Young Standouts Spark Raiders

Every year Nutley basketball has a new batch of freshmen that come in to show their talent and the hard work they’ll bring to the team over the next four years. This year, freshman Josiah Gordon has changed the game. Gordon is a starter for JV and sits the bench for varsity.  Most of the time if a freshman ever moves up it’s to the JV bench, rarely varsity. This year Gordon changed that history.

Gordon has been playing basketball since he was in third grade when his dad and brother encouraged him to start playing. Josiah began playing for Nutley Raiders basketball travel teams in the 5th grade including the Third-Half Club team for Washington School. Gordon explains that he was excited for his season this year for JV and Varsity.  Playing for both teams wasn’t too big of a shock for him as he said he already expected to be invited to play varsity when Coach Porrino mentioned it in the beginning of the season.  He’s not intimidated at all to be the only freshman on the team: “It feels good; I’m just glad I could play up,” he said. He loves playing for both teams and said he is great friends with all the guys both on and off the court.

Gordon continues to improve his skills outside of practices at home and in the gym. He feels his biggest strength on the court is getting to the rim which is seen in games when he gets an open lane and hard drive to the basket for a nice and easy two points.  Even though getting to the rim is his best strength, his biggest focus in practices is driving to the rim. He mentioned he likes to watch NBA players Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving because they play good offense and can move well without the ball.

Gordon said that he likes watching them because he tries to mirror those traits in his own games.  He believes that his best game from this season, performance wise, was his game against Clifton where he scored 22 points and the game winning shot to seal the deal. Shooting is something he has worked on where he sees his most improvement. Shooting is definitely a strong suit as he has a good shooting range and can always throw up a three-pointer and only hear the swish of the net.

Gordon tries not to let anything get in the way of his game whether it’s a bad call from the ref, a loss, or a tough team. He said after a loss he just keeps his chin up and focuses on the positives and works on the negatives. He also said he gets back in the gym and works on what he feels needs improvement. When it comes to refs, he shrugs off bad calls and keeps playing the game and gives it his all. Gordon is known for his cool demeanor on the court.

Gordon likes working with his brother, Varsity starter #4, Tim Gordon.  He said it’s fun to work with him but that he’s also used to working with Tim.  Josiah originally planned on being #30 this year to switch things up for high school but it was already taken so he stuck with #31, the number he played with since he started travel basketball.

Gordon said that he and his teammate sophomore John Machtemes, have a great dynamic which is clear during games where either of them drive, then pass to the other for an open shot or drive.  This dynamic is strong as most of the time they assist each other and get up some great shots.  Besides this dynamic duo, Gordon said he likes to run the floor with sophomore Brian Dolaghan, sophmore Zay Duan, newly added freshman Sebastian Parra, sophomore Aedan Kupinewicz and of course, John.

Gordon is always demonstrating team leadership and good sportsmanship on the court. He is always supporting his teammates while also taking ownership of the game. He puts up some amazing shots from layups to three pointers that will always catch net.  He always shows why he earned his spots as he always plays his heart out game to game and practice to practice;and puts in extra work outside of games and practices. Josiah is an amazing addition to both the JV and Varsity teams.  He is friends with all his teammates from both levels and those guys all describe him as hardworking, a leader, an amazing player, unselfish and smart both on and off the court.

Sophomore JV player Aedan Kupinewicz is another standout.  Kupinewicz has played basketball since he was five years old. He thinks his biggest strength on the court as a JV starter is his shooting.  Few fans would disagree. With an amazing three-point range, Kupinewicz can drive to the basket or shoot threes and catch nothing but net, like his favorite professional player. “Steph Curry, I just started watching him and you know, his shooting became so inspirational for me, so I was like alright, I’m going to practice my shot, [and] you know, hopefully one day play like him,” he said.

Not only did Curry inspire Kupinewicz’s game but his choice in his number this year: #30.  While on the topic of shooting, Aedan also stated he believes his shot is the skill he brings to the team that others might not.  As Aedan stated, “My dynamic shot, I feel like I shoot better than everybody else and there are some good guys on the team that also shoot but I feel like my shooting is the main thing that brings the addition to the team.”

Kupinewicz always makes sure his biggest focus in practice is to get better every day and “work harder than everybody else”.  He doesn’t care which four guys are on the court with him as he likes all of his teammates, but only as long as they are willing to play hard and work hard. Even though he doesn’t have any preference of guys on court, he does have a good dynamic with Brian Dolaghan.  Kupinewicz said, “Me and Brian… we just have this connection where if the back door is open you know he will pass it to me, so I feel our connection. We’re really good, especially with that backdoor play.”  

This season Kupinewicz feels the Raiders’ 53-49 win against Technology was his best game performance-wise as he had twenty five points, five points away from a thirty ball game.  He’s hoping to hit that goal with the last three games ahead of him.  His dribbling and defense are skills he thinks he has improved upon since his start of high school basketball, as he played for the freshman team last season. Being a good leader is the biggest quality Aedan believes he should demonstrate for his teammates and he clearly does when he takes the game into his own hands and makes a great move to keep the energy going. He thinks that being friends with the guys outside of basketball is very important because if he builds a bond with the guys outside the court, then playing together on it would be even better and stronger.

Kupinewicz wants to continue to improve and become varsity talent. He definitely sees himself playing varsity basketball next year as long as he’s willing to work hard during the offseason and put in the work. To improve his skills, he said he works as hard as he can by finding a close court whenever possible. He feels it’s important to work hard and “practice outside the court because when it comes to the actual play, all that hard work and practice that [he] puts in brings itself to the game.” He also feels a starter requires leadership and to work harder than everyone else, which he already demonstrates when he is dominating on the court.  

Kupinewicz sees Josiah Gordon as an unselfish player. He admires Gordon’s shot, good leadership skills, good mentality, and willingness to pick up anybody. A few of Gordon’s skills stand out to Kupinewicz: “He just drives to the basket, gets to the basket, draws fouls; he’s a good leader just like me. He’s very creative in his play; it’s just something about him where he is just very creative when scoring or even playing defense, so I think that brings a good amount of performance to the team.” He thinks that Josiah is always working harder than everyone else and that his outstanding work ethic is why he is where he is today.

Kupinewicz and Gordon are good friends and both feel that they have a good chemistry in practices and games.  Kupinewicz said, “It’s very fun actually. We get competitive in practice, even in games. He gets mad sometimes but if you pick him up he will pick you back up, so it’s kinda like in practice; it’s competitive but then in the game it’s like, it helps you guys both get better, like me and him, it helps us get better, so I think he’s a good leader.”

Gordon also stated that “there were some practices where we were going at it.”  The two have a good relationship on the court as they both mentioned they hype each other and push each other to do their best. He said, “I love [Kupinewicz]; he’s a great teammate and he works hard and he is very competitive. He pushes me and I push him to do his best. He is so competitive.”  On the other hand, Kupinewicz said “[Gordon] is a very creative, nice person, he’s a good teammate and a good leader, so there is nothing else you can ask for from him.” Gordon also mentioned that he views Kupinewicz as “kind, competitive, a leader . . . he is smart on and off the court.”  He added that Kupinewicz has an amazing mentality when it comes to basketball.

Coach Rob Porrino says he looks for players that are “able to play a well balanced game.” Both Gordon and Kupinewicz demonstrate this characteristic in their games and Porrino said that this year all the players were able to put up a very well balanced and evenly distributed ball game. Porrino also said that he didn’t know he would move Gordon up until the season progressed and Porrino, along with the coaching staff, felt it would be beneficial to get a player like Gordon “some experience at the varsity level so he can start to be more comfortable with the game speed.” Not only did he want Gordon to gain the varsity speed, but he saw the practice mentality Gordon had and the confidence he had to put in extra reps and work. Gordon’s intensity on the court, strong ability to step up in big situations, ball handling ability, and shooting were also key factors that made Porrino move Gordon up. Porrino describes him as hardworking and dedicated.

Porrino also admires Kupinewicz. He said as long as he puts in the work in the off-season to get better, and shows his desire to move up and be the best player he can be, he will definitely be varsity material. Porrino also mentioned that Kupinewicz’s shooting is phenomenal and that if he improves other skills along with shooting he can be a great player. He described Kupinewicz as a hard worker and a good teammate. He also said that he sees Kupinewicz and Gordon compete in practices and thinks that “Any time in a practice you can replicate game speed and game-like intensity it will only make you better because you are getting as realistic of a simulation as possible.  I want my players to compete as if they are trying to earn a starting spot every single practice.”