SWAMPSCOTT — If you were to ask most coaches in the Northeastern Conference, the main goal is to win the conference, and make a run in the state tournament.
But for Swampscott boys basketball coach Jason Knowles, making long-term goals can be a dangerous game.
“I don’t ever want to put a number of wins as the expectation for a successful season,” Knowles said. “You’d love to win the NEC, and to win the state tournament, but those are all lofty goals. If you show up every day, you have a good attitude, and you can push your teammates and yourselves to be the best you can be, that, to me, is a success.”
This is all a part of the culture and coaching philosophy that Knowles has used over his career with Swampscott, and looks to spread those same expectations to the players on this year’s team.
“The kids that have stuck around over the last few years know what to expect,” he said. “If you play hard on both ends of the floor, you’ll play for me. I think a lot of these guys know the expectations and bought into it, and I think that’s something we’ve seen over the last few years.”
This year’s Big Blue squad will include their two leading scorers from a year ago, Liam Wales and Connor Chiarello, which most teams in the NEC can’t say for themselves.
However, Knowles notes that his team will miss the height of 6 ‘9 Riad Benagour, as well as the shooting production of Max Brodsky, Eli Zaklin, and Andrew Templeman, who all graduated after last season.
With the losses, Knowles knows that there are plenty of players with an opportunity to step up and make a difference on the court, and he’s been impressed with their play in his first few weeks with the team.
“They just love basketball,” Knowles said. “They’re a great bunch of young men, they work hard at their craft…they’re really selfless, and they want to play for the team and not for the individual.”
After a pre-season scrimmage on Tuesday, Knowles added that transitional offense and a strong defensive core are going to lead this year’s Swampscott team to success this season.
“I thought we ran well in transition, there will be a lot of transition points,” he said. “The effort was there and we pressured the ball really well…I think that if we can play good aggressive defense, it’ll be a good season if we can maintain that.”
But even with early season progress from his side, Knowles and his team are taking things one step at a time.
“First and foremost, we’re looking to improve every day,” he said. “If we go out and play as hard as you possibly can every day, the wins will take care of themselves.”
Swampscott will open its season when they travel to Saugus on Tuesday, December 12th, for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
