Up Dates

The Highlights:

1. Tomorrow night open gym, 7 pm to 9 at Marian High School.
2. NO GAMES July 4th week. Too many teams cancelled.
3. Practice Tuesday, July 2 (normal groups and times at St. Stephen)
4. Scrimmages Friday, July 5 - 7 pm to 9 at Marian High School. Wear your Jerseys.
5. If you have not emailed me your known vacation days, please do so asap.
6. SAVE THE DATE: Shooting Clinic, Friday July 26 at Marian High.
7. SAVE THE DATE: Three on Three Tournament, August 2 to 4

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Summer league is off to a good start. Both teams played well in their losses. Both of our teams played the same team, a Division 1 raising fifth grade MetroWest travel team who have played together since 3^rd grade rec. For comparison our Flyers travel team was Division 5.

I am happy with our play. We did better than I expected. The scoreboard is not a fair indication of where we are.

I saw flashes of brilliance. As each game went on, the girls got better at finding their marks on defense, knowing where to be on offense and learned what to do when the whistles sounded on the OTHER court. They ran the offense. We had ball movement, player movement and good spacing. Players attempted shots that were reasonable. Everyone hustled down the floor on transition. The bench cheered and encouraged the players on the floor. Fun was had by all. Players dove on the floor after loose balls, went after rebounds and tied up the ball for jump balls. We did not have any turnovers because someone stepped on the line while inbounding the ball.

I saw opportunities for improvement. Defense is still mostly a foreign concept. Talking on the floor was nonexistent. Players dribbled in to corners. They picked up their dribble without any where to pass the ball. They did not value and protect the ball. Passes went where the intended receiver had once been or should have been instead of where the intended receiver actually was. Practice habits, maturity and more chances to play will fix all of that. I get that the teams are too large. Coming vacations will fix most of that.

THE DETAILS:

1. Tomorrow night I am hosting an open gym, 7 pm to 9 pm at Marian High School. Players use to learn to compete and win by playing basketball all day on the playground. Now days, kids aren’t out on the playground and only playing structured games. They don't develop an attacking game. We will play 1 on 1 games, 2 on 2 games and 3 on 3 games. I think kids should learn to play one on one, then two on two and three on three competently before ever playing five on five. Every Friday in July, I will have an open gym, a clinic put on by someone other that me, or a scrimmage.
2. No games are scheduled for next week. Sometime next week I should receive the schedule for the remainder of the summer. I will post it on team snap and on http://fadsgirlsbasketball.blogspot.com/ which is our team information blog.
3. We will practice Tuesday, July 2 with our normal practice groups and times at St. Stephen. The theme for the rest of the summer will be sharpening our offense and learning to play man to man helping full court defense. Almost all players know and understand the first installment of our offense. We will work to make the spacing and movements habit. We have not yet worked on defense as I spent all six practice opportunities to install the offense.
4. We will have two scrimmages on Friday, July 5 - 7 pm to 9 at Marian High School. Wear your Jerseys. With such large teams it is hard for the players to get into a rhythm during a game. Scrimmages with a referee and 20 minute halves is a good way to increase everyone's playing time.
5. FADS is hosting a shooting clinic on July 26 at Marian High. I don't yet know what the cost will be. I am bringing in a national shooting coach to work with our girls. I may need to open the clinic up to the public to make it affordable. I should have details soon. It is with Paul Hoover's Pro Shot Shooting System. It is a great system that focuses on keeping the shot straight and attaining more arc. It is the same shooting system used by hundreds of high school, AAU programs, colleges and pros.
6. FADS will be entering teams in a 3 on 3 Tournament that runs August 2nd- August 4th at Mass Premier Courts in Foxboro. Teams are 4 players. The cost is $65 per team or $16.25 per player. If you are interested in you child playing, email me. I love 3 on 3 HALF-COURT basketball. It quickly improves a young player’s long-term development. Players touch the ball more often. More touches on the ball is a very good thing. In the 5 on 5 game, players can go almost the whole game without touching the ball. When there are only six (3 on 3) players on the court, players are more inclined to run the pick-and-roll, set screens, and basket cut. They start to figure things out for themselves which is I want our players to do.

robin