Inside Santa Monica College's Corsair Men's Basketball
Photo courtesy of Peter Minges.
Focusing on detail and perfection, Santa Monica College (SMC) men’s basketball hopes for a victorious, successful season. Cesar Meza, Teddy Parham, and head coach Joshua Thomas give a sneak peak into what they have been doing to prepare for this upcoming season, and how they plan to be successful as a team and as individuals.
Parham, a sophomore point guard, believes the Corsairs have immense talent and chemistry that will guide them to success. He also thinks team unity is going to be key for the Corsairs to record wins.
“For offensive play, everybody contributes, whether it be scoring, passing or rebounding,” he said. “Chemistry is great this year, we bond a lot outside of practice so everybody's been getting close.”
Meza, also a sophomore point guard, spoke about the little things that contribute to the team’s defensive play and what they hope to keep in mind throughout this upcoming season.
“We were slow on defense all last year ... this year we’ve been really trying to be on point from the beginning,” said Meza.
Parham also believes that the dog-eat-dog mentality players instilled in themselves will only help them get closer to their goal.
When it comes to weaknesses for the team, Parham stated, “Sometimes there is a lack of ‘Basketball IQ’ and poor communication. Last year we fell short of the Elite Eight title but hopefully this year we can pull through and win both the Conference and State Championship.”
Thomas added, "We won’t be as good rebounders as we were last year, we were pretty big and good at that last season. I think interior defense, shot blocking, and rim protection is something we’re lacking this season.”
He moved on to say that, “The experience we have this year [eight returning athletes] will certainly help due to the knowledge and preparation aspects it provided for us last season.”
Thomas made it clear that goals for the team include “getting to the next level” and capturing the state championship.
“We have a lot of guys that know what we want, which is really great,” he said. “Winning a state championship, not just that though. Our main thing is winning, whether it be as a team or winning the scholarship that all the kids come here to play for. Everyone’s using [SMC’s] platform to go out and play for a university, that’s the primary goal.”
He went on to express that some of the players have already received scholarship offers from universities.
Roads to the state championship and scholarships are not far out of reach for Corsairs’ men’s basketball players. SMC’s first preseason game will be Friday, Nov. 1 at San Diego Marymount College. Their opponent will be Barstow College at the Miramar Gehler Memorial College Tournament.