 - 71

SG - Thai 16, Martinez 10, Romero 9, Torres 9, Alvaro Loya 6 (4 stl), Le 4, Mayor Cheng 4
BP - Montes 19, Ramirez 14, Morelos 13, De La Torre 12, Eddie Gamboa 4, Gus Vasquez 4, Jared Ojeda 3, Andy Medina 2

New Uniforms Sneak Peak

2009-10-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

The uniform mock up pictures I got today somethings look at little funny because not everything is finished no elastic in waistbands of shorts and the tackle twill has not been sewn down yet they are in the final stages for the uniforms.

APU Shootut Recap

2009-10-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well boy did we have a learning experience this weekend going 0-4 against four tough opponents we played really well at points the whole weekend. Right now it seems that we are struggling with our pressure defense and rotations good thing it is October. Also we are trying to hard on offense not cutting after making passes. I know our offense is predicated on the dribble but there are some automatic cuts that are made on certain passes and guys just seem to be watching the ball.

So offensively we will be discussing and harping on the big 3:

1. Proper Spacing
2. Create Gaps
3. Attack Mentality

On Defense we will be working on the following:

1. Ball Pressure
2. Trapping from behind on head turns and dribble turns.
3. Getting in our quarters

APU Shootout October 11 and 12th.

2009-10-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

The varsity team plays a shootout this weekend over at Azusa Pacific University. The team has been working really hard this preseason. We are a little over a month away from the start of official basketball practice and this will be a test to see where we are at and what we want to become. We are playing 4 quality opponents this weekend Canyon Country of Valencia, St. Francis of La Canada, West Ranch and South Hills.

What I like about the APU Shootouts is it is stopped regulation clock. What we are going to learn this weekend is how well the system we use will work against 4 CIF playoff caliber teams. We are in year 2 of our system with 7 returners we are looking for and expecting good things. The new members of the Varsity team are blending in and getting caught up speed.

Schedule:

Oct 10th 2:00 pm Canyon Country vs. Baldwin Park
Oct 10th 5:45 pm St. Francis vs. Baldwin Park
Oct 11th 10:15 am South Hills vs. Baldwin Park
Oct 11th 2:00 pm West Ranch vs. Baldwin Park

Fall Update

2009-10-04T14:03:00.001-07:00

Here is a update on how the boy's are coming along. The Varsity is 3-1 over at Rowland Fall League with wins over El Rancho, West Covina, South El Monte and there loss versus Rowland. Next games for the Varsity boys are this weekend Oct 10 and 11th and APU Shootout.

The current Varsity Roster consists of: Fernie Morelos, Tomas Montes, Jimmy Ramirez, Eddie Gamboa, Joey De La Torre, Gus Vasquez, Andy Medina, Chuckie Yabut, Jared Ojeda, Gabino Sandoval, Drake Guillen, Mario Rodriquez, Manny Rivera, Edwin Trinidad, Joel Valencia, and Angel Villegas.

The JV record over at the Fall League is 2-2. With wins over Los Altos and El Rancho, there losses are to Sonora and Rowland.

The current JV Roster consists of: Kyle Deleon, Andrew Rivas, Adam Tovar, Elias Mediano, Marco Ortiz, Dominic Ortiz, Edgar Lozano, Ernie Estrada, George Damian, Josh Nwoye, Gilbert De La Torre.

The Freshmen team is starting to take form and the team has been cut down to 15 players right now we do not have an official roster yet because the freshmen are still trying out.

Kobe Bryant Back Pivot Move

2009-09-27T11:44:00.001-07:00

Who has not seen Kobe Bryant Play here is one of his signature moves broken down by Micah Lancaster of Ganon Baker Basketball.

Preseason Underway

2009-09-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well we are about 2 weeks into preseason workouts for the JV and Varsity Teams. We are doing a lot of shooting and full-court transition drills working on our ball handling, passing and shooting. In the system we run we do a lot of full court work because this is the way we play it is really important to get the players use to playing at the tempo we want to play. We have put a new drill into our practices this year that has helped us a lot we put 1 minute on the game clock put 12 seconds on the shot clock and scrimmage for the 1 minute pressing and trapping and pushing the ball they are getting a lot better at getting the ball up the floor and getting a good shot. Our goals this year are to play at even faster then last year. It has been great to see them work as hard as they have been we have been lifting two times a week and doing the full court drills two days a week.

Right now as a way to get ready for the season we are playing in a fall league over at Rowland on Saturdays. The Jv played Rowland last weekend and played really well in the first half before having some mental lapses on the defensive side of the ball and Rowland took over in the 2nd half to defeat the JV Team.

The Varsity team is playing as well over at Rowland and they played against El Rancho and they came out a little rusty in this game taking a 7 point lead at halftime and El Rancho came out on fire in the second half hitting back to back three pointers to cut the lead to 1. After calming themselves down the Braves defense took over holding El Rancho to 6 points the rest of the game and cruising to an 18 point win. I believe our pressure defense was the key once again getting us some easy shots.

Whitman College Running Dribble Drive Attack Offense

2009-08-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

Eric Bridgeland team running Dribble Drive Attack former asst coach of Vance Walberg at Pepperdine

Which Team are You?

2009-08-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

MOST ATHLETES CHOOSE THE EASY WAY!

AVERAGE TEAMS:

always show up physically ...but mentally?

have individuals...

make excuses...

do not work any harder than they have to ...

are inconsistent --up for one game, down for the next ...

rarely seem to win the big game ...

live on past accomplishments or future fantasies ...

always think they know more than their coach ...

always think they are better players than they are given credit for ...

are a dime a dozen ...

GREAT TEAMS:

are self-motivated ...

are intelligent ...

are consistent ...

execute ...

are fundamentally sound ...

out hustle opponets ...

play together ...

do not worry about individual accomplishments. The team is always first ...

win the games they are supposed to ...

can accept constructive criticism ...

believe in their teammates and help motivate them by being a positive complimentary player ...

are not just satisfied with a win, but also with how well they played...

have players who have sacrificed many hours by themselves in the cold, at night, when they could've been somewhere else, in order to become a better skilled individual in order to better help the team...

are not just born, but are developed by hard work, cooperation, and a common goal ...

unfortunately are seldom found because most choose the easy way ...

THE BEST THING IS, IT IS YOUR CHOICE!

Pictures from the Summer

2009-07-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Slide Show of some of the games for Summer 2009

Cal Poly Team Tournament

2009-06-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Well the summer got kicked off with us playing at Cal Poly Pomona against some good competition!

First game vs. Yosemite

Well we started off the summer in fine fashion with our first game of the game winning 54-22 our pressure defense was the difference causing lots of turnovers and turning them into quick points. We pretty much dominated from start to finish.

Second game vs. Diamond Ranch

This was a good test for us we came out a little nervous but think we came away from the game with confidence that we can play athletic teams with our style we were able to get to the rim but did not hit our open 3's or free throws in this game. Our pressure defense was good at times but also let us down in this game giving them to many easy baskets. We ended up losing by 14 points in this game do not remember the score.

Third game vs. Irvine

The boys came out in the first half this game and played the worst they have played in a long time being there third game of the day in a little over 5 hours. We were completely dominated in the first half being down by 19 at half. We played a lot better basketball in the second half and competed really hard and we ended up being beat by 10 points 49-39 out scoring Irvine in the second half by 9.

Fourth game vs. Corona Roosevelt

This game we played with a lot of energy and played really well again against a very athletic team. We were able to get to the basket and finish in this game and hit a few three's. We saw a half court trap for the first time summer and handled that really well. We were down 11 at half time and took a 2 point lead in the second half before coming out on the short end of the stick and losing by eight points 47-39.

Fifth game vs. Monrovia

Our final game of the weekend at Cal Poly was against Monrovia. We did some really good things in this games our posts played there best game of the summer and our pressure defense cause them a lot of problems it was close at halftime 18-16 us. In the second half we completely dominated them only giving up 13 points. The final score ended up being 40-29.

All in all I think the boy's learned a lot from this weekend did not play the typical teams we played and learned what we need to do to get better to get that league championship we are striving for next season.

Summer Basketball begins 6/13

2009-06-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Summer Kicks off for the Varsity .this weekend a tournament at Cal Poly Pomona this weekend June 13th and 14th. We will be playing Yosemite at 9 am. The Varsity team is very excited about this summer the boy's have prepared really hard for the spring. We will be playing 40 or more games this summer and have beefed up the schedule to play tougher teams to get us ready for league and cif for next year. We are expecting a great summer!

Derrick Rose Running Dribble Drive Motion

2009-05-17T11:37:00.001-07:00

Here are some clips of Derrick Rose at Memphis

Proper Shooting Technique

2009-05-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

When you are thinking about your shooting technique, remember B.E.E.F.

B – Balance
E – Elbow
E – Eyes
F – Follow Through

Balance

Make sure you are “squared-up” to the basket
Make sure your feet are about shoulder width apart, the “shooting foot” (the one on the same side as your shooting arm) slightly in front.
Knees bent for balance (and to provide “upward thrust” when you shoot).

Elbow

Keep the elbow of your shooting arm close to your body – no “chicken wings”.
During the shot the elbow should come up to your eyebrow level rather than going out in front of your body too much. This makes sure you get plenty of lift on the ball rather than pushing it out in front of you.

Eyes

Keep your eyes on the target (the basket). Don’t watch the ball, watch the basket.

Follow-Through

When you are holding the ball for the shot your wrist should be “cocked”.
Release the ball off the fingers and snap the wrist back to put some backspin on the ball.
Keep your arm up in the air until the ball hits something – it should look like a gooseneck.
Point your index finger at the target at the end of your shot.

Spring Practice begins May 12th

2009-05-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Spring Practice begins May 12th, 13th and 14th at 2:15 to 4:15 for Varsity Players. Practices after the 14th will be Monday through Thursday from 2:15 to 4:15 up until school gets out to get ready for our summer season.

Spring Practice begins May 13th and May 15th at 4:00 to 6:00 at Morgan Park for JV players. Practice after the 15th will be every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4 to 6pm up until June 12th.

Baldwin Park has been playing in the spring league over at Rowland on Saturday's and the Varsity team is 5-0 so far and our playing really well as team with a strong concentrating on their full-court pressure defense. There have been some suprises this spring from Jared Ojeda, Gabino Sandoval and Chuckie Yabut up from the JV team that went 20-0 last year. Other strong contributers are coming from point guard Jimmy Ramirez, Center Gus Vasquez. We are getting consistant play from Joey De La Torre, Andy Medina, Tomas Montes, Fernie Morelos and Eddie Gamboa. The boys are working really hard this spring.

The JV team has been playing in the spring and our improving every game their record right now in the spring is 1-5. The spring is for learning and they are definately going through some learning pains but our getting better each and every week. Some of the top performers so far have been the suprise of Kyle DeLeon in the backourt, Dominic Ortiz, Angel Villegas and Marco Ortiz.

Roles of Offensive Players

2009-05-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY AND TERMS

2 CRITICAL ELEMENTS

Attitude – NO EXCUSES – fight thru adversity – be vocal – fight thru fouls – heads up
Hard Work – never stop – never take easy way out.

OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY

RUN, RUN, RUN!

– we want to get the ball up the floor as fast as possible - we ALWAYS push the ball in transition – we want to force the pace - off a made OR a miss – we get the ball up the floor as fast as we can – pass first dribble second

– “ WE Like 3’s but WE Love lay-ups”

- spacing is critical

- if you want to make an impression – buy in – if you go half way you will be eliminated

- if we get scored on – 5 man must get the ball out of the hoop before the ball touches the ground – rip it out of the hoop

POSITIONS

Point Guard (1 man) – pass first mentality is critical

Goes to outlet ballside 3 point line extended and calls for the ball – rebounder (on a missed shot) must put the ball on the ground if the outlet pass is jammed – point guard MUST advance the ball up the floor with the pass as fast as he can – we do not want to dribble the ball up the floor – it is too slow -

Point Guard (5 man) – Penetrator First/Shooter Second

Takes ball out after a score – rips it out of the net and inbounds fast – we want to score in transition before our opponent gets back on defense. Plays the trail spot opposite the point guard – is an immediate threat when he catches the ball to penetrate and shoot

Shooting Guard (2 man) – best perimeter shooter/scorer – crashes the offensive boards hard

Runs the right hand lane wide (outside the green line from baseline 3 to baseline 3) and as fast as he can to opponents 3 point line extended – wants to create space for the pass

When he catches he must be in an attack mode – we want a lay-up or a 3 pointer

Small Forward (3 man) – must be a good 3 point shooter and able to penetrate – we will look to create mismatches - crashes the offensive boards hard

Runs the left hand lane wide (outside the green line from baseline 3 to baseline 3) and as fast as he can to opponents 3 point line FT line extended – wants to create space for the pass - When he catches he must be in an attack mode – we want a lay-up or a 3 pointer

Low Post (4 man) – must read penetrations and create space – ready to catch and score – crashes the offensive boards hard

Sprints the middle of the floor, to the front of the rim, as fast as you can – in transition looking to go front rim seal then weak side (opposite ball) low block

Locate and relocate opposite ball penetration – if ball is penetrated at low post (anytime) he must relocate to opposite block – in such a position to catch and score without a dribble or bringing the ball down low (below chin) – looking for quick lay-up or close in jump hook

Recap of 16-9 Season

2009-04-29T15:42:00.001-07:00

Well the 2008-2009 Braves had another successful season going 16-9 and 7-3 in league. The 2008-2009 Braves changed their style of play this season going to more of umptempo game this year and it benefited from it tremendously. School records were set for most 3 pointers in a season (166) , game (12) and by an individual for a season with (58) by Tomas Montes.

The Braves also came in 2nd place in the Ontario Christian tournament the highest they have finished in a tournament in more then 15 years. They had the best league record in more then 20 years. So in the past two years the Baldwin Park Boy's Basketball team is a combined 32-18 and 13-7 in league. This also breaks a record for best two-year record in quite sometime.

The Braves had many things to be proud of this year finishing in 3rd place in the Azusa Tourney, 2nd Place in Ontario Christian Tournament, 2nd place in league, and losing in the CIF playoffs to Damien by 10 pts which went to the semifinals and lost to Eisenhower by 2 points. Eisenhower ended up winning the Cif southern section championships and Cif State Championships.

Some of the most memorable moments of the year were beating Sierra Vista on the road, San Dimas on the road, playing in the championship game at Ontario Christian for the tourney championship against Woodcrest Christian who finished their season losing in the semi-finals of their division.

The Braves had some players honored this year by the Valle Vista League with those players being Tomas Montes, Johnny Cabrera on first team and Jimmy Ramirez being honarable mention.

As you can see we had a very successful season this year on the Varsity Level going. On the JV this year they went undefeated going 20-0 which has never been done before at Baldwin Park way to go Braves on a successful season.

BP Braves own City Bragging Rights again

2009-01-25T18:34:00.000-08:00

There was so much energy in the gym for the annual cross town rivalry game between Baldwin Park and Sierra Vista. Sierra has beaten Baldwin in the summer and spring league so they had confidence coming into the game. But the BP Braves traveled across town and beat the Dons convincingly. BP jumped out to a 40-17 halftime lead by playing great defense and getting out in transition. The Braves played with an intensity that they had not played at all years. On this night the Braves owned the city of Baldwin Park once again.

Some highlights from the game:

Eddie Gamboa Career High 12 points all in the 2nd quarter
Jimmy Ramirez 10 points
Fernie Morelos 9 points 9 rebounds
Tomas Montes a gritty 8 points was sick the whole game.

As you can see was a total team effort and balanced scoring. The Braves have non-league game before the open up Valle Vista League Play.

Braves take 2nd in Ontario Christian Tournament

2009-01-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

During the Christmas holidays the Baldwin Park Braves played in the Ontario Christian Tournament and came away in 2nd place. The Braves played 4 games and making it to the championship came where they came up short in the game to Woodcrest Christian.

In the first game of the tourney the Braves played against Garey securing a victory by getting great performances from Tomas Montes and Johnny Cabrera on the offensive side of the ball and great defensive performances from Fernie Morelos and Francisco Adauto.

In the second game of the tourney the Braves played there best game of the year versus Riverside Christian. They went on to win 82-47 and scored a school record 34 points in the first quarter. Johnny Cabrera led the Braves with 26 points in the game a career high.

In the third game of the tourney the Braves played the host school and Ontario Christian and played really well and secured a one point win. This game was a total team effort there were no stand outs in this game the team was the stand out.

In the championship game the Braves took on Woodcrest Christian and Woodcrest was too much for us on this night. The Braves and fought all night but came up short playing in the first championship game in more then 20 years. After tournament the Braves improved their record to 7-5.

Congratualations to the team on their 2nd place at the tournament and congratulations to Tomas Montes and Fernie Morelos for being named all tournament.

Next up for the Braves the Sierra Vista Dons.

Azusa Tournament 3rd Place

2008-12-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

We had our best showing of the season in the tournament finishing in third place compiling a record of 3-1. The Braves finished in 3rd place beating Don Lugo 71-53 and Tomas Montes made the all tournament team. Baldwin Park had wins over Gladstone, Mountain View and Don Lugo. They were beaten by South Hills who we played really well for 3 quarters. South Hills went on to win the tournament. So after 7 games of the season Baldwin Park is 4-3 with their next game against Rowland on December 23 at 6:30 pm.

Recap of Western Christian Game

2008-12-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

Well what has become typical of the season so far we started off slow trailing 22-14 after the first quarter. We pretty much played even with the Western Christian Lancers in the 2nd quarter trimming the lead down to seven at half. The Braves were pumped headed into half by a nice offensive tip in by Junior Center Gus Vasquez. The Braves came out with their best quarter of the season by scoring 23 points in the quarter and building a 10 point lead. The Braves were let by sophomore guard Jimmy Ramirez in the quarter with 10 points and also received 8 points in the quarter by junior guard Tomas Montes both Ramirez and Montes knocked down two 3 pointers a piece in the quarter. The Braves continued to roll in the 4th quarter putting the Lancers away by nice passing by junior guard Eddie Gamboa who had 3 assists in the quarter to Gus Vasquez. The Braves put together there best performance of the season hitting 9 three pointers. Baldwin Park improved to 1-2 on the season and knocked off the previous unbeaten Western Christian Lancers. Great Job Boys.

Some tibits on the game:

Gus Vasquez Double Double 15 points and 15 rebounds
Tomas Montes 18 points, 5 threes
Jimmy Ramirez 13 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals
Fernie Morelos 11 points, 6 rebounds

The Braves did a great job shutting down the Lancers best player holding him to 5 points on the game when he was averaging 22 points a game coming in.

The Braves travel to Azusa to play in the Azusa tournament December 16 - 19. First game is Tuesday at 5:45 against Gladstone.

Recap of El Monte Game 12/3/08

2008-12-04T00:00:00.001-08:00

Well the Braves traveled to El Monte for a non-league contest with all but 3 players on the roster playing in their first Varsity game. The Braves came out real cold shooting the ball in the first half and fell behind 30-17 at half. The Braves battled back in the third quarter cutting the lead down to five points going into the fourth quarter. Baldwin Park battled all the way back to tie the score with 14 seconds left El Monte had the ball and the Braves ended up getting a steal they quickly called time out. They ran the play and got to the free throw line with 5 seconds remaining and were not able to convert either free-throw so the game went into overtime with the score 55-55 after regulation.

In overtime Baldwin Park fell behind early but Jimmy Ramirez hit a 3 pointer in the corner to give the Braves their first lead of the whole game 58-57 will a little over 3:00 minutes left in overtime. The teams battled back and forth exchanging baskets when again the Braves made another steal on the defensive end and got a lay-up with 11 seconds remaing to take a 65-63 lead but El Monte inbounded the ball pushed up the court and the took the ball to the basket and made the lay-up and he got fouled. They made their free-throw with 3 seconds left to give them a one-point lead 66-65. The Braves had one last attempt at winning when their half court 3 pointer ended up short. Baldwin Park came out on the losing end of the stick tonight but battled back and showed with a young team and a lot of first year varsity teams that they will battle back and learn how to win these close games can come back from a big early deficit. This game was a good learning experience and they will only get better.

On the lower levels the Freshmen team and J.V. team both one their games starting of the year 1-0.

Next game for Baldwin Park is at La Puente on Friday, December 5th with the freshmen at 3:15, JV at 4:45 at Varsity at 6:30.

Roster 2008-2009

2008-12-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

Here is the roster for the Varsity Boy's Basketball team at Baldwin Park High School

Jonathan Cabrera 12 Guard
Jimmy Ramirez 10 Guard
Tomas Montes 11 Guard
Gus Vasquez 11 Forward
Eddie Gamboa 11 Guard
Joey De La Torre 11 Forward
Franciso Adauto 12 Guard
Billy Castro 12 Guard
Alex Cervantes 12 Guard
Leo Zaldivar 12 Guard
Francisco Chavarin 12 Forward
Paolo Leonardes 12 Guard
Fernie Morelos 11 Guard/Forward

We begin with our first game on Wednesday, December 3rd at El Monte at 6:30 come out and support the boys.

Outlook for 2008-2009 Season

2008-11-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Baldwin Park Braves 2008-2009 Season began on November 15th s. This year I believe will be a successful season even though we have only 3 returning Varsity players from a team that went 16-9 finished 2nd place and hosted a CIF playoff game for the first time in over 20 years last year. Why I think we will be successful is we play hard, we have learned to win the lower level programs the last two years have won back to to back freshmen titles and the JV won league last year as well. The team consists of 8 seniors, 6 juniors and one sophomore.

The Braves will be using an uptempo style of play this year with multiple defenses to keep the other team off balance. The Braves have had one scrimmage and that was against West Covina. We shot the ball really well in the scrimmage but didn't play defense up to our abilities. The Braves were led by Johnny Cabrera with 14 points, Eddie Gamboa with 9 points and Gus Vasquez with 7 points in the scrimmage. The Braves also got good point guard play from Sophomore Jimmy Ramirez who chipped in with 7 points and 4 assists. The Baldwin Park Braves will begin their season on the road on Dec. 3rd against El Monte at 6:30pm.

Coach's Outlook for the season:

The boy's work real hard in practice and our learning a new offensive system where they are not fluid with it yet they are still thinking. Once we learn the system fully we will be tough. I believe we can contend for a league championship and playoff berth once again. We do not really talk about that as a team though the team's motto is to Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together and Play with Confidence if we do this night after night the wins will take care of themselves.

With our uptempo style we will wearing down our opponents by playing up to 11 players a game by putting consitant pressure from end line to line for 32 minutes a game.

This blog will be updated throughout the season at least once a week to keep you up to date what is going on with Baldwin Park Basketball.