A lot of basketball players take defense for granted, but here at Potosi, our program pushes our players to play better defense. Most people watching and playing basketball will only care about the stats such as points, rebounds, or assists. However, Potosi High School’s Isaiah Groom and Dawson Weber take pride in their defense, pushing themselves and each other to get better every day.
Seniors Groom and Weber were recognized on the Wissports.com defensive player pre-season watch list. The awards are presented annually to senior student-athletes representing the following positions: point guard, wing, post, defense, or shooter. The lists will be narrowed down to 15 semi-finalists for each of the five positions halfway through the season. The winners of these five awards will be chosen during the week of the state basketball tournament.
Isaiah Groom was slightly surprised and felt pretty honored to get this type of recognition. Groom was asked if he took pride in his defense, and he responded, “Oh Yeah.” He states, “Defense is the most important part of the game. A wise man once said if the other team doesn’t score, they can’t win.” Groom is inspired to push harder and play good, tough defense by Coach Uppena. Occasionally Isaiah gets into foul trouble because of how aggressive he plays on the defensive side. “I don't think of it as a bad thing; I think of it that I am playing hard and being aggressive.” Groom is very proud of another teammate to also be given this recognition.
Dawson Weber thinks it is kind of cool to get this award, but he says, “It’s much better that me and a teammate were given it.” Weber says that being given this recognition is not going to change his gameplay at all and he will continue to do what he does. Dawson takes pride in his defense, trying very hard to improve himself at all times during practice. He says, “ I think it's kind of embarrassing to play bad defense.” Dawson does not want to be beaten to the basket by anyone, which pushes him to play aggressive defense. All coaches that he has had have inspired him to play hard defense while convincing him that defense is what wins the games. Dawson also gets into foul trouble pretty frequently and tends to get pretty upset about it. He thinks the best thing about this recognition is sharing it with a teammate and showing the Potosi way of defense.
Isaiah and Dawson are trying very hard to keep themselves in the running for the award; to keep up with the results, you can visit the Wissports.com defensive player watch list.