Summer Winds Down

It was a great ride. All the girls gave the championship game their best shot. We played to win. One watching coach from one of the boys teams told me that if I'd stuck to my top 6 or 7 players like everyone else does, we would have won. I don't know about that. Everyone as always plays.

Last time that we played the Sting Angels, July 30, they beat us by 43 points and they lead us by 25 at half time.  Tonight we took them tied 13 - 13 into half time. The end score was 21 for the Destroyers to 40 for the Angels. 

The amazing is that we had the worst record in the division, winning just our last two games in the regular season. That we went on to win our first play off game decisively on will, guts and defense was unexpected.  Being competitive against the over aged and over sized Angels was a bonus. 

Summer League was hard. I am glad we did it. One of the toughest situations I face as a coach is preparing children to play in a game where they are considered the underdog and many fans – and maybe the athletes themselves – believe they will lose. That was my reality every game this summer. 

At our level there are winners and learners. You are never a loser no matter what the score. The scoreboard doesn’t define our girls as athletes or me as a coach. 

I think our players are now able to see the bigger picture, know that losing made us better, and recognize the value of strong opponents to push us to be even better. We don’t allow ourselves to be defined by a single performance. 

Learning, improving, going hard and having fun were my top priorities this summer. I believe I have met my goals. I am pleased that we learned a little offense (spacing, movement and attacking the basket) and defense along the way. 

My daily goal was / is to recognize and reward effort. Effort means giving 100% effort, 100% of the time, regardless of what the score was. I believe that we, as a team, got there, too.

Mistakes are the result of learning and effort. We made a lot of mistakes. I asked the girls to "Bush it off" and keep going when they make them. Mistakes are teaching tools. I have not removed a child from a game because she made a mistake. We learn more from mistakes than we do from successes. I have removed players for lacking effort. 

I love to teach the game and try to teach the girls every position. They will a develop in to better athletes and develop a better understanding and appreciation of the various roles on court. Over time, I hope to grow players who can play multiple positions well. I realize that at first it all seems like just a lot of chaos. 

The main thing that I hope all you parents will take away from the summer is that being able to fully maximize the potential of a player has very little to do with the child's initial level of raw talent. Every one got better. The players who came to practice and took advantage of the special offerings on Friday nights improved the most. 

The key is getting the player to work on her skills. The Talent Code Author Daniel Coyle sums it up perfectly, “Talent is determined far less by our genes and far more by our actions.”

Every practiced we worked on individual skills. Everyone got a little better at everything which made us a little better as a team every week. If you are serious about your daughter being a high school player, develop her basketball skills year round along with soccer, lacrosse, etc. 

We improved this summer because game in and game out as a team we outworked the competition. Hustling, hitting the floor after loose balls and sprinting in transition became our culture. 

We improved because we cared about each other as players and as people. We shared the ball. We taught each other the offense and defense. We encouraged each other. We created new friendships and strengthened old friendships which will endure off the basketball court. 

Coach Doc Rivers once said, “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.” We improved together. Teamwork can be one of the most difficult things to teach in the game of basketball, especially for a team that mixes players who have limited to no experience with experienced players. We also had a mix of ages and still everyone came together. 

The principles of being an athlete – dedication, teamwork, goal-setting, and sportsmanship (to name a few) – are ideals that I hope our kids demonstrate 24-hours a day, not just on the basketball court. 

Rather than focusing on winning the championship (an outcome goal we can’t control), I worked with our girls to focus on effort goals that can ultimately lead to better outcomes. We looked at things like 

1. cutting all the way to the basket after every pass

2. meeting every pass with your eyes, hands and feet

3. peeking at the rim after every catch before making any move with the ball

to name just 3 of the many. 

And we improved practice by practice, game by game. 

Maybe being the underdog was actually a great position for us to be in. It provided an important rallying point for our Destroyers. When no one believes you can, but you and your teammates believe you can, you share an emotional bond that brings you closer together, helps to inspire you and adds a focus.  

You seek to prove “them” wrong – together.  And so win or lose, the underdog team actually takes away a potent life lesson:  when we trust and believe in ourselves, in our teammates, and in our preparation, great things can – and sometimes do – happen.

Sure, Tayja cried tonight. She HATES to lose what she considers the "big" games. When she came home from eating ice cream with her team mates she said the she has to become a better shot to keep from letting her team mates down again. She is as right as much as she is wrong. All of our girls have to get better so as to not let each other down. And I have to become a better coach. We all must add to our skill sets.

Thank you for playing this summer. 

Robin

Summer Bash

We have an attack, attack, attack mentality

5:30 game
Destroyers I      17
Sting Belles      39

Yesterday nine of the 13 players who made the game attempted shots. We had 43 attempts and 6 makes. One player was 2 for 2 from the 3 point line. Three players scored from the floor.  Two players made it to the foul line.  We had 31 rebounds with 12 players being active on the boards. We had 6 blocks, half by one player.

6:30 game
Destroyers II            43
Natick                      39

Eleven of the 14 players made attempts on the basket. We had 64 attempts and 18 makes. We were 2 for 5 on 3 point shots. Three players scored from the floor. We had 43 rebounds with 13 players being active on the boards. Six players made it to the foul line. We had 4 blocks, one by 4 different players.

It was an exciting game. Tayja tied things at 35 at the end of the game with a 3 pointer. She then stole the game with 7 points made on 4 shots in the over time period. Celine got to the line during OT and split her free throws to net an extra point. This gave Group 2 their first "score board" win of the summer season. Sofia B. was the defensive star in overtime.

7:30 game
Destroyers I             12
Natick Bearcats        50

Ten of the 13 players made attempts on the basket. We had 29 attempts and 5 makes. Three players scored from the floor.  Four players made it to the foul line. We had 16 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. Nine players were active on the boards.

8:30 game
Destroyers II            49
Sting Belles              19

Thirteen of 14 players made attempts on the basket. We had 74 attempts and 19 makes. We were 0 for 7 on 3 point shots. EIGHT players scored from the field. Three players made it to the foul line. We had 47 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Twelve players had rebounds.

These four games tell me that there are still holes in our defense large enough to hide a herd of elephants. We are getting better, slowly. The girls are starting to talk to each other a little bit on the floor. I am hopeful for the future.

In Other News
I am delighted that we hosted a shooting clinic on July 26. The girls who attended made 42 out of 156 attempts for 27 percent. The girls who missed the clinic were at 6 percent and made 4 out of 60 tries. When I look at free throws, clinic girls are 10 for 32 or 31%. That is terrible, I know, and we do not work on foul shots yet at practice. The girls who missed the clinic are 1 for 8 or 12% during yesterday's games.

The Bay State Games happened just before the shooting clinic. In 3 games Tayja was 15 for 46 from the floor (33%), 0 out of 3 from the 3 point line and 2 of 7 on foul shots (29%). Yesterday in 3 games she was 22 for 40 from the floor (55%), 1 of 3 on 3 pointers (30%) and 3 of 8 on foul shots (38%).

Let's look at all the players who played in 3 games yesterday and played all 3 games during the Bay State Games.

Brooke in the 3 Bay State games was 0 for 2 from the floor. Yesterday in 3 games she was 1 for 8 from the floor (13%).

Nilijah in the 3 Bay State games was 0 for 13 from the floor. Yesterday in 3  games she was 1 for 13 from the floor (7%), and 2 of 6 on foul shots (30%).

Britney in the 3 Bay State games was 2 for 9 from the floor (22%) and 0 for 3 from the 3 point line. Yesterday in 3 games she was 2 for 18 from the floor (11%), and 3 of 4 on foul shots (75%).

Celine in the three Bay State games was 3 for 16 from the floor(19%) and 0 for 6 from the 3 point line. Yesterday in 3 games she was 4 for 37 from the floor (22%), 3 of 11 from the 3 point line (27%) and 1 of 2 on foul shots (50%).

One of the things that Tommy Freeman, the shooting coach, preached seems to have stuck with the girls:

"Believe that the next one is going in and keep shooting. The only shot that you are guaranteed to miss is the one that you did not take."

Another change that I noticed is that most of the clinic girls will now drive to the basket. All are attempting more shots. These girls had 86 attempts at the Bay State games compared to 116 attempts yesterday.

We will host another shooting clinic in the fall. I LIKE this new attack attack, attack mentality.

Robin

3 on 3 Update

 

I LOVE 3 on 3 basketball for youth players. I am glad that we had 8 players in two teams play in Mass Premier's first 3 on 3 Tournament on August 3.  Each team played about 12 games non stop from 9 am to 12:30 pm. We came home with the championship for our age group.

It was a great day to be a Destroyer. Our players each touched the ball much more often than they get to playing 5 on 5.  There was room to operate and practice their budding basketball skills. 

Players tried new things like screening, posting up and cutting to get open. The girls did not have to worry about breaking a press to get the ball in play. They saw how to "help" on defense. 

They practiced their one on one moves. Every player scored. Every player improved on every aspect of her game over the course of the day. Every player (and parent) enjoyed the day. 

I wish we had more chances to play in organized 3 on 3events and or leagues. One parent suggested that the Destroyers organized something. It is worth looking into it.  

Robin

3 on 3 Championship Game