The Jazz captured their fourth consecutive win and their first "score-settling" victory on Saturday, guaranteeing a shot at the league title in the process.
Five weeks ago the Nuggets faced a rookie coach and a skeleton crew of five players with a grand total of four hours of practice under their belts. Watching that game film on Saturday morning was a study in how far this team has come. The loss was fueled by 20 turnovers, including 17 steals, and an offense with nearly zero concept of moving the ball close to the basket before a shot. Players clustered around the ball, set random picks, and seemingly passed the ball to the other team in order to simulate success.
You should've seen 'em this time.
Moving to three hours of practice per week has paid huge dividends, as we get nearly an hour of full-court scrimmage time. We drill the pick-and-roll constantly, which was shoddy at first but this week worked about twenty times. I split our four eighth graders two-and-two, which keeps our poise and talent steady, and the repetition is helping them anticipate each other's moves. We have time to work on finer tuning such as switching on picks defensively. Our offensive spacing is resulting in some wide open jump shots. And you should have seen players coaching each other on the bench and the floor.
The team's excited and expects to win. The 24-point defeat was avenged with a 27-point win, 47-20. Our teamwork was the difference.
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