The 2022-23 LRHS Basketball Season: From the Coach

Long Reach’s Basketball team, The Long Reach Lightning, went far this year. Now although they didn’t win the championship, they made it pretty far into the playoffs. With people asking the players how they felt and how they feel currently, people overlook one of the most important aspects of the team. The coach.

Andrew Lazzor, or more well known as Coach Lazzor to many around the school, was happy to accept an interview and relay his thoughts on this year’s 22-23 basketball season.

Coach Lazzor was always a basketball player. Ever since he was a child in Pittsburgh, he has loved the game of basketball. He said it was an escape from the chaos of day-to-day city life. He played whenever he could, and he was pretty decent. He even went on to play D3 in college. But sadly missed his chance to play professionally in the NBA.

When asked why he decided to be a coach, he said, “I missed the game after college because when college was over, that’s it. No more. It’s over.” Then, he heard that his buddy became a basketball coach. Since he still had an immense love for the game, he decided to come to Long Reach to coach. He never came here to be a teacher; he came here to coach basketball.

Going into first games can be nerve wracking for both the players and coaches, but Lazzor felt as if the team was ready and prepared saying, “Yes, they’ve worked very hard.” Going into their first game against Atholton, they had a fire inside of them wanting to destroy Atholton. Atholton was the team that knocked Long Reach out of the playoffs for several years. They wanted to beat them. They did.

The questions of feelings during the playoffs came up. When asked about it, Lazzor stated that “Felt great, felt ready, the goal was to play the best basketball.” The team prepared as they practiced hard, watched film (videos of the other teams playing so they can adjust their playstyle to beat them), and played their best every night. But basketball is a very tricky sport. It’s hard to prepare for every situation. That’s why Lazzor helped them call their own plays.

The players had some leniency when it came to the game. “The thing with basketball is that it’s flowing. It’s not like football where you have a 6-second play and 40-second down time, basketball isn’t choppy.” He then explained that they had set offenses and defenses. They would practice how to call certain plays depending on the other team or what they wanted to do. Usually, it would fall back on their motion offense. But most of the time they were calling their own shots.
Lazzor said he had a great time coaching this year. He said the kids were great, JV and Varsity both had great records, and there wasn’t a single problem between the players. He also said that usually you’d have to worry about how the chemistry between the players would be, or how they react to criticism or his coaching tactics, but this year no one had a single issue.
And yes, for those who are wondering, Coach Lazzor will be here next year continuing to coach basketball. He said that “Unless I die or get fired, I’m never leaving. I love it here.”

“This was the most fun I’ve ever had as a head coach. Great kids, worked hard every single game. I treated them like my sons. I’m really gonna miss them.”