Game 2 + Practice

Well another game and another practice are in the books. Fortunately, Sunday saw us win 28-21 bringing our record to 1-1. We played well, with Alex leading us towards victory with 10 points, including 4 of 7 shooting from the line. We were up the whole game, by as much as 10. The real key of the game was transition points. On a fast break we made our shots, they didn’t. Our rebounding still is our weakest link, giving the other team way too many 2, 3, even 4 shot possessions.

One big note is that at last Friday’s practice Austin told me he preferred playing the two with Josh in at one. Our ball handling skills aren’t all that strong this year, so this was not news I wanted to hear. This meant Michael suddenly became our back-up point. Michael struggled being asked to play both point at times, center at times, as they had a very athletic big man and so when Alex was out Michael offered us the best match-up, as well as 3, his “natural” spot. I had told Austin that we were going to need him at point on Friday. I tried it on Sunday and frankly we still need Austin at point. Austin isn’t going to be the playmaker Josh is, but he’s also not going to turn the ball over, and that is quite important.

We had a good practice yesterday. We reviewed footage from the game which I had put together and was something I think the team enjoyed. It wasn’t a highlight reel as much as taking a close look at a few plays. We spent some time working on rebounding skills, but the vast majority was spent on teaching proper shooting mechanics. In particular worked on using the legs to power the shot, and also worked on the release and follow through, with-out the ball. This part will be especially helpful for Quentin whose release is flat and awkward. It wasn’t the most thrilling of lessons, but it was fundamentals which are needed for future growth. It laid the ground work.

A note of concern is Leo who has been injured or not feeling well for what seems like half our practices, yet feeling perfect for both our games. I honestly can’t tell if the kid has a lingering injury and is fighting through it or is trying to get out of practicing. I had started him Sunday in hopes that this would motivate him if it was a motivation issue. Yesterday saw the same inability to practice. I then talked with him expressing my concern over his injuries and telling him how it would be better if he didn’t really practice at all this week or play on Sunday in order to give his body time to recover than to keep trying to play while not giving his body a chance to heal. We’ll see if that approach works.

Game vs WM

Well the long and the short of it is that we lost. And contrary to what I felt like at the time, we lost because we couldn’t make close shots, something revealed when I watched the tape. In particular Alex couldn’t make a close shot to save his life, going 1-16 on the night, none taken more than 10 feet away from the basket. Others faced similar difficulties in making a shot.

The good news is that we did a serviceable job with our offense. We were getting good looks. There were some basic concepts, like cutting after a pass, which we failed on, but otherwise were doing well. I wasn’t terribly impressed with how we moved the ball around, but the officials were.

Our defensive rebounding was abysmal, we actually had more offensive than defensive rebounds (they out rebounded us on both ends of the court). In general our defense wasn’t so great. I thought it better at the game than on tape, but our lack of practice showed. That’s going to be a major focus for us tomorrow.

Overall, I can’t say I’m unhappy with how they played. I don’t feel like they played all out for 28 minutes, especially at the end, but overall it was a good performance. If Alex makes half his shots instead of losing 26-19, we win 33-26. Hell if Alex makes a 1/3 of the shots, it’s still a 27-26 victory.

Oh well. Some time tomorrow to try and improve for our game on Sunday.