Photo by Kyle Parmley.
Patrick Davis has experienced a smooth transition from legendary head coach George Hatchett at Vestavia Hills.
Patrick Davis received everything he could ask for from his team.
His wish was not that he would inherit the next Michael Jordan at Vestavia Hills High School.
Nor was his wish to find out which player was his most talented, so he could cater to that player’s needs and wants.
Davis just wanted his new Rebels basketball team to listen and bring its proverbial lunch pail to work every day.
“The guys have been very coachable and worked really hard,” the first-year head coach said, who is taking over for legendary George Hatchett after he retired at the conclusion of last season. “From my perspective, that’s all I can ask for.”
Davis has been adamant from the day he took the job at Vestavia Hills that he did not inherit a broken program, or even one with major faults. Hatchett built the Rebels into a consistently solid basketball team.
“By no means have I had to start at ground zero,” Davis said. “Sometimes you take a new job and you’re starting at zero. Certainly with these guys, there was a great foundation laid, especially with being able to defend.”
Davis is particularly thankful for that last caveat, as defensive principles are what he hopes the Rebels’ calling card becomes in a short period of time.
He said, “I don’t care where you are and how you want to play, but you’ve got to hang your hat on getting stops in the half court. If you’re going to win basketball games, you’ve got to get stops.”
There is one word that Davis uses to describe his goal for what his basketball teams do to opponents on the floor: uncomfortable.
“We just want to make people uncomfortable, basically,” he said. “Offensively, we want to push the pace and play up-tempo, so that it makes people uncomfortable.
“Defensively, we want to make people uncomfortable with pressure and a physicality and a toughness.”
An aspect of the team that players and coaches alike have been impressed with is that the team’s chemistry already seemed to be at a high level before the season began.
“I think we’re really good at sharing the ball and playing together,” senior guard Mac Smith said. “We have good team chemistry. We’ll be good at pushing the pace and scoring on the fast-break.”
Davis is glad that the Rebels are in a good place in regards to sharing the basketball on the court.
“That’s something that we haven’t had to bang our heads against the wall trying to get that concept through,” Davis said. “These guys have bought into being really unselfish. That’s been really good.”
The Rebels’ roster features a little bit of everything. There are some playmaking guards, some post players who are developing the necessary skills to compete at a high level and an abundance of upperclassmen, as the roster consists almost entirely of juniors and seniors.
The Rebels may not win a state championship in Davis’ first year at the helm, but the journey to success has certainly gotten off to a smooth start.
“I’ve been very pleased in terms of who we have and their willingness and desire to get better every day,” Davis said.
