Edwards basketball team looks forward to promising postseason

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William A. O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE,Calif. --  When the Pacific West Military Athletic Conference tipped-off Oct.1, 12 teams, aspired to be crowned league champion. Half have already been eliminated on their way to the League Championship Tournament at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Feb. 20, from that tournament; only one team will advance to San Antonio for a chance to compete against seven other best military teams from across nation.

Going into their League Championship Tournament, Edwards Men's Varsity Basketball Team holds the second seed; a vast improvement over last year when the team, after five years of inactivation, made the tournament as the sixth seed and fell one game short of a trip to San Antonio.

"I'm very proud of our team, we did a lot better than last year," said Sedric Whitaker Edwards power forward. "Last year at this point we were the last seed in the tournament and this year it looks like we're going be the second so that shows our big improvement."

Coach Christopher D. Stokes said he is proud of the way his team has come together and the improvements they've made since the season began.

"I think team work has improved a lot since the beginning of the season," said Stokes. "We have a lot of talent on the team so the biggest thing for us was getting everyone to realize what part of their game would benefit the team as a whole."

Because of the nature of the military, all teams battle deployments and work commitments as well as injuries all season, but for this team, funding has been another obstacle.

"Injuries have been a big thing for us this season," he said. " Funding was another hurdle for us. The guys are paying out of pocket for lodging and fuel, which can be pretty expensive at times, so finding creative ways to reduce the expenses was challenging."

According to Stokes, to win this tournament, their entire roster will have to there and ready to play.

"We basically need everyone to be healthy and available to play," said Stokes. "There isn't a team out there that can play with us when I have a full roster."

To battle the long layoff between the end of the season and the League Championship Tournament, Stokes scheduled them to play in a tournament in Las Vegas to keep them fresh.

"I scheduled two exhibition games with Ft. Irwin and entered the guys in a tournament in Vegas," said Stokes. "I am trying to keep them active during the break so we will be ready to play during the playoff tournament."

Currently injured, Whitaker said he won't play in any games until the championship tournament, but he is confident he'll be ready and that his team will win.

"I broke my wrist during intramurals and that's been hard for us, but I'll be ready for Camp Pendleton," said Whitaker. "We're going to win that tournament. There's not a doubt in my mind that we'll win that tournament. We got second place last year and this year we're going to take first."

With a team Whitaker compared favorably to the NBA's Phoenix Suns, teammate Maurice Wright agreed saying the team's roster is full of shooters.

"We have a lot of young guys that have the ability to score the ball, which cause a lot of matchup problems for our opponents," said Wright. "We have two of the strongest players in the league in Sedric Whitaker and Sidney Melvin."

Wright continued, saying his team isn't just an offensive show and everybody is willing to play defense and rebound.

"Jeremiah Jones, Osborne Lopez and Jonathan Cheadle provide us with energy and quickness on offense as well as defense," Wright continued. "Terrence Flowers clogs up the middle and dominates the boards even against larger opponents. Coach Stokes brings the team together and keeps us focused on the important aspects of the game. Stokes is a coach everyone respects and believes in."

As far as predictions on the season outcome, there was a mixture of quiet confidence and outright certainty.

"Well, I won't make a prediction since I don't own a crystal ball," said Coach Stokes. "But I will say we will compete and hopefully be the last team standing in the end."

"We're going to win (in San Antonio) too," Whitaker said confidently. "I'm from Texas so that's my ultimate goal to get back to Texas and play."