Preview: Ark City Bulldogs

MEET THE TEAM

Winning in Arkansas City is a challenge because of several factors, and it's a job that Anthony Brantley has taken head-on in the last 5 years. He has put the Bulldogs close to winning seasons twice (8 wins in '10, 7 wins in '11), but he is still waiting for that breakthrough season. If it happens this season, it will be a major surprise because the Bulldogs lost a lot of their experience from last season when they struggled through a 4-win campaign.

Ark City doesn't return a full-time starter from last season, but does have Skylar Bryant, Trent Gashler, and Cam Smith back, all of whom started occasionally last season. There are some other players that Brantley is optimistic about, but they're young and it's going to take time for them to transition their games to the varsity level. It doesn't happen over night and it's going to take time for this program to learn how to win games. But all it takes is a hot streak - a couple of wins under their belt - to begin to turn things around.

It was a strange season for the Bulldogs based on the numbers. Brantley didn't consider Ark City lacking offensive talent last season, yet 15 times they scored under 50 points. That might be the case once again this season. While Ark City is by no means loaded in the talent department, the gap is not as wide as it seems from last season. Ark City's problem is being efficient, taking smart shots, and not turning the ball over. Again, all of these things are traits that winning programs exhibit and ones that Ark City is going to have to learn.

Brantley has mentioned that some of his players will be ineligible until January, so that will be another uphill challenge Ark City will have to manage. He does have some height to work with this season, which will be nice for a change. Brantley likes to create an up-tempo game, so expect the full-court press to continue for stretches of games and it gives Ark City a chance to force the other team to be sound with the ball. It's a bold strategy and one that could help Ark City steal a game or two this season. This has the signs of another building season, but there's always that potential that this team could come out of nowhere and surprise some people this season. It's going to be hard to do that this season in a loaded Division 2 of the AV-CTL.

MEET THE CAST

SKYLAR BRYANT | POINT GUARD | 5'9" | JUNIOR

TRENT GASHLER | FORWARD | 6'2" | SENIOR

CAMERON SMITH | POST | 6'3" | JUNIOR

MACE METCALF | POST | 6'6" | JUNIOR

ALEK POTTER | GUARD | 6'0" | SENIOR

TANNER SPENCER | GUARD | 5'9" | SOPHOMORE

PARKER WELCH | GUARD | 6'1" | JUNIOR

MICAH WHITE | GUARD | 5'8" | SOPHOMORE

FROM COACH BRANTLEY

"We have a decent amount of players that are ineligible, so we could look completely different after Christmas. We're going to play a minimum of eight to nine guys. We're going to keep pressuring people. We'll press and trap, and play full court. I think we'll be a little bit bigger than we were last year. We've been rolling around with 6-foot-1 kids, 6-footers. Now I've got 6-4's and 6-5's. I'm excited about the year. The guys are working hard. They're excited about the possibilities. We just have to go out there and go get it."

THE PREDICTION

It might be rough early on, as Ark City deals with a short bench with so many of its players ineligible until after the first week of January. The Bulldogs struggled last season being consistent on both ends of the floor and that must improve. But it's hard to see a scenario, playing in what should be a ridiculously tough division, where the Bulldogs emerge with many wins this season. Brantley can hope to see some signs that the team is headed in the right direction, but it's hard to imagine that Ark City is winning more than 5 games this season.