Men’s Basketball at Bucks has been a rocky road for players and staff. Over the course of the season, the team has stumbled to a 5-12 record and looking to bounce back in the last seven games to finish 12-12.

Head basketball coach Dominic Farrello when asked about the record said, “We just need to execute and continue playing our game.” Coach Farrello continued on to explain that the Centurions are still in every game that they play.

Coach again says, “We have won games where we have scored 40 points but also have lost games where we score 90.”

Contributing to the struggle of the Centurions record, another point of emphasis is the free throw game where the Centurions are shooting about 65 percent as well as assists where the team averages around nine per game. When asked about free throws Coach Farrello explained, “I believe that our free throws will even out.” Improving on free throw percentage is not as easy as it sounds. Coach says, “All we can do is continue to practice and work on them.”

Regarding assists, coach believes that he has two starting guards who can get into the lane at will and dish it to his teammates around the three-point line.

Surprisingly, the three ball has been a bright spot for this Centurions team. During this season, the Centurions are averaging nine three-pointers made per game and shooting them at 40 percent. When asked about the success from long range Coach explained, “We practice the three ball a lot, the three-pointer keeps us in games a lot of times because we’re a smaller team with less emphasis on rebounding.”

Another place where the Centurions struggle is on the road. Currently, the team holds a 1-7 record on the road with five out of their next seven being on the road.

Coach Farrello explained the added toughness to road games by saying, “Believe it or not, traveling takes a toll.” He continued on to say, “Traveling hurts because of the fact that we are on our feet all day instead of being at home and resting.” Coach Farello explained that even the games that are only an hour away still have an impact on the fatigue of his team.

Getting deeper into the team, many teams at the high school to college level as well as the NBA has a particular brand of basketball that they like to play.

When asked about the brand of basketball that Bucks plays, coach Farrello said, “From game to game it changes, each team is going to create a different challenge.” But, however he also stated, “game by game our approach changes but doesn’t change the fact that we can compete and win every game.”

Even with the challenge of basketball and classes, Coach Farrello and his staff still make and effort to not just create a culture of winning but one of professionalism as well.

When talking about the idea of the responsibility other than basketball, coach said, “We treat the players like they are professionals and this is part of their job.” He goes on to say, “Right now, our attendance is up, our GPA’s are up, so what we are doing here seems to be working.”

Although there are still seven games remaining, there are many takeaways that the Centurions could take and learn from during this season.

When asked about what he learned or took away from the season, Coach Farello said, “I already kind of knew this, but you need to treat players as an individual and coach them according to their own personality.” He goes on to say, “Every guy on this team is important and each have an important role to fill. All in all, I want these guys to have a good experience, because that’s what it is really all about.”

Bucks Centurions will look to improve on their 5-12 record and finish the season with some wins to put a good taste in the mouth of the coaches and players for next season.