Brick hoops team has new coach and high aspirations
By wayne witkowski
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY Brick Township High School sophomore Dan Palma completes a lay-up during a practice on Friday in Brick.

Joe Lewis, the new varsity boys’ basketball coach at Brick Township, says he has "no expectations" as he opens practice Friday with a team that won four games a year ago, but he hopes to instill the sense of winning that he developed when he was a player on Rowan University’s national caliber teams.

"That’s what I gear my coaching through because I learned so much about the game of basketball at Rowan," said Lewis, who was part of a rotation where all of the players generally get virtually the same playing time. "I was always picking up ideas and watching on TV what other teams like Duke do. It got me ready for my career, which is what I’ve wanted to do."

Lewis was in a red-shirt season when Rowan won the NCAA Division III national championship in 1995 but still practiced with the team and learned a lot about the experience of playing on a highly competitive level. The team, during his four years, reached the national tournament Elite Eight twice and the quarterfinals the other two years.

Lewis was brought in last year to coach the junior varsity by Mike Mahan and turned out to be in the right place at the right time. Mahan stepped down as basketball coach after last season to take an administrative position at Sterling High School. Lewis, as junior varsity coach, lost his first eight games when some of his players were moved up to varsity early in the season. His team went 7-5 from there when the players were sent back down to finish with a 7-13 record.

Although he is only 25 years old, Lewis feels he is ready to coach on the varsity level.

"I think one of the reasons I got the job was the relationship I have with the kids and their parents," said Lewis. "Yes, I’m young, but I think that’s to my advantage because I’m on the same wave length with the players and I have a flair for the game. Sometimes it’s hard for older coaches to get kids to listen to what they have to say because they may not relate. The kids and their parents really talk to me. And I’m trying to get them thinking about winning."

Lewis takes over a team that lost only two players to graduation and plays six of its first nine games at home and the other three in a Christmas Tournament.

"That’s big if you want to make the state tournament because winning early (before the cutoff) is important," said Lewis. "It’s been at least 10 years, I believe, since this team has made the states, and the seniors are sick of losing."

They’ll have to adjust to a new system of a coach who carries the style of his playing days at Rowan — pressure on defense and run in transition.

Some players are changing positions to accommodate the new system.

"We need to get out and run because we have no height," said Lewis, who has only three six-footers in the projected rotation at this time, the tallest one being 6-foot-3 junior Kyle Hessnan.

"He had a great summer and worked hard on his game," said Lewis of the returning starter. "I think he was shell-shocked going out there as a sophomore in that position."

Senior Ian Rorke goes from point guard to shooting guard, and sophomore Dan Palma, who started the last nine games of the season, will commandeer the point. Dan Reddan, who was a 6-foot-1 center last year, moves out to the wing.

"Dan should be our second leading scorer (behind Rorke)," said Lewis. "He’s 6-2 now and needs to put on weight. But he can score, and he has great moves to the basket."

Rob Hine, a 6-foot senior, goes from small forward to center because of his solid frame and strong rebounding ability.

Others who should help in the backcourt, says Lewis, are senior Chris Marano and juniors Sean Kennedy and Russhon Anderson. The latter two were the integral players on the junior varsity who figured in the strong finish last season. At least those two have a clearer idea of what lies ahead in the system Lewis will implement.

The Green Dragons open Dec. 20 against Toms River South in a Shore Conference A South game. Aside from preseason favorite Jackson, most of the teams in the division are rebuilding, which should help Lewis in the early going.