DRIVE PLAYER DIARY - WITH - BRENT MALISH
Brent Malish is Inside DRIVE’s 2005-2006 Pre-Season Mr. Basketball in British Columbia (look for the full list of Pre-Season All-Stars). He is a 6’6’’ multi-faceted player that has been a fixture on the local hoop scene for years, representing BC on U-17 provincial team for the past 2 summers. Last year Brent averaged and impressive 31.5 PPG 17 RPG 6 APG, Garnett like numbers. He was named to the Fraser Valley 1st all-star team as well as claiming numerous other all-star awards. Brent recently committed to national powerhouse UBC Thunderbirds as the highly scouted senior ended his intensive recruiting processes. Brent will be checking in with DRIVE periodically through out the year to keep everyone up to date with whats going on in the basketball world. Look for Brent to do a little bit of everything for Brookswood this season as they contend for the AAA Provincial Championship.
02/28/06
(3rd Entry)
Hey, What's up everyone?
Well we have just finished Fraser Valleys and are looking forward now to the Provincials. It was a long week to say the least, but well worth it in the end. Coming into the season I thought our team could win the Fraser Valley and thats what we ended up doing. But it wasnt easy as we had to play 4 tough games to get it. It started off against Walnut Grove, our cross-town rivals, as they seem to play their best games against us. We survived in that game with a 6 point win. Graham Bath, my partner in crime, played awesome and later in the tournament get his dues getting a 1st Team All-Star. Then with the luck of the draw, we had Centennial. Our teams have had some pretty hard fought games in the past so I knew it was going to be a close game. We had a game plan to pound the ball inside and thats what we did. We got some strong shooting out of our grade 10 guard Brett Lawrie that kept their defense honest at some point. We ended up winning by 9 points. So this set up a semi-final with Maple Ridge. We were in this position last year against Centennial and couldnt pull it out. We came out in this game focused and intense. And it showed with our defense. The game was close the whole way.
In the finals, we played a team with one of the more explosive scorers in the province, Aneetan Braich. We knew this game was going to be a hard fought win. Again, we followed the game plan and we pulled out the win. I got to give credit to the 2 guys on the team that guarded Aneetan, James Arbuah and Dan Allingham for holding him to 12 points. Those two played their hearts out and didnt get the recognition they deserved for their defensive performance. Our team had some bumps along the way during the season. We definately benefited, so far, from our tough schedule, in which we played 24 games against top 20 competition. Im really proud in the guys that I have played with over the years, that stuck with it and wanted to put Brookswood basketball on the map. This was the first Fraser Valley AAA Senior Boys basketball championship that Brookswood has ever won and all the guys are happy to be a part of it.
Looking ahead to the Provincials, we got seeded 4th. So we play the winner of Kelly Road and Killarney on the wednesday. We are going to prepare for this game as we do for any other game. We played in this position last year and hopefuly the experience will help us through our games this year.
Yours in Hoops,
Brent
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01/28/06
(2nd Entry)
What’s up everyone...
Hope all of your seasons are going well.
My team has played well at times and bad at times, which seems to be the story of our season so far: inconsistency. We have had 3 straight weekends with tournaments starting with the MEI tournament, which we came second, the Legal Beagle, and the Pitt Meadows tournament. We played some very tough teams in the past 3 weeks and I’m sure they will help us down the road when we come across a tough situation. Our team is coming up to a very important part in our year. In the next 2 weeks we have some very important league games. Including away games at Walnut Grove and MEI. MEI is a very tough team, with some very talented players including Jesse Smith, who is a very good player.
Personally, I have been playing alright up until this point. My shooting has been a strong point this year in many games. I still would like to improve on my rebounding and my ball handling.
This year there is so much parody among the top 15 teams. Anyone can beat anyone on any given night. But I still think that Handsworth and St. Georges are the teams to beat this year. Kitsilano, has yet another strong team and will be around in March. But you can never count out any Fraser Valley team. MEI, Centennial, WRCA, Pitt, Enver, Maple Ridge, North Delta are just some of the teams in the Fraser Valley that can win the Fraser Valley title and the provincial title. The island is also very strong with teams like Claremont, Oak Bay, Dover Bay, and GP Vanier.
I also want to congratulate Alex Murphy for signing with UBC.
Until Next time...BM
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12/05/05
(1st Entry)
Whats up everyone...
Playing on the U-17 team over the past 2 summers has been unforgettable. The guys on the team were great. We came up short in the end at the Canada Summer Games, but all in all I had a great time. Getting to travel all over the Northwest and to Las Vegas, playing in tournaments, hanging out with the guys was awesome. Practicing against the best players in BC can only make you better. Then going to Las Vegas and Canada Summer Games, you are playing against some of the best guys in Canada and some of the better guys in the US. Playing against the best possible competition is the best way to get better. Then playing for arguably the 2 best coaches in BC can’t hurt either. I learnt a lot from Coach Goulet and Coach Allen through the 2 summers that I played for them. I owe a lot to them for all the work and advice that I have received from both of them.
At the moment, I am training very hard in preparation of the upcoming season. I am weight lifting 4-5 days a week, going for 20-30 minutes runs as well as doing stairs/hills. I’m also working on my shot, shooting about 1000-1500 shots a week. Before I shoot, I like to warm up by working on my ball handling, then I work on different types of shots (off of cuts, off the dribble, 3’s).
(Insert)
UBC Head Coach Kevin Hanson on Malish's recent commitment:
(Courtesy: The Province)
“We’re extremely excited to have someone of Brent’s caliber, as both an athlete and a student, commit to the UBC program, especially this early in the season...He’ll be a great fit for our program, and his early decision will allow him to focus on having an outstanding senior year.”
(Diary cont'd)
My personal goal for this year is to just win. That’s all I want out of this year. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make us win. Rebounding, bringing the ball-up against pressure, defending any position on the floor. I want to improve my individual game by becoming a more complete player. Our team goals for the season is to improve every game. We should out-rebound every team we play on the offensive glass and the defensive glass. If we control the boards we give ourselves a chance to win every game. Our squad should be a tough team when we get all of our guys on the same page. I expect us to be an up-tempo team, playing in your face defense. You can expect a breakout year from Graham Bath and John Pankratz, two key members of our team this year. Ultimately we want to win a championship. We believe we have some of the key components that you need to win. But there are so many good teams out there like Handsworth, St Georges, Kits, Claremont, Centennial, Pitt, MEI...The list can keep going. So its going to be tough, but well worth the effort even if it doesn’t work out.
Yours in Hoops...BM
