Leadership is the Manes idea

By Joe Mason
Times Sports Editor

Tom Manes always envisioned himself as a true basketball player.
Manes, a senior point guard on the Archbishop Ryan High School basketball team, spent his childhood on the hardwood. He played a lot of basketball for Our Lady of Calvary and he always thought his future would be on a basketball team.
But now things have changed.
Manes is one of the top lacrosse players in the city.
Last year, he fell one vote shy of being named to the All-State team, and he has received scholarship offers from Division 1 schools because of his play at midfield on the Raiders lacrosse team. Thus far, Delaware State and Mount Saint Mary’s are showing the most interest.
So, in all likelihood, this season will be Manes’ final year playing competitive team basketball.
And he plans to make the most of it.
Manes, the only starting senior on the Raiders basketball team, realizes that this season will be his last chance to cut down the twine, signaling a basketball championship. He is dedicating his efforts to making that dream a reality.
"This is probably my last year playing basketball, so I want to make it a memorable one," Manes said. "I never really thought I’d be playing my last year.
"I always wanted to play basketball, but then I got really good at lacrosse. It’s weird, I just started playing lacrosse in high school," he said. "But I’ve gotten better at it and I really want to play D-1, so this will be the end of basketball."
But Manes fully intends to bring a lacrosse mentality every time he takes the floor. And that will only help the Raiders’ chances of making noise this year in the Catholic League.
The Raiders return a strong nucleus from last season. A year ago, Manes was the first player off the bench and received key minutes while helping the Raiders to a fourth-place finish in the Northern Division. This year, as the starting point guard, he believes that his defensive approach to the game should help Ryan win those tight games in January and February.
"We’re a hard-nosed team this year," Manes said. "We have talent. A lot of us can play. But every team has a lot of guys that can play.
"We’ll be successful if we play good defense and run the offense that coach (Bernie) Rogers sets up for us," he continued. "That means if we have to take a charge, we do that. If we have to dive for a loose ball, we have to get on the ground and get it. We have to do the little things, because every team is even and we want to be there in the end."
Manes has no problem sacrificing his body. He’s been doing that his whole basketball career, and he does the same thing during the spring in lacrosse.
But Manes’ greatest challenge this winter could be learning the Raiders’ Princeton-style offense. It puts a lot of pressure on the point guard, because he has to wait for back-door screens. The main objective of the offense is to enable the point guard to wait for his teammates to break for the basket. When they get there, he has to deliver the ball to the open man.
When run properly, the offense provides plenty of lay-ups. And Manes hopes he can help help his teammates’ shooting percentages while leading the Raiders to plenty of wins.
"Being the point guard, you have to be very patient," Manes said. "Every possession is important. You can’t make a bad decision or it could cost you the game. It’s all about control and knowing when (your teammates) are going to cut and when they’re not going to cut.
"But I love this offense," Manes continued. "The coaches do a great job teaching it to us, and it’s fun. Other teams get so mad because you can have the ball for a minute and if there’s no shot, you don’t force it.
"We make teams play defense for long periods of time," he added. "And we have a lot of scorers, so that benefits us. When we run the offense the way we’re told to, we should win every game. It’s not easy to run the offense, but it’s fun and it works very well."
Rogers, who has a history of getting the most out of his players, has been very impressed with Manes’ leadership skills on the court.
"He’s our only starting senior so we need him to be a leader," Rogers said. "When he came into the program, he was a good player, but he’s turned himself into a much better player. He works hard and he does his best to lead. That’s what you need out of your point guard."
Leadership skills are something Manes takes very seriously.
He’d like to be a captain on the lacrosse team this spring, and he wants to do his best to lead the Raiders hoops squad in Northern Division play. But he also does some leading on the homefront.
Manes’ brother Eric is a sophomore at Ryan. A few years ago, when Tom Manes needed to work on his lacrosse game, he bought his younger brother a goalie stick and started taking shots on him.
It helped refine Tom’s lacrosse skills. And this year, Eric likely will be the starting goalie for Ryan.
"It’s funny, I just wanted him to learn the sport and help give me some practice," Tom Manes said. "But he really knows how to play. He’s a lot better than I thought he’d be."
So what would make this a perfect senior year for Tom Manes?
"Two championships would be the best," he said. "Right now I’m only worried about basketball. I think we have enough talent to compete. We just have to put it all together." ••
Sports editor Joe Mason can be reached at 215-354-3035 or jmason@phillynews.com