A Tale of Two Days

Weekend Update

Well this weekend was certainly eventful on both the positive and negative side of things.

On Saturday 8 of my girls had a great experience going to a women’s University basketball game. They were able to see firsthand the level of play and hopefully pick up a pointer or two. I feel it is important for the ladies to have something to aspire to and being able to see the game provided them with this chance. I am hoping it demonstrated to the ladies that they are able to play at this level in the next couple of years. Another key feature of the day was being able to meet some of the players afterwards and hear from them their experiences of being a student athletes. These young ladies helped dispelled some myths about the lives of student athletes and once again I hope provided some comfort to my girls. We were also addressed by their head coach who address some issues the girls need to be aware of when selecting a school. One added bonus was that I was able to have the visiting coach come in and speak to my girls also. I had established a communication with the coaches thru my regular email updates to each of them and this allowed me the opportunity to ask him to speak to the girls. So basically the girls were able to meet two university coaches directly and get to know them on a more personal basis.

Our rematch on Sunday was a completely different story. I am not one for excuses but the cards were not dealt in our favor at all. We were two players short to start with due to illness and work commitments. Three others played but were clearly under the weather and one other was playing with essentially with one hand due to fractured fingers. Their minds were more on upcoming exams than they were on the game itself. We were able to stay in the game for the first quarter but things started to fall apart just before halftime and completely fell apart in the second half. Early foul trouble was a key but more detrimental was our inability to finish our shots and foul shooting was terrible. Fortunately I didn’t keep stats for this game as they would be very disappointing to look at. The game did provide some players an opportunity to log more minutes than they would in a regular situation and in some cases it was baptism under fire. In retrospect we lost 51-21 and played a 40 minute game rather than a 32 minute game. Holding a quality team to 51 while playing an extra quarter of play is good to know especially when our best post defender had to sit for almost two quarters due to foul trouble. Our offensive output was our lowest of the season to date and I suspect the lowest it will ever be this year. Overall we told the girls that a few lessons can be learned from this game. Firstly, we cannot just walk onto the court and expect the other team to hand us the game. Secondly, we have to focus at all times and thirdly everyone has bad days and this happened to be ours. We will forget about this game and move on.

I have given the ladies the week off to prepare and write their exams and we get back at it next week. 

Taking the Next Step

Well it has been almost a week since our first tournament. While in most cases a silver would be something to be excited about BUT while we are proud we are not satisfied. It is time for us to take the next step forward on our journey.

Practice this week was uneventful due to missing players due to injuries and other commitments. It is unfortunate as my co-coach and I are looking forward to implementing some new aspects to our systems and at the same time getting back to the fundamentals. The next two weeks are hectic with the girls being on exams and practices being limited. We are taking a road trip on Saturday to watch an university game , play at halftime and meet the team after the game. We were invited by the team and I am excited to provide this opportunity for the girls. It will give them a glimpse of what the next level looks likes and hopefully provide some inspiration. The following day we get a rematch vs the Tri-county Academy at their home gym. It should be another exciting game as our girls now know they can play with and against older girls and TCA will probably come out with guns blazing to avenge how close we were last time. 

As a coach I am constantly seeking ways to improve in what I do and one way is the use of statistics to help me analyze our games.  It has opened my eyes to our strengths and weaknesses. One key example was our foul shooting and we were able to address this right away. We haven't got to the point we need to be at but we are making strides. One of our strengths is our ability to get shots up but it also illustrates our weakness in finishing.

Thru five games , the numbers show us :
62 shot attempts per game
29% shooting percentage
24 Free throw attempts per game
52% FT percentage
50 points per game
38 points against per game
In comparison OUA,OCAA teams have the following numbers for their top teams
OUA
39-44% shooting percentage
75-78 % FT percentage
OCAA
37.5 - 40 % shooting percentage
63-68 % FT percentage

Numbers don't lie and this provide us will the tools we need to help our team improve. From a coaching standpoint we are happy with our shot attempts and have not witnessed any poor shot selection from the players. In the past it was not uncommon for us to witness "Me vs We" shooting by some players but this team is not made of players with that mentality. Our next couple practices will have some main focus on not only shooting but also getting the players in better positions to be able to take easier shots.  

ALMOST

“Close but not quite there” seems to be the theme for the early part of our season.

First game we lost 44-42 and in first tournament we lost in gold medal game 55-48. Almost there but not the desired results. They say that “close only counts in the game of horseshoes and hand grenades” and I totally agree.

Now the first game was an exhibition game against a team made up of older players from various clubs. We played exceptionally well, considering it was our first game together and as a coaching staff we went with a 5 on 5 off substitution pattern to help us assess what the players have. Also many of the ladies we were playing had a good couple years’ experience on our players. As I mentioned earlier I was very pleased with the level of intensity the girls played with. It was also very nice to see how our new players were able to fit in right away and be contributors from the beginning. One of our top point guards was suffering from a severe chest cold and could only play for the first half. The comforting thing is the fact that we now have four point guards so having one go down now longer means the team is negatively affected. The ladies put on an impressive display of basketball as many of the parents voiced their optimism for the upcoming season. I was especially pleased with how balanced our team appears to be and the depth I had envisioned was apparent in this game. While we lost by two it went right down to the final play and we had our chances but failed to capitalize.

Our first tournament which took place two weeks after the exhibition game was far more successful in terms of results. Our first game was a great confidence builder but very hard to gauge our effectiveness as the competition was not near our level. Needless to say we easily won the game with a nice 40 point margin. The problems all coaches have with this type of game is the fear of bad habits coming in play. Fortunately the next couple games provided more competition and we were able to play our game. The next two games the ladies put an awesome display of our weapons as they were able to dominate both the inside game and hot shooting from the outside. Unfortunately we have yet to be able to bring both aspects to the same game and that is what hurt us in the final game. The gold medal game was an exciting game with both teams going back and forth and running the floor well. We were able to pound the ball inside and were rewarded with multiple foul shots. Our top post player turned her foul shooting game around and was 14-19 from the line. However, we were unable to put together a complete game as our shooting was not even near par. As a result, we missed a couple easy baskets late in the game and were unable to close the deficit.

The good news is that we will see the team we lost to again.

Also very impressive was the situation at the end of the game. After the medal presentations the parents were requesting a team picture. The players were reluctant to take a picture, as were the coaches, as they felt they didn’t win anything. This demonstrated to me that I have a very competitive group of young ladies who will not be satisfied easily.

You Play to win the Game

Been hearing a lot recently about youth sports needing to learn how to lose. Well I can honestly say "been there done that ". This season my expectations are quite high and in fact higher than they ever have been in my dozen years of coaching. 

There are multiple reasons for these high expectations.
1) Have what I believe is my deepest team ever in terms of talent.
2) Competition has changed
3) have spent years building this team and system
4) team chemistry is phenomenal
5) we have followed a process and our time is now. 

Is our season to be judged solely by a division 1 gold? NOPE

If we meet my earlier stated goals and provide a positive experience for the girls, then my expectations will be fulfilled.

But as Herm Edwards once said “You play to win the game!”

I have gone through seasons where winning was not high on my list but I truly feel this year is different.  I am excited not only for myself but also for those girls who were with me when we had seasons where winning was not always present. It was during those years that our focus was development of skills and passion for the game. In retrospect you could say that this season will provide evidence of weather our early efforts for the right "reasons" were actually effective.

Now don't be mistaken I love coaching and my earlier years were successful as evident by the vast number of former players who still play despite not always being on the winningest team. But I believe deep down that the stars have aligned for what I think will be a magical journey. 

Needless to say Coach is ready to play.  

First game in less than 24 hours away. 

A New Year

Well it is a new calendar year but not a new season. From a basketball perspective New Year’s Day just means that we are close to getting back to the grind of the season very soon. For the past couple years I have given the team the complete holiday break off from basketball in a team environment. I am aware that there are some teams that do not get such a long break and if I was only concerned with the basketball aspect of the team then I would probably have a couple practices during the break. I made the decision to proceed this way to allow the ladies to enjoy their time with families and friends as I strongly believe in balance for any athlete and/or person. As the season progresses there will be times will they have to forego some of their off-court relationships to fulfill their on-court commitments and this break allows them to sway the scales away from basketball for a short period. Yes, we would be stronger as a team without such a long lay-off but I truly believe we will be a happier team because of the break. That being said, allow me to go on the record that I would love to practice daily even during the holiday season but we are not in college or university just yet.

It is during this time that I also take some time away from the game to refresh, recharge and re-connect with family. I have only done minimum administrative work during this break and watch just a game on Christmas Day. A lot of that is based upon the fact that a lot of my preparation was done prior to the season and things are in place for me to get back going at full speed next week. Our first exhibition game was cancelled, so we have our first game in less than a week and one tournament this month.

Do I miss coaching? OH YEAH!!! But all things in due time.