A Contra Costa College Comet update

Contra Costa College is a factor this season, currently standing 14-8 overall, 5-3 in Bay Valley Conference games and such a residence provides some satisfaction to Coach Miguel Johnson.

Asked about the factors behind the rise of the Comets, Johnson was expansive.

"We have better talent and guys who want to implement the things we put in as coaches. The buy-in factor is huge. We have two guys from last year's roster, [guard] Paulo Rodriguez and [forward] Chris Martin, who are no longer starting but are able to see the rewards, able to experience victories, as are all the guys.  We had to eliminate some behavioral problems [from last year's roster] and we went out and got players. Now, we have great kids who want to work hard and there's good team chemistry."

Johnson mentioned four of his talents in particular:

 * "[6-foot-1] Robert Ellis has been really instrumental in our success as our leading scorer and someone who takes on the leading opponent defensively. Robert's a low to mid major prospect."

 * "[6-foot-6] Tyler West leads us in assists and rebounds and can play multiple positions. He understands our offense and is a facilitator offensively, someone who makes smart decisions."

 * "[5-foot-10] Justin Pollard helps with stability and controlling the tempo. He executes our game plan making us successful."

 * "[6-foot-0] Kenonte Ramsey is one of our most explosive players, he scores big baskets for us and can score in bunches. Him redshirting and getting his academics in order really helped him." 

Johnson also stressed how the understanding of roles from his other supporting cast of players has been critical.this season.

As for how the Comets operate on the court, "Our style of offense is attacking the rim aggressively with four perimeter guys. We press and try to pick up the tempo, making opponents play our game "

He added, "We're trying to make the playoffs but we lost three in conference because of not understanding how to handle success. But we got back to it and showed some character [with wins against Los Medanos, Solano and Merritt] when it counted "

Contra Costa hosts Mendocino in a big matchup on February 8.