Coach Taft likes progress program is making.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The Fenton boys basketball team made the most of its allotted summer contact days.
The Bison hosted several events on Wednesday nights while also playing in shootouts at Montini, Ridgewood, Glenbard East and Maine East.
“We played a lot of games,” said Fenton coach Chaz Taft. “We hosted our own stuff on Wednesday nights and overall played about 40 games.”
Taft liked the team’s work ethic throughout the summer. “I liked how we came in every day and we worked hard,” he said. “We would go two hours for team camp and then sometimes go and play three games at night. The guys did a really good job with that especially with having some younger guys with us.”
Taft said he saw progress on both the offensive and defensive ends. “It was kind of even,” he said. “We had some good stretches where we played teams tough. We got out there and blended in a mix of guys and tried to find out if different guys could play in different roles whether they were starting a game or coming off the bench. We put them in different roles and looked at different lineups. We found out what works.”
In his second year as Fenton’s coach, Taft is seeing the program take the steps forward he was hoping for.
“We are on our way,” he said. “It’s something we are building every day. We’re building a culture every day and it’s something we have to make sure we are instilling. It’s always been at the forefront with us. It’s something we work on every day.”
Taft declared the summer as an overall success.
“We all came together as a team and a program,” he said. “We have a bunch of hard-working guys who are pulling for each other. In the summer to play that many games you are going to have some ups and downs. Guys are doing different sports and coming over from football and baseball so we were working with a different mix of kids on different days. It was nice to see that everybody had a good summer.”
And now Taft turns his attention to the 2017-2018 season.
“I like the group we have. I like the younger guys and the returning guys,” he said. “We have a good mix of guys. I’m excited about this coming season. I wish it would start today. I’m looking forward to it.”
