How things change!
Monday's practice was full of optimism after nearly toppling the Sixers. We ran our defense for half the practice, and offense the second half. I felt good about our defense, and decided that we'd use our whole Wednesday practice to run the offense.
On Wednesday two kids showed up 45 minutes late for a one hour practice (explanation: they got the practice time wrong). That set the tone for the evening. By the end, I pretty much decided that my carefully designed offense had to go on the scrap heap -- the kids being either too young or too inattentive to get the job done.
So I spent two nights mulling what to do. The final idea: run a 1-3-1 offense, with the wings never coming to the middle, leaving it open for the other three to wheel around creatively. Fortunately, this week we were playing the Clippers, who we saw get drubbed last Saturday, so we had some freedom to experiment.
Only, the Clippers turned out to be the team that did the drubbing last week. I'd not studied them closely, but they had about three inches of height over us at every position.
And we won! It was a nailbiter, 44-42, what was pretty much unknown to me because not looking at the scoreboard helps me focus on coaching the game. You should have seen Josh setting picks like a Mack truck. Or Jordan, Jeff and Xavier clearing the floor for rebounds from the taller opponents. When little Bryan our point guard did a jump stop at the free throw line and bank one in it was a thrill! Even Devon got into the act, grabbing a bunch of loose balls.
So the pendulum has swung back to full blown optimism. Our first two-hour practice is on Monday, and I think we'll be doing a lot more running of this new offense.
For now though, it's time to savor victory #1 -- an upset no less -- in my hoops coaching career!
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