If there's one attribute everyone repeats about the King George Dragons, it's that the senior boys basketball team is well coached. It's becoming a tradition.
"They're going to be tough for anyone to beat all year," said Rick Lopez, the head coach of Churchill Bulldogs. "This is a tough, tough team. Those kids don't quit and they're well coached. Darko has done an amazing job."
Darko Kulic, a 2005 KG grad who helped lead the team to a fifth-place finish-the best in school history-at AA provincials that year, stepped up to coach a group of Grade 8 and 9 students he now oversees as seniors.
With a near-perfect 24-1 record, the Dragons have won all five tournaments they've entered since November and all five starting players have been named to tournament all-star teams. "All of them have been first-team all-stars at least twice or three times," Kulic notes. The Dragons are ranked fifth among the province's AA schools.
Hanif Karmali is another King George graduate, albeit from a generation or two before Kulic, and coached the Dragons in their 2005 season. He said Kulic was a good player but is an even better coach.
The team's range of athleticism and ability may come naturally but the players' passion for the game and their commitment to each other is picked up by the example set by their coach, only a few years older than they are.
"It's his work ethic that they feed off," said Karmali.
But Kulic didn't learn to coach without an influential coach of his own.
"[Karmali] was a great coach," Kulic said. "One of the things he always made sure of was that we worked hard and that's when he knew he was getting the most out of us. I wanted to get the same here as a coach with my boys."
Churchill's Lopez coached the Bulldogs when Kulic played for the Dragons. He remembers an athlete who played like he coaches today.
"He just never gave up, was always looking to get an edge. He's a very passionate coach. It's great to see younger guys like that stepping up and taking a team, considering how much time and effort it is and being a positive role model," said Lopez.
Kulic is a volunteer coach and works at the Coal Harbour Community Centre. The team is a family, he said, and his starting line, including Omid Toussi, Miguel Angel Suarez, Bilal Naqshbandy, Kristain Hilderbrant and George Mija, nurtures respect, support and a competitive spirit.
"The goal has always been to just never stop. Down 30 or up 30, we like to play the whole game," said Kulic. "We never look in advance, we focus play by play, possession by possession."
The Dragons look for any advantage they can get. They'll need it against bigger teams like Kitsilano in their West Side division and Tupper on the East Side if they expect to claim a city championship. Kulic is optimistic. "We've got something planned for Cam," he said of Tupper's seven-foot talent, Cameron Smythe.
To return to AA provincials in Kamloops this spring, they'll likely have to beat Richmond's Palmer, last year's AAA champions, and Burnaby's St. Thomas More Collegiate.
Once considered underdogs, the Dragons are now contenders.
"There are a lot of good leaders on this team and they like to tell everybody it doesn't matter what the score is, let's get better for the next day," Kulic said.
Twitter: @MHStewart
