Team unity and taking care of the ball were two areas of emphasis for the Talawanda High School boys basketball team since the last season ended eight months ago.

Coach Bobby Lipps said he is confident both areas have been addressed and looks forward to the opening of the 2012-13 season tonight at Lakota West.

“I’m real excited. I think the guys we have are a lot more experienced and will create a lot more opportunities for us,” Lipps said.

The second-year Talawanda coach said his team did well in a preseason scrimmage last weekend and showed him a lot of teamwork, which has been a focus of this offseason.

“We have a lot to work on, but I’m excited,” he said, adding, “The conference is wide-open.”

Talawanda will be on the road again next Friday to open their Southwest Ohio Conference season at Mount Healthy. The Braves’ home opener will be the following Saturday when they host Eaton in their first game at the new gym.

“The story for us is whether we can take care of the ball under pressure. That was a problem last year. I see every day they are doing better,” Lipps said. “(Tonight) they will see a lot of pressure from No. 5 (team) in the city. We’ll see how they react.”

Lipps faced a tough challenge last year in taking the post.

“Being new last year, I knew there would be issues. They had three coaches in three years,” he said, explaining that there were issues of trust because of the coaching turnover. “I told them ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ “

Lipps said his goal for the past offseason was to build teamwork among his players and did that with a three-day team camp at Marietta College over the summer.

“Team camp builds bonds and develops teamwork and relationships. Last year, I felt there was not as much as I would have liked. It was basketball sunup to sundown. Some guys had never done that before. It’s been great for us,” the coach said. “We averaged 19-20 turnovers a game last year. I hope we can cut that down to 12-13, that’s the equivalent of five more wins.”

Lipps said his team has the talent to name more than five starters who will all see starts and plenty of action.

“I feel there are seven starters. We are deep enough and talented enough,” he said. “It’s a lot different than last year coming in.”

Senior guard Tripp Webb was the team’s leading 3-point and free throw shooter last year.

“Tripp will run the point a lot. He needs to handle the ball more. The summer was important for his ball-handling skills,” Lipps said. “The seniors put in time over the summer and have gotten better.”

Fellow senior guard Nolan Robinson is a great leader, the coach said. Senior forward Howie Smith and sophomore center Eric Mincy give the team good spirit, he said.

Junior guard Warwick Rieder is expected to play the point guard position and has no varsity experience, but Lipps said he had a solid season a year ago and expects him to make the transition to varsity play this year.

Senior forward Colton Adams is another of Lipps’ starter options with the coach adding, “If he puts his mind to it, he could dominate the league for his size.”

Another of the coach’s solid starter options is senior guard Austin Davidson.

“We are deep enough and talented enough,” he said. “It’s a lot different than last year.”

Most of the league opponents will be familiar to the Braves from last year’s West Division of the Fort Ancient Valley Conference. With that league folding after the 2011-12 school year, six of the teams formed the SWOC and added Wilmington and Little Miami.

“Wilmington will be good. Ross is returning a lot. Northwest returns quite a bit. We can compete with those teams,” he said. “I feel like a team could lose two or three games and still win the league. It will be really competitive and a lot of fun.”

Something else new for the Braves this year is the new facility in a new school. Lipps said the auxiliary gym gives them space to get more done, and allow the freshman team to practice at the same time. He hopes the combination of a new gym and rejuvenated team will bring out the fans.

“With the new gym opening against Eaton, I hope we have a packed house and perform well and I hope it will stay packed,” he said.

Lipps said he is excited for the entire Talawanda program.

“The JV team is loaded with juniors and a load of juniors are getting experience. It’s a good core in the JV team and the freshman team is good, too. I’m exciting about the whole program,” he said, adding that the middle school teams have talent for the future, as well. “I think we are on the right track.”