Coach Syan Thompson is not suggesting that his Sudbury U14 Storm boys basketball team is perfect - not by a long shot.

But taking his 3-1 crew into OBL (Ontario Basketball League) action Saturday in Thornhill, Thompson is more than a little pleased with what he has to work with this year, a marriage of a core group that have played together and four newcomers to the squad for 2023-2024.

"We have a group of kids that are just dogs," Thompson beamed. "They go out there and play hard and never take their foot off the gas."

And while perpetual energy is clearly a huge asset for any team that needs to run the court constantly, it honestly doesn't mean a whole lot without a smattering of key skills thrown into the mix as well.

"We shoot the ball very well," noted the man who helped lead his team to victory over the HOF (Hall of Fame) Hustle from Bradford (76-36), Eurostep from Toronto (56-37) and the Milton Stags (72-44) in the latter months of 2023, suffering their only loss at the hands of the North York Lions, 64-63.

"We have six to eight players who can knock down a triple at any given time," Thompson continued. "We attack the basket very well - and we press a lot. We like to press with players in very specific spots so that we are using the press as a unit."

A big supporter of learning the fundamentals of the hoop sport that is growing in popularity in the Nickel City, Thompson also leans on non-basketball specific components in travelling the road to basketball success.

"We do a lot of cardio work," he said. "We're not the biggest team so we have to be one of the best conditioned."

That last statement also plays directly into likely the single area where Thompson would like to see greater improvement.

"If we could rebound the ball better, that would help complete the team," he noted. "We have two new bigs this year (youngsters who are 6'1" and 6'2" respectively), but we need to rebound better as a team."

That said, Thompson has little doubt that his U14 Storm boys are fully capable of taking the next step.

"They're a really good group of kids, willing to learn and work hard - and they hold each other accountable," he summarized. "And that's one thing I am particularly proud of."

The 2023-2024 version of the Sudbury U14 Storm boys encompasses Thomas Deredin, Samuel Niyonkuru, Liam Hagen, Koen Levasseur, Kamron Tessier, Kaden Saidi-Smith, Fred Becker, Felix Naghi, Christopher Folino, Angelo Kalonji, Jack O'Connell, Maxime Belzile, Levi Blouin and Tyion Thompson.