Season Preview: Mater East Academy

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Culture and Identity</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waking up early is not for everyone, but the Mater East Academy team has been setting their alarm clocks since school started. The Knights practice at 6:00 AM and get to work. Some guys like D1 prospect, Lonnie Bass, get there even earlier to get extra reps in. As the practice ramps up, they get into competing and you can tell that this team has some hungry guys. Some of their hunger comes from placing second in last year's state tournament. Coach Antoine Wright keeps their second place trophy at practice as a reminder that there is a job that still needs to be finished. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Front Court</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lonnie Bass and Kendan Jones will make up the front court for Mater East Academy. They both bring a lot of size and strength, and can score in the paint. Opposing teams will do their best to match up with them, but and won't be easy. I also predict that the Knights will win a lot of the rebounding battles this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Back Court</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mater Academy back court is full of athleticism. [player_tooltip player_id='1243525' first='Miles' last='Williams'] will be running the show as the point guard and I really how he manages the game. Williams passing ability also helps open things up for the rest of the offense. [player_tooltip player_id='1253143' first='Deven' last='Taylor'], [player_tooltip player_id='2050195' first='Roman' last='Taylor'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2357939' first='Kobe' last='Robinson'] will look to contribute by hitting their shots and playing lock down defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bench Mob</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a few quality players that the Knights can come off the bench this season. Sophomore KJ Brooks will look to make an impact by collecting steals on blocks on defense. He can get out in transition and score too. Devauntra Cooper is another scorer for the Knights and can hit from deep. I also like some of there younger guys. Both [player_tooltip player_id='2637192' first='Markus' last='Burton'] and Keyone Wilkerson-Gray are very quick for freshman, and they may get some minutes this year if they can play hard and smart when their number gets called.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Season Outlook</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall it appears that the Knights have the pieces to win a lot of games this season. I like their size, shooting, and athleticism. Lonnie Bass is sure to put up numbers every night and I think Myles Williams will be the other top scorer. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Final Analysis</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Knights want to win state badly, and seem to have the pieces to win it all. So the question is can they go out there and execute.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->