Chautauqua Hurricane captain Larry Rivers will look to lead his team to a Premier Basketball League championship this season with fellow captain Travonta Gatewood. OBSERVER File Photo

The big difference between the 2021 Chautauqua Hurricane and the 2022 Chautauqua Hurricane is positivity.

The positive outlook will be first on display tonight when the Hurricane begin the Premier Basketball League season on the road against the Detroit Panthers.

“Compared to last year, I’m much happier,” said Chautauqua Hurricane head coach Steve Mackey. “Last year, we couldn’t even play in New York state. It’s nice to get back into a much more normal routine.”

After coming in a quarter of the way through last season, Mackey is now entering his first full season with his team and he believes his message is getting through to the players.

“One thing I noticed when I came in was the positivity was very low last year,” Mackey said. “They finally started reacting to my message in late March and the confidence is so high now. I’m really excited about the positivity this year.”

Mackey noted that last year when he joined confidence and positivity was low within the team. He stated that when things would go wrong for players there would be a lot of finger pointing and negative thoughts, but now players are starting to not dwell on those mistakes.

The Hurricane got together in September for the first time since their playoff loss to Lancaster.

“The preparation has been great,” Mackey said about the progress from September. “It’s been a tough transition for some guys, we had to make some tough decisions on who to bring back in September from last year’s team. Preparation-wise people have stepped up into their new roles.”

The two familiar faces who will lead the Hurricane this year are captains Larry Rivers and Travonta Gatewood.

“They’re both positive leaders and great role models,” Mackey said about his captains. “Larry is the kind of guy who will be happy to score 25 or 8 points just as long as we win. Travonta is a great shooter, even if he’s 0 for 15 I’m going to tell him to keep shooting because that’s how good he is.”

Mackey highlights point guard Joe Spencer as someone who can be extremely productive this season. However, the two guys who could have the most profound impact are center Daniel Mulamba and guard Marcus Feagin. According to Mackey, he is expecting a possible MVP season from either one of them.

Starting with that core group the Hurricane have high expectations for this season.

“We’re not losing this year,” Mackey stated. “Our goal is to put a team on the floor that is by far the best team in the league. You have to hope for the best with injuries and might struggle with COVID, but right now I believe we’re in a position to raise a trophy in April.”

Mackey believes the biggest obstacle for the team will be the East Division rival Lancaster Thunder.

“Lancaster could be tough,” said Mackey. “They ended up knocking us out of the playoffs, but we have made some adjustments to get through them this year.”

If the Hurricane want to achieve their season goals it will all start at 5 p.m. tonight on the road against the Detroit Panthers at Groves High School in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

“I’m impressed with some of their guards,” Mackey said about Detroit. “They do a really good job spreading the floor, it could be tough if our bigs get into foul trouble. We have a defensive scheme they could struggle against, but if they get hot from three it could be a game.”

One thing the Hurricane is really looking forward to is playing back in front of fans on their home court at Dunkirk High School. Their first opportunity to do that will be on next Saturday when they host Lancaster at 6 p.m.

“We are excited to have fans back this year,” Mackey said about having fans again this year. “We would love to have as many possible this year, guys who have been playing basketball their whole life love to play in front of people.”