Coach Shirley leads Northview basketball into a new season

Northview Basketball shows potential on both sides of the ball

Image by Kush Santosh, Staff Writer

Carter Willis, Staff Writer

From coaching at big schools in Florida to smaller schools in Tennessee, Northview’s new boys' basketball coach, Greg Shirley, has done it all. Shirley comes to Northview after great success in state tournaments with Brentwood High School––his former team––and he hopes to bring that same success to Northview. Shirley believes the Northview basketball program has the potential to take its players’ skills and dynamics to the next level. 

Shirely recognizes that in close games, every possession is valuable, and that is why he emphasizes the need to protect the ball. This proved vital in an important region game against Lithonia that ended with Northview losing by just five points. Shirley’s emphasis on limiting turnovers, having a balance of post and perimeter attack on offense, and running two-three zone defense is what he believes will turn these losses into wins.

“[To win close games] we need to take care of the ball, and play every play with great energy,” Shirley said. “Associate head coach Vince Carter leads all pre-game routines. And in practice, we [use] a combination of competitive drills, and skill development drills.

Protecting the ball was the key strategy to the team’s victory against Clarkston by 10 points, which gave the team a winning record of 5-4 and fourth place spot in their region. Though the team executed the strategy well during this particular game, Shirley made it clear to his players that the victory was independent of the upcoming games.

“Great teams learn from wins and losses, and there is always room for improvement,” Shirley said. “We are trying to have an attitude where we practice like we never won and play like we never lost.” 

The team always goes into a game with an offensive strategy. It is present in the competitive drills that they do during practice to prepare for the game. Shirley maintains his offensive strategy by balancing the number of shots per position. Shirley has seen this strategy work at his other school and has continued it during his time at Northview.  

“I have been blessed to have great success at my other schools. At my last school, [Brentwood], we made the final four one year and the final eight another year,” Shirley said. “All my teams that have made deep runs in the state tournament have had a good balance of post and perimeter attack.” 

By using this offensive strategy, the opposition is always on their toes because taller centers and forwards will shoot near the hoop just as much as guards from farther away. Though the success of this strategy depends on the team, Shirley still dedicates himself to it even though the player's shooting is not always even-handed depending on the opposing team's defensive strengths.

“Each year I have had to adjust to the strength of my players,” Shirley said. “More important than offense, though, is to have a great work ethic on the defensive end.” 

Defense is the focus throughout the program for the varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams. By honing in on this throughout the program, all players in the program must be dedicated to the defensive work ethic standard that Shirley creates. 

“Coach Shirley helps us all around, but specifically on defense,” Veer Patel, a junior varsity player, said. “He is getting us into a two-three zone defense at the [junior varsity] level so that our defense will be in shape when the [junior varsity] team eventually becomes the varsity team.”

Two-three zone defense puts three players down low on the court near the hoop, while the other two are at the top of the court when the offense brings the ball up the court. Running two-three zone defense protects the inside lane area near the hoop, making it harder to score in the paint. However, it leaves openings on the outside at the top of the court for guards to shoot. Beating the Northview defense ultimately boils down to successful perimeter shots. 

“We plan every game for defense and adjust [according] to the team we play,” varsity player Parker Gonzalez said. “We need to keep playing like ourselves, and instead of doing too much we need to focus on making the right play.” 

Using two-three zone and a balance of post and perimeter shots, they won more games in the first 17 games this year than they had in 20 games last year. Though the team only stands at fifth place in their region, Shirley still believes that this year’s players have the athletic prowess to make a run at the state tournament. 

“At times we show great potential, and I believe that when focused, this group has the potential to do something special this year,” Shirley said. “But right now our goal is to win the next play.”