{"id":801988,"date":"2019-12-04T09:30:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T16:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=375426"},"modified":"2019-12-04T09:30:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T16:30:35","slug":"intensity-is-the-name-of-the-game-for-summit-high-school-boys-basketball-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/intensity-is-the-name-of-the-game-for-summit-high-school-boys-basketball-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Intensity is the name of the game for Summit High School boys basketball team"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Summit High varsity boys basketball team practices on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at Summit High in Breckenridge.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 Finding wins the year after replacing the Summit High School single-season scoring record holder might seem like a daunting task for the varsity boys basketball team after the departure of 2019 grad Wyatt Buller and his 20.3 points per game.<\/p>\n

That said, the year-over-year comparison of the 2018-19 Summit Tigers and the 2019-20 squad is hardly an apples-to-apples comparison \u2014 even if a lot of the personnel is the same.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s squad was a team centered around Buller\u2019s ability to get buckets \u2014 a whopping 466 points in total. This year\u2019s team feels it can play a brand of basketball where any one of several players, including guys off the bench, can lead the team in scoring on any given night.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday evening, Jordan Buller, Wyatt\u2019s older cousin and the fourth-year head coach of the Tigers, looked out on the Summit High hardwood and sized up his team as practice began. At the core of it all was a senior leader and the team\u2019s tallest player \u2014 6-foot-3, 160-pound Dylan Huston \u2014 providing the vocal and energetic leadership Coach Buller said this team has to be built around.<\/p>\n

Similar to Summit High basketball history, this year\u2019s Tigers don\u2019t have the sheer size to tower over teams. But what this team does have is long athletes from guard through center who not only have the ability to be versatile in Coach Buller\u2019s aggressive man-to-man defense but also have enough basketball skill to manifest offense out of the energy they bring to the court.<\/p>\n

Coach Buller commended Huston as well as his two fellow senior leaders, 5-11 senior wing Corbin Furrey and 6-foot senior guard Ben Rider for setting the tone before Wednesday\u2019s season-opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just got to bring the intensity every practice so we are used to it every game,\u201d Huston said.<\/p>\n

On the defensive end, Coach Buller prides himself on the style of traditional, see-ball, see-man and ball-pressure man-to-man defense he grew up honing in the basketball hotbed of Indiana. The coach also understands that (although he has the versatile athletes who can switch on screens and guard multiple spots on the floor) without ball pressure from Summit\u2019s guards, the Tigers\u2019 bigs will struggle to front and defend bigger, beefier forwards and centers in the post.<\/p>\n

As such, Coach Buller expects these Tigers to play hectic, chaotic defense that leans on Summit\u2019s depth and can gas opponents at their homecourt above 9,000 feet.<\/p>\n

In order to guard like that as a team, Summit will look partially to long, strong athletes from other sports, such as Tigers junior football quarterback Cam Kalaf, wide receiver Kobe Cortright and Tigers rising lacrosse star Andrew Duxbury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty excited about the physicality that (Summit football) Coach (James) Wagner really was bringing to the football program this year,\u201d Coach Buller said. \u201cAnd you can see it in the way those guys are moving on the court. They aren\u2019t as timid as I feel I\u2019ve seen guys be at Summit in the past. They are not afraid of contact. They are ready to play big hands-on defense and cover a lot of ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Summit secures the ball, Coach Buller would like his team to flip like a light switch from the hectic defensive energy to poised ball handling. Much of that duty will fall to point guard Hector Diaz, a 5-10, 155-pound junior who spent much time over the summer in the gym grinding with Wyatt Buller. Coach Buller believes if Diaz can confidently play with the ideal pace for this squad, gauging the feel of each game dynamically, the Tigers will be able to find scoring from all different spots out of their motion offense.<\/p>\n

When Buller looks down his bench for production, of the multiple options he\u2019ll have, one he is excited for is junior Marcus Popoff. The versatile 6-1, 155-pound junior can play on the wing or post and is showing promise after a summer of hard work.<\/p>\n

Coach Buller knows to improve on last season\u2019s 5-18 record the biggest element of the game he\u2019s trying to get across to his squad is the variable of imposing your will on the opponent. The coach understands the best team in general doesn\u2019t always win. The best team on that specific day does. And the more Summit can play confidently within its team style, the more likely it can be the best team on a given day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about dictating what\u2019s happening on the floor at all times, but that\u2019s a hard thing,\u201d the coach said. \u201cBut we are going to try and work hard to do that every night and every day, and we\u2019ll see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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