Alex Daniels’ transition from part-time player last season to starter went pretty smoothly over Warren’s first six games.
The 6-foot-4 junior forward has been consistently among the top scorers and rebounders for the Blue Devils, who won five of their first six under first-year coach Zack Ryan. Daniels has been more confident too.
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“Coach Ryan has given me a chance to show what I can do,” Daniels said. “I didn’t play much last season, so I really worked hard in the gym to improve my game. I also hit the weight room to get stronger.”
Daniels will need that strength in the North Suburban Conference, where teams will have taller players he’ll have to guard in the post.
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“I’m still learning how to play good defense against big players,” he said. “I know I can get better in that area, and I can use my quickness to make up for a lack of height.”
Daniels finished with eight points and five rebounds in Warren’s 61-45 road loss to Libertyville in a conference opener on Tuesday. He had trouble finding openings against the Wildcats’ 6-6 Aidyn Boone and 6-5 Cole Bonder.
“Alex is still finding his way on this level, and he’s done a great job so far,” said Ryan, who built a consistent winner during his time at Carmel. “But Libertyville has two big, experienced post players in Bonder and Boone. That experience showed.”
Daniels scored all of his heavily contested points for Warren (5-2, 0-1) in the paint against Libertyville (4-3, 1-0). When he tried to step out on the perimeter, his usually dependable outside shot failed him.
“It was a bad shooting night for me,” he said. “The only way to forget a game like this is to get back at it and keep shooting. I’m confident I will bounce back.”
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Ryan said Daniels is going to have his up and downs this season because of his inexperience on the varsity level.
“He’s not the only one,” Ryan said. “Besides Adam (Panek) and Adrian (Jones), we have a lot of younger guys just getting their feet wet. They are going to have to learn that they have to bring their ‘A’ game every night in the North Suburban Conference because it is such a strong league.”
Warren led Libertyville 30-23 at halftime but was outscored 24-9 in the third quarter.
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“We have had our problems in the third quarter at times this season,” Daniels said. “We need to come out in the second half ready to play our best like we did in the first half. Nothing went right (against Libertyville) in the second half on offense or defense.”
Daniels said he still likes the Blue Devils’ chances in the conference.
“Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for us,” he said. “We know what we need to correct, and we have enough talent on this team to have a great season.”
Darren Day is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
