Faith Academy basketball team to begin Berkman era

“We’re not judging anything by the next two games,” the coach said. “It’s almost going to be, for us, more like a practice.”

And while most basketball teams have had their players in offseason conditioning for the last several weeks, Berkman had to wait for most of his players to finish playing football.

“Of course, it feels good,” the coach said with a chuckle. “We can finally do things that involve our full-court game. We can put the whole puzzle together.”

But the obstacle is that the players and coach have worked together this week for the first time. That means there’s a learning curve, Berkman said, for the offenses, defenses, out-of-bounds plays, presses and pressbreakers.

“There’s not enough time,” he said. “But it’ll all work out. I need to be patient.”

The players — Will Diamond, Chase Penner, Ian Shirley, Kyle Bridges, Ryan Roberts, Ryan Johnson, Brett Piatek, Adrian Byrd, Casey Clendennen, J.C. Perea, Randy Burton and Travis Roeder — are learning Berkman’s system.

“That’s the big obstacle,” the coach said. “They need to get to know me and what to expect and for me to know what they can do.”

Waiting on football players is nothing new to Berkman. When he was the head coach at Marble Falls High School, he was waiting for football players to end their season and get to the basketball court. There were seasons he would not get those players until the middle of December.

“You had a couple of those kids for a year or two,” he said. “It’s the first time for everything for (Faith). Those guys are the ones that everything is brand new.”

The advantage is working again with football coach David Denney, who was the head coach at Marble Falls when Berkman was there.

“I know what they’ve been doing with Coach Denney,” he said. “They’ve had a lot more discipline.”

While some fans may think that because many of the players are in football playing shape, they are conditioned for basketball. Berkman said that is not necessarily true.

“Football players are conditioned one way for a 10-to-20 second burst, and they get 45 seconds to rest,” he said. “A basketball player plays continuously for a minute or more and may rest for five seconds. Running is different, agility is different. It’ll take a little time.”

One of the immediate differences between Berkman and his players is the use of terminology. Berkman, who was a coach for three decades, realizes he uses words that are like a foreign language to his players right now. But he knows that will change with time.

“Terminology is always hard,” he said with a smile. “They look at me like, ‘Where’d that come from?’”

He gives the players credit for their effort.

“I’m real proud of them,” he said. “They work hard. I have to be careful I don’t overwhelm them.”

As for tonight’s contest, Berkman said he is looking for one specific trait.

“To try to do what I’ve asked them to do,” he said. “They look like a bunch of wild mustangs. They all run well. All 12 of them can run. Quite a few of them are pretty strong. They have pretty good speed, size and strength.

“I want them to do the best they can with the talent they have,” he added. “Hopefully, we’ll make the playoffs.” 

jfierro@thepicayune.com