The Road To Zero Gravity: Accomplishment

It was a long journey, but we'd made it. We'd managed to endure the pains of traffic delays and obnoxious driving long enough to make it to the hotel. It was late. We were tired and hungry but at the same time, excited and ready. We'd worked too hard to let those get in our way. We'd arrive in Foxborough and we were ready to test the best in the nation.

Because of the momentum and confidence we'd gained from our last tournament championship, the practices leading into the tournament were light and the energy was good. In my opinion, there wasn't much we could do - it's like cramming the morning before a final. If you don't know it before then, you won't know it that day unless it happens to be the first page of the test. Sure we had things to fix, clean up, but there was no reinvention that week. Confidence and positive energy were too important, so I did what I could to nurture that. We talked about what this meant for our team specifically. It was about experience and growth. None of us had played on this big a stage, myself included, and I knew there were going to be moments that the stage would possibly get the best of all of us. Win or lose our job was simple. Take in as much as we could so that the next time we found ourselves with that kind of an opportunity, it would be a fair fight with no outside help from nerves. We talked about what it meant for our program. We play together and never quit because that is what we want the Wolfpack to be known for. If we do those two things, nothing else matters.  If we did our jobs, we'd be fine.

When the pools of the tournament were released, I was glad I'd made those points very clear. We were scheduled to play Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC), Greater Boston Lions, Central Massachusetts Athletic Club (CMAC), and Visionary Basketball Club (VBC) Gold. The Zero Gravity Circuit ranks teams that participate in their events. All of the aforementioned teams - top 10 in the 8th grade level.

That's a tall order for a team on their first ever national appearance, but we had our goals and we were committed. Sure it was late, and even later once I'd eaten, but I wasn't going to put my guys on this mission without any advantage I could give. I don't scout much for the AAU season (mostly because teams are inconsistent) but this was going to be one time where I would. Late as it was after eating and getting semi-settled, I went and found where these guys were playing and set my alarm to get up in 5 hours and scout. 

Nine o'clock rolled around way too quickly...

However, I was not about to let my guys down and that 9:00 am tip-off found me on the sidelines with a pad and a pen, watching for areas we could look to exploit and give us a fighting chance. I did a pretty good job, I think, of picking up tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of the team as a whole and individual players. You obviously can't change what you do too much, so I took my notes and considered what would be in our realm to  adjust without losing who we'd become over the season. Those were the things we discussed during pregame, and successfully took advantage of on the court.

Our first game was against CMAC and we held our own for the most part. I would definitely attribute that particular loss to nerves and "stage fright" - we struggled to pass and rebound well, and shots we'd come to rely on just wouldn't drop. We did a great job with the scouting adjustments though and we absolutely achieved both goals we'd discussed in practice. We fell to CMAC 79 - 60, but we were still positive, and the guys got together and made their own adjustments to get over the nerves, which was good to see. As I said on last year's trip to Florida, chemistry is something you should  strive to build, because it is invaluable.

Next up was Greater Boston Lions. When I tell you it was like men against boys, I'm not exaggerating.  I knew that, so the message based on the scouting report was simple.

Remember why we're here. We don't quit, we don't go away - we are the Wolfpack. They live on the offensive glass, so let's put a little more effort into making sure they only get one look at a basket each trip.

And that we did. Sure, we got killed on the glass and scoreboard (I think the margin was 30 points), but we had a serious height, strength, and athleticism disadvantage. You could tell by the lack of fans that stayed to watch our game, that we'd been written off by most before the first tick of the clock, but by the end of the game everyone had respect for the Wolfpack. Every possession was a battle. We played with no fear, made sure that every point was earned, and even refused a guy his highlight dunk (it wasn't a dirty foul, but the message was clear - "No, No, No" <insert Dikembe montage>).  After that game, I made sure to have a moment with my team. I called the parents over to listen as well, because what was about to happen needed to be heard by everyone. I told them how proud of them I was because of the tenacity they played with that morning. I've coached teams that absolutely would have packed it in when they realized it was David versus Goliath. There was none of that, and everyone respected them more for it, myself included. The parents and I gave them all a round of applause as we were all proud of how far the team had come during our time together and these games were a perfect reward for the persistence, patience, and determination they'd shown.

The last game of the day was against VBC Gold. The mood was still upbeat. The energy was sky high. Sure we'd had a rough morning, but you wouldn't have known it looking at anyone. We were playing great basketball and challenged good teams. Why should we be upset? We took the court and blew everyone's doors off. Each game from the morning had stuck with them, and we were definitely learning from our games. Execution was on point, defense was suffocating, and before you knew it we were up 20 point on VBC. They didn't know what to do, as subs were flying in and out like I'd never seen before. They never recovered and we won by more than 20.  We were playing such great basketball, I didn't care what the score was. No one did. The parents were in awe - this was the same team that had so many struggles to move the ball just two months ago? That team just continued to earn respect, and it definitely helps morale when you are able to throttle the #7 team in a national ranking. It took a few hours to come down off of that cloud and go to sleep that night.

Our last game of the tournament was against BABC. If we thought the Lions game was a men against boys game, this was like men against toddlers. Their guards were as tall as our bigs! They had 3 guys dunking during warmups - we have two guys who barely touch rim. Easily outmatched, but we stayed true to our goals and did what we could to frustrate them, but they did a great job using their size to win by 40.

All in all, it was a great tournament and everyone was proud of the job the boys had done. No one left with their head down, and there was no bitter words exchanged. Sure we didn't have a record that people who didn't see the games would respect, but we knew the deal and we weren't upset. We got our taste of the big time, and next time we'll be better prepared. We'll be bigger, faster, stronger and smarter, and then it will be our turn to shine. At the start of the season, no one would have picked us to even get to this tournament, let alone compete with teams in the top 10. If you can't find joy in that, you aren't a competitor. We did what we set out to do, and could proudly say: Mission accomplished!

The Road to Zero Gravity: Juice

There's nothing a coach loves more than when he sees his/her team take a lesson from a past experience and apply it to become a better, more competitive unit. Well, except for when several of those lessons come together the weekend leading into your national competition.

The final weekend of competition before heading up to Foxborough was one where we really needed to make sure we grabbed up as much momentum as we possibly could. While there's many different ways to get momentum, as we found two weekends ago in the "desert", we were really looking for something a bit more convincing - a championship.

Due to some issues on the job with guys missing parts and needing phone assistance, I arrived at our first gym just in time to get there to warn up. Not that I had much to say leading up to the game anyway, the message was short, simple, and most of all, effective.

This weekend is about momentum. Taking all the things we've been through - our struggles, our successes, our bond - and coming out ahead. We don't back down - this is our time, our moment, our championship.

Our first game was pretty much a brawl the whole way. It was a very physical game, but at least the refs were consistent with not calling things. Clearly we learned from the last tournament, as we adjusted to the calls, didn't let the absence of the whistle deter us, and at points just bullied our opponent into submission.  While they did close the gap towards the end, there was no real concern (from us at least) as to who was going to win the game. Lesson from the beginning of the season - I told my guys that my panic button is hard to get to, I trust them to take care of business. As long as I don't panic, there's no need for them to. Sure enough, there was no panic from coach or the bench. Win number 1 in the books. Three more to go for that championship.As we lined up to shake hands after, a couple of the coaches commented on how physical we had been that game and what a difference that made. The also added that hopefully this was a wake up call for their group that basketball is a contact sport.

Sometimes all you need is to get bullied one too many times like we had...

We had little time to rest before our second game and our opponent had the luxury of watching our whole game, so they took the court a little cocky thinking they would take care of business. They figured since we had sliced up the other team's man-to-man defense that they'd go zone and force us to shoot. Reasonable logic, if only we weren't firing on all cylinders that day. Ball movement led to pretty much any shot we wanted whenever we wanted it - inside, outside, we were draining buckets from everywhere. And that was just on the times they could set up.  We suffocated them defensively and they practically gave us layups and a 20+ point lead with 8 minutes to go in the second half. At that point, I pretty much pulled all the starters and let the bench guys get some minutes. We had a couple of turnovers, and started to cool off in terms of shooting, and they in turn got hot. With about 4 minutes they lead was around 15 so I had to start getting starters back in. It wasn't a move I was fond of, and it bothered me a little even though we ended up winning easily. Not comfortable most of the afternoon with that quick panic button...

The next day we were fortunate enough to play the playoff games of the tournament in our own facility. Another short, effective message.

I let you sleep in a little, don't make me regret it. Don't get punked in your own building.

Not exactly movie-inspirational, but it got the point across.  We jumped on our opponent early. Steal, layup. Rebound, pass, pass, layup. Forced turnover, pass, pass, pass, 3-ball, BANG - timeout. They had no idea what hit them.  The next possession we went into our 4-high set, and they start calling out screens in anticipation. Sure, except - rip through, blow by, layup. We could do no wrong in the first half, and we were cruising. They were getting some 3's of their own to go, so score wise, they were within range to make a come back, but everyone in the building knew who was in control. At that point, I got the urge, understanding that this was about momentum and needing to have my whole team feeling it heading into the Zero Gravity event, I went to the bench a little early. The guys at the table was a little shocked. One ref gave me the side eye in confusion. I'm sure parents were bewildered. None of the players skipped a beat. The starters were in full support of the decision and cheered their teammates on. Sure the margin started to close, but there was no panic. At one point we were up by 17 or 18, and with 4 minutes left we found ourselves only up 10. I turned to my bench, and told a few guys, "If they cut this to 7, go to the table."

The 3 minute mark rolls around and they get fouled on a layup, the lead is 7. No one is at the table. No one is panicking, no one is being negative. The other coach calls a time out, probably trying to inspire his group to put up one last run to take the lead. I go to my guys, look the 5 guys on the floor dead in the eyes and say:

I pulled you guys early yesterday. I want you to know that I believe in you guys to pull this out. The guy at the table is saying I'm crazy. The referee is saying I'm ready to lose this game. But I'm telling you that I believe in you. None of your teammates are asking me to go back in. I even told some to check in and no one did. This is your time. Don't let it get to 5.

Break the time out, and the defense kicks in. Steal, layup. Turnover, pass, pass, jump shot. My bench wins that game by 12. Now we're rolling. The whole team has got the juice flowing. One last game to go.

The championship game, as much as I hate to say it, was over about 2 minutes in. Right out of the gate we jump to an 8-0 lead and the coach is calling a time out in less than a minute. His team gets a couple of buckets, but we answer right back with another run. We are just ballin' out of our minds at this point. Offensive rebounds, 50/50 balls, hustle plays - all ours and making it look easy. Again, our lessons from the desert kicked in and we just bullied that team out of our house with a huge margin of victory. We had clearly gotten into their heads and we were able to ride out the last 6:30 of the game.  We won a championship and played 4 phenomenal games of basketball. Did we have some issues, absolutely. But we have practices this week to fine tune that stuff. Nothing can compare to the confidence and trust we built in this tournament.

We set out to get momentum leading up to the Zero Gravity National Tournament, and momentum we got. Next stop - Foxborough!

The Road to Zero Gravity: Mental Toughness

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of taking a trip down memory lane. The days of playing basketball in one of the many driveways on my street with a basketball goal on a warm , 90 degree summer evening. Out there, if you don't break anything and there's no serious blood, you don't let the idea of crying foul creep into your head. It won't get honored, in fact you'll be laughed at as the opposition digs for reasons that he was in the right place and you just lacked the talent to score. Oh, the good ol' days...

The bad news is this trip took place because I felt like that's what we were dealing with in the first game of our tournament. It was like someone transported the Texas heat and locked it in this gym all day; you started sweating lacing up. Being from Texas, the heat doesn't really bother me much, so I made myself watch half of the game before mine, with the intention of scouting the other teams. That didn't take long. Pressure the ball handlers, make them shoot off the dribble, look to score in transition, and look for backdoor layup opportunities. Both were running a 5-out offense (which baffled me because they didn't cut hard or have anyone who wanted to beat their man off the dribble).  Maybe it was the heat, but that was probably the most stagnant game of basketball I've watched. But good thing I showed up, because I got to watch the officials. Why would you scout refs? They have the ability to control a game, so knowing what they look at, miss, temperament, easily influenced, et cetera could be the difference between winning and losing. The crew that night was not on the same page at all and were letting just about everything go.

The game ended and we were up next. As part of my pregame meeting, I told my guys to make sure they hydrated and that I'd do what I could to help them manage the heat so that they wouldn't have to play slower than we normally do to avoid problems. I also told them that they would be in for a physical game and to just play through the contact. Note to self - elaborate on what exactly that means next time...

Didn't take long before the officiating and heat got in our heads. Our pace was dreadful, we shot poorly from the field and the free throw line. Our defense was always two steps behind. At that point, I realized that if we were going to make any kind of run in a national tournament, our mental toughness had to improve. We've got guys who can take hits, so it's not a question of being afraid to get touched, but more so a question of when things don't go as we want or expect, can we find the will and determination to stay the course until it does.

The next day we had two games in the same oven, so I changed our pregame up a little. One thing I've learned from the high school coaches in our program, is that adjustments are paramount in tournaments. It's not just something the NBA does during playoffs, but even at our level, being able to adjust is huge. I had my guys stretch in a slightly cooler part of the school we were in. I also just talked to them about what it takes to  find wins at any level. I talked to them about what we as a group set out to do that one weekend when we started this journey. Then I probably blew all of their minds -

As much as I love you guys, the one thing I wish is that more of you would stop being so nice to everyone. The basketball court is a war zone. The only people you need to really be concerned with are the guys on your side; every thing else is just in your way. The other team, the refs, the crowd, and in this case, the heat - just obstacles. We obviously have to find some kind of compromise with the heat, and you leave that to me. The crowd is easy controllable with good defense and smart, efficient offense you'll have only supporters talking - the haters will shut up. The other team can be broken in the same way as we've done on several occasions.  The one thing I'm going to ask you to do at this point is to demand their surrender from the beginning. Don't drag it out and leave them with hope until the last 6 minutes. You go for the throat early. You set the tone by being aggressive and physical - for both the opponent and the officials.  If the refs let it turn into a street ball game, then you play street ball. If the ref does his job and calls it fair, then we play by the book.  They have to control the game or they won't be able to control the crowd, which never ends well for them. No more nice basketball. We're going to war.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are rules you have to follow, and we never want to see those malicious, dangerous fouls. But sometimes the only way to get a call is to be very, very physical. Put the ref in a tough situation where he has to call something. In the first game, there were a lot of times where we went to the basket without much conviction, got fouled and there was no call, and then on the other end the exact same thing resulted in an "and 1" situation. They were aggressive, we were not.

I guess my point got through (thanks to reminders during timeouts and half time, along with a "but don't kill anyone") as the next two games were just what we needed to test our new found toughness. The first game  was a back and forth game that looked like an old school tug of war game on field day. Just when the other team thought they had it with 2 minutes left we went on an 8 - 1 run to win. The same was true of the second game, just the ending was not as pleasant.  Back and forth the squads went, momentum swinging like the pendulum of a clock.

In the last 30 seconds, we were down one with the full length of the court in front of us. I get the ball just across half court to call a play looking for a back door cut into a layup (thanks BDG for the gem, by the way).  Only problem is our execution was terrible. We had time though so we looked for another opportunity. My point guard drove down the lane, got the defense to commit and dropped it off to my big man. If only he'd been ready for it...ball bounces off his fingertips and out of bounds. Eighteen seconds left, and we're in practically full ball denial.  The only option for the inbounder is their big, and we foul right away. The expression on his face, his teammates, and his coach said it all - he was a terrible free throw shooter.  We still had a chance! I put four guys on the blocks, the other coach only puts one, anticipating us to come down the court like lightning on the miss. First shot goes up, gets a friendly bounce and goes in, so we're down 2. Second shot goes up - bounce, bounce, off the left side of the rim! Yes!!! Wait, NO BOX OUT!! The one guy on the blocks gets it and tries to put up a shot, but gets fouled. He drains both, so we're down 4 with 13 seconds. I have two time outs, so I use one. I look at my point guard and tell him to get the ball and get it to me, I'll take the last time out to set up something. The other coach has his guys deny the ball just enough to keep us from rolling it to preserve clock, and we lose precious time because he opted to dribble it over rather than pass. These things happen, and I did tell him to bring the ball, so that's on me too. Have a quick teaching moment that next time pass because it's a lot faster and then draw up a play to get us a look at a three and bump the defender enough to hopefully get him to fly into the shooter just after the release so we can go to the line. The energy and excitement was there, but in enough of an excess that our execution failed yet again. We were able to get off a 3 at the buzzer, but there was no foul, and we lost by one

While it was tough to lose a heart breaker like that, the purpose of playing in the tournament was to get guys more opportunities to learn what to look for in special situations and more about ourselves as a team.  I would say, and quite proudly at that, we achieved both of those goals in that weekend. We fought through some pretty nasty situations in the last two games to remain competitive and at no point did it feel like we weren't trying to impose our will. It was even better because our second game was officiated by the same guys that did our first and they quickly realized that they were going to have to keep this under control and called a much better game. With one more tournament to go in preparation, I like the path we're on.

The Road to Zero Gravity: The Invitation

This Spring season, now that I have my own team to coach and opportunity to compete in a national event, I only found it fitting to record some of the events and the journey relating to it just as I did last Spring for the 17U team. The difference is that I'm starting a little earlier, since I know that I'm going. The next few blogs (and there will be a few between now and then) will be my attempt to have my first blog "series".  I'm not really up on all the blog lingo, so I'm not sure if that's even a legitimate thing or if it already has an uber cool name - but whatever. And now the world premier of...

The Road to Zero Gravity

(So yeah, that's not the most original title ever but I couldn't come up with anything. Open to suggestions though...)

Whether it's by rule or my own competitive nature and disgust with paying your way into things like this, I made it clear that we had to earn our ticket and invite. No trying to get by with a big enough check, sliding in as the New Jersey extension of the Zero Gravity circuit, or that we were sending so many other squads and we should just get to ride their coat tails. Though I'd be pissed about being the only coach not going, if we didn't get our invite, my team and I would be sitting at home doing nothing while the rest of the program was having a blast in Foxborough. In order to get the invitation, you had to win your division in a Zero Gravity event, and we had three on our schedule.


Event 1 - Hudson Valley Showdown

This event is one of those things that got lost in that period where my mind was a complete mess. It was early in the season and we were having rudimentary problems that just left me quite quite dumbfounded.  We made the drive and at times played terribly. The team was down on itself, from the top down. The good thing that came out of it, was all the driving gave everyone plenty of time to reflect. In our final game of the tournament with nothing to play for, we met and came to the consensus that everyone would find a way to help turn this ship around. We ended the meeting with the agreement that we were going to help the team we were playing, know that they could go home right after the game like us (we overheard a few of the parents talking about how inconvenient it was that they wouldn't know for a few hours whether they would advance - and we can't have inconvenienced parents, can we). Sure enough, we played our best game to that point and found new life, a renewed sense of confidence, and an enormous weight was lifted.

Event 2 - Spring Crossover

While things may have been a struggle between these two events (hence the Rocky Road post and lack of posts in between), we never what we wanted to do. We needed to win our division if we wanted to go to Foxborough, and we were running out of opportunities. We recognized that we let one slip away, and found ourselves working harder in the weeks coming up to it.  The week leading up to the event, we eliminated the distractions that had plagued us the weekend before. We came out and just balled like we were on a whole different planet. Ball movement was amazing, defense was suffocating, and we were hitting just about every shot that went up...at least during pool play.  Once we advanced out of our pool and got into the playoffs, the shooting seemed to cool off, which got in some of our heads and other things got a little sloppy. Nonetheless, we held it together enough to advance into the championship and earn our bid. Unfortunately, we ran into a beast in the championship and lost.

Event 3 - Garden State Classic

This event really didn't mean much for us in terms of getting an invitation, but we approached it as another opportunity to test ourselves against others who wanted to get their invitations and play on a national stage. In  essence, this was for confidence purposes. We finished the tournament well, but started off a little too sluggish and didn't get to advance out of our pool. We learned a lot about ourselves that weekend, and ultimately that's all we wanted from the event anyway (2 invites doesn't really mean much, it's like having 2 copies of the same movie).

Tournaments after our invite was secured served only as a way to build momentum leading into our national event. That momentum would be invaluable as most of these guys have never been on a national stage, and would need all the confidence, swag, or whatever the term you've coined for it is. Will we be the cartoon snowball that gains size, strength, and crushes all in its path? Tune in next time to find out!

Tomorrow...

I had a post all typed up, but then decided it probably wasn't  appropriate for what I'm trying to achieve here. Ctrl + A + Delete = Mature decision

I'll post tomorrow when I'm not fighting sleep while trying to eat and post.