Monday is always a day people drag into work...NOT IN HOOPS BABY! Everyday is a new exciting day ya'll! After watching more tape of our scrimmage vs Mount St Mary's that took place Saturday afternoon, it was clear that I needed to spent some extra time with the point guards. I need those cats to really understand where I'm coming from and what I want done. Point guards should be an extension of the head coach on the floor. We (all three PG's) spent time watching tape separately and discussing their teammates, situations and the objectives of the game. We then had a film session with the entire squad and I took that as an opportunity to share some history of the game and how my generation learned how to play the game. I told them that they don't have to wait until they get to the 40 & over league before they start to appreciate the game.
In other words, I'm trying to get them to learn to appreciate the finer point of the game and value possessions. We I was growing up we would have pick up game with a who's who of; Len Bias, Johnny Dawkins, John Battle, Brian Ellerbe, Anthony Jones, Adrain Branch, Brian Waller, Dominique Pressley, Kelvin Johnson, Tom Sluby etc.. I could go on and on but point is, is that it was 35 deep in the gym and when you finally got an opportunity to play, you didn't want to lose cause it would mean that you had 6 or 7 downs before you would get on the court again. Now, if you think guys didn't value possessions in that situation...you're crazy! It pressure each possession and you better be confident if you were going to venture out and take a shot that everyone else didn't expect you to take. Even before that time, when we were younger and went to the court (i say court because we didn't always have an gym to go to) the older cats made you earn your way to play with them. You could walk up to the court and ask if a guy had his team and he would say yes and you would look around and it would be 2 people on the side. You'd look back and say, "you got yours?" and he would look you right in the eye and say, "yeah slim." Now, I know some of ya'll are cracking up right now...cause we all been there!
Then another guy everyone knew could really play would walk in and the guy with next would go, "Yo, you trying to run?" and would also take two guys off the losing team when his chance to play came up. You would look around like, what the *#@? is going on? But the reality is that, until you got a chance to prove yourself on that court, cats treated you with NO respect. Eventually you would earn the cats respect and have a chance to play wit da big boyz! You had better play defense tho! Cause one of those older cats that didn't like sitting on the side after a loss, would cut your a$$ in a minute! lol
Well, Monday's practice was crisp and the fellas did have bounce and focus. Next we'll have to see how they will respond Wednesday after a day off. Remember, the NCAA rules say you have to give them a day off every week. I wish I could send them back in time to the courts we played on...that would learn 'em!!
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