Fleming’s Speech Fires Up Laguna Beach

For senior guard Chris Sirianni and his teammates, a stern, early season tongue-lashing from Laguna Beach Coach Bret Fleming could ultimately prove to be the Artists’ turning point.

Off to its best start this decade, Laguna Beach (9-3) has won six of its last seven games as it enters today’s game against Mission Viejo (3-6) in the Century tournament.

Several weeks ago, what Fleming has called his “best team in eight years as coach,” looked as if it was going to be a big disappointment.

“The coach was pretty disgusted with the way we were playing,” Sirianni said. “He let us know that if we kept playing like that, we wouldn’t win many games.”

Fleming was fuming Dec. 9 after Laguna Beach was hammered by Calvary Chapel, 60-39, at the La Quinta tournament, and he didn’t hold his feelings back in the locker room.

For some, the speech was an eye-opener. Sirianni, a 6-foot-3 point guard, said he realized he had been trying to do too much. Mater Dei transfer Nick Reynolds, a 6-7 center, realized he wasn’t becoming the offensive threat he thought he should be. And B.J. Jameson, the shooting guard, felt he wasn’t getting the ball enough.

“We were flat. We all got a little selfish, which is bad,” Jameson said. “I wouldn’t use that term to describe us now, but back then we were all trying to do too much.”

Fleming held individual meetings with each player and defined their roles more clearly. The result, Sirianni said, was that “it’s some kids’ jobs to rebound, some others to score and others now know what to do on defense.

“Once everyone knew what their roles were, we settled down and have really jelled,” Sirianni said.

Fleming said he was surprised at the team’s lack of intensity in the early going.

“We were kind of feeling each other out at the beginning of the year,” he said. “We were winning some games, but I was not feeling like we were real team-oriented. The kids felt like they didn’t play really well together, either, and it just culminated with that Calvary Chapel game.”

One of the main reasons Laguna Beach has rebounded so nicely has been the play of Sirianni, a three-year starter who has improved his ballhandling skills dramatically since he was a sophomore. He’s averaging 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

“Chris really stepped up and took his role as point guard,” Fleming said.

Early on, Fleming said, Sirianni felt it was necessary to carry the entire team. Fleming pointed out that he preferred Sirianni bring the ball up the floor and only shoot when he had to. Even though he is 6-3, rebounding and shooting aren’t that crucial in his job.

“My role is the quarterback who has to lead the team,” Sirianni said. “We have B.J. [Jameson], the off-guard who can shoot. He’s going to be our No. 1 offensive player. My role is to control the team, pass the ball and break down the defense.”

Kurt Beimfohr, a 6-4 junior forward has become the go-to guy in the post area and has seen a big change in the way the team has played since Fleming’s outburst. For one thing, Beimfohr has shifted from center to power forward, which has him more involved in the offense.

“Chris has been pushing the ball up more and we’ve been getting a lot of early shots,” he said. “Before I was taking the ball out of bounds and helping break the press. Now I’m getting up the floor and running the lanes.”

Reynolds’ fit in the mix wasn’t that easy to define. A life-long Laguna Beach resident, he said he didn’t mine sitting on the bench at Mater Dei during the Monarchs’ 32-3 run last season because he was playing behind better players. But he said he was stunned when Coach Gary McKnight told him during the summer that he wouldn’t get much playing time this season.

His transfer to Laguna Beach, however, presented some problems for the Artists. For one thing, Reynolds initially thought he had to take a larger scoring role. But he said he never learned how to be a post-up offensive threat at Mater Dei, where he spent most of his time on the scout team.

“I’m just learning how to post up,” he said. “My role here now is to back up the other guys. If they are hitting their shots, I will back off and just help out on rebounds.”

The 16-team Century Tournament, which runs through Tuesday, should provide the test Fleming is looking for to see how much his tinkering has paid off. For one thing, there’s motivation to advance to the final, where a rematch with Calvary Chapel isn’t out of the question, he said.

If nothing more, the resurgence of Laguna Beach, coupled with the surprising 6-1 start of Laguna Hills makes the Pacific Coast League race, which begins Jan. 9, appear to be one of the more competitive in the county.

“It will be a dogfight,” Fleming said. “You’re going to see a lot of close games.”