NEDERLAND — Brian English knows he is going to have to do some serious coaching early on in the 2016-17 season and his young players are going to have to step up.

The reason is the Bulldogs bring back only three players from last season’s playoff team.

Senior post Kevin Howard and senior guards Darrell Jones and Reid Garrett are the lone holdovers from a 21-13 team.

“It has been a while since we had this few of kids returning,” English said. “I like the group. I like the energy and the newness. They are making progress.”

There will not be much time for the Bulldogs to sit back to get better as District 22-5A is loaded this year, especially with Port Arthur Memorial coming down from Class 6A.

Ozen and Central are always near the top of the list when it comes to playoff teams out of the district. Memorial can be expected to push for a postseason berth.

“It was tough already,” English said of 22-5A. “It got even tougher with Memorial coming down. It is going to be interesting, but I think we can compete and see how it ends up.”

Nederland defeated Memorial last year in non-district action, 75-66. The Bulldogs lost five District 22-5A games with four against Central and Ozen and the fifth being an upset loss against Baytown Lee, 68-63.

Nederland played Ozen to a 79-76 overtime loss at the Dog Dome in the second round of district play in January.

The Bulldogs’ season came to an end against Kingwood Park, 44-41, in the first round of the playoffs.

English said he does not expect anything new out of this season’s Bulldogs team.

“We are going to be like we have been in the past,” he said. “We are going to be scrappy and the kids are going to play hard. That is not going to change.

“Offensively, we are going to have to find where we are going to get our points from.”

English said he expects a lot out of Howard this year and in several different ways.

“We are going to let him step out a little more this year,” English added. “He can shoot it real well. We have some other kids who are going to contribute from our junior varsity.”

So where does English see his Bulldogs in 22-5A?

“Everyone lost a lot of kids from last year, including us,” he said. “I think it is going to be wide open. We are going to be in the mix. With a young team I think we might start slow and then finish strong. We just want a shot at the end.”

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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe