LYNN — Antonio Anderson has been to the highest of the heights: Division 1 college basketball, the Big Dance and the NCAA national championship game while with the University of Memphis.
Through his experiences at the most elite of levels, he’s learned a few things about team building and how to be a team player.
Now he’s about to teach all of the above to an eager group of Lynn English boys basketball players.
“Everything I’ve learned along the way, and from everybody, I’ll try to teach to these players,” said Anderson on Day 2 of practice at the Cavanagh Gym on Goodridge Street.
“It started with coach (Marvin) Avery at Tech and went right on up. I learned how to play basketball the right way. And I want to teach these players how to play basketball the right way.”
And as far as Anderson is concerned “the right way” is defense first.
“We’ll be hard-nosed, and we will defend really well,” he said. “We’ll try to get our players in the right places so they can learn how to defend as a team.
“In basketball,” he said, “you’re going to have off-nights. But you can’t have an off-night with effort. If you have effort every night, it’ll show.”
Turnout has been very good so far, he said.
“It’s been awesome,” he said.
He’ll be leaning heavily on a group of returnees that includes seniors Javonte Edwards, Calvin Seng, Tyshawn Anderson and Angel Soto. Each brings his own contribution to the mix.
Edwards, forward, “both scored and rebounded last year,” he said. “We’re looking for the same out of him this year.”
Seng, an off-guard, “can shoot it, man. He’ll help us spread the floor, and we hope he can knock down some shots for us.”
The coach joked that if Anderson “can play basketball the way he played football, he’ll be awesome.”
A forward, Anderson “is one of our best perimeter defenders and he can help us in that way. He’s rebounder/defender/slasher.”
Coach Anderson will also be looking for big things out of another senior off-guard, Soto.
“He’s a scorer, and he can defend,” Anderson said, “and he plays very hard. If we can get everyone on the team to play as hard as Angel, we’ll be OK.”
Others who factor into Anderson’s plans include Javaris Hill, another guard who fits the “slasher” mold; Alonzo Linton, another off-guard with a scoring touch; Adamide Dadnus, a freshman forward who has the potential to be a very skilled rebounder.
Right now, Anderson Is looking at two point guards. One is Mason Jean-Baptiste, a sophomore; and Luis Rivera Jr.
“We have a solid group of guys who are team players,” Anderson said. “We will play hard, fight, scratch, and try to win.
“We want guys who will buy into our system,” he said. “We’re not here for the stats. We’re not here to look pretty. We just want to get W’s.”
He feels the Northeastern Conference will be a real challenge.
“Classical’s returning just about everybody,” he said. “Everett’s coming into the league, with Medford, Malden and Somerville. Salem’s always tough. On any night, you could lose. You have to come ready to play.”
