Mmm . . . pizza . . . mmm . . . pizza.
For the guys who made it to Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday, there was pizza to be won and devoured. As for the basketball, we had mixed reviews. We talked about it yesterday at practice. Some guys want to go back next Wednesday. Others are indifferent.
My observations:
• The call-your-own-fouls format took away from a true scrimmage or game scenario, which was no surprise. But it made actual basketball tough to achieve when the bigger, slower guys started to play sumo on us.
• The shorter time frame for each "game" has its pluses and minuses. 8 minutes (running clock) isn't bad, but if you lose, you're sitting for the next 10 or 20 minutes, even 30 minutes if there are more teams.
• The level of competition was decent. There were kids from different schools from varsity and JV levels.
All in all, it was good for everyone who went to get some different competition in a 5-on-5 setting. We can drill and play 3-on-3 forever, but those are still no substitute for 5-on-5, even in a ragged pickup game.
I didn't care for the way one of the B&G Club kids there played, deliberately shoving and grabbing one of our guys constantly through one of the later games. Our guy kept his composure and kept playing well. That in itself is a plus, but the mentality of playing that kind of basketball is not constructive over the long term. I'd rather not see our guys have to adopt that kind of basketball mentality at all.
Overall, I'm neutral on going back. If we don't have a better scenario next Wednesday, like a scrimmage, then maybe we go back. If we never go back, that's fine with me, too.
The ideal would be an hour straight of a controlled scrimmage against quality players who just want to play basketball and not do the immature stuff. The scrimmages against the older guys at the park (many are former KAC players) have been productive. Convenient, too.
Today's practice: more ballhandling, passing, shooting. We'll run through plays, including a new one called "Stagger" that we worked on yesterday. We'll also continue to work on free throws. We were 37-for-100 yesterday as a team. The wind probably cost us 10-20 percent, but that doesn't matter. We'll keep at it. Work in progress.
Practice:
Friday, 4:30 p.m., Kahala Park (I'll be there by 5 after picking Josh up from summer school)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Kahala Park
Sunday, 3 p.m. pre-game, 4 p.m. game, Kalani High School gym
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