The 2016/2017 Steel City Yellow Jackets are trying to make the playoffs for the third straight season since their development in 2014. This years team is a mix of veterans and rookies to the American Basketball Association, but two of this years Yellow Jackets rookies have played together in the past.
Hard-work, Trust, and Dedication are all things that successful teams have that make them as good as they are. You see it in every championship team from the 1988 San Fransisco 49ers who featured Jerry Rice and Joe Montana to the 1990's Chicago Bulls featuring Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippens. All of these teams had one thing in common and that's that the players trusted each other and new exactly what the other one was going to do and exactly when he was going to do it.
That is something this year's Steel City Yellow Jacket team will try to do to build upon their first two seasons of existence in which they have reached the playoffs each year. They have gone through some tough times being a new team in the Pittsburgh area, but they have persevered and never failed to put a quality product on the court.
This year's Yellow Jacket team is a mixture of veterans who have been with the team since the beginning like Tone Reddic and Lawrence Baker to some new faces on the team for the 2016/2017 season. Two of the newest Yellow Jackets on this years team have played together before and look to help propel the Yellow Jackets to another championship run.
Forward Luke Kochka and Guard Khari Bess have been through the long grind of a season together before as they both were a part of last years Division III Thiel Tomcats Men's Basketball team. The pair lead the Thiel Tomcats to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Playoffs where they would eventually fall in the first round to the Bethany Bison by the score of 69-60. In that game Bess scored a team high 14 points and Kochka added nine of his own.
Bess had his best statistical season for the Tomcats during the 2015/2016 season where he started all 26 games for Thiel. He finished the year racking up 402 points, averaging 15.5 points per game, to go along with 145 assists and a career high 96 steals. He also racked up 16 blocks on the season.
Bess's 145 assists lead all of the Presidents' Athletic Conference during the 2015/2016 season and he also lead the PAC in steals with 96 and was eighth in the league in blocked shots with 16. Bess is a steals machine as he was honored as the Division III statistical leader in steals for the 2015/2016 season with 3.69. The next closes player to Bess in all of Division III Men's Basketball was Anthony Jerigan of Johnson & Wales University who average 3.55.
Bess finished his college career with 292 steals which set a record for the most steals in Thiel Tomcats history. And, 2015/2016 wasn't even his best years in steals per game as in the 2013/2014 season, Bess would end up collecting 3.70 steals per game.
Offensively, Bess set a career high in points scored during his final regular season home game with the Tomcats where he put up 27 points against the Saint Vincent Bearcats in what would end up being a 82-67 loss for the Tomcats. The 402 points he ended the 2015/2016 season with were a career high for him and he will look to build on that for the Yellow Jackets this season.
Bess's teammate, and current Yellow Jacket, Luke Kochka enjoyed a successful season as well in which he started 25 of the 26 games he appeared in scoring 454 points, averaging 17.5 points per game, to go along with 68 assists and 25 steals on the season. He shot 75% from the free throw line finishing the year making 75 of his 99 free throw attempts.
Kochka was an offensive machine for the Tomcats during the 2015/2016 season and that showed on the stat sheet. He lead the Presidents' Athletic Conference in scoring with his 454 points and was second in the league in points per game with his 17.5 mark. He also finished sixth in the league in free throw percentage with .758 and third in the league in three point field goals made with 61.
Kochka was no slouch on defense as well as he finished the year in the top 10 in rebounds in all of the PAC with 173. Kochka was an all-around athlete for the Tomcats and looks to bring that skill set to this year's team.
Both Bess and Kochka received honors for their efforts in the 2015/2016 season as both were named to the Presidents' Athletic Conference First Team. They were voted in by a group of the ten coaches from around the PAC.
Both Bess and Kochka have great skill sets that they bring to the table this year for the Yellow Jackets. They will look to take those skills and gel with both the veterans and the other new faces on the team to help lead the Yellow Jackets to another championship run in 2016/2017.
You can see Bess, Kochka, and the rest of your 2016/2017 Steel City Yellow Jackets in action this Saturday at their home opener against the Kentucky Enforcers. The game will be played at 515 N. Highland Avenue in Pittsburgh. Tickets are 10 dollars for adults, five dollars for children, and a 15 dollar weekend pass that includes Sunday's game against the Reading Eagles. Tip off is at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 5:30 on Sunday.
With the 2016/2017 season fast approaching it is almost time once again to Catch the Buzz.
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