{"id":121095,"date":"2024-07-03T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/?p=121095"},"modified":"2024-07-01T16:35:01","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T20:35:01","slug":"basketball-blue-waves-summer-league-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2024\/07\/121095\/basketball-blue-waves-summer-league-kicks-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball: Blue Waves summer league kicks off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Riverhead boys basketball team kicked off its summer league season last Thursday with a new but familiar face at the helm. Patrick Fabian, who was assistant head coach last year, has taken over as head coach from Elwood Lamb, who retired at the end of the school season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team hasn\u2019t had a winning record since 2019-20 and won only three games last year. Riverhead has struggled to regain its form since head coach John Rossetti<\/a> left the program. Riverhead consistently made the playoffs and even won a league championship under Rossetti in 2013. Fabian is trying to bring Riverhead basketball back to its former prominence, and it all starts in the Town of Brookhaven summer league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, in the past few years we haven\u2019t had much success,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s because of a variety of things and factors that play into it. But I think right now the goal isn\u2019t measuring success in the win column. Like, obviously, we want the wins to stack up but first we want accountability, we want kids working hard and we want everyone playing together. Once we change the culture, we\u2019ll start seeing results in the win column.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the second year in a row that Riverhead will compete in the summer and fall leagues offered by the Town of Brookhaven. That helps form more of a cohesiveness among the players by simply playing alongside one another for more than just one school season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need kids to buy in and commit to what we\u2019re trying to do and we\u2019re seeing that with the enrollment in the offseason leagues,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cBasketball can\u2019t end in the winter. You\u2019ve got to be actively trying to get better all year round.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fabian has been around the Riverhead boys basketball program now for three years. He knows these kids and their potential. Before he became the varsity assistant head coach last year, he spent two years coaching the junior varsity team. He\u2019s not new to the scene but he\u2019s ready to preach his style of basketball from the top down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing a lot of work on team building and really having each other\u2019s backs,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cWe can\u2019t grow just individually; we need to grow as a team and each of us needs that commitment to one another. If we start implementing all the nuances of being a great basketball team now in the summer, it will definitely translate into the school year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer league work is crucial to any team\u2019s success. And with many large successful programs also participating, it highlights the importance of getting the team together throughout the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n