 Hello everybody and welcome to this year's high school coaches basketball preview show. My name is Mike Martin. Joining me is the coach Chris Wright. Chris, we got four coaches coming in. Why don't you tell our viewers who they're going to be. Well, it's the same as we've had for the last few years. We have Tim Schultz from Sheboygan South and Tom Destatelle from Sheboygan North. And we got Todd Decker from Sheboygan Lutheran and Brett Flipsy from Sheboygan Christian. No new faces like in football? No, not this year. Now we're going to, at the end, we'll recap the classic conference season in the Central Lakeshore. We'll make our annual predictions and we're going to step out right now and we come back. I'll have Todd Decker from Sheboygan Lutheran. So stay tuned. Let's not forget America's veterans. Log on to ThankYouVeterans.org and write a note of thanks to someone who served our country. A public service of paralyzed veterans of America. Joining me is Todd Decker from Lutheran High School. Todd, thanks a lot for stopping in. I know you got practice tonight and a game coming up this week. Looks like it'll be a pretty exciting season. Most teams are driven by their seniors and I know you've got a couple on your team. Who are some of those players and what roles do you expect those guys to fill? We do have kind of a senior laden team this year and we have some guys who had some minutes last year that will help out. Dane Poth, who had some minutes last year until he got hurt later on in the season. We're expecting some big things from him. Carl Nimmer, a starter last year. He'll be back at the guard position. We have Jacob Wheeler who his summer, his game just has taken off. So we do have some seniors with Zach Genzema and Tyler Hasenstein. Some guys coming off their junior years and that. So we are looking forward to those seniors. I know another guy you have coming back is someone you're very familiar with. He's a junior this year and that's your son Sam. He's probably the best player in the area. Talk a little bit about him and his game. Well Sam has grown so much from last year being at about 6-3 and now he's at 6-7 and the thing that's really helped us is that he still has those guard capabilities and he can get out on the court and that really helps us and trying to get our transition game going and now with his size we're going to try to mix that up a little bit and have him get down to the post area and depending upon match ups if we get those then we'll put him on the outside, inside and he can stroke the long ball but hopefully get some stuff inside this year too. So you have any more inches left than him? I hope so. I hope so. I think some other people do too down the line but I think so. He did grow so fast but his shoe size just went up to the 14s now and there you go. I was telling you his wingspan is pretty incredible at 6-11 too so he can do some things for us and God's given him a lot of ability and he's such a hard worker so we expect big things from Sam and he just loves the game so he gets after it. Now let me take you back way back when he was born. Jim Eisner told me this once when his son Todd was born the doctors were able to do some measurements on their legs and project how tall and they came within an inch of how tall Todd was going to be. Did you ever have any measurements like that done when your children were born so tall they would be? Well that's funny, one of my best friends is our doctor and he always was trying to figure those things out and he was real accurate with John, our other son and even Hannah we got her involved with that and he's a little bit short on Sam. I'm glad he made that mistake so it's incredible how he's growing and now he's in the weight room getting bigger too. One of the things that as a coach you have to do is deal with different strategies by the other coaches and I know with your son being such an outstanding player most games you know you're going to see different strategies to try and stop him. What have you seen in the past? What do you expect to see this year and what do you do to counteract those strategies? I know it's a long question but. Right and it's a tough question but last year we saw it at the end of the season there were some box and runs, a couple teams even when triangle and twos and they're making the other guys on the team show what they can do and I'm trying to challenge those seniors that you talked about a little bit earlier. This is your chance to show and like I also said we want to get in that transition a little bit, get up and down the court so we can't get those defense as lock in as much as we can with Sam and so we've been practicing a little bit more with that this year, experience from focus, John had the same thing so it's not something that we've had it's new but it's difficult and the kids have learned how to read a little bit more than just a set play. Do you think as the other players on the team have developed over the course of the off season they've taken that into consideration when they think about I got to be ready for stuff that they'll do to him so I can excel when I'm called on. I hope so and we've talked about that as a coach I want to get those guys to know what's going on and hey this is what's expected of you, this is what you got to do, let's prepare for it and do the best we can and if we're prepared and some nights you have it, some you don't and hopefully someone else will step through or step up and if they are successful you won't see those junk defenses and then we can get in our own offense and then get going in the things that we believe in doing that. Now you opened the season tomorrow night against Green Bay NEW it's the same team you opened up with last year, when you play this first game what are you looking for out of your team as you play and I think you have another non-conference game coming up before the season starts, regular conference season I mean, what do you look for in your team? Well we just want to make sure that we execute you know you can be on that practice court and keep on going and say oh we're set but when you get against a good team like Green Bay NEW which is state ranked and was that state last year it's a good test for us and we just want to make sure everyone's on the same page and hey give it their all you know just play hard and enjoy the game that God's given us and then good things are going to happen and it's a long season and I like the challenge of that first game that we're going to have. Okay last question Todd we've got about 30 seconds left, how do you see the conference panning out this year? I know Christian should be pretty tough it seems like Gooseburg is always at the top, how do you see it panning out and where do you see your team in? Well every year it's getting better and better and Gooseburg you know Kevin does such a great job with the guy on his team and I still think that's the team that beat Howard Grover the new coach they have a lot of talent Ozaki Isaiah does a nice job with them and we hope to be in that upper four or five guys and you know any given night you got to be going after it and we hope that we can be with the best of them. Alright Todd I look forward to seeing your team and watching Sam play and when we come back Tom Desatelle from Sheboygan North will begin so stay tuned we'll be right back. Losing weight is a lot harder than gaming it but with every step I lower my risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease and that makes every step very much worth the effort. Learn how you can help stop diabetes visit checkupamerica.org or call 1-800 Diabetes Joining me is head coach Tom Desatelle from Sheboygan North Tom thanks a lot for stopping in I know this is a really busy time of year and we're taping on a Monday you guys have a game on Tuesday so I really appreciate you coming in. Talk a little bit about who your key players are this year. Well your coach always looks toward his top players from last year that are returning and Derek Van Calligan's been a two year starter for us. Devin Yerke was all conference last year certainly Jake Stengel this is his third year on the varsity too so we're counting on those guys you also look toward your seniors and we've got Brady Acety who's our tallest player on the team at about 6-4 we're not a real tall team but he certainly made some strides during the off season. How hard is it to get some of those football player type guys that come in to play basketball get them in basketball shape well if they're not too bulky then they respond pretty quickly and so we're kind of blessed in that we have skilled positions quote in football kids out for the basketball team. One of the things that Chris and I have talked about over the years is you know we go over to Christian or over to Luther and they seem to have some really tall kids and we go and watch North and South play and they're not as tall as those schools what do you think is the deal with that? You have to make the most of what you have and just leave it at that. We don't like these quick answers what you've got to talk long or not. How do you see your team doing this year? I know it's kind of a tough year last year but... Well we're going to count on some balance and we hopefully we'll have some depth as well. Ethan Guski played a little bit at the end of last year he certainly stepped up growing this summer he'll be helping us out I'm sure. Reed Conter a steady JV player from last year I think that's one of your things you always look to as your top JV players and Luke Belmore another one When you talk about those kind of guys it seems like your team is not going to get out muscled underneath the boards. Well keep in mind that they're 6'2 and that appears in the world are 6'7 so That does make it tough right there. One of the things that I've noticed over the years coach and I think as a player playing for you I like it especially if I was in the starters I know I'd get to play What's your philosophy about getting so many kids in the games and what drives the substitutions? Well we'd like to play 7 or 8 until the game has been 1 or lost. In the non-conference games and we play 6 of them 2 non-conference games before our season opener against Depeer In those 2 non-conference games we're very likely to see 9 or 10 players playing but we want them to play hard for a certain amount of time and then we'll give them a break and get somebody else in there and see how they go One of the things that I noticed on the schedule and we had talked before you came in was the idea of playing some very tough teams in your first 2 games I think it's Verona and Olmsted which will be played by the time we get this broadcast but what is your philosophy about I know you've done this all the time you've always scheduled the best teams you can get in or can get a hold of what is your philosophy in regards to playing hard teams early in the season would you rather play those games maybe a little later when your team is a customer playing The conference schedule this year calls us to play our second conference home game in mid-January January 14th so you've got to So we've got to get our some toughness to us and hopefully get some non-conference games that are at home so we scheduled Verona, Verona was to the State Tournament Division 1 State Tournament 3 of the last 5 years we played at their place last year they're coming to us this year after that homestead certainly a power to be in all sports in this area of the state and we'll have them on the road on Saturday we hope to get us ready for our conference opener the following Friday I know I was looking at the conference schedule with you in south and there are a number of dates where both you and south are on the road or both of you are at home the same night and it make the tough trying to set up a TV schedule and I know a lot of the basketball aficionados in the community love going to both sides of town now they got a pick so it's kind of a goofy schedule 5th year since the state tournament championship team and I was lucky enough to be a part of Chilton but when you think back to that 86 team what memories do you hold dear to you? It's tough for me to remember last year's team but 25 years ago it's quite a long way away but they remember it and I do remember the state championship as well as we've had down the way so we remember it it'll be good to see some of those athletes we plan to have a reunion where fairly certain of the date right now we got out the first email to the participants and just trying to get a feel for when they can be back here we hope that the Sheboygan sports fans that remember back in the day will have a chance to see them questions as to where they are and what they're doing and that sort of thing so we're all anxious for that type of reunion I look forward to that too and I suspect there'll be something in the paper when they're able to firm up a date Yes, without a doubt they've got to firm up the date by finding out which of these athletes can come back Thanks a lot for stopping in I really appreciate it when we come back Chris Wright will be talking to a Brett Flipsy from Christian The Monster Just imagine what a little time can do for your family Welcome back everybody I'm with the Sheboygan Christian coach Brett Flipsy Brett 44 and 5 over the last 2 years and I saw something like 88 and 13 over the last 4 years what an incredible run for you guys It's been a lot of fun We've put together and started out slow but we really put some nice kids together and they've just bought into the system and we've been blessed Well that leads kind of to my next question Is it the system? Is it the players? What do you attribute to all the success? I think it's a little bit of everything you've got to have talented players to win basketball games and that we have We've put the system together and the kids have bought into it We don't do a lot of the summer programs We try to keep it together as a group, go to a couple tournaments and the kids just really enjoy it and have excelled so it's both We've got a good system, we've got good coaching staff and the kids have just been talented, talented kids that we've had Well with that success last year you got as high as the number 2 ranking in state Unfortunately Randolph was ranked number 1 but 2 years ago you beat them Last year you had a nice game against them but it's almost kind of too bad you guys never got to get to the big dance It's your goal every year to get there You've got to beat the best to get there and it just so happens Randolph is a powerhouse and a quality program and we've got to run into them so we've got to beat them so we were able to do that 2 years ago Just not able to do it last year Maybe that sectional final is the state championship game But anyways you lost quite a bit from last year, there's no doubt about that Definitely, we were losing 4 starters Any one of them where it was able to carry our team last year So we did lose a lot but just keep plugging along, use the system and get the kids to plug them back in And with that who are some of the kids we can look forward to this year? We've got Zach Flipsey as a senior My son, we've also got Dustin Brower 6-7 center, we've got Kyle Calvert the junior 6-5 wing player Brandon Wissie He's power forward for us so we'll be competitive again this year And you said a little bit earlier before we came on that you're going to be a little tall again which doesn't hurt You can't take away height You can't teach height It's nice to have a couple tall kids in the middle It's able to do a few more things defensively Alright You mentioned your son Zach, how's it been to coach your son? A big thrill for you? Absolutely, there's nothing like it I've coached for I believe it's been 14 years now I've been able to coach my son, this is his third year on varsity It is just a joy to see him grow as a basketball player as a person You get to take that home and I take him home from practice every day and we talk about the day ahead He gives me his insights, things that you don't normally get as a coach You get to see some of the insights that he's getting in the locker room that you don't always see as a coach It's just been a joy to see him progress I remember kind of talking to him I think we interviewed him last year I talked right after about how's it been with him He said it was pretty much the same thing, it was nice to talk about that things You guys kept it kind of on a level keeled In today's society I can only see that but it's nice that a father and son can have that relationship It is, it is, and also if you really look at our conference We've got three coaches coaching their own kids this year Alright, I see Usberg being really tough I know they came up through the years and things like that but I really see your conference this year Maybe some of the bottom is going to move a little bit closer to the top I think some of the top is going to move down, I think it's going to be very competitive There's some teams that they're going to have If you look at it, some of the teams that were near the bottom the last couple of years They're going to jump up and beat somebody and people are going to question how did you lose to those teams But they really, they've come along, we've got some excellent coaches in our conference You talk about the system that everyone has, years ago Some of the other schools didn't have a system and now the coaching staffs That are in our conference really do a nice job Maybe some teams jump up and beat the Usbergs, beat the Howard's Grove And those are the two teams that I see are the cream of the crop this year I'm sure a lot of those teams too want to catch you guys as well Hard to believe though, but this show will air later But you guys start tomorrow already and start off with a tough component in Mantwalk, Lutheran And are you guys ready and how has practice been for you? Again, we lost a lot from last year's team so we're introducing a lot of new players Into new roles and I'm not sure we're ready yet, it's early in the season, they only give us five practices Or seven practices before your first game and you can't get everything in So we'll, you know, and same thing with Mantwalk, Lutheran I'm not sure they're going to be ready so whoever's the most prepared will win that one Well, thanks again for coming in, you've had a wonderful squad the last few years And actually we have you in about a week and a half so we look forward to that Every turn we'll have Sheboygan South Coach Tim Schultz You have the time to give and your country needs you Take what you learned during your life and apply those skills to your community Shape tomorrow by being a mentor and tutor for children Make independence a reality for people to continue to make their house their home Make a difference today, get involved We're back here with Coach Schultz from Sheboygan South Coach Final 16 runs, sectional finals last two years, it's always great to get to sectionals And you had two chances to get to state but you didn't win, but I mean that's That's quite a run for you guys Yeah, I think it's great for the program, it's personally kind of hurts You know, you get that close, you don't know how many chances you're going to get But it definitely sets up for something, goals for the future And let's guys know, you work hard during the season and you know, you can get there It's not impossible Right, and actually you guys played very well, I think you fell behind 11 to 2 in the first quarter You know, actually played very well, just couldn't get over the hump there Well, we couldn't put the ball in the hoop, it's what it comes down to I think we were 2-17 in the first half and struggled the whole entire game It's one of those games where you look back at it, you know, if we would have done this It's a little bit better, we could have won, but you know, move on to the next year now Yeah, there's no question about it With that, one of the key things going in obviously is Ethan Berlin injury with football How's he doing? He appears to be fine, I don't think he'd tell me any different He was bothering them You know, I asked him right from the start if he had any issues, any problems Let us know and he just kind of smiles But I don't see any difference in him right now than what I saw during the summer last season So it seems that he escaped what could have been a pretty serious knee injury Yeah, and it was such a fear, I mean the first thing everybody talked about after the injury For the football season is, oh no, there goes the basketball season And you need his leadership Oh, definitely, along with him, and we have three captains and three seniors And Cal Blusky, Ethan Berlin and Riley Tudis, and we're going to need those guys With Ethan, it's his third year in varsity, he's the only three-year guy I did mention to him at the end of last season, he could be the first guy And I believe in the history itself to go to sectional finals three years in a row And something to work for, and he's just a hard worker and a great kid Not a hard worker you do, you mentioned Riley He's quite an athlete Yeah, he had a great football season obviously being all state He's worked his tail off for not only football, but for basketball Put in a lot of time in the weight room, coming to open gyms He and Ethan and Cal being the three captains have really pushed themselves So hopefully they have a really good senior year With every year you've got to graduate some kids And it seems like you graduate a lot of front line guys You're going to need some guys to step up in that And somebody's got to rebound and defend the post Yeah, exactly, and those are team type things that we really work hard on And we concentrate on, and those have really been two areas Team defense and rebounding where we stress every day in practice We are fortunate where we have five seniors And then three guys who are juniors that at the end of the year last year We're all up on varsity, so they have a pretty good feel of what's going on But there are some replacing Brandon Bernabo and Jake Reuter Who themselves are three-year players It isn't easy to do the replaced experience Well, we've mentioned before the show some schools don't get their players Always to come out, but you know, and I look at your roster And you think of, you have all the athletes I mean, you got Ditter and you got Murray and you got Blusky And you know, Anderson, I mean, Plantin It seems like you get all the kids out for your team I mean, you got all the kids, which is nice to have so many athletes Right, yeah, they are very athletic The difficult part about it is with basketball You can't always rely on the athleticism The skill level has to be there And you've got to work together as a team Having the athletes is great, but you've still got to put the ball in the hoop We had a skirmish just last weekend And that's one area where we struggled with Which I kind of expect early on in the season With a lot of guys coming off of fall sports And just putting in the practice time But yeah, it's great to have athletes and it allows us to do Maybe a few things that we haven't been able to do in the past Because we didn't have that big number of athletes that we have this year Well, some programs too, they play six, seven kids It seems like you play 10, 11 kids You get a lot of kids out on the floor to contribute And it seems like, you know, trying to figure out what they're going to do And so then they worked away so by the fourth quarter they're ready So you do play a lot of kids though Right, definitely, that's my philosophy They spend a time and they're working hard They deserve to be out on the floor Now, obviously some players are going to get more time than others But you find ways to get them in I think it's an enjoyment thing for the guys That they know that they're going to have a chance to play And also we emphasize the fact that Every day in practice you've got to come to work hard And if you come to work hard, we'll throw you that proverbial bone And give you a chance to get out there and make something happen Well, and it seems, you know I don't see a big step down even through the years It seems like they're all kind of equal I mean, you don't always see that drop And again, when it comes to the fourth quarter You've got the guys on the floor But it seems like, you know, when you need guys down the line And through the season, those guys who've got that playing time Can help you Well, we work hard in practice in developing that And it's a credit to the players Because they continue to work hard all year I don't think we've really, myself In the last probably, well, in the whole time I've been at Self, I've never really had a problem with that Give or take a few guys here or there You know, fortunately they buy into the philosophy And they know that, you know, hard work is going to pay off for them And they'll get in the game Last thing, let's talk a little bit about the conference You know, I agree with you we talked earlier I think the peer is going to be way up there But I really see kind of similar to the CLC A lot of the top teams have kind of dropped a little bit And the bottom teams, I think on any given day Anybody can beat anybody I think in our conference, the peer has to be considered the top And they have three guys that are going to start That are scholarship players So it's going to be, people will be aiming at them But then you're right, it does kind of sandwich In the middle with a lot of teams And then there may be a few that are on the bottom But it's going to be like it has been For, you know, the whole time this conference Been together that at any time and any night You know, you got to come to play Otherwise you're going to be in trouble And it makes it fun, makes it enjoyable as a coach And I think it makes it fun for the fans And for the players Well, thanks so much for coming in Good luck with your season When I return, Marty will join me on the set And we'll finish up tonight's show I will keep dancing on point, even if it hurts My arm is killing me But I'll just play through the pain anyway Don't play through the pain See your health care provider And follow their instructions for rest and recovery Visit StopSportsInjuries.org Chris, I think this is one of the best shows we've had Since we've been doing this The coaches are really outstanding in their interviews Yeah, they get, you know, we like to hear about You know, they're different players And it's nice for the community to find out Who the guys are So when they come out to the games Some names and things like that to watch for Also, of the four coaches Three of those coaches have games When we did the taping was a Monday They have games on Tuesday So they're giving another time, that's for sure Yeah, sometimes I wonder These athletic directors and coaches They give them six days of practice Seven days of practice and we started on a Tuesday Let's recap the seasons The conferences from last season First of all, the Central Lakeshore Conference You had mentioned when you talked with Brett About their outstanding run And of course, Loisburg always seems to be tough Yeah, and last year's supporting Christian Conference champions last year They've been just unbelievable run And I think that's going to come to a close this year But, you know, enjoy the run while you've got it That's for sure At least they had a run Now, the Fox River Classic Conference Was interesting again as it is every year But they had some outstanding teams Yeah, they did And I really like this year You know, it's going to be one team way out in front this year But last year, it was really, really close And I think you're going to have some bottom teams Again, being right there competitive With the middle of the pack But I think there's one team way out in front All right, annual predictions In the Central Lakeshore, I've got Since they're off the run Christian is not going to be nearly as tough Is Loisburg, who do you have? Yeah, I like Loisburg too They have some players that have played On the varsity since they were sophomores And they've been together You've got the Keller brothers led there And, you know, that's a team to go out there If you don't, you know, if you have nothing to do On a Tuesday night or a Friday night Go out to Loisburg and watch that team Because that's going to be one of the best teams In the state A lot of stability in their coaching too Fox River Classic Conference I think we're both agreed that the pier Is far and away the best team Yeah, I think they really is And not to put down the conference or anything But there's been a lot of graduation Over the last couple of years of good athletes And things And the pier has pretty much been Steady along the line there And I think hands down they're going to be the best Alright, thanks a lot, Chris And thanks goes out to the coaches For giving their time and contributing to our show Our first game will be December 11th When Sheboygan North invaded south So stay tuned for that Thanks for watching everybody And we'll see you down the road