Young Bulldogs eager to make their mark

The young and quick Andalusia Bulldogs will look to make an impact this season for the varsity boys’ basketball team.

“We don’t have a lot of size this year, but we have quick players,” head coach Richard Robertson said. “We’re going to be a blue collar team just like we always are. We’ll get it done with hard work and dedication.”

The Bulldogs will face a competitive schedule before even getting into area games.

“We have pretty much the same schedule we have always had,” Robertson said. “We’ve still got teams like Enterprise. We’ve got Dothan. We’ve got Ozark and then we have our area schedule. We’re going to play the hand we were dealt.”

The Bulldogs will play their first game Sat., Nov. 15, against Boaz in Florala as part of the Deep South/Sand Mountain Shootout hosted by Florala.

“I’m a hard-nosed, blue collar coach, and that’s what we expect from our players,” Robertson said. “We will work our tail off and let the chips fall were they may.”

This year’s team only has four seniors, but Robertson said that they have been with him their entire careers, and they will have to step up as the leaders or the team.

“We look for certain type of players that we want, and it doesn’t have much to do with how talented a player is…we want the players who are going to be good student-athletes,” Robertson said. “Most of these kids won’t make it to college playing sports, so we want to ensure that they become good men and leaders for our community. We are developing a community as much as we are developing basketball players.”

Robertson said the team’s success this season will depend on how well they can play on defense when they are outsized.

“We won’t have the biggest team on the court. Preparedness is what it takes,” Robertson said. “Bigness is in the heart.”

On how his offense would run this season, Robertson said it would be the same as it always has been.

“Generations change, but right and wrong never change,” Robertson said. “I’m old-school and have no desire to change that.”

Even though he likes to do things his way, Robertson said he is never too old to learn something new.

“I still go to all the coaching clinics and learn something new every day,” Robertson said.

Robertson said that he has a lot of guys playing this year, but he can only dress 15 players at a time on any given team.

“I don’t like for young guys to sit on the bench, so we won’t dress all 15 spots on varsity. We want the young guys that won’t be playing on varsity to dress for the B-team to get experience and playing time,” Robertson said.

It may be a young team this season, but Robertson said that they will be in shape and ready to play.

“We practice seven days a week, because there is always something we need to work on,” Robertson said. “Sundays we work around the church schedule, and usually practice for about an hour or so.”

“This is my 40th year as the ball coach here and the same things that won games then are the same things that win games now and will win games for the next 100 years,” Robertson said.