Even though the Anzar High boys’ basketball team has gotten off to a 0-4 start, it’s not for a lack of effort.
Displaying a hustling, scrappy attitude on each possession, Hawks coach Alex Frank never gets tired of seeing his players dive for loose balls and suffer floor burns in the process.
“When all of your guys are hustling and giving a determined effort, hopefully the wins will take care of itself,” Frank said. “I’m confident our team will improve with each game.”
The Hawks, who play St. Francis Central Coast Catholic in a Mission Trail Coastal League opener on Friday, are hoping the lumps they’ve suffered against non-league competition will help them going forward. Anzar suffered blowout losses to Robert Louis Stevenson, 62-19, and Christopher, 74-16.
The Hawks have already played Gilroy twice — they lost to the Mustangs by 28 points in their season opener and by 32 points in the Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament.
In the latter game, Anzar received a spark from Jarret Deamaral, who scored a team-high 13 points, including eight in the first quarter. Point guard John Moreno also shined, finishing with nine points. Alex Samuels provided a boost with tough defense and solid rebounding.
However, senior shooting guard Alvaro Gonzales was held to a single 3-pointer in the opening minute of the contest, as he was hounded all game by Gilroy’s stifling defense.
It was a far cry from Gonzales’ first two games, when he combined for 38 points, 30 of which came via the 3-pointer. Safe to say, the word is out that Gonzales can light it up from the outside. Gonzales knows he’s going to have to make adjustments and take his game up another notch to get open looks.
“That’s what coach told me, that I was going to have it rough this season because everyone knows I’m the shooter,” said Gonzales, who averaged 15 points per game last season. “Now I have to get better at dribbling and taking it to the rack.”
Although those parts of his game are lacking, Gonzales is confident he can one day excel in those areas. A professed basketball junkie, the 5-foot-11, 145-pound Gonzales started playing basketball seven years ago.
From the moment he took his first shot, Gonzales was hooked. He hasn’t stopped shooting since, as he hoists anywhere from 150 to 200 shots a day during the summer.
Gonzales wasn’t a solid shooter at first — “It’s taken me several thousands of shots to develop my shooting stroke,” he said — but after studying the shooting strokes of NBA players Ray Allen, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Gonzales refined some of the technical aspects of his release with great results.
He also knows how well those players came off screens, so he plans on improving that aspect of his game, too. Gonzales said last season was a breakout year for him from a mental standpoint.
“As a freshman and sophomore, I played scared because I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “My junior year was a wakeup call. Now I know what I’m capable of, and I expect bigger things out of myself. I just have to keep working harder to keep on improving, and hopefully we’ll come together as a team and start winning some games.”
