Campbell Plans A ‘Drive For Five’
By Jack Danilewicz
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First-year Campbell head basketball coach Zaricke Jackson is on the defensive this preseason, at least when it comes to preparing his team on a daily basis.
“More than anything, we’ll be tougher defensively,” said Jackson, a native of Chicago who spent the last three years as the Sabers’ JV coach.“Defense will be our biggest strength.”
Campbell, which has made the state tournament each of the past four seasons under three different coaches, begins its “drive for five” at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday when it meets Hanalani Schools in a first-round game at the Saber Tip-off Classic. (The tournament also runs Friday and Saturday, guaranteeing the Sabers three games in three nights).
Followers of the program will likely see a different looking team on the offensive end, as Jackson has spent the last few weeks installing a new offense.
“It’s a motion-style offense with a lot of screening,” he explained. “The guards are the strength of the team, and so that’s why we’re running the offense we’re running - to get our guards good looks.”
With a roster heavily stocked with talent in the back court, Jackson envisions playing four guards at times. In seniors Zach Manual and Nicholas Daniels, they already had one of the better tandems in the OIA Red West Conference entering preseason, but the development of fellow senior Tim Hurd and junior Christian Manuel could figure equally big down the road.
“Zach is very quick - he handles the ball well - and he’s tough, defensively,” Jackson said in sizing up his back court.“He’s one of the toughest kids on the team. He hustles, and he’s stepped up to be a leader.
“Pound for pound, Nicholas is the best ‘shut-down’defender in the state - he can guard anybody, I believe. He’ll be the defensive leader on our team. He’ll guard the opposing team’s best offensive player. He’s a ‘yes, coach,’‘no, coach,’ type of kid. He’s awesome.
“Tim brings leadership. He didn’t play a lot last year, but he’ll be hard to keep off the floor this year. He’s worked really hard in the summer and off-season, and he gets to the basket strong and can finish.
“Christian is another point guard, but he can also shoot. He’s a scrappy little kid who’s our second-best defender as far as on-the-ball defense.”
A trio of juniors - Josh Harris, Clayton Darity and Chris Storment - are vying to provide an inside presence for the team.
“They’ll all give us good minutes,“Jackson said.“They play tough defense, so we’ll be looking for them to do a lot of good things. We want our team to be versatile. We have guards who can score inside, although they won’t post up, and we have big guys who can step out on the perimeter and make shots, too.”
Jackson also has been pleased with a handful of players who recently joined the team after finishing up their seasons with the football team, where they helped lead the Sabers to the semifinals of the state football tournament.
“They’re looking good right now, and they’re going to get valuable minutes,” he said.
Other first-round matchups at the Saber Tip-Off Classic Thursday include Aiea versus Damien (3 p.m.), Farrington-Saint Louis II (4:30 p.m.) and Waianae-Kaiser at 6 p.m. Campbell plays the winner of the Waianae-Kaiser game at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a semifinal encounter. The title game is set for 7:30 Saturday night.
The Sabers also will take part in both the Punahou and Moanalua Pre-Season Tournaments later in the month. Campbell’s OIA Red West opener is set for Jan. 8, when they host Leilehua.
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