Joel Bulka’s days as a one-trick pony for Antioch are done.
The former defensive specialist doesn’t leave the court these days.
“I do a lot of the dirty work,” Bulka said. “We have a good group of scorers, so I figured we needed a defensive and rebounding presence and to get the ball to those guys.
“I’ve found a good role.”
There’s no arguing that, judging by all of Bulka’s responsibilities for Northern Lake County Conference leader Antioch (8-9, 5-0) this season. Yes, the 6-foot-4 senior guard defends, rebounds and distributes to players like Carter Webb, Marshall Gehrke and Teddi Wetu. But Bulka has also taken on primary ballhandling duties, even though he has never really been a point guard before.
Entering the season, Bulka had earned the trust of the coaching staff to add that job to his repertoire. Then senior guard Colby Priller suffered a long-term ankle injury in the Sequoits’ second game.
“He made huge strides as a basketball player last summer,” Antioch coach Sean Connor said. “He just trained really hard. He never really had to handle the ball before, but he’s stepped right in. I don’t know where we’d be without him doing all that he does for us.”
Bulka’s statistics don’t jump off the page. He averages 4.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 deflections. But some numbers are valuable as a measuring stick of his importance to the Sequoits. His assist-to-turnover ratio is better than 2-to-1, and his minutes have jumped from 11 per game last season to almost 30.
“I know we don’t ever have to take him off the floor, partly because he’s in phenomenal condition,” Connor said. “He never even looks over for a sub.”
Bulka’s workload was much different last season, when he was asked to do one thing, and one thing only, in his fleeting time on the court. He played the top end of the 1-3-1 zone that the Sequoits like to deploy.
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It was a skill that Antioch coaches first saw Bulka flash when he was on the sophomore team. He was effective enough that it earned him a midseason promotion to the varsity team.
But until this season, when the zone went away, so did Bulka.
“I knew that was my way onto the court,” he said. “Playing the angles is the biggest thing, always keeping your hand up and being active, splitting the court in half and forcing them to throw it over you.”
Bulka’s scoring high this season was eight points in a conference win against Lakes on Dec. 1, when Antioch ended its season-opening four-game losing streak. Consistent with his overall approach, he knows when it’s time to assert himself.
Given his height, there are times when Bulka can take a smaller defender to the hole, which gives him an opportunity to put one of his summer focal points — touch around the rim — to use.
“I know I have an advantage sometimes where I can get into the paint,” he said. “I’m not much for shooting threes, so most of my looks come off slips, cuts off flashing into zones or post-ups.”
Bulka’s expanded role extends to leadership too. He’s a co-captain with Webb.
“I think he’s the best leader we have,” Webb said. “He knows how to talk to everyone, whether it’s individually or in a group. He keeps us all under control.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.