Thursday, May 5, 2011

Article 189: Biggins to be Big for Serra

May 3, 2011

For Serra High of the WCAL, the past few seasons saw their basketball team led by point guard Connor Mcgrath. With his departure to Chico State, the Padres will now depend on 2013 combination guard Jacqui Biggins to fill that void.

At 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, Biggins averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists for the junior varsity team this past season. He was called up to the varsity squad for the post season. This upcoming season, he will be a critical guard in the backcourt success of the Padres.

During this offseason, Biggins will be working on his footwork and dribbling abilities. He will be playing for his club team, the Bay Area Warriors.

Bay Area Warriors Coach Randy Bessolo says, "Jacqui has god-like speed and quickness that he combines with very good ball-handling and shooting skills. Jacqui is a tough competitor who is willing to be a leader and take charge on the court. He is a classic combo guard who can run a team as the point guard or move over to the shooting guard position and catch and shoot 3s."

Biggins tries to emulate some of the best point guards in the game such as Deron Williams or Jason Kidd. Biggins uses his skills and agility to beat his defender. He also incorporates a solid post game on smaller guards to make scoring easier. He is also apt at setting screens and flashing to spots to be effective without the ball and create more scoring opportunities for himself and his team.

The college process is still early for Biggins but he is looking for a program that plays solid half-court defense and uses defense to lead to transition offense. He also likes a program that runs well schemed offensive sets.

Coach Randy Bessolo says, "Jacqui has good priorities and values that have contributed to his continual improvement. Jacqui has the ability and talent to be a college player. The question now is what level will that be, D1, D2, or D3. Regardless, I see Jacqui using his basketball talents to help himself get a quality education from a school of higher learning. Jacqui has a great work ethic and is committed to getting better. I have already seen a lot of improvement in his game and expect the improvement to continue over the next two years."

The biggest sport related adversity that Biggins has dealt with is injuries. Since he is such a fierce competitor, he felt that he let his teammates and coaches down. However, the encouragement from his coaches and family kept him focused to persevere through the injuries.

His individual goals for next year are to become a better defender and a more proficient scorer which means minimizing turnovers and having the ability to score points while keeping his team involved with assists and rebounds. With the burden of replacing Mcgrath, Biggins will need to have a big season should Serra want to make a deep playoff run. Watch for Biggins to be big for his Padres in San Mateo this upcoming season.

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