SEQUIM — It doesn’t take long to hear what’s on new Sequim High School basketball head coach Matt Thacker’s mind; just sit around a team practice a few minutes.
Nearly every pick, pass and play is meticulously scrutinized.
Guard Josh Lindsey attempts a one-handed pass while running a fast break and coach Thacker quickly chides his senior play maker, “That’s the last one-handed pass you’re going to make all season.”
A young post decides to put the ball on the floor in a move to the basket and once again Thacker isn’t pleased.
“Whenever you get into trouble you have a tendency to put the ball on the floor,” Thacker said to his post.
“Whenever you think about doing that. . . do the opposite.”
From an outsider’s perspective, it may seem overwhelming, listening to Thacker critique and instruct his young team.
A closer look at the roster — minus leading returning scorer Chad Wagner, who is out for the season with a torn ACL — that boasts only two returning lettermen from last year’s 13-10 team, and a dearth of varsity experience, and it’s easy to understand Thacker’s nit-picking.
The preseason injury of senior pivot Wes Magwire — which was a re-aggravation of a football shoulder separation — only added to the immaturity of the Wolves’ camp.
“We’re trying to make an emphasis on getting our fundamentals right,” Thacker said.
“Certainly I’m very picky when it comes to small details and I want them done right, but I think it’s more that we’re a very unseasoned group right now.”
So right now Thacker is doing a lot of teaching, and team leader Ben Webb and the rest of the team is listening.
“He likes to tell us the little details really add up,” Webb said. “It makes sense, he knows what he’s talking about.
“So we just need to change, do it his way and in his system.”
What that means is a lot of running and working, especially on the defensive side of the ball — the side Thacker said has always been his focus.
