Etiwanda deals with opponents man-to-man

If someone decided to do a reality TV show about Etiwanda basketball Coach Dave Kleckner, it would be titled “The Last Man Standing.”

Kleckner proudly tells everyone and anyone that his teams have “not played a second” of zone defense since he became head coach in 1996. And it’s not just the varsity being directed to play man-to-man defense, but the junior varsity and freshman teams.

“If you can’t guard the ball, you won’t play,” Kleckner said. “Every player at every level knows it.”

Coaching in high school is about making adjustments depending on your personnel, but Kleckner is sticking with his belief that teaching man-to-man defense will prepare his players for the next level, even if a zone defense might help on occasion.

It’s a dare to opponents, but Kleckner keeps pulling off the rare feat of teaching a group of new players each season how to play man-to-man defense, whether they’re big or small, fast or slow, strong or weak.

The No. 4-ranked Eagles are 14-1 during what was supposed to be a rebuilding season after they went 29-4 last season. In the championship game of the Oaks Christian tournament last week, Etiwanda defeated the host Lions, 60-28, when Oaks Christian made five of 47 shots.

“They do play great half-court defense,” Oaks Christian Coach Andre Chevalier said. “They defend the paint well. They make you take tough shots. They control from the three-point line down. They stop penetration and close out on every shot, and they’re physical.”

Kleckner said he has been using man defense since he started coaching in 1991 at Montclair.

“I don’t want to give kids a way out, an alibi,” he said. “We recognize when players need help. It develops a certain level of toughness in kids.”

Etiwanda’s insistence on playing man-to-man defense can create what appears to be mismatches. The Eagles assign 6-footer Sam Flemming to guard 6-7 centers. But opposing teams soon learn trying to dump the ball inside isn’t easy.

Etiwanda knows how to help Flemming and others. When one player gets beat, there’s usually a teammate right behind to provide help or take a charging foul. It’s teamwork at its best and the big reason the Eagles can prosper even though they don’t have a true big man in the middle. They have athletes with quickness, and they rotate to spots in unison as if perfectly choreographed.

“It’s got to be from the heart,” sophomore guard Jordan McLaughlin said. “You have to want it. The help defense is our defensive triangle, and we bluff and recover. You have to play your heart out and work real hard to get back to where we were.”

Etiwanda also isn’t lacking in talent. McLaughlin is on his way to becoming a college player. He’s averaging 16.6 points a game. Dominique Walker, a 6-3 senior guard, was most valuable player of the Oaks Christian tournament. Senior guard Brandon Townes and junior forward Sheldon Blackwell also can be counted on to contribute on offense.

Opposing coaches have joked to Kleckner before games, “We’ve been working on our zone offense all week.”

About the only time Etiwanda uses a zone is in practice, when the reserves play zone to help the first string work on its zone offense. Otherwise, zone defense is banned from the Etiwanda vocabulary.

Call it stubbornness, call it pride, call it the Etiwanda way. Whatever the reason, it’s working.

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