The Albert Lea boys’ basketball team held its first practice of the 2017 season on Monday afternoon and wasted no time before they started putting in the work.

Coming off a winless season in 2016, the Tigers are trying to instill a mindset to create chaos for their opponents.

The early parts of Monday’s practice focused on keeping a good position on defense and being able to get their feet in the best position to stop and make a play on the ball.

In his second year of being the head coach, Lucas Novosad said the main strengths of this year’s team are going to be their shooting, their ability to play as a team and their overall coachability.

They lost their top two scorers and top rebounder from last year in Tanner Wichmann and Jack Buendorf, but they return six other players who played major roles last season.

Garret Piechowski, Sean Wadding, Brendan Fredrickson, Dylan Sherff, Spencer Doyle and Parker Anderson return as letter-winners from 2016.

Novosad said he expects the team to be competitive this year and hopes their work in the offseason pays off.

“We plan to compete night in and night out,” he said. “We plan to play fast on both sides of the floor. We spent a ton of time in the gym this spring, summer and fall and are ready to play with a toughness that will make this community proud.”

The Tigers start their season on Dec. 1 on the road against Austin.