The SQ Kings and the SQ Warriors have selected their new players for the 2023 basketball season after a strenuous and rigorous tryout session.
Coaches think this year’s hand-picked players are capable of getting their teams to the championship, which makes them more hopeful than last season.
SQ Kings Head Coach Ish Freelon said that he is confident in his new lineup and thinks that this season, his team, comprising 15 players over age 40, will go undefeated.
“I am truly impressed with the players we have now,” Freelon said. “I know that we will have a better season than the last one.”
He added two new towering players to his 2023 roster: J. Fleeman, 6’6”, and R. Carpenter, 6’2”. The new 15-man roster is also expected to step up and meet the standards of the league contract, one that is shared by the new SQ Warriors.
Warriors Head Coach Jeremiah “JB” Brown has a group of new talent that he expects to show up for the team and fulfill that obligation.
“I see some really good talent out here,” said Brown at the final day of tryouts. “These new youngsters are making my choices hard this season. I’m really only trying to fill two positions, but I like all these guys.”
After some running exercises and drill plays, the tryouts concluded with a scrimmage where the coaches made the hard choices.
Forty players came to try out and see if they might win one of the 15 available jerseys. Brown said that he likes all 40 participants, but he had his watchful eye on newcomer Kevin Oates and said that he was impressed by the young man’s skills and shooting ability.
Last season’s leading scorer, Keyshawn “Steez” Strickland, came out to support the newcomers and led the team with some chest passes and shooting drills.
Another important factor in player selection was coming to practice. A few veterans were cut this season because of it.
Coach Brown said that he is only looking for two small forwards because other position players are veterans.
At the end of the Warriors tryouts, Brown had chosen his 15-man lineup, which included newcomer Kevin Oates. The 6’4” forward will be flanked by veteran big men Big Rick “Ibrahim Azim” Hale and Tyler “Drizzy” Cooper.
Last season both teams finished with two quite different outcomes. The Kings went under .500 while the Warriors were well over. With this season’s strategies, both head coaches are pushing the envelope by adding more requirements for the players to abide by.
