Today was time for the next step in the team's progress. We knew that the Wolves were much weaker than the Clippers we beat last week. In fact, the Clippers had invoked the mercy rule against the Wolves.
I told the team that our challenge this week wasn't to win, but to show that last week's win was more than a fluke. In fact, I laid a clipboard in front of them pre-game and said that we were playing four games today, and our goal was to see how many of them we could win.
They responded!
1Q 27-6
2Q 18-0
3Q 10-2
4Q 14-2
Of course the 69-10 margin of victory was satisfying, even against a much weaker opponent. But there were extra-pleasing things that happened too.
1. We passed the ball inside, and even worked the pick-and-roll successfully a couple of times. In reviewing video from last week, we scored 50% of the time we got the ball inside, versus 20% otherwise. So this week our primary goal was to get the ball inside. I've not seen the stats yet, but we had several interior passes and a lot of easy baskets.
2. Bryan toughed out three quarters despite not feeling well.
3. Yacey played under control on offense. Last week I counted four "crazy shots," where he did what he usually does while playing one-on-one against his taller older brother -- an on-the-run off balance shot put toward the hoop. This week we worked on jump stopping, and he did exactly that. He must have scored a dozen points just by avoiding heavy traffic and using his short jumper.
4. Varun made his first basket of the year.
Another positive sign was Bryan's dad visiting with me before the game, and offering several good ideas for drills that we can run next week. They meet our needs -- getting the wings open, establishing position under the hoop, timing the pick and roll. In fact, he's going to do some individual work on Monday with our forwards, which will leave me time with the guards.
One of the parents brought chocolate chip cookies for the team and parents.
It was a good week!
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