The Thomas Edison boys basketball team has been known for its variety of talent, but also at times lack of fundamentals and defensive intensity.
The Inventors hope to be viewed differently this fall. On the one hand, they have no choice – their entire frontcourt (Stephen Nwaukoni, now at Hofstra, Ede Egharevba and Josh Gray) graduated, taking their 48 points per game and 27 rebounds with them.
“This team,” coach John Ulmer said, “is totally different.”
That’s why Ulmer didn’t hesitate to schedule Edison’s first scrimmage in Coney Island against Brooklyn powerhouse Lincoln and its bevy of Division I talent. The Railsplitters won the first two quarters by a combined 42-15 before Edison responded.
“I knew I was kind of throwing them at the lions today,” he said. “But I jumped at it. … They played well at points.”
In place of those skilled sky walkers are inexperienced bigs up from the JV lacking varsity experience. Ulmer likes the potential in 6-foot-6 sophomore Jaleel Charles and 6-foot-4 junior Kadeem Morgan, but the duo, Ulmer said, needs work. They struggled in Tuesday’s scrimmage against Lincoln, particularly off the glass.
The backcourt remains tough, led by sharpshooter Kris Owens and combo guard Cavon Baker, who enjoyed a solid summer on the AAU circuit that may elevate him to a Division I level. Whereas Baker and Owens looked to the paint first last winter, they will now look to one another.
“If I’m hot or he’s hot, we know we have to keep feeding each other,” said the 6-foot-2 Owens, a 3-point specialist who averaged 11 points per game last year. “We have to be consistent and be more aggressive, be leaders.”
Perhaps even more importantly than their production will be how Edison plays at the other end of the floor, its weakness the last several years. Ulmer said the Inventors will rely on zone because they are smaller. Already, Owens said, the Queens school has worked more on defense during the preseason than in previous years, contesting every shot, switching on pick-and-rolls, rebounding as a team.
“Play good defense and everything will fall into place,” Owens said. “Offense in any game will come, but defense, you have to work on that to become an elite team.”
Though some may expect Edison to take a step back with the losses of three-fifths of its starting lineup, the Inventors are confident they can compete in Queens AA. Owens and Baker talked about leading their younger teammates and enjoying the role as go-to scorers. More attention has been paid to defense. Furthermore, Edison hasn’t finished lower than fourth since moving up from the ‘A’ division four years ago.
“In other schools and the media’s eyes, [expectations are lower], but we expect to be just as good as last year,” Baker said.
Said Owens: “We’re trying to take our division. We want to finish first in Queens.”