First of all, let me start off by saying that this team totally caught me off guard. From my understanding they were supposed to be a sub-average team. I didn't scout this team and had no idea they would be that kind of treat to us. Those kids were shooters and had an aggressive, great defense on us. I usually have a game strategy coming in, but like I said, without scouting them and from what I heard, I really thought we would come out with a win. :-( I was surprised to say the least!
I have since found out that the BBA team we were playing was not the real BBA team we were supposed to be playing. A few of the players were "illegal" players. That sounds rough, but it just means that they were guest players....and their team was stacked a bit to play us. Nothing we can do about it now other than keep an eye out for that come end of season tournament. I will say it over and over again. I am pleased that we are playing in a division that is challenging us and forcing us to "learn". I am ok with losing from time to time! It makes us work harder and play harder! And it will only build character and make us better!
Now, onto the game...
The first two minutes went great. We came out with a bang....but that's about the only bang we had!
What am noticing a lot this year is how the boys are relying heavily on the PLAYS to make them open. Our boys are struggling to create their own plays and see the open areas on the court. We do A LOT of standing in our area. This is the hardest part of basketball but once the players begin to learn this..... the game of basketball will drastically change for them. We will be working on this A LOT this week in practice and in the upcoming weeks.
Oh---Our shooting??? It's TERRIBLE! I keep thinking it will come, but so far, we are not getting any better at shooting! HA! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! And when you practice, make it GAME LIKE!!! Don't try to be fancy or showy, just the jump shot or set shot is all we need at this level, but we have to get these shots to fall for us!!!
DEFENSE---This is usually our strong suit, but this past game I saw way to much "lazy" defense. My definition of lazy defense is when players aren't moving their feet to prevent or to get in front of their opponent and instead will use the upper body to try to stop them because they are a step behind----which usually will be a foul. WAY TOO MUCH OF THIS this past game!!!
PASSING---In this level ball the overhead, rainbow pass WILL NOT WORK. We should be making more bounce passes than any other pass. And whomever is recieving the pass MUST GO TO THE BALL (MEET THE BALL) before making a move. We had many turnovers due to this simple fundamental mistake. Not to mention, if we would GO TOWARD THE PASS----we could draw a few hustle fouls on our opponents, as well.
SET SCREENS and MOVE----- We spent a majority of our practice last week learning to properly screen and roll. Now---go do it!!! ALL THE TIME!!!:-)
We have many things to work on! But, EVERY TEAM, has many things to work on. My goal is to make us better ball players, build character, be respectable and competitive athletes and young men, and have some fun while doing it! We are still achieving those goals!!! So keep your heads up and keep at it!!!
