HP vs MP

The next day is a new chance as we play MP, a team which I got to see Saturday against NF. I learned that they basically run variations on the pick and roll over and over again and who their 3 best players were. It was good information to have.

I had decided that night that after our running out of steam that hockey subs would be the way to go and so that’s what I do. I prepare a group of 4 and a group 5, expecting to have the twins back for the game.

And the first quarter starts off with us really pushing hard, exactly what I wanted to see. And then weirdness ensues. About 45 seconds into the game the ref gives MP a warning about no pressing. It seemed pretty unjustified, as 4th graders aren’t always the quickest to make the transition. I was surprised, but figured big deal. Game goes on. About 2 and a quarter minutes in, with my first group of 5 ready to sub in, one of their players does the MILDEST of presses and the ref t’s them up. Their coach is understandably upset but argues in a completely respectful sort of way. The coach then says something to his players and HE gets t’ed up. Absurd. Fortunately I know my rules and so I get Adam into the game to shoot the FTs. He misses the first two but makes the second two after I tell him that technicals are the hardest free throws to make. For a kid that age having everyone staring at you when you are the only player around has to be unnerving.

The first quarter proceeds with us playing an upbeat tempo and MP just not able to handle us on offense. We are up 12-8 at the quarter. In the second quarter they sort of collapse and we take a 20-12 lead going into half. Their coach does a good job of calming them at half but the rest of the game is essentially a wash with a final score of 28-21. In the end we wore down, we didn’t have the energy in the 4th that we had early on, but fortunately we’d built up enough of a lead that it didn’t matter.

Assorted notes:

Zach had a sudden asthma attack at the end of the WG game. That certainly didn’t help us in the waning moments. Fortunately he’s fine. I told him he needed to let me know if he’s ever feeling the symptoms so I can get him out. He said that it came on suddenly. He played without issue against MP.

We were warming up in the side gym before the game against MP. I went into the main gym briefly to give our official roster and when I come back Gavin’s dad is coaching the team on man to man defense. Gavin’s dad, as you might recall, was very hot to help at the start of the season, however, he was gently rebuffed. Now Gavin was a surprise show up since his mom had said he would be unavailable all weekend. Anyway so Gavin’s dad is in there giving advice about not turning their backs on man. I tell him I would prefer him not to say anything so that there is a clear message. He responds that he wasn’t doing any harm and that the team doesn’t know how to play man defense. Now, this is where I should have been less nice. Here’s a guy whose kid has missed several games, who can’t come to practices on one of our scheduled days, and whose kid had missed several of the practices on the day he could come, lecturing me. And if this had happened after the game I would have realized he was talking about his own kid, who, no surprise considering how much practice has been missed, doesn’t know how to play man. This has stayed with me a bit and I am progressively more upset about it. Ok so maybe I was better off, given this guy’s temper, of being nice. My response simply was that we worked hard at it every practice & we’re getting better. He backed down after this, thankfully.

Jacob finally got some of his shots to fall, thankfully. Next to Gavin, his parents are definitely the highest maintenance so his success combined with team success makes my life easier.

We shot the fewest shots all season that made we wince.

Jack B continues to just sort of disappear out there. He plays great defense, on and off ball, which is worth something. However, his short size means that he sometimes gets scored on because of that. And he’s not been in the right place, as he was earlier in the season, for a good look on offense.