A New Coach Takes Varsity Into Playoffs

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Monday evening the boys\\\\\\\' varsity basketball team pours out
from the locker room onto the hardwood floor and forms two lines for
pregame layups.

First year head coach Ken Sanders, in a white oxford shirt, tie and
black trousers, stands at center court watching his 12 players with a
wide smile.

He walks over to one line and stays there until he\\\\\\\'s shaken
and slapped hands with each player.

Coach Sanders returns to center court holding a basketball and talks
with assistant coach Asil Cash, who also coaches the boys\\\\\\\' junior
varsity team, in the minutes before his team\\\\\\\'s penultimate game of
the season, against the Dighton-Rehobeth Falcons.

As game time approaches, 10 Vineyard players huddle near the hoop.
Mr. Sanders, standing in front of the home bench, sees two of his
players stretching on the sidelines and invites them into the huddle.

For Coach Sanders, creating a family of his team comes naturally.
The sense of brotherhood on the court has brought the team success. They
enter the Division III state tournament with a 14-6 record, a dramatic
improvement over last year\\\\\\\'s 12-10 finish.

\\\\\\\"Last year, though we were a good basketball team, we just
were not unified,\\\\\\\" said Coach Sanders, who coached the boys\\\\\\\'
junior varsity team last year. \\\\\\\"It makes all the difference in the
world when the players care about each other and take the time out to
know each other as people and basketball players.\\\\\\\"

Coach Sanders brings his players together in a tight huddle before
tipoff. After a few words from the coach, they lock hands in the center
of the group and break with a deep shout of \\\\\\\"Team!\\\\\\\"

When the game begins, Mr. Sanders is seemingly two people at once.
He sits quietly on the bench, absorbed in the action on the court.
Suddenly, he jumps to his feet, gesturing and shouting instructions to
his players. His intensity is contagious for the five players running
the court.

Mr. Sanders, 30, came to the Island in the spring of 1999. Born in
Huntington, Long Island, he spent his early childhood in Liveoak, Fla.,
a small agricultural town. The town is like the Island, but \\\\\\\"it is
a little nicer out here,\\\\\\\" Mr. Sanders says with a laugh. When he
turned 12, he moved to Monticello, N.Y., and began to play basketball
for the first time.

\\\\\\\"I started late,\\\\\\\" says Mr. Sanders. \\\\\\\"But if you
want to practice, get out on the court and do it, catch up.\\\\\\\" Mr.
Sanders was cut from his freshman team in high school and spent the next
summer honing his skills. He made junior varsity and went on to play
three years at the varsity level for the winning program. His late start
on the court fostered a work ethic that he imparts to his players. Three
and four-hour practices are not uncommon for his team.

In his last year on the high school varsity, Mr. Sanders experienced
a heartbreaking moment. He lost a tough game in the state tournament
when his team was defeated by one point - at the buzzer in
overtime - for the right to go on to the state championship. The
moment, he says, has stuck with him ever since. Mr. Sanders went on to
serve for three years in the military. He was stationed in California
and played on the base\\\\\\\'s basketball team.

All along, Mr. Sanders, inspired by his high school coach, wanted to
become a coach himself. \\\\\\\"My high school coach taught me how to
love what you are doing,\\\\\\\" he says. \\\\\\\"He taught me to
understand the game.\\\\\\\"

Mr. Sanders takes coaching to a level rarely seen in high school
competition. \\\\\\\"I have seen a lot of coaches who did not get the
most out of the kids. Many settled for a system that was good for the
coach, that\\\\\\\'s easier for them. But every individual player has
something different. You have to get what you can get out of the player
and apply that to the team,\\\\\\\" Mr. Sanders says.

Everyone on Mr. Sanders\\\\\\\'s team sees playing time. Each player
has a talent that can be of use for the team. \\\\\\\"I always put the
players in the position to be successful. In the last seven games,
we\\\\\\\'ve been able to use all 12 kids on the basketball team, which
was our goal. It is working out. The kids know their role and respect
it,\\\\\\\" he says.

The unity of the team was cemented at the start of the season when
the team played eight consecutive off-Island games. The time on the road
helped the players to understand one another. On the court, the players
learned each other\\\\\\\'s strengths. \\\\\\\"They depend on each other.
It is like a family. We will have been together four months by the time
this ends. It\\\\\\\'s been a growing process,\\\\\\\" says Coach Sanders.
\\\\\\\"There is unselfishness on the court. We are all one.\\\\\\\"

Mr. Sanders has one of the fastest teams in the division. The
players excel in man-to-man defense and in the last six games have
developed a fearsome full court press. \\\\\\\"It keeps them in shape and
alert,\\\\\\\" says Mr. Sanders.

Throughout the game, the team cohesion is evident everywhere. During
free throws, players will wander over to the sidelines to talk to the
coach; these conversations frequently end with a laugh and two smiles.

Mr. Sanders says: \\\\\\\"Eighty per cent of my life is about
laughing and having fun. When something funny happens on the court, I am
not passing up the moment to laugh. If you play with your heart and
soul, you can even laugh off a loss.\\\\\\\"

During timeouts, the team huddles. Mr. Sanders says most of what he
does in the huddles is refresh the team by reminding them of the
particulars, like \\\\\\\"Remember, this guy\\\\\\\'s a shooter,\\\\\\\" or
\\\\\\\"He\\\\\\\'s left-handed.\\\\\\\"

Monday night, the Vineyarders are coasting with a steady 20-point
lead over the Falcons. When the starters are benched with five minutes
remaining, one player who sees little time on the floor finds himself on
the foul line. When he sinks his first shot, the team on the bench
erupts with cheers. When he sinks the second, the applause is even
louder. The team walks off the court with an 86-60 victory.

Coach Sanders knows how it feels to lose a heartbreaker, and he
tells his players about it as they head into the state tournament.
\\\\\\\"I let them know it is their team. It is not my team. I will be
here when you are gone, but your team will not be. They understand that.
They take it personally. They take that responsibility. That has been a
real difference this year.\\\\\\\"

After his time in the military, Mr. Sanders returned to New York
where he interned at his old high school as a basketball coach and
worked with inner city youth. \\\\\\\"The thing that got my team to
understand me is that I treat my kids like people first. It is
basketball last. It is people first, students second, then
athletes,\\\\\\\" he says.

Mr. Sanders loves his team and the way they have grown on the court.
He can talk passionately about the season and each player. \\\\\\\"I
played on a lot of good teams, but I have never seen a team with as much
heart and will as this team. They just don\\\\\\\'t quit. No matter what
happens the rest of the season, I will never forget that,\\\\\\\" he
says.

With seven seniors on the team, Mr. Sanders knows this year is
special. \\\\\\\"This doesn\\\\\\\'t happen much. Hopefully we can go deep
into the state tournament and it will be something they can talk about
for the rest of their lives. That\\\\\\\'s what it did for me. It gave me
the sense of being able to win on and off the court.\\\\\\\"

The pairings for the tournament, which begins next week, come out
today. Mr. Sanders is looking for the golden moment. \\\\\\\"The game
doesn\\\\\\\'t owe you anything,\\\\\\\" he says. \\\\\\\"I was born into
the game, the game wasn\\\\\\\'t born into me. Even the great Michael
Jordan would say the game didn\\\\\\\'t belong to him, the moment
did.\\\\\\\"

He tells his players: \\\\\\\"Going into the tournament, just play.
When you don\\\\\\\'t finish the job, it hurts.\\\\\\\"

Mr. Sanders hopes the Island community will come out and support
this team. \\\\\\\"We have a chance to do something special. I hope the
rest of the Vineyard won\\\\\\\'t miss it.\\\\\\\"