However, that's what Becker, the 2009 TCS/C-E Co-Coach of the Year, is faced with in the upcoming season with the Rovers the defending District 9 Class AA champions.
The goal will be the same for Becker and his assistants, Rick Clark and Brock Bovaird, but the game plan will have to be done without the big men they've relied in the past. Becker, in his 14th year as Rovers head coach will have revolutionize his game plan to fit the players he has on the court.
"It's a good possibility that the tallest kid on our team will be 5-10, 5-11, then we get shorter real quick," Becker said. "The toughest thing for us to overcome is our size disadvantage. We're going to find ways to make it work to our advantage. We're excited for the year, I think it's a going to be an open-style, up-front game to watch if the kids come along the way we want then to.
"It's going to take a little while to get use to the game style and to get everybody playing the way we need to. We should hopefully have some good results."
Last year, Becker the likes of Mark Shannon (6-5), Aaron Shaffer (6-1) and Mark Robinson (6-1) in the paint, and the trio were supported by Craig Anderson, Shane Horner and Ryan Shaffer.
"We've lost more than three good players, we lost a good nucleus of leadership which is very important," Becker added. "And out of that group, we lost our top three rebounders, the three biggest guys we had to put on the floor. Looking at what we have this year as far as size, it doesn't compare to what we had last year. You take away a Mark Shannon, five blocks and 10 rebounds inside a game, that's taking quite a bit away plus Robinson and Shaffer. Those two hit the boards too.
"Taking that away from us is going to be something difficult for us to replace, we'll have to find a way for a smaller team to compete with much bigger teams in our conference, the league and district. We'll have to find a defensive approach/defensive system that's going to allow us to negate some of that size difference. On the offensive end, we're not going to be able to get it inside to a Mark Shannon, Aaron Shaffer or a Mark Robinson. We're going to have to play a more upscale and faster-paced game than we did last year."
The bright spot for Becker will be the people he has coming back which includes Nick and Cody Anderson, Kyle Cappetta, Mike Brosky and Mike Vervoort.
"We have Nick and Cody Anderson back this year. They were both starters and have worked tremendously on their game over the summer," Becker said. "Cody has developed into a really good shooter, Nick handles the ball well, sees the floor, can go to the hoop with the ball, and can step outside and shoot it. Kyle Cappetta has played all summer long and improved his game. We have a couple of last year's underclassmen that have to step up and hopefully fill the void as the best they can. We're going to have to create a different type of game and we're going to see best fits into the scheme and play it the way we need to. So, we're going to have to hustle our tails off, apply pressure on their defense and run the floor.
"I think both Nick and Cody (Anderson) have the offensive ability to score double figures consistently, as well as other players such as Kyle Cappetta, inside or out, Mike Brosky, and Mike Vervoort. These guys like to shoot the three, which is going to be a part of our game plan."
However, without the size, Becker will have to change the strategy that fits the returning lettermen and the people he has to fill the open spots made available by last year's graduating class.
"We're going to play mostly perimeter-oriented players, and they should be better ball handlers," Becker said. "Hopefully they'll be better decisions passing the ball, and hopefully we can use the speed from these ball players to create some confusion and create turnovers. Our success, we feel, is going to be our ability to rebound the basketball and limit other teams' second chances, and then to cause disruption and play good defense and play full court basketball."
Brockway opens the season Friday against Clarion-Limestone in the Brookville Tip-Off Tournament.
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