Scouting Round Lake boys basketball

ROUND LAKE

Coach: Jim Roberts, 1st season

2009-2010 record: 3-24, 2-10 Prairie

2009-2010 IHSA tournament results: Lost to Hoffman Estates in regional play-in, 61-44.

Key players lost: G Tim Kelley, G Jon Martinez, F Brian Cassidy

Key players returning: G Juddon Carter, jr., F Nick Lange, sr., G Isaiah Brooks, sr., G Danny Uriostegui, jr., G Anthony Gutierrez, jr., F Gage Steger, jr.

Top newcomers: G Teandre Brown, jr., F LaTroy Finley, jr., G Matt Houghton, jr., F Eddie Acevedo, jr., F Curtis Miller, jr., F Mark Jennings, soph.

Outlook: Tough, tough, tough. New coach Jim Roberts is preaching toughness to his players, which comes as no surprise considering Roberts is the son of a football coach. Roberts' dad Rich was the head football coach at Buffalo Grove from 1990 to 2005 and guided the Bison to seven playoff appearances. “We're just looking to get a lot tougher,” Jim Roberts said of his new team. “We have some talented kids at Round Lake. We just need to get tougher here. We need to get tougher on defense, tougher on the boards. We need mental toughness to be disciplined. That's what it's going to take for us to compete.”

Roberts, who was the freshman coach at Round Lake last year and is a social studies teacher at the high school, took over for Howard Kravets, who coached the Panthers for two seasons. “Since I was with the freshmen, I was really in a look-and-observe role with the varsity last year,” said Roberts, a Lake Zurich grad. “So I think the kids kind of feel like they're getting a fresh start this year because I really didn't have any prior relationships with our older players. We're starting with a clean slate and I've been real pleased with what I'm seeing out of the kids so far. There might be teams that work just as hard as us, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find teams who work harder. This group has really done a nice job of putting in the work and the time.”…Setting the tone are two three-year varsity veterans in junior guard Juddon Carter and senior forward Nick Lange. Carter is a dangerous catch-and-shoot scorer and will likely run the offense at point. Lange is a versatile 6-foot-5 wing, able to play inside and out.

Opener: Vs. Woodstock at Woodstock, 7 p.m. Monday