Spartan boys hoop gears up for season

David Brown is a basketball guy. He was the Winthrop High boys varsity coach for 10 years and an assistant for two more. He?s also from Lynn and one of the things he enjoys is seeing the city schools battle it out in the Boverini Touranment held during Christmas break.This year Brown won?t be watching from the stands. He?ll be on the bench as the new St. Mary?s boys basketball coach and he?s looking forward to the reserved seating.?It?s exciting,” Brown said about being back at his alma mater (he graduated from St. Mary?s in 1989). “It?s great to be back home coaching in the city of Lynn. I have a lot of friends and family here. Hopefully they?ll come out and support us.”Brown has two weeks to get his guys all rowing in the same direction under a new system and he admits it?s a challenge.?I think at the beginning of the season we?ll take our lumps. We open with Cardinal Spellman and we play St. John?s Prep. I hope by late December and early January the kids get the system down and become a better basketball team,” he said.The Spartans have three returning starters including 6-5 center Luc Zikianda, starting point guard Dennis Bailer and Nick Amenta, a guard who came off the bench last year. Brown said Zikianda is a big, strong kid who he?s hoping to get some production out of in the middle and Bailer has experience running the offense.The rest of the team will be a mixture of transfers and players who have moved up from the junior varsity. One of the transfers is senior Zach Louissaint. Louissaint is a 6-2 senior forward who transferred from Boston Latin Academy. Brown said he expects Louissaint, who was named a captain, to be a starter.?He?s a good defender, a good rebounder and he can score as well. He?s a pretty good all-around player,” Brown said.Brown also has a transfer from Winthrop — Curtis Lockett. Lockett saw some varsity minutes for the Vikings. He?s a junior who Brown says will help the team on the backboard and hopefully get out on the transition.The third transfer, Anthony Silfa, was at English last year. He?s a sophomore off-guard or small forward who Brown said is one of the most talented players he?s seen since he?s been coaching.?I expect a lot of points out of him,” Brown said. “He?s a tremendous shooter. He?s strong, 6-2. He can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. He?s the total package.”Rounding out the roster are a couple of freshmen, John Mercado and Calvin Johnson Jr. Mercado is a backup point guard with good ball-handling skills.?He just has to get used to the game speed at this level,” Brown said.Johnson is a 5-10 guard who impressed the coaching staff at tryouts.?He?s very quick, athletic. He can put the ball to the floor,” Brown said.Also in the mix will be a couple of players who were on junior varsity last year — 6-1 forward Phil Garraud and sophomore guard Don Weise.?I honestly believe once we get our system down — we?ll be very athletic and very deep. I can play 10 guys night in and night out,” Brown said.Brown?s coaching staff will include two guys he coached with at Winthrop High — former Classical High basketball standout Pancho Bingham (Brown?s cousin) and Richie Bianchino, who played for Brown at Winthrop. The staff also includes Brian Mulvey and D.J. Green, who have both been with the program, and Donald Brown, Brown?s brother, who will be a volunteer assistant.