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.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
HP vs WK
Yesterday was an HP basketball doubleheader: a practice and a game. We started off with practice in the morning. I got an email Friday telling me that Gavin wouldn’t be there that weekend. No explanation, no nothing. Basically I’ve decided that I should view Gavin as a bonus. Hockey is clearly his #1 sport and he makes it to basketball when he can. Frankly I’d rather not have him at all than have the problem of dealing with the fact that he’s one of our better players, and thinks of himself as such, but doesn’t have the same commitment that the other 10 players do. Also not showing up to practice, and without advance warning, is Ben. Jon tells me he’s sick.
At the start of practice I tell them that if they can make 60 layups, starting from the 3 point line and going on two baskets, in 2 and a half minutes that we won’t do continuous motion. Normally continuous motion is a nonnegotiable part of practice but with the game later in the day and this team having had some endurance issues I decide that giving them a way out is a good idea.
Next I teach them a very simple movement against zone defenses. Basically it’s just a 1-3-1 with the 1 running the baseline while the others swing and penetrate. I tell them that whoever wins in Champs & Chumps later in practice will get to name the play.
We then did our “take away” drill. I think this paid dividends during the game.
We then spend a good amount of time on our shell drill. It was nice because with only 9 players it meant only 1 kid was sitting out at a time. Further it’s a relatively low activity drill, but an important one. So we spend more time on this than normal. While they’re not at the point I’d like, I’m not sure any group of 9 year olds will ever be at the point I’d like. They are definitely getting better with keeping track of their man and the ball and so I started focusing more on the help line.
Next we did the contact layup drill I’d done with GL. Not surprisingly they struggle with it more than GL did, being a year younger smaller and less experienced. Josh W basically dominated this drill staying on the championship court nearly the whole time. We got to the last round and I could tell Jack A was going to win as Josh had tired out and Jack had figured out the drill fairly well. I told them that Josh would get to name our zone offense play even if he lost, though Jack would get the permission from the drill. This mostly appeased Jack who did go on to win. Doing surprisingly poorly in this drill was Jon who basically was on the bottom court the whole time.
We did a couple of games of golf and then concluded with a 4 on 4 full court “no excuses” scrimmage. Probably not the wisest move considering I didn’t want to tire them out.
Overall it was a good practice and I let them know it. I then went home to relax for a few hours and I get a call from Jon and Ben’s mother. She lets me know that BOTH of them have strep throat. So neither of the twins will, understandably, be at the game.
I had warned the team that WK’s gym was small and that good defense would be the key. When I get to the gym I am reminded just how true those words are. The gym is small, with the spectators and the bench practically on the court. During the pregame speech I remind the team that while the court is small that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use the whole court.
WK opens up surprisingly flat in the first quarter and end the quarter with a 6-2 lead. Or rather it would have been 6-2 if Jack A hadn’t made a shot from nearly half court at the buzzer. But then because we’re sporting we let up 4 quick points and we’re back to a close game. They have several players who are much taller than we are. Fortunately we do a good job of keeping them from getting easy shots. Still they catch up giving us a score of 15-12 at half. Each team scores 6 in the third so we maintain a precarious 3 point lead. They start off hot in the fourth and get us down by as much as five. However, Jack A, Zach, and Josh absolutely clamp down on them with some great full court press, which is basically just full court man to man with some permission to double team a player. We claw our way back into it and with a little less than a minute get up by 2, thanks to a gimmick play I had them run. Throughout the 4th we’d been off and on with our press, mostly to keep them off balance. Coming off a time out I tell the players to drop back to half court, let them in bounds the ball and then come up and apply our press. Works like a charm. There’s about 24 seconds left when they get the ball. We get a defensive stop with Zach getting the rebound, but unfortunately they tie him up for a jump ball giving them about 2.5 seconds to run an inbounds play. Fortunately they come up short and we pull out a victory, 33-31.
I was real happy to go to winter break with a victory, especially to also have it be our first road victory. Just as importantly all of the players got substantial playing time and all of them played in the 4th, though I did end the game with our best five (that day) of Zach, Jack A, Jack B, Josh, and Danny for the last 3:45 or so.
Taking a look at our players:
Jacob – Left the game frustrated. He committed a lot of turnovers, as was usual, and failed to come down with any points. That and being our only “big” at the game he was guarding guys considerably bigger and heavier than him and so that likely wore him down as well. I’m going to have to make sure to give him some encouragement after break.
Zach – When he’s playing well he’s our best player. And yesterday he was playing well. He shut down some of their bigger guys. He scored 8 points. He was all over the boards. He stole the ball repeatedly. Caused numerous jump balls. It was wonderful.
Jack A – Thinks he’s a much better shooter than he is. Stole the ball numerous times in the 4th but didn’t score on any of them. He remains raw, but there’s a lot of talent to be had and I think it’s starting to get better.
Josh – Led the team in scoring again with 11 points and led the team in steals. It got him in a little trouble in the first quarter, but he did a better job of moving his feet more in the later quarters.
Henry – Wasn’t at his best and injured himself in the 4th limiting his play time in that quarter, though he wouldn’t have been in at crunch time anyway.
Danny – A surprising non presence this game. He did a good job with his positioning in our defense, but otherwise an unremarkable game.
Adam – Stands around far too much on offense and continues to struggle on defense, though he’s improving there.
Jack B – Quietly went about scoring 8 points. His basketball smarts paid off in the 4th with his being in the right place to score two crucial baskets after we’d forced a turnover on the press.
HP’s record is now 3-2 heading into winter break for about the next 3 weeks. The good news is that when we come back from break we got to two practices a week which will definitely help us.
At the start of practice I tell them that if they can make 60 layups, starting from the 3 point line and going on two baskets, in 2 and a half minutes that we won’t do continuous motion. Normally continuous motion is a nonnegotiable part of practice but with the game later in the day and this team having had some endurance issues I decide that giving them a way out is a good idea.
Next I teach them a very simple movement against zone defenses. Basically it’s just a 1-3-1 with the 1 running the baseline while the others swing and penetrate. I tell them that whoever wins in Champs & Chumps later in practice will get to name the play.
We then did our “take away” drill. I think this paid dividends during the game.
We then spend a good amount of time on our shell drill. It was nice because with only 9 players it meant only 1 kid was sitting out at a time. Further it’s a relatively low activity drill, but an important one. So we spend more time on this than normal. While they’re not at the point I’d like, I’m not sure any group of 9 year olds will ever be at the point I’d like. They are definitely getting better with keeping track of their man and the ball and so I started focusing more on the help line.
Next we did the contact layup drill I’d done with GL. Not surprisingly they struggle with it more than GL did, being a year younger smaller and less experienced. Josh W basically dominated this drill staying on the championship court nearly the whole time. We got to the last round and I could tell Jack A was going to win as Josh had tired out and Jack had figured out the drill fairly well. I told them that Josh would get to name our zone offense play even if he lost, though Jack would get the permission from the drill. This mostly appeased Jack who did go on to win. Doing surprisingly poorly in this drill was Jon who basically was on the bottom court the whole time.
We did a couple of games of golf and then concluded with a 4 on 4 full court “no excuses” scrimmage. Probably not the wisest move considering I didn’t want to tire them out.
Overall it was a good practice and I let them know it. I then went home to relax for a few hours and I get a call from Jon and Ben’s mother. She lets me know that BOTH of them have strep throat. So neither of the twins will, understandably, be at the game.
I had warned the team that WK’s gym was small and that good defense would be the key. When I get to the gym I am reminded just how true those words are. The gym is small, with the spectators and the bench practically on the court. During the pregame speech I remind the team that while the court is small that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use the whole court.
WK opens up surprisingly flat in the first quarter and end the quarter with a 6-2 lead. Or rather it would have been 6-2 if Jack A hadn’t made a shot from nearly half court at the buzzer. But then because we’re sporting we let up 4 quick points and we’re back to a close game. They have several players who are much taller than we are. Fortunately we do a good job of keeping them from getting easy shots. Still they catch up giving us a score of 15-12 at half. Each team scores 6 in the third so we maintain a precarious 3 point lead. They start off hot in the fourth and get us down by as much as five. However, Jack A, Zach, and Josh absolutely clamp down on them with some great full court press, which is basically just full court man to man with some permission to double team a player. We claw our way back into it and with a little less than a minute get up by 2, thanks to a gimmick play I had them run. Throughout the 4th we’d been off and on with our press, mostly to keep them off balance. Coming off a time out I tell the players to drop back to half court, let them in bounds the ball and then come up and apply our press. Works like a charm. There’s about 24 seconds left when they get the ball. We get a defensive stop with Zach getting the rebound, but unfortunately they tie him up for a jump ball giving them about 2.5 seconds to run an inbounds play. Fortunately they come up short and we pull out a victory, 33-31.
I was real happy to go to winter break with a victory, especially to also have it be our first road victory. Just as importantly all of the players got substantial playing time and all of them played in the 4th, though I did end the game with our best five (that day) of Zach, Jack A, Jack B, Josh, and Danny for the last 3:45 or so.
Taking a look at our players:
Jacob – Left the game frustrated. He committed a lot of turnovers, as was usual, and failed to come down with any points. That and being our only “big” at the game he was guarding guys considerably bigger and heavier than him and so that likely wore him down as well. I’m going to have to make sure to give him some encouragement after break.
Zach – When he’s playing well he’s our best player. And yesterday he was playing well. He shut down some of their bigger guys. He scored 8 points. He was all over the boards. He stole the ball repeatedly. Caused numerous jump balls. It was wonderful.
Jack A – Thinks he’s a much better shooter than he is. Stole the ball numerous times in the 4th but didn’t score on any of them. He remains raw, but there’s a lot of talent to be had and I think it’s starting to get better.
Josh – Led the team in scoring again with 11 points and led the team in steals. It got him in a little trouble in the first quarter, but he did a better job of moving his feet more in the later quarters.
Henry – Wasn’t at his best and injured himself in the 4th limiting his play time in that quarter, though he wouldn’t have been in at crunch time anyway.
Danny – A surprising non presence this game. He did a good job with his positioning in our defense, but otherwise an unremarkable game.
Adam – Stands around far too much on offense and continues to struggle on defense, though he’s improving there.
Jack B – Quietly went about scoring 8 points. His basketball smarts paid off in the 4th with his being in the right place to score two crucial baskets after we’d forced a turnover on the press.
HP’s record is now 3-2 heading into winter break for about the next 3 weeks. The good news is that when we come back from break we got to two practices a week which will definitely help us.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
GL Practices
I had a few simple goals with GL this week. We needed to work on a play to break the press, we needed to make some progress on our zone offense, and we needed continued work on man to man defense. Unfortunately with these as our goals it meant that we’d have slightly more drudgery than normal.
Monday we did our conditioning and I then taught the press break. Fairly good work was done on it and I was cautiously optimistic about how it would go on Wednesday. When we did it yesterday it seemed like they had mostly learned the play. There were a few refinements necessary, but overall they seem to have a good grasp on the basics. Unfortunately, for reasons I’ll discuss shortly, we didn’t actually get to try this against real defense, so we’ll be doing some live practice against WM. Hopefully it’ll go well.
Monday we also did Champs and Chumps with a contact lay-up drill. Scott, naturally, did well in this. While the whole team could benefit from this drill I was doing it mainly for him. When I commented to him on how well he was doing in this versus in the game he made some sort of excuse.
Overall Monday was an alright practice. Wednesday, however, was anything but alright. There was the initial problem that the gym was sweltering when we got in it. While they were doing our defensive continuous motion I took the time to open some windows. I was about to have the team do the defensive slide against the clock when I was called aside by a GL park district rep. Seems that the principal has been unhappy with our kids running through the school. I didn’t quite understand the complaint, but promised to address it with the team.
After doing our continuous motion I tried to do the work with the press break and it was silliness all around. It took far longer than it should have. It then took way too long to do our work on the man to man defense. The focus was poor. Finally, after a few sprints, I got most of the team to focus and so while our work wasn’t stellar it at least wasn’t poor.
We concluded practice with work on our zone offense. Unfortunately without having practiced it recently our skills had slip and we really had to go back to the basics. It was to my great disappointment that we only accomplished these three drills and didn’t get to do any of the more fun drills I had planned. We did get a little golf in there, and a little bubble, but that was it.
Fortunately we have our game Sunday just against WM, as our game against LV, who is currently in 1st place, was canceled. WM is one of the weaker teams and by not having a game which will push us to the limits first we should have a much better chance of pulling it out.
I plan on going with a starting five of David, Andrew, Scott, Dante, and a player to be named later.
A few notes on some players:
David: In my focus on my coaching decisions Sunday I didn’t give David his due. He scored an amazing 22 of 41 points for the team. He was on fire missing only a few of his shots and generally moving the ball around well. It was by far his best performance of the season and it certainly came at the right time.
Jack P: Missed our game Sunday to be at the Bulls game. This was not received well by some other players on the team who were also going to the Bulls game. Things got worse when he missed Monday’s practice because he and his dad both forgot. He’d have been the 5th starter were it not for this faux pas.
Brian: Even after I had settled down most of the players he refused to be settled down. He also flat out refused to play good defense in our shell drill, constantly insisting on cheating to try and steal the pass. At one point I stopped the practice and sent everybody for a water break except him to no avail. I also held him after practice when I got to the heart of the matter: he was frustrated by not having started. After his openly defiant attitude during practice (such that his brothers were basically telling him to just stop arguing) he knew he wasn’t going to start Sunday. However, we did agree that if he gave me a week of good practice after winter break that he’d get the start.
I am not excited by the prospect of playing against WM’s tall player and not excited about playing in their gym, with the spectators sitting so closely behind the bench, but I am confident that we should have a good chance to rebound after our loss.
Monday we did our conditioning and I then taught the press break. Fairly good work was done on it and I was cautiously optimistic about how it would go on Wednesday. When we did it yesterday it seemed like they had mostly learned the play. There were a few refinements necessary, but overall they seem to have a good grasp on the basics. Unfortunately, for reasons I’ll discuss shortly, we didn’t actually get to try this against real defense, so we’ll be doing some live practice against WM. Hopefully it’ll go well.
Monday we also did Champs and Chumps with a contact lay-up drill. Scott, naturally, did well in this. While the whole team could benefit from this drill I was doing it mainly for him. When I commented to him on how well he was doing in this versus in the game he made some sort of excuse.
Overall Monday was an alright practice. Wednesday, however, was anything but alright. There was the initial problem that the gym was sweltering when we got in it. While they were doing our defensive continuous motion I took the time to open some windows. I was about to have the team do the defensive slide against the clock when I was called aside by a GL park district rep. Seems that the principal has been unhappy with our kids running through the school. I didn’t quite understand the complaint, but promised to address it with the team.
After doing our continuous motion I tried to do the work with the press break and it was silliness all around. It took far longer than it should have. It then took way too long to do our work on the man to man defense. The focus was poor. Finally, after a few sprints, I got most of the team to focus and so while our work wasn’t stellar it at least wasn’t poor.
We concluded practice with work on our zone offense. Unfortunately without having practiced it recently our skills had slip and we really had to go back to the basics. It was to my great disappointment that we only accomplished these three drills and didn’t get to do any of the more fun drills I had planned. We did get a little golf in there, and a little bubble, but that was it.
Fortunately we have our game Sunday just against WM, as our game against LV, who is currently in 1st place, was canceled. WM is one of the weaker teams and by not having a game which will push us to the limits first we should have a much better chance of pulling it out.
I plan on going with a starting five of David, Andrew, Scott, Dante, and a player to be named later.
A few notes on some players:
David: In my focus on my coaching decisions Sunday I didn’t give David his due. He scored an amazing 22 of 41 points for the team. He was on fire missing only a few of his shots and generally moving the ball around well. It was by far his best performance of the season and it certainly came at the right time.
Jack P: Missed our game Sunday to be at the Bulls game. This was not received well by some other players on the team who were also going to the Bulls game. Things got worse when he missed Monday’s practice because he and his dad both forgot. He’d have been the 5th starter were it not for this faux pas.
Brian: Even after I had settled down most of the players he refused to be settled down. He also flat out refused to play good defense in our shell drill, constantly insisting on cheating to try and steal the pass. At one point I stopped the practice and sent everybody for a water break except him to no avail. I also held him after practice when I got to the heart of the matter: he was frustrated by not having started. After his openly defiant attitude during practice (such that his brothers were basically telling him to just stop arguing) he knew he wasn’t going to start Sunday. However, we did agree that if he gave me a week of good practice after winter break that he’d get the start.
I am not excited by the prospect of playing against WM’s tall player and not excited about playing in their gym, with the spectators sitting so closely behind the bench, but I am confident that we should have a good chance to rebound after our loss.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Baseball Interview
Today Steve and I interviewed for a position as travel coaches for a U9 HP tournament baseball team. I frankly am NOT excited about the prospect at all. Practices start end of January/beginning of February. We then play our first tournament at the end of April, then on Memorial Day, and then have 3 more in June (so basically every weekend), one on July 4th weekend and then we’re done.
I am not excited because I don’t feel like my baseball skills are up to coaching a travel team. I am not excited because for a little under two months I will have a THIRD team I am going to be responsible for and am going to lose more of my already precious free time. I’m doing this because Steve is incredibly psyched about the prospect.
But maybe we won’t get the job. We interviewed with Brian (basketball boss for me) and Kevin (runs the baseball league Steve and I have volunteered in). I’m not sure how happy Brian was with us. Kevin? Kevin loved us. So my guess is I’ll get a call Friday offering us the job.
And so suddenly rather than having a relaxing winter break as I expected I’m going to be cramming for baseball.
I am not excited because I don’t feel like my baseball skills are up to coaching a travel team. I am not excited because for a little under two months I will have a THIRD team I am going to be responsible for and am going to lose more of my already precious free time. I’m doing this because Steve is incredibly psyched about the prospect.
But maybe we won’t get the job. We interviewed with Brian (basketball boss for me) and Kevin (runs the baseball league Steve and I have volunteered in). I’m not sure how happy Brian was with us. Kevin? Kevin loved us. So my guess is I’ll get a call Friday offering us the job.
And so suddenly rather than having a relaxing winter break as I expected I’m going to be cramming for baseball.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
GL vs WK
Yesterday was GL’s big match up against the defending league champions, WK. We played a valiant game, but in the end came up short. The problem with the game has less to do with any players playing and more to do with my coaching.
I had written down my planned subs for the first 3 quarters in advance. With my having placed a lot of self pressure to be more competitive than we were when we scrimmaged them last year (and got killed), I wanted to make sure that I got every player the quality playing time they deserved. I then would ad-lib the 4th quarter depending on where we were at.
The first half goes remarkably well. We are up by2 at half, 19-17, in large part thanks to good free throw shooting. This has been a real emphasis with the team this year, since most of them are strong enough to shoot a set free throw without having to jump, so it’s nice to see that practice and instruction paying off.
Bad coaching part 1 comes at the start of the 3rd. The way I did subs was sub at 7:00, 4:00, and 1:00 minutes each quarter. With the exception of a couple of odd 1 minute shifts players were basically playing 3 or 4 minutes at a stretch. Well to start off the 3rd quarter I put in a group of Jack M, Andrew, and Cameron at the same time and WK just ate them alive. I knew I was potentially asking for trouble with that grouping, and sure enough there just wasn’t enough talent on the court. I thought about calling a time out, but frankly didn’t know what I could say to stop the momentum. When their shift was up we were down by 9.
However, going into the 4th we had managed to narrow the lead to 2. Bad coaching part 2 now comes into effect. I send out my best 5, which that day was David, Justin, Scott, Lucas, and Brian to start the quarter. Except, and knowing that they’re going to press, I don’t really define what role each player would play. After two quick baskets, I call a time-out and explain their roles.
Basically the 4th quarter is a see saw. However, with Jack P not at the game, I don’t make any subs for too long (bad coaching part 3). I do get Dante in there for Lucas, who just had nothing left (he’d already played a house league game). Problem is that based on how long he’d played I knew I’d have to sub for Justin at some point. Did I? Nope. And so basically I have four kids who sit on the bench for most of the 4th quarter. Tom and Cameron don’t care and start some spirited chants while we’re on defense. Andrew and Jack M? They are both clearly unhappy after the game and my guess it’s about not having played in the 4th, and since they’ve both been on the bench a lot during 4th quarters I guess I don’t blame them too much.
We ended up losing by 6, but it was really closer than that as with about a minute left we were down by only 2. WK scored a basket, using their considerable height advantage to full effect, something they’d done all day.
So I coached to win, something I don’t regret too much. However, I did a poor job of doing even that while also not spreading around the playing time, and when giving playing time not giving the players a chance to be successful.
Next week we have a HP practice Saturday morning followed by a game that afternoon. Sunday GL has a noon and 2:30 double header, so fatigue will likely be an issue once again. Hopefully I will do a better job of coaching though.
I had written down my planned subs for the first 3 quarters in advance. With my having placed a lot of self pressure to be more competitive than we were when we scrimmaged them last year (and got killed), I wanted to make sure that I got every player the quality playing time they deserved. I then would ad-lib the 4th quarter depending on where we were at.
The first half goes remarkably well. We are up by2 at half, 19-17, in large part thanks to good free throw shooting. This has been a real emphasis with the team this year, since most of them are strong enough to shoot a set free throw without having to jump, so it’s nice to see that practice and instruction paying off.
Bad coaching part 1 comes at the start of the 3rd. The way I did subs was sub at 7:00, 4:00, and 1:00 minutes each quarter. With the exception of a couple of odd 1 minute shifts players were basically playing 3 or 4 minutes at a stretch. Well to start off the 3rd quarter I put in a group of Jack M, Andrew, and Cameron at the same time and WK just ate them alive. I knew I was potentially asking for trouble with that grouping, and sure enough there just wasn’t enough talent on the court. I thought about calling a time out, but frankly didn’t know what I could say to stop the momentum. When their shift was up we were down by 9.
However, going into the 4th we had managed to narrow the lead to 2. Bad coaching part 2 now comes into effect. I send out my best 5, which that day was David, Justin, Scott, Lucas, and Brian to start the quarter. Except, and knowing that they’re going to press, I don’t really define what role each player would play. After two quick baskets, I call a time-out and explain their roles.
Basically the 4th quarter is a see saw. However, with Jack P not at the game, I don’t make any subs for too long (bad coaching part 3). I do get Dante in there for Lucas, who just had nothing left (he’d already played a house league game). Problem is that based on how long he’d played I knew I’d have to sub for Justin at some point. Did I? Nope. And so basically I have four kids who sit on the bench for most of the 4th quarter. Tom and Cameron don’t care and start some spirited chants while we’re on defense. Andrew and Jack M? They are both clearly unhappy after the game and my guess it’s about not having played in the 4th, and since they’ve both been on the bench a lot during 4th quarters I guess I don’t blame them too much.
We ended up losing by 6, but it was really closer than that as with about a minute left we were down by only 2. WK scored a basket, using their considerable height advantage to full effect, something they’d done all day.
So I coached to win, something I don’t regret too much. However, I did a poor job of doing even that while also not spreading around the playing time, and when giving playing time not giving the players a chance to be successful.
Next week we have a HP practice Saturday morning followed by a game that afternoon. Sunday GL has a noon and 2:30 double header, so fatigue will likely be an issue once again. Hopefully I will do a better job of coaching though.
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.
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