This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
01/18/2017 11:00 PMBasketball is the one sport that Liam Bell has played throughout his life and he sees it as his release. Liam is passionate about basketball and his love of the game has been on full display this winter as Liam is making the court his personal playground at Westbrook.
Liam, a 6-foot-3 guard, is a huge reason why the Westbrook boys’ basketball team is out to a hot start with a record of 6-1 this winter. Looking at his stat sheet, Liam has established himself as a solid all-around player by averaging 20.9 points to go with 9.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists a night for the Knights.
“Basketball has always been my go-to. If I need to get something off my chest, I can go to the gym and take 150 shots and I’ll feel better. I’ve always had fun with it and playing with my friends,” says Liam, a senior captain. “The biggest thing for me has been confidence. My teammates say they want the ball in my hands and we all play well together as a team. We know each other well and everyone is impacted by each other’s confidence. With that, I always have that green light to go.”
In a fast-paced game like basketball, players have little time to make snap decisions in a variety of scenarios. Liam’s approach is to wing it, but he only does so with the highest belief in the four guys surrounding him on the floor.
“You have to be ready for whatever is coming at you. You have to be ready to go on the fly, which has been our motto this year,” says Liam, who earned All-Shoreline Conference and All-State First Team honors last year. “When it comes to either shooting or passing, I look for whoever is open. I give it to them and trust them with the ball. Versus a man-to-man defense, we have a lot of backdoor cuts. We also have a good offense versus a zone. We just have a solid group based on trust and confidence in each other.”
Westbrook Head Coach Jeff Beeman doesn’t want to see Liam leave after this year and so he’s going to appreciate watching Liam continue to make an impact on all ends of the court through the next few months.
“Liam is not only a fabulous scorer, but also rebounds and passes exceptionally well,” says Beeman. “Any coach would be happy to have a player of his caliber on their roster. He will be impossible to replace next year.
When it comes to being great on the glass, Liam adheres to the advice of all-time NBA great Charles Barkley, who reeled in more 12,000 career rebounds despite being an undersized power forward at 6-foot-6.
“I think Charles Barkley said something like this, but it’s just about going up and getting the ball. You can box out all you want. It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t go for and get the ball,” says Liam. “I just love coming down with the ball and securing it.”
As one who’s played the game for many years, Liam has worked with a collection of coaches who’ve emphasized different aspects of basketball, and each one of them has helped pave Liam’s road to success by teaching him specific skills. Now, Liam is guiding the Knights on path toward prosperity as they’re aiming to contend for conference and state titles this year.
“The amount of coaches I’ve had, I’ve taken bits and pieces from different things from each of them. I’ve had offensive and defensive-oriented coaches. For me, things started to come together around my freshman year. But I’ve always continued to pick up little things of the game and keep wanting to get better,” says Liam, who thanks all of his teammates. “We are out to beat every team we play this year, so we just have to go out and do it.”