The Good, The Bad, and...

So last weekend was interesting.  Here's a quick recap:

The Good:

My 13U team continues to battle hard, even when the odds are against them.  We had a double header and were only at half strength.  While we lost both games, the guys gave it everything they had and fought to the very end.  For various reasons, only 6 players were available for the games and each of our opponents had at least 12 players.  Every coach knows that when you see that your number one priority is to run, run, and run - and run they did.  We hung with them as best we could, fighting all the way through the first game up until the final buzzer where we fell short by 4.  Unfortunately, that game wiped us out and we just ran out of gas for our second game.  We did our best, but it wasn't much of a contest.  Still proud of the effort - it's good to see your team full of fight.

The Bad:

I may have over-estimated  the strength and ability of my 11U team.  Our early success made us look like a better team than we really are, and this last weekend was quite the eye opener.  There is so much the team doesn't know, and I completely misjudged our playing level.  It was bad.  We couldn't run plays, we couldn't make layups, we just have so much to do to call ourselves a team.  Well, we've got 4 more weeks, and that's more than enough time to turn it around.

The Unacceptable:

During the second game for the 13U's we played a team with a young boy, perhaps the coach's son, who would lead the team out of time outs and things like that.  It was cute and funny - up until the last 2 minutes when we were down by 30.  It was clear to everyone that we were just fighting with pride, but there was nothing left.  The game was over, and everyone knew it.  Then in comes this little kid with a jersey strutting on the court.  Really?  What kind of sportsmanship is that?  You just don't do that.  It's one thing to put in the lower half of your bench, but to put in a kid that's clearly not even close to 13?  That's a sheer sign of disrespect for the effort that my guys are putting out.  One day, I'll see that coach or team again, and we'll be ready.  And you know what - they better not expect any kind of mercy.

The Unbelievably Awesome:

Last week we were down in the dumps struggling to figure out how we were going to turn things around for the 12U team.  I had a little talk with the team with how we would proceed, since it's just as much their team as mine.  We re-evaluated our personnel needs, some of the schemes we had in place and made a commitment to work to finish the season strong.  I called in some new faces, we tweaked our defense, lit a little inner fire, and voila - CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!  Yes, that's right.  The guys really bought into everything, they were inseparable for 45 minutes before each game.  They cheered for one another throughout each game.  It was a total transformation, and it really payed off. Our two pool play games were close, but we were able to move the ball well, shoot and rebound well.  Parents were engaged and interested, which was new.  We ran out of gas in the final two minutes of the championship game, or maybe the other team just rallied off of the technical called on their coach.  But it was the best game we've ever played.  My boys were finally able to walk of the court feeling like ball players.  Finally able to walk around after the game with heads held high, smiles, and a sense of accomplishment.   We're not done yet, but man did it feel good to get those wins.