By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After finishing their 2019-2020 season with a 14-8 record, the Abilene Cowboys boys basketball team will be looking for another strong season in 2020-21.
Erik Graefe will assume the role of head coach this year after assisting in previous seasons.
Due to a previous quarantine setting the team back on the number of practices they would need to be eligible, the Cowboys will not begin their season until Tuesday, when they will face Rock Creek.
When Abilene does take the floor their lineup will look something like this.
G: Blaise McVan (Sr, 5-11)
G: Avery Bryson (Sr, 6-2)
G: Josh Stuber (Sr, 6-3)
F: Kaleb Becker (Jr, 6-4)
C: Grant Heintz (Sr, 6-8)
The Cowboys will also get some bench production from Kaden Coup and Jaylen West.
We had a chance to talk to Coach Graefe and to ask him some questions about his team heading into this season.
Q: What was the takeaway from you and the rest of the team from your 14-8 finish a season ago?
A: It’s always tough when you don’t make it to the state tournament. We finished 9-1 in our league, but we struggled with teams outside of that. Last year we were relatively young so we didn’t really know how good we could be. We felt like we left something on the table last year but hopefully we can learn from that and build off of it this season.
From a basketball perspective what are some things that you’re looking to add to the way this team plays in 2020-21?
I’m hoping that this season we can play a little faster and that might look like chaos early in the season but hopefully it makes a lot more sense to our guys as the season goes on.
What would you say is this team’s biggest strength heading into this year?
We’re pretty big this year, even if I’m an idiot as a coach we can still get rebounds and that’s an advantage for sure.
And your biggest weakness?
Something that may be a weakness for us is adjusting to a new way to play. Our muscle memory has been put in place by the staff from the year before and sometimes changing your habits can take time.
Who are one or two guys that you think Abilene fans should really keep a close eye on this season?
Kaleb Becker, Josh Stuber and Avery Bryson. If I was an Abilene fan that’s who I would be looking at.
Overall, what is your expectation for this team in 2020-21?
I want us to be competitive at the highest levels of 4A. The guys felt like they could have done better but our expectation is to be playing really really well in February and March this year. We’re trying to implement some new things this season but to do those things effectively we need time and reps, and we already lost a few weeks to quarantine. It could be that we won’t really know who we are until February, but we have to remain patient and not lose focus.
The Cowboys will play their first game at home against Rock Creek next Tuesday following the girls game which is scheduled for a 6pm tip.