Lawrence Boys Basketball Looks to Run and Gun

The success of the Lawrence High School football team has set things back for the hoops squad for a few days as it gets its roster set. But as the smoke clears, head basketball coach Pete Linderman is looking forward to a strong 2010-11.

"I am very excited about this season," Linderman said. "We have a good mix of experienced seniors and strong underclassmen."

The boys basketball season begins Thursday when the team faces Oceanside.

The top three returning scorers include last year's leader sophomore 6-foot guard Eddie Robinson (16.2 ppg), 6-foot-3-inch senior forward Lawrence Hanton (8.7 ppg) and 6-foot-2-inch senior swingman Samson Bialastok (8.5 ppg).

Returning to the team are senior twins 6-foot-1-inch Ibraheem and 6-foot Ahmad Hamelin, who both play guard and were on the Golden Tornadoes as freshman. New additions to the team include 5-foot-9-inch freshman guard Dwayne Daniel and junior 5-foot-10-inch shooting guard A.J. Gallo. Six-foot-1-inch sophomore guard/forward Clifton Lyerly and 6-foot-2-inch senior guard/forward Kwanze Baxter round out the roster.

It's an athletic group of "tweeners," and Linderman said he will try to use that dynamic to his advantage.

"With skilled scoring guards and depth, we will be looking to push the ball and score with our break," Linderman said. "Any one of our guys can have a big scoring night. We may possibly have a different player leading us in scoring every game."

The main cog is Robinson, who has a deadly shooting touch, good ball handling skills and a strong leadership streak, especially for an underclassmen. Last year, Robinson was a true point guard, but this year the lines and roles will be blurred as Lawrence looks to get out and run on their opponents.

"We're just going to get the ball and go," Robinson said. "We don't have a lot of height, so we're looking to score on the break."

Robinson was all-conference last year and has bigger personal aspirations in 2010-11. But his main focus is on the team.

"I'd like to go all county this year, but it's OK if I don't," Robinson said. "As long as we do well as a team. I'm expecting big things."

The lack of height is going to force Lawrence to play 94 feet on defense as well.

"We're going to use a lot of full court press," Robinson said. "Looking to create a lot of turnovers."

Linderman said he feels it's important to get off to a good start and has the Dec. 17 game against Five Towns rival Hewlett circled on the schedule as a result. He's also looking hard at the Jan. 11 match-up with South Side, who bounced Lawrence out of the playoffs in 2009-10. But Robinson has his eye on another game for a very specific reason.

"We're gunning for Lynbrook," Robinson said with a laugh. "Because they knocked us out in football."