When Jason Llantero was coaching the Woodside High School boys’ basketball team from 2013 to 2016, he played a traditional game: a lot of half-court sets offensively and zone defenses.
“I was a lot more controlling (with set) plays. I kind of mirror what I did growing up,” Llantero said. “I remember when I was playing, (it was), get it to the big guy. I played basketball in the ’90s.”
Llantero, who is a special education teacher at Woodside, stepped away from coaching to help raise his twin children at the end of the 2016 season. He returned last season as the coach of the Wildcats’ JV girls’ team, propelling them to an eye-popping 22-2 record.
When he found out he would be taking over the girls’ varsity program, Llantero continued the evolution of his coaching philosophy. He has taken a more aggressive approach all the way around, using a high-pressure approach on both ends of the court.
His new style has led the Wildcats to a 7-1 record to start the season for a program that has won only seven or more games three times in the previous six seasons.
The girls’ success is a mirror of the Woodside basketball program — as a whole. The Wildcats’ boys’ program is also experiencing a resurgence under second-year head coach Eli Thornton. The boys are off to a 7-0 start of the their own, already surpassing 2018-2019’s win total of four games. Three weeks ago, the Wildcats went to the Sacramento area and went 3-0 in the Mira Loma tournament. They returned and posted a 77-65 win over Terra Nova and cruised past Summit Shasta, 73-56.
PAL play has not been kind to either Woodside program the last several years, however. Last year, the teams combined to go 1-23 with the girls’ taking a 44-23 decision over Hillsdale this past February as the only varsity win for either team..
So even with the hot start, Llantero is not getting ahead of himself.
“We’re a work in progress,” Llantero said. “League is going to be a lot tougher.”
But the league may not be ready for Llantero and the Lady Wildcats’ style of play. No more is there a plodding, half-court offense and zone defenses. Woodside will go with a full-court press, attempting to speed up the tempo and force the other team into turnovers.
The plan seems to be working thus far as Llantero said his team is forcing nearly 25 turnovers per game. Offensively, he is using a hockey mentality on the basketball court: put more shots on net.
That hockey sensibility extends to his substitution patterns as well, switching out players en masse every 45 to 90 seconds — much like a hockey line.
How did Llantero arrived at such a dramatic turnaround?
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“Other teams are more talented,” Llantero said matter-of-factly. “We have to do something different.”
Llantero used the summer to study all the great high-tempo teams in college and the pros and finally settled on his style.
“A little bit of Kentucky, a little bit of (1990s) UNLV,” Llantero said. “The main thing was to get a fun experience (for the players).”
Llantero said he tested out his up-tempo defensive tactics at the JV level last season and it helped them eclipse the 20-win mark.
“On the JV side, I played around with [full-court pressure],” Llantero said. “We were really good on JV last year.”
While he said the varsity squad is still adjusting to the breakneck speed, they appear to be getting the hang of it. Llantero said in their season opener, a 71-63 win over Del Mar, the Wildcats scored 21 points in the first quarter and added 29 in the second.
“We scored 50 points in the first half,” Llantero said. “Our team had trouble getting to 50 in a full game last year.”
That 71-point outburst in the season opener was not a fluke. The Wildcats put up 71 points again in a blowout win over Yerba Buena and are averaging 63.3 points in their seven wins this season. Their season low was 46 in a five-point loss to Willow Glen on Dec. 7.
The high-pressure offense, which is predicated on volume shooting from everybody, has 10 of the team’s 13 players usually getting into the scoring column. The Wildcats are led by Natalya Hotovec, a junior on a team where nearly every player is labeled a guard/wing/forward. She is averaging 15 points per game. Hailey Stewart, a 5-9 senior, goes for an average of 13. The Wildcats’ aggressiveness also gets them to the free-throw line — a lot. Llantero said Woodside gets an average of 15 free-throw attempts per game, connecting on 74 percent of them.
“It’s fun,” Llantero said. “Instead of telling a player not to shoot, I’m yelling at them to shoot.
“Our triple threat is — shoot, shoot, shoot. … We’re looking to score. That’s one thing I’ve gotten on the girls about is shooting more. … We’re trying to push the pace.”
The Woodside boys’ are also filling up the basket and the score sheet. Last season, the Wildcats averaged 43.3 points per game, with a season-high of 63 points coming in their season opener. In the 2019-2020 season opener against Overfelt? Woodside poured in 78 points. The Wildcats have gone over the 70-point plateau in five of seven games this season, averaging 69.3 points per game.
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