GL went into our game against WM with confidence. We had played them last year in the HP tourney and beaten them with some ease. WM was also was 0-2 entering into the game. Before the game there was a problem with Cameron, who had never received his away jersey, an issue I’d completely forgotten about. Fortunately, in the end it all worked out as Cameron wore Lucas’s jersey from last year, which only worked as a solution because Jack M had brought HIS jersey from last year.
I went with a starting five of Andrew, David, Dante, Scott, and Jack P. And with 1 minute gone we were up 7-0. This felt more like it. WM called a time out and that killed some of our momentum and they were able to claw their way back into it thanks to the efforts of their very talented #4, who my brother nicknamed “Andre” (as in Andre the Giant). At the end of the first quarter we actually were down 12-9. The good news was that because of WM’s awkward setup it was hard for players to see the score. We came out strong in the second quarter with Andrew, David, and Justin scoring all of our 14 points to take a 23-21 half time lead.
The third quarter was a quick quarter with our scoring only 6 points and their scoring 8 points, all thanks to “Andre”. We got down early in the 4th but clawed our way back into it. We tied it up for good with 30 seconds left in the 4th. We had done some full court pressure, but it didn’t work too well. We really will have to work on how to press because with our speed we need that tool in our arsenal.
We went into the 3 minute over time period and the other team just collapsed, unable to make a shot (and most of them were not very good shots), while we got 4 points, and a couple of other good looks. Fortunately for us the other team was not in foul trouble and so we basically just stalled the last 40 seconds of the game. They did get the ball back with 9 seconds to go and I told my players to basically just stand there with their arms up. Let them shoot the 3 or whatever but don’t foul. Our time dutifully complied, they shot their 3, which missed, and we won. Their coach, who was a real nice guy before the game, was less than gracious after the game.
Frankly we were a lot better than this team. I’m glad we got the win. The question is why we had a close game at all. Part of it was because they made a whole bunch of lucky shots (the ref commented to their coach during the 4th that he should buy a lotto ticket). Part of it seems to be that we let up a little after our initial run and couldn’t regain the energy. But part of it has to be on me. And the frustrating thing is that I don’t know what it is, so I can’t start doing X, Y, Z in order to improve myself or the team. I don’t feel like I made any costly decisions this game, unlike last, so that’s good, but I don’t think I did anything to help us win either.
But perhaps it’s simply exhaustion. This was the last basketball related activity I’d do for 3 weeks. And despite that I still woke up and my mind immediately went to basketball Monday and Tuesday morning. I love the game and enjoy both my teams. However, I need to break badly. After writing this post I am basically done with basketball until our game January 6th and so hopefully I can get recharged.
Showing posts with label wm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wm. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
HP vs WM
Yesterday saw a rematch against WM. Saturday at practice we worked on our man defense, both positioning, and avoiding fouling (we did the whole drill with them holding shirts behind their backs so they had to move their feet and couldn’t reach in) via the shell drill and a 1 on 1 dribbling drill. We also worked on our press break. We did that and our passing continuous motion (which we won’t repeat in the larger of the gyms we practice in since it’s just too far for them to make the passes). It was an OK practice.
Anyhow the game does not start off well for us as we quickly find ourselves down 3-0 after a foul, made shot, and made free throw. We don’t score a basket at all in the first 4 minutes and trail at the end of the first quarter 11-2. The thing is we were actually playing really good defense. We were moving our feet. We were forcing them to take shots with hands in their faces. We were helping out. It was good stuff. Unfortunately WM shot about 75% in the first half (and I’m not exaggerating by much). We also got hurt by our lack of rebounding. That lack of rebounding isn’t too surprising as I hadn’t really focused on it in a while. One of those things we just haven’t had time to do.
We play a little better in the second quarter and are down 15-8 at half. We do even better in the 3rd and we enter the 4th quarter down 23-19. We’re in this game. And this is where my vow of giving all players real playing time costs us the game. For about the first 3 minutes of the quarter I have Jon, Henry, Danny, Gavin (who I was planning to play the whole quarter), and Jacob. My hope was they’d keep the game close and I could then put in a better group late on. Except that this grouping got destroyed by their star guard. By the time those 3 minutes were up we were down by 13. Good news is that I then had a group of Gavin, Danny, Zach, Jack A, and Josh finish the game. We only lost by 7. While I’m not sure I whether Danny belongs in that group or not, the other 4 are super solid and just wreaked havoc on the other team, to the point where WM was forced to sub back in their starters.
Overall it was a good game. We did the best job yet of playing man to man, really moving around like we need to. On the minus side we shot very few layups as they just shut us down inside both offensively and on the boards. And it didn’t help that WM made just about every shot they took in the first quarter. Oh well. Taking a look at our players:
Jacob – He got lots of playing time in this one. He didn’t lose the ball nearly as much, but then again he didn’t have the ball in his hands nearly as much. He’s still just a tad below the talent of the others, and his lack of speed really hurt us on defense as they had their post players out on the perimeter a lot.
Henry – Henry did not have a good game. He, at point, was too insistent on driving in rather than setting up others. This after the fact that he played 13 seconds in the first quarter because he lofted a 3 as point.
Jon & Ben – I honestly had a real hard time telling them apart this game. I tried them both at PG. Not the answer, as the decision making isn’t there and neither is the talent. I need them to be tough enforcers defensively and they didn’t give me that this game. Oh and Ben’s shooting was just atrocious both before and during the game.
Zach – He told me didn’t want to play point, and since WM was coming out in a zone, I didn’t have him as point much. Still one of our top candidates for that position. I wonder how good my coaching has been for him though. His ability to take over a game, shown so clearly in house league and our first game, has been nonexistent lately. I wonder if I’ve coached that out of him or if he’s just facing superior competition.
Jack A – When I need a dose of aggressiveness I can unleash Jack A. That is the kid will go for the ball, relentlessly. I’m working with him on how to still guard his own player.
Jack B – The smartest player on the court. He’s always in the right space at the right time. He also blocked out. He’s trying out for a small fry team, where there is a height cap and the basket is only 8 feet. He could be a superstar.
Josh – He continues to be a gamer, stealing the both several times during the 4th to really help us get back into it.
Gavin – By the end of the 4th quarter he was rebounding. He’s new to the whole post game, and is making improvements, but it’s not where his heart is at, so the instruction I’m giving him is only being absorbed slowly.
Danny – Played probably his best game of the season, though he continues to play just barely out of control. But it’s getting better.
Adam – Scored no points, took no shots, had no rebounds, no turnovers, and I could go on. A big 0. He’s the weakest player on the team. Kevin was around at the start of the practice and asked “Has Adam been struggling?” I said yes and he said that Adam was the 11th player put on the team.
Overall I can’t be too upset at the game. They’re getting better in a lot ways. But WM was a better team last time we played them, and we got lucky. They were a better team this game as well and we got unlucky. We have flashes of real excellence, but have a lot of holes. As I feel like I say every time I post about HP, I’m going to be a lot happier when we start practicing twice a week.
HP is 3-2 on the season.
Anyhow the game does not start off well for us as we quickly find ourselves down 3-0 after a foul, made shot, and made free throw. We don’t score a basket at all in the first 4 minutes and trail at the end of the first quarter 11-2. The thing is we were actually playing really good defense. We were moving our feet. We were forcing them to take shots with hands in their faces. We were helping out. It was good stuff. Unfortunately WM shot about 75% in the first half (and I’m not exaggerating by much). We also got hurt by our lack of rebounding. That lack of rebounding isn’t too surprising as I hadn’t really focused on it in a while. One of those things we just haven’t had time to do.
We play a little better in the second quarter and are down 15-8 at half. We do even better in the 3rd and we enter the 4th quarter down 23-19. We’re in this game. And this is where my vow of giving all players real playing time costs us the game. For about the first 3 minutes of the quarter I have Jon, Henry, Danny, Gavin (who I was planning to play the whole quarter), and Jacob. My hope was they’d keep the game close and I could then put in a better group late on. Except that this grouping got destroyed by their star guard. By the time those 3 minutes were up we were down by 13. Good news is that I then had a group of Gavin, Danny, Zach, Jack A, and Josh finish the game. We only lost by 7. While I’m not sure I whether Danny belongs in that group or not, the other 4 are super solid and just wreaked havoc on the other team, to the point where WM was forced to sub back in their starters.
Overall it was a good game. We did the best job yet of playing man to man, really moving around like we need to. On the minus side we shot very few layups as they just shut us down inside both offensively and on the boards. And it didn’t help that WM made just about every shot they took in the first quarter. Oh well. Taking a look at our players:
Jacob – He got lots of playing time in this one. He didn’t lose the ball nearly as much, but then again he didn’t have the ball in his hands nearly as much. He’s still just a tad below the talent of the others, and his lack of speed really hurt us on defense as they had their post players out on the perimeter a lot.
Henry – Henry did not have a good game. He, at point, was too insistent on driving in rather than setting up others. This after the fact that he played 13 seconds in the first quarter because he lofted a 3 as point.
Jon & Ben – I honestly had a real hard time telling them apart this game. I tried them both at PG. Not the answer, as the decision making isn’t there and neither is the talent. I need them to be tough enforcers defensively and they didn’t give me that this game. Oh and Ben’s shooting was just atrocious both before and during the game.
Zach – He told me didn’t want to play point, and since WM was coming out in a zone, I didn’t have him as point much. Still one of our top candidates for that position. I wonder how good my coaching has been for him though. His ability to take over a game, shown so clearly in house league and our first game, has been nonexistent lately. I wonder if I’ve coached that out of him or if he’s just facing superior competition.
Jack A – When I need a dose of aggressiveness I can unleash Jack A. That is the kid will go for the ball, relentlessly. I’m working with him on how to still guard his own player.
Jack B – The smartest player on the court. He’s always in the right space at the right time. He also blocked out. He’s trying out for a small fry team, where there is a height cap and the basket is only 8 feet. He could be a superstar.
Josh – He continues to be a gamer, stealing the both several times during the 4th to really help us get back into it.
Gavin – By the end of the 4th quarter he was rebounding. He’s new to the whole post game, and is making improvements, but it’s not where his heart is at, so the instruction I’m giving him is only being absorbed slowly.
Danny – Played probably his best game of the season, though he continues to play just barely out of control. But it’s getting better.
Adam – Scored no points, took no shots, had no rebounds, no turnovers, and I could go on. A big 0. He’s the weakest player on the team. Kevin was around at the start of the practice and asked “Has Adam been struggling?” I said yes and he said that Adam was the 11th player put on the team.
Overall I can’t be too upset at the game. They’re getting better in a lot ways. But WM was a better team last time we played them, and we got lucky. They were a better team this game as well and we got unlucky. We have flashes of real excellence, but have a lot of holes. As I feel like I say every time I post about HP, I’m going to be a lot happier when we start practicing twice a week.
HP is 3-2 on the season.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
HP vs WM
Sorry that I’m a day late on this. I simply didn’t have time yesterday to write this up.
The notable event from warm-up is a warm-up drill that WM did. They had their players stand in an arc around the basket. Two players would have the ball. One would shoot. If he missed whoever the ball bounced to kept it. If he made it the coach passed it to another person. The other person would then shoot. It was a nice, low activity, warm-up drill.
WM comes out fouling. It is their first game, and it shows. They get into bonus, and double bonus, before the first period is over. Unfortunately the free throws all go to Jack A who is one of our worst free throw shooters and he only makes 1 of 6. Equally unfortunately, Josh gets into early foul trouble, which is a shame because he scored 6 points in the first. We go into the second up 8-6. In the second we extend our lead, with a variety of kids scoring. Josh basically sits the whole quarter out as he picks up a quick 3rd foul. With about 90 seconds left Jack A gets hurt and I put Josh back in. I tell him if he gets a 4th foul I’ll need to sit him the whole 3rd so he needs to be super careful. Right away there is one play that the ref rules a block but could have gone either way. Later on there is a play where Josh backs away. His dad, who is standing on our sideline, rather than sitting with the parents, yells at him. When there is a stop I explain to him that because Josh had so many fouls he was under instructions to be super careful. His dad apologizes to me and then as we are going out to meet at half, apologizes to Josh.
Since we’re only playing with 8 players, as Ben and Jon are in Arizona and Gavin’s at a hockey tournament, my big message is to just rest. We’re playing alright. Not terribly well, as our man defense is looking poor at times, but not terribly either. The good news is that we do a much better job of breaking the press than we had in previous games. The third quarter is basically a wash. In the 4th quarter they switch to a zone, and we struggle. We never lose our lead, but it gets mighty close. Part of this is due to the fact that we have two kids, Jack A and Danny, foul out and commit 14 fouls in the half, and so we are forced to finish with 6 very tired players. That’s just absurd and we’re going to have to improve on that as many of them were of the kind of fouls that aren’t great. With 30 seconds left we’re up by 4. They manage to get a quick steal and basket. They manage to get another quick steal but miss the shot, get the rebound, but Zach rips it out of their hands. He starts to dribble it up, gets the ball stolen from him. WM drives in, and in my opinion gets fouled, but there’s no call. We pull out the victory, but it was not a pretty win. The kids seems as despondent as I’ve ever seen them at the end of the game.
We have some clear areas to work on. The good news is that the effort we put into beat a press seems to have worked. The bad news is that we have a whole bunch of other areas to work on.
Taking a look at the players who were there:
Jacob – Without Gavin, and the twins, we counted on his inside presence more than ever. And while he showed a good court sense, he didn’t have the athletic ability to back it up. He got numerous balls stolen from him, in that he’d get the rebound and then they’d force a jump ball. His dribbling isn’t as good as everyone elses so that means when he’s open deep on a fast break he can’t convert. He was the only kid not to score.
Zach -- He struggled the most when they switched to a zone. His ability to drive was effectively neutralized and he had trouble, despite instruction, in making the switch in strategy. He did do a good job, however of basically locking down their best player during the 4th quarter.
Jack A – He continues to be a work in progress. I’m not sure we made any progress this week though. He needs more reinforcement about how to play man to man. His drives also weren’t as effective as normal, though I’m not quite sure the reason.
Henry – Played point for us a lot of the time he was in. Not a great point guard, but I think he’s got the most there so I’m going to be putting in the continued effort to try and grow his skills. He made two crucial free throws late in the 4th to put us up by 4 after they’d cut the lead to 2. He’s not a great free throw shooter so I give him lots of credit in coming through in the clutch.
Josh – Scored 12 of our 30 points. Would have had more if I hadn’t had to sit him so much due to the fouls in the first half. Like I said he’s a good shooter, though many of his other skills, such as hustle, dribbling, or defense, could be better. Does seem to understand, better than the rest, the key to breaking presses which is good. I gave him some time at point and we might try that some more to see how it works.
Danny – I didn’t think he deserved to foul out. Not quite sure where the fouls came from, in other words, as I thought he was playing tough, but clean man for most of the game.
Adam – A tad slower and less athletic than many of the kids out there. He tries hard, but the results just aren’t there. I’ve found that I’m giving him a lot of negative feedback, so I’ve resolved to be far more positive with him, despite there being less to be positive about.
Jack B – A solid scrapper. Probably our best defender at man to man. If he were taller he’d be a dynamo. Played exactly the kind of game I’d hope for him to play.
With that we’re off for the rest of the week. I’m not sure when my next update will be. GL starts it’s new Monday for an hour, Wednesday for an hour and a half practice schedule so there might be a practice update or two. Otherwise HP plays two games Dec 2 so look for an update after those.
The notable event from warm-up is a warm-up drill that WM did. They had their players stand in an arc around the basket. Two players would have the ball. One would shoot. If he missed whoever the ball bounced to kept it. If he made it the coach passed it to another person. The other person would then shoot. It was a nice, low activity, warm-up drill.
WM comes out fouling. It is their first game, and it shows. They get into bonus, and double bonus, before the first period is over. Unfortunately the free throws all go to Jack A who is one of our worst free throw shooters and he only makes 1 of 6. Equally unfortunately, Josh gets into early foul trouble, which is a shame because he scored 6 points in the first. We go into the second up 8-6. In the second we extend our lead, with a variety of kids scoring. Josh basically sits the whole quarter out as he picks up a quick 3rd foul. With about 90 seconds left Jack A gets hurt and I put Josh back in. I tell him if he gets a 4th foul I’ll need to sit him the whole 3rd so he needs to be super careful. Right away there is one play that the ref rules a block but could have gone either way. Later on there is a play where Josh backs away. His dad, who is standing on our sideline, rather than sitting with the parents, yells at him. When there is a stop I explain to him that because Josh had so many fouls he was under instructions to be super careful. His dad apologizes to me and then as we are going out to meet at half, apologizes to Josh.
Since we’re only playing with 8 players, as Ben and Jon are in Arizona and Gavin’s at a hockey tournament, my big message is to just rest. We’re playing alright. Not terribly well, as our man defense is looking poor at times, but not terribly either. The good news is that we do a much better job of breaking the press than we had in previous games. The third quarter is basically a wash. In the 4th quarter they switch to a zone, and we struggle. We never lose our lead, but it gets mighty close. Part of this is due to the fact that we have two kids, Jack A and Danny, foul out and commit 14 fouls in the half, and so we are forced to finish with 6 very tired players. That’s just absurd and we’re going to have to improve on that as many of them were of the kind of fouls that aren’t great. With 30 seconds left we’re up by 4. They manage to get a quick steal and basket. They manage to get another quick steal but miss the shot, get the rebound, but Zach rips it out of their hands. He starts to dribble it up, gets the ball stolen from him. WM drives in, and in my opinion gets fouled, but there’s no call. We pull out the victory, but it was not a pretty win. The kids seems as despondent as I’ve ever seen them at the end of the game.
We have some clear areas to work on. The good news is that the effort we put into beat a press seems to have worked. The bad news is that we have a whole bunch of other areas to work on.
Taking a look at the players who were there:
Jacob – Without Gavin, and the twins, we counted on his inside presence more than ever. And while he showed a good court sense, he didn’t have the athletic ability to back it up. He got numerous balls stolen from him, in that he’d get the rebound and then they’d force a jump ball. His dribbling isn’t as good as everyone elses so that means when he’s open deep on a fast break he can’t convert. He was the only kid not to score.
Zach -- He struggled the most when they switched to a zone. His ability to drive was effectively neutralized and he had trouble, despite instruction, in making the switch in strategy. He did do a good job, however of basically locking down their best player during the 4th quarter.
Jack A – He continues to be a work in progress. I’m not sure we made any progress this week though. He needs more reinforcement about how to play man to man. His drives also weren’t as effective as normal, though I’m not quite sure the reason.
Henry – Played point for us a lot of the time he was in. Not a great point guard, but I think he’s got the most there so I’m going to be putting in the continued effort to try and grow his skills. He made two crucial free throws late in the 4th to put us up by 4 after they’d cut the lead to 2. He’s not a great free throw shooter so I give him lots of credit in coming through in the clutch.
Josh – Scored 12 of our 30 points. Would have had more if I hadn’t had to sit him so much due to the fouls in the first half. Like I said he’s a good shooter, though many of his other skills, such as hustle, dribbling, or defense, could be better. Does seem to understand, better than the rest, the key to breaking presses which is good. I gave him some time at point and we might try that some more to see how it works.
Danny – I didn’t think he deserved to foul out. Not quite sure where the fouls came from, in other words, as I thought he was playing tough, but clean man for most of the game.
Adam – A tad slower and less athletic than many of the kids out there. He tries hard, but the results just aren’t there. I’ve found that I’m giving him a lot of negative feedback, so I’ve resolved to be far more positive with him, despite there being less to be positive about.
Jack B – A solid scrapper. Probably our best defender at man to man. If he were taller he’d be a dynamo. Played exactly the kind of game I’d hope for him to play.
With that we’re off for the rest of the week. I’m not sure when my next update will be. GL starts it’s new Monday for an hour, Wednesday for an hour and a half practice schedule so there might be a practice update or two. Otherwise HP plays two games Dec 2 so look for an update after those.
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