What I like is coaching and I can't be as strict as I want because of
A. I coach a salvation army team, and
B. I have no power over my intramural team. Heck, it's for fun anyways isn't it? The salvation army team is looking better and better all the time and even though their record says that they suck, they have improved tremendously from the beginning of the season. The first practice was a huge amorphous blob of ten kids running up and down the court huddled around the ball. They would travel and double dribble all the time but not know that they did it or that it was against the rules. Now they can pass the ball, dribble, and know when they either travel or double dribble. I actually had a kid give up the ball because he realized that he double dribbled the ball tonight. They know how they are supposed to play defense whether they actually do or not because it is very easy for them to get excited and run around. They hustle a lot more, fight for loose balls and are aggressive on defense going for steals although it backfires it's fair share and the other team gets a foul or an easy shot at the basket. They have improved more than any other team out there and above all they are having a good time and thats what it is all about. Hopefully I have instilled some desire for the game of basketball and they stick with it.
On the other hand, the intramural team that I play on is pretty damn awesome for a measley intramural team. We fast break, pass well and grossly outscore our opponents. There are a few things that I wish that I could work on with the team that would improve our game tremendously.
I didn't play tonight but we still won easily by a margin of 40 points or more. I have an injured back from playing a pickup game this past Saturday. I knew that in the first round of the tournament we wouldn't be playing an incredibly good team so it wouldn't matter much without me there on the court. The things that I wish that I could do with this team is punish them for being slack on defense by letting the opponent get off an easy shot or making an easy pass. I like the way that our team plays and passes the ball but the slack defense just kills me sometimes. We have a team that has a lot of previous knowledge of basketball. Not only do we have the knowledge, we put it to use and play smart most of the time.
Another thing that kills our team is our crappy shooting. I don't think that in thirty minutes of basketball, we hit one friggin jump shot. This is another thing that will hurt us when we play some truly good teams beacuse they will pack a zone in tight, not allow the easy inside shots and shut us down because we can't hit an outside shot that will extend the defense. The playoffs will start back up again in mid March and thats when the big competition will come as we progress through the bracket. Although I have been talking crap about my team, we are still a good group by any standard the season with them has been a successful one. I just love coaching and wish that I could coach them like I want so we can execute our offense and defense more precise so that we can roll over even our closest competition. We are 5-0 and still rolling strong. Let me know if you want to come see our tournament games.
