Ithaca Times -
When rural public
high schools like Dryden get players like Ali Abel-Ferretti, it’s
borderline unfair. That is amplified when you realize that Abel-Ferretti
is a junior and his prime is still to come.
The six-foot-six,
227 pound center has a been a force of nature in the offseason and early
scrimmages. His coach, Kim Brown, called his preseason performance
“dominant”—and that was against bigger and better schools, who you’d
think would have bigger and better centers. But that has not been the
case.
It was easy to see last year the potential that
oozed out of Abel-Ferretti throughout Dryden’s varsity basketball season
that resulted in the Lions getting knocked out of the first round of
sectionals. He was a little raw and clumsy as a sophomore, but the
talent was obvious. Now, after playing a summer in a more competitive
AAU league and adding 15 pounds of muscle, Abel-Ferretti looks to be the
man to take Dryden out of their sectional slump.
“He’s dominating thus far,” said Brown. “You want
to talk about scrimmages? He is dominating. We’ve played double A’s,
we’ve played A’s and we’ve played B’s. We played a couple smaller
schools. He has dominated everyone. He went against some six-foot-seven
kids that he has just dominated. He has the ability to dominate this
league.”
Considering the schedule Dryden will play this
year, the early verdict on Abel-Ferretti is the best case scenario.
Brown is trying to put his team in the right position for a high
sectional seed. The point and seeding system rewards teams who play
tougher opponents like Windsor, Chenango Valley, and Moravia, which
means that Dryden plays less home games and travels further than the
other IAC teams. This is the curse of being in the Class B bracket, but
if Abel-Ferretti ends up as good as advertised, it may just be a
blessing.
“His upper half needs to get stronger, but his
lower half is so strong,” said Brown. “He has great post moves. The feet
come from soccer — he’s a soccer player so that helps. His conditioning
is better and he is a great verbal leader. He has the opportunity this
year to have a great year. Not just this year, but next year as well.”
Both Abel-Ferretti and Brown both said that this
summer was spent opening his game to be a more versatile player. Brown
said that Abel-Ferretti weighed in at 250 in the summer, which was too
out-of-shape for his liking. He slimmed down to 227, improved his
footwork, and began work on an outside shot.
It’d be obvious to have Abel-Ferretti simply be a
force down low. He could post up his defenders, back them down, work in
maybe a single move, and baby hook the ball into the basket. It worked
fine for the Lions last year, but this year is different.
“I’ve felt like i’ve been more confident shooting
the outside jump shots,” said Abel-Ferretti. “I felt more confident
shooting a few threes too. I know there are kids that are way past my
height that are better shooting big men, but a guy like my size, if I
want to go further, and maybe make a career out of this, I should be
more comfortable becoming an all-around basketball player on the court.”
The revelation of Abel-Ferretti did not come as a
surprise to Dryden. He came up and played varsity as an eighth grader,
already the biggest player on the roster. Brown said that the biggest
adjustment came to refining his shooting technique. Now, he shoots the
ball with a consistent form, but a few years ago, his release started
behind his head.
Not only did he fix poor form, but transitioned
it into a strength. He shot 70 percent from the free throw line last
season, which is key for a big, and has continued to improve into an
offensive force.
It’s important for Dryden that Abel-Ferretti
isn’t just tall, but uses his gift of size to his advantage. Height will
only get a player so far, but using it to be strong and aggressive
spells disaster for opposing front courts.
“Ali is blessed,” said Brown. “Besides having the
height, he is strong as well. He is wide, he has big shoulders, he
takes up space, can move guys, and he’s hard to move. When you have a
guy with good hands, he knows how to finish, understands post moves.
He’s a bright kid. He remembers everything you tell him. It’s a pleasure
to coach a kid like that because it makes my job easier. Instead of
having to refine, refine, refine, he’s already past that point.”
“I just hope that I can work hard in the post,”
said Abel-Ferretti. “Get rebounds, get a lot of put backs. I hope to
improve my defensive game too as a big man. If you eliminate the big man
off teams, they aren’t going to be scoring a whole lot, at least under
the basket.”
Dryden is going to be one of the better teams in the IAC this year. There is just no question.
The team only lost one senior who played
significant minutes — Ross Cole — and while Brown says they will miss
his contributions, they have already found a suitable replacement.
“We have a kid (junior Anthony Nichols) coming up
from JV. He could’ve played last year, but he just wasn’t mature
enough,” said Brown. “Ross was a great leader, and (Nichols) could never
get to that level for Ross. But he’s a better offensive player. He’ll
be just as good defensively as Ross was. I think we may have even taken a
step up. Ross wasn’t a great offensive player, he would have told you
that last year. He said, ‘My job is to make good decisions and defend.’
Anthony will make good decisions, defend, and score the ball very well.”
It also helps that Abel-Ferretti has been able to develop chemistry with point guard Trevor Gardner over the last few years.
“I think that works out really well,” said
Abel-Ferretti. “Coach gets us together in the summer, in fall leagues,
summer leagues. We are constantly playing together. We have open gym
Thursday nights. The more we play with each other, the more comfortable
we get with each other.”
The goal for Dryden is to not just make
sectionals again. They’ve been there and done that with a 10-8 record
and a first round exit in 2013.
This year, they want to win a few more of those games.
“We’ve made the sectionals, but I want to go
further,” said Abel-Ferretti. “Not just past the first round, but second
round and hopefully winning this. Definitely making the IAC
championship and winning it is a major goal. I think it’s totally
possible for us to do that.”
Brown agrees. “When it comes to postseason play,
we need to win a sectional game. We should win a postseason game this
year and be in contention. We should be in contention for the B’s. There
is no doubt in my mind. We have that ability.”
Teams like Whitney Point, who Brown says is
comparable to the Lions this season and anticipates close games between
them, and Lansing, who Dryden has not beaten in six years, are the games
Abel-Ferretti has circled on his calendar.
“I’m really confident with the guys we have on
this team,” said Abel-Ferretti. “I think we have a really bright future
in our league and division. I think we will go far this year, hopefully
farther than last year.”
