If you play boys basketball for John Patton at Marian High School, there is a good chance you're not going to sit very long on the bench.

The 10th-year coach often emulates a traffic cop stuck in the middle of rush hour traffic in Manhattan with the lights on the fritz. It's normal to see Patton with his arms flailing away calling for a guard, a forward or just about anyone to check into the game."That's my style," Patton deadpanned about his coaching approach. "I keep getting (as many) players in the game as possible. I know some people (criticize) me for it but it's worked for us."It also gives the 12 and 13th player on the bench hope, and at times can create a nightmare for opposing defenses, let alone the scorekeeper and the time clock operator.It's a strategy that proved vital a year ago down the home stretch when the Colts were pressing to get into the District 11, Class A postseason tournament."We managed a late season run where we went 5-1 and that allowed us to get into the playoffs," said Patton,Like every team at this time of the season there are question marks.For the Colts, one question mark concerns the influx of football players who just wrapped up another successful season with a District 11 Class A championship before being eliminated in the first round of the PIAA tournament less than a week ago.Patton doesn't pressure his multisport athletes knowing that a 13-week season takes its toll on the body."They need a rest," he said. "Their bodies are hurting so we gave them some time off between seasons."As a result, a number of players just hit the hardwood in the last day or two.Marian is also in search of scorers as they lost over 1,000 points to graduation, including leading scorer Nick Wesner, along with Mike Vercusky, Matt Karnish and Chris Weber."We're taller across the frontline than last year," said the coach. "Matchups are going to dictate a lot of the game plan."Some of those matchups will force us in to playing zone, but I always like to play man."There is a squadron of players who earned letters a season ago starting with 6-5 Aaron DeAngelo who returns with an 8.7 ppg. average, DeAngelo has been slow to come around with a football injury hampering him thus far. The coach likes D.J. Mummey a southpaw with plenty of scoring potential, and Jared Paisley, who impressed late last season.Offensively, Patton wants the transition game engaged."Being able to do multiple things makes you a more dangerous team," said Patton.In addition to DeAngelo, Mummey and Paisley, the projected early rotation should include Hunter Puzza, John Woitko Brandon Mohammed, Ryan Karchner, Josh Inama and Adam Cortes. But with Patton's tendency to use multiple players and lineup combinations, that group could definitely be expanded as the season goes on.Patton thinks his team could surprise people and make life miserable for favorites Mahanoy Area and Shenandoah in the divisional race."I like our team, and the way we ended (last season) was very positive," he said. "If we can pick up where we left off, I really feel we'll be more than OK."