I'll skip all the adult problems that interfere with kids' basketball this week, because it was a great week.
First off, the boys teams were invited to hang with the high school team at their game on Thursday night. This caused a mass cancellation of practices, but also allowed not only the Bulls, but the Sixers a chance to practice with the Spurs. After twenty minutes of warm-ups/practice, the teams rotated in and out of scrimmaging for an hour. Good times for everybody.
With less than an hour before Maja's travel team's "Conditioning Session" at the same site, we decided to stay and I managed one-on-one time with a few remaining players. One day, I'm quite certain the one girl will execute a proper lay-up, but we got a lot closer in those 45 minutes than we've had with weeks of practice.
We decided to divide and conquer on Friday night. Millie had a late game in Hazleton, so my wife took her and I took Maja to her local practice. It was a wise move on my part, as Millie got the ball a grand total of three times in the game. I thought this team was moving past not passing to a girl, but the one player who's a fundamental mess, loves to lob (and miss) 3's, and whose family thinks he should be playing up, dominated ball-time (and what tiny scoring that game had).
Fun fact: Millie's still the second leading scorer on the team... #statsdontlie
Saturday morning opened with a deluge from the heavens, as we hydroplaned at any speed to get to Hazleton for Maja's game. Her team was the polar opposite Millie's: great passing, aggressive defense, and heads-up play to find the open man. Everybody got a chance to shoot, and Maja ended up with 10 points of 32 in a game where she was benched for most of the 4th quarters (after hitting a 20-point lead, the top three scorers must sit.)
After a stop at Buddy's Bagels for breakfast, we made it MYBL for Maja's second game of the day.
I made the comment to a number of coaches and parents that we may have hit the mid-season winter sports doldrums. Maja played a much better game than last week, and her points were essential for her Bucks to hold off a late push by the Celtics, but everybody else is languishing on the court. With smarter play, they could have easily built a 10+ point lead instead of 4 with thirty seconds left.
Millie's doubleheader
Millie's Spurs closed out the elementary school with a double-header against the Bulls, and the much-hated Celtics. We allowed the Bulls an extra player (and a good one too) to allow some substitution for their otherwise five-player team, and still pulled away with a 23-16 win. Millie and our center Annika dominated play, even to the point that they reversed their guard-center relationship for Millie to dump a few baskets down low.
Since we practice with the Bulls, that familiarity fosters an assertive play that may resemble a rugby scrum.
In my first season of coaching, there have been plenty of times I've realized that I'm making an impact on the girls, but the end of the Bulls game was the first time my coaching decisions make a fantastic impact on game strategy.
With a back-to-back doubleheader, I decided to sit some of my taller girls (and let Millie play center... because, well... she wanted to play center). In the 3rd/4th grade divisions, teams can only full-court press in the last two minutes of each game and with a smaller and weaker back court, it was pure unadulterated chaos. Teams traded equal blows and scored the same points during that time, but as the buzzer went off, the girls walked off the court panting for breath, but with a wholly different look in their eyes.
I kept it simple as they sat for a moment and sucked down their remaining water bottles, "You know the feeling you have in your chest right now? How you felt in the last four minutes on the court? I need you to play with that intensity for the entire game with the Celtics!"
And they did.
Maybe the Celtics are languishing worse than our girls, but the Spurs managed to hold them down to a field goal and two foul shots in a 13-4 win. And the best part? No shenanigans on either side. With the prior history we had, and the intensity the girls were playing with, not only did I need a time out to calm down my girls, but the Celtics did the same thing. And the questionable player that was center of all the controversy before? I think she scored all four points, and despite the frustration on her face, played a hard, clean game that will make opposing players remember her name for all the right reasons.
And with the cancellation of last week's games, no matter what the result is next week, I can retire from coaching with a winning regular-season record.
Sunday was a lot of running around as we prepared for Millie's birthday party to end her annual birthday month. A party on the first weekend in January is always a crap shoot, so we plan for the end of the month for the 'friends' party.
I only remember seeing 12 invitations.... 28 showed up.
And did I mention it was a snake party?
We had had Cameron from CDE Exotics come to the house and let the kids hold and play with a number of snakes and other reptiles. Not my thing, but most of the girls (and my wife) thought it was the best thing ever. I can't dispute that. Tons of aggressive basketball and a "science-y" birthday party? Right up these girls' alley.
Maja's travel team ended the week, and despite a desire to go 6-0 for the weekend, they looked horrible, confused, and fumbling out on the court to loose in the first round of the playoffs. At this point, I'm happy we're done with Wednesday and Sunday basketball now. Part of the winter doldrums was homework starting to decline, so we can address that, do some family activities, and rest up before we decided what to do for spring ball.
On the adult front: Board member continue to bicker, I completed the playoff schedule (but refuse to release it until one last moving piece resolves itself, and we had our local Night at the Races fundraiser. This was the one item as a board member, that I decided to distance myself from, as far as responsibility . I was given a pass since I had two games in the first two hours of the event, but that allowed my wife and I to just buy tickets, be sociable, and win a raffle basket. The league raised the the most money ever for that event.
This week is the release of the playoff schedule and another AAU tryout, so as my old track coach, Mr Herman, would say, "We shall see what we shall see..."
First off, the boys teams were invited to hang with the high school team at their game on Thursday night. This caused a mass cancellation of practices, but also allowed not only the Bulls, but the Sixers a chance to practice with the Spurs. After twenty minutes of warm-ups/practice, the teams rotated in and out of scrimmaging for an hour. Good times for everybody.
With less than an hour before Maja's travel team's "Conditioning Session" at the same site, we decided to stay and I managed one-on-one time with a few remaining players. One day, I'm quite certain the one girl will execute a proper lay-up, but we got a lot closer in those 45 minutes than we've had with weeks of practice.
We decided to divide and conquer on Friday night. Millie had a late game in Hazleton, so my wife took her and I took Maja to her local practice. It was a wise move on my part, as Millie got the ball a grand total of three times in the game. I thought this team was moving past not passing to a girl, but the one player who's a fundamental mess, loves to lob (and miss) 3's, and whose family thinks he should be playing up, dominated ball-time (and what tiny scoring that game had).
Fun fact: Millie's still the second leading scorer on the team... #statsdontlie
Saturday morning opened with a deluge from the heavens, as we hydroplaned at any speed to get to Hazleton for Maja's game. Her team was the polar opposite Millie's: great passing, aggressive defense, and heads-up play to find the open man. Everybody got a chance to shoot, and Maja ended up with 10 points of 32 in a game where she was benched for most of the 4th quarters (after hitting a 20-point lead, the top three scorers must sit.)
After a stop at Buddy's Bagels for breakfast, we made it MYBL for Maja's second game of the day.
I made the comment to a number of coaches and parents that we may have hit the mid-season winter sports doldrums. Maja played a much better game than last week, and her points were essential for her Bucks to hold off a late push by the Celtics, but everybody else is languishing on the court. With smarter play, they could have easily built a 10+ point lead instead of 4 with thirty seconds left.
Millie's doubleheader
Millie's Spurs closed out the elementary school with a double-header against the Bulls, and the much-hated Celtics. We allowed the Bulls an extra player (and a good one too) to allow some substitution for their otherwise five-player team, and still pulled away with a 23-16 win. Millie and our center Annika dominated play, even to the point that they reversed their guard-center relationship for Millie to dump a few baskets down low.
 |
| Bulls v. Spurs jump balls = floor time! |
With a back-to-back doubleheader, I decided to sit some of my taller girls (and let Millie play center... because, well... she wanted to play center). In the 3rd/4th grade divisions, teams can only full-court press in the last two minutes of each game and with a smaller and weaker back court, it was pure unadulterated chaos. Teams traded equal blows and scored the same points during that time, but as the buzzer went off, the girls walked off the court panting for breath, but with a wholly different look in their eyes.
I kept it simple as they sat for a moment and sucked down their remaining water bottles, "You know the feeling you have in your chest right now? How you felt in the last four minutes on the court? I need you to play with that intensity for the entire game with the Celtics!"
And they did.
Maybe the Celtics are languishing worse than our girls, but the Spurs managed to hold them down to a field goal and two foul shots in a 13-4 win. And the best part? No shenanigans on either side. With the prior history we had, and the intensity the girls were playing with, not only did I need a time out to calm down my girls, but the Celtics did the same thing. And the questionable player that was center of all the controversy before? I think she scored all four points, and despite the frustration on her face, played a hard, clean game that will make opposing players remember her name for all the right reasons.
And with the cancellation of last week's games, no matter what the result is next week, I can retire from coaching with a winning regular-season record.
Sunday was a lot of running around as we prepared for Millie's birthday party to end her annual birthday month. A party on the first weekend in January is always a crap shoot, so we plan for the end of the month for the 'friends' party.
I only remember seeing 12 invitations.... 28 showed up.
And did I mention it was a snake party?
We had had Cameron from CDE Exotics come to the house and let the kids hold and play with a number of snakes and other reptiles. Not my thing, but most of the girls (and my wife) thought it was the best thing ever. I can't dispute that. Tons of aggressive basketball and a "science-y" birthday party? Right up these girls' alley.
Maja's travel team ended the week, and despite a desire to go 6-0 for the weekend, they looked horrible, confused, and fumbling out on the court to loose in the first round of the playoffs. At this point, I'm happy we're done with Wednesday and Sunday basketball now. Part of the winter doldrums was homework starting to decline, so we can address that, do some family activities, and rest up before we decided what to do for spring ball.
On the adult front: Board member continue to bicker, I completed the playoff schedule (but refuse to release it until one last moving piece resolves itself, and we had our local Night at the Races fundraiser. This was the one item as a board member, that I decided to distance myself from, as far as responsibility . I was given a pass since I had two games in the first two hours of the event, but that allowed my wife and I to just buy tickets, be sociable, and win a raffle basket. The league raised the the most money ever for that event.
This week is the release of the playoff schedule and another AAU tryout, so as my old track coach, Mr Herman, would say, "We shall see what we shall see..."
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