Pay attention, when Glendora's Mike LeDuc talks playoff basketball, we can all learn something

By Fred Robledo on February 15, 2011 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) |

"This is my 32nd year going to the playoffs and I've seen everything. Playoffs come down to being ready to play and play well, playing the teams you match up well against and getting lucky. I'm not sure if our league is going to prepare us or not. If this team (Eastside) is a lot like Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Los Osos or Alta Loma, then yeah, the league helped us because we're ready." -- Glendora coach Mike LeDuc

By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
Last season marked only the second time since 1981 that Glendora High School's boys basketball team failed to make it out of the first round of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. But don't expect the sting of that statistic to mean much to this year's Tartans when they take the court on Wednesday in the first round of the Division 2A playoffs against Eastside. "Last year doesn't matter at all," Glendora coach Mike LeDuc said after practice on Monday. "We've already practiced for today, we've talked for today and it never came up in our talk. For a lot of years we won a lot of games because we had the best players. "Last year, I thought both the team we played (Burbank) and ourselves were fairly equal. I thought they played fairly well against us and I don't think we played well at all, but I don't think that carries into this year at all."

Prior to last year, Glendora's previous two seasons ended in the semifinals.

Making another deep run looks like a strong possibility thanks to a 21-6 overall record and second-place finish in the Baseline League.

But LeDuc said the jury remains out on whether Glendora's league has the Tartans primed to take their fans on another thrilling postseason ride.

"This is my 32nd year going to the playoffs and I've seen everything," LeDuc said. "Playoffs come down to being ready to play and play well, playing the teams you match up well against and getting lucky.

"I'm not sure if our league is going to prepare us or not. If this team (Eastside) is a lot like Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Los Osos or Alta Loma, then yeah, the league helped us because we're ready."

Trouble is, little was known about Eastside by LeDuc following Glendora's first practice of the week. The veteran coach said he was going to spend Monday night learning about the Lions, who went 13-12 overall and hail from the Golden League, where they tied for third.

It's no secret what Glendora likes to do, however. Getting the ball to forward Nick Colletta has been the top priority of LeDuc's offense and it's paid off with the sophomore averaging 24.1 points per game.

Kyle Gordon, at 11 points, is the only other Tartan averaging in double figures.

1 Comments

so what did you guys learn? said:

how to lose in the first round again!

February 17, 2011 1:51 PM

Pay attention, when Glendora's Mike LeDuc talks playoff basketball, we can all learn something

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Fred Robledo

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