By John Wallingford, Sun Staff - Dec 4th, 1998

* The Bremerton Knights are just about everybody's pick as West Sound's most gifted team.

Pity poor Casey Lindberg.

Here he is, 28 and just hoping to go about his business as a first-time head coach, and the preseason hyperbole advertising his formidable Bremerton Knights won't stop ringing in his ears.

Listen to Port Angeles head coach Lee Sinnes:

"I've been around since '76," Sinnes says, "and athletically, I don't think I've ever seen a team that has as much talent as Bremerton."

That's gotta make Lindberg wince.

"I don't see anybody beating Bremerton," adds Sequim coach Larry Hill, who has been around the Olympic League as long as Sinnes. "We couldn't even see them this summer, let alone check them. I don't know when we've seen that athletic a group in the league."

Does anybody hear that infernal ringing?

With the hype train assaulting his eardrums, you couldn't blame Lindberg if he petitioned the fates for a little adversity to start the season and moderate expectations. In any case, he got it. First Miah Davis, the Knights' blur of a point guard, went down with a sprained left ankle. Then, without Davis on the court, the Knights opened with a 74-59 loss at Stadium.

"It really opened our eyes," Lindberg says. "We've been having everyone around here telling us how good we are. We found out, I guess, that we're not that good yet."

Lindberg, of course, knows what his peers are gushing about.

First, there's the mercurial Davis, a three-year starter who dazzled opponents with 19 points, 6.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 steals a game last year. Davis, who also has an inflamed big toe on his left foot that will require postseason surgery, won't play until Tuesday, when the Knights open their home schedule against North Kitsap.

More than his toe or ankle, what rests on Davis' mind is a one-point loss to Bainbridge at the 3A district tournament last year. That defeat lifted the Spartans to state and ended the Knights' season.

"To lose that game was just, like, unbelievable," Davis said. "Taking a loss like that and being one point away from state, that's all I've been thinking about. ... It's my senior year; I want to go out with a bang."

While the Knights lost Victor Davis, Miah's brother, who's now playing at Olympic College, they have plenty of athleticism on hand.

'Being one point away from state, that's all I've been thinking about. ... It's my senior year; I want to go out with a bang.'

Angelo Lundy is a spidery 6-footer who collects balls in the open court like a Venus-flytrap snatches insects. A co-captain along with Davis, Lundy averaged 11.5 points, five rebounds and 2.9 steals a game as a junior. Lundy, a slasher who attempted only one 3-pointer last year, has refined his jump shot and is expected to be a perimeter threat.

"In different spots, our team could be better than it was last year," Davis says. "Last year, we had more speed and more people that could handle the ball."

What has raised expectations to a new pitch is the arrival of 6-5 Marshaun Thompson, an athletic senior who played at Olympic last winter.

"Everybody's been praying for a big man to come to Bremerton," Davis explains. "We haven't had a big man at Bremerton since Cory Willard."

Thompson played with Lundy and Davis in junior high, before the Navy took his family to California.

He returned last year, but to Olympic, where a hip injury kept him out until the final six games. He averaged 14.8 points and finished with a flourish, netting 24 points against Port Angeles and 30 against Central Kitsap.

His family has since moved to Jackson Park, leaving Marshaun the option of attending Bremerton or Central Kitsap. He chose the comfort of old friends and more efficient transportation.

"To be on the boards and help on defense," is how Thompson describes his primary role. "I can be a big help against teams that have more height."

While he's not a big man of the kind that makes college recruiters dizzy, he is a bigger guy who fits into Bremerton's high-octane scheme.

"If the grand of scheme of things goes like we need it to, he's going to give us the inside force that we need on offense and defense," says Lindberg, who assisted Larry Gallagher the past three seasons at Bremerton. "If people come crowd out on Miah and Angelo, we get can get it into Marshaun. He's a very capable offensive player. ... Hopefully we'll see him running the floor a lot, trailing our fastbreak and maybe getting some tip-ins."

Does Lindberg allow the Knights, who posted a 20-5 record and took the Olympic League title last year, visions of March, the Kingdome and the Class 3A state tourney?

"Yeah, we think about it, and I think rightfully so with the talent we have," he says. "There's a good possibility of us making it to the state tournament, but it doesn't come without hard work, dedication and staying healthy. A lot of things have to fall into place for us to do that, but it's definitely our main goal."

And for his peers around the Olympic League, Lindberg has a little preseason evaluation of his own. What does he see?

"I see Bainbridge is very well coached and they always have some pretty talented kids up there," he says. "And you can never count out Port Angeles. I see Olympic and Bainbridge, and put us a close third ... maybe."

Reach reporter John Wallingford at (360) 792-9216 or at jwallingford@thesunlink.com.