MacArthur Highlanders: Breeding enthusiasm to produce wins
LAWTON, Okla. — 鈥淓nergy breeds enthusiasm, and enthusiasm wins.鈥� Those were the words of the highly reputable basketball mind doing his thing in Lawton. Coach Marco Gagliard is an experienced and reputable figure in the high school basketball world in Oklahoma. I had the very rare chance of having a 1-on-1 with him.
It鈥檚 almost impossible to speak about sports development in Lawton without discussing MacArthur High School. Coach Gagliard is the head coach of the basketball team which has seen significant success since he came on board.
The MacArthur Highlanders have been graced with some very skillful players. Some have gone on to play in college ball and others have come on board.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good place to be,鈥� Coach Gagliard said when asked about talent production and monitoring. 鈥淲e have some new superintendents that are so pro-athletic. They let us have control from the sixth grade up. We are able to place some professional people there at the middle school and that鈥檚 huge. We just got that this year and they are doing a lot of really cool stuff.鈥�
The Highlanders play a high intensity, positionless, full speed game and the coach explained how going positionless encourages each player to pull their weight on the court.
鈥淚 actually like going positionless if possible. I鈥檒l play four guards and one post and the four guards are interchangeable,鈥� he said 鈥淲e just play four out all the time. I encourage whoever gets the rebounds to push it, I don鈥檛 play a specific outlet to the same guy every time, we don鈥檛 play like that. I think that is phasing out of the game. I think the position stuff is just phasing out, it鈥檚 just positionless. Just push the ball, everybody can play. It makes you harder to guard and harder to defend against as a team.鈥�
Coach Gagliard emphasized his desire to see every member of his team contribute to their overall success.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like to box out kids,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can ask them like, 鈥榟ey, what do you do best?鈥� If you鈥檙e not a good ball-handler, just two dribbles and get off of it, but, if you can handle it, you can get the rebound and then go, just go.鈥�
The Highlanders are quick out on the court.
鈥淲e literally play really small, smallball,鈥� Coach Gagliard said. 鈥淲e just, 5-out, 4-out, we just go downhill. We play fast and we press and we just had five kids who can play, you know, it鈥檚 more fun for me. I like coaching that style better. It鈥檚 more entertaining for the crowd. Now, we are slowing down a little bit more, with our big man, trying to get him inside. Next year, it will be the same thing, smallball, playing up and down, with kids who can shoot it, just kind of trying to adapt to what you have, your personnel. I enjoy the smallball.鈥�
The Highlanders are a really exciting team to watch. They execute lots of three-points shots, runs and high intensity. They have had a difficult time early in the season, but you expect that from a team who recently graduated over 3,500 points. They are currently trying to settle the freshmen and sophomore players in and see how far they can go.
However, they do have some really good players whose names one should not forget soon. The team boast of a big time high school baller, Arzhonte Dallas. Also on the team are Montez Edwards, 鈥渁 fiery defender, pass first guy鈥� and Jamal Graves (a big).
The coach was asked about how he trains his players and how he gets them prepared for games.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like practicing really, really long,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do like 45 minutes to an hour of really high level, intensive training like really competitive conditioning, drills that can really kind of get us going. Then we break off into elemental stuff and then we finish with our overall offense, and we touch on a few things like our presses and others.
鈥淢y practices are typically not more than two hours. We just kind of get in, we work really hard, and what I tell them is we got to have a winning sound. Like, if someone walks into the gym, it has to be loud, we need to have that energy. Energy breeds enthusiasm, and enthusiasm wins. I try to model that to the kids and it takes a lot of energy.鈥�
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