PAA 15U Division playoffs, Palolo gym
We had a lot of reason to be optimistic, winning 8 of our last 9 games coming into today.
We got a great effort by the guys, but this loss is not on them. It's on me, the coach.
1. We had an earlier game at Koko Head gym (OBL 15U), so I planned the split rosters out. At Koko Head, I listed 7 players who would leave at 1:25 pm and go to Palolo. The game at Koko Head started late, so the starting five (who were also our older players) got just a few minutes of game time in before the clock ticked to 1:25 pm.
They left with Coach Loto and Coach Roy. That's where I made a mistake. I forgot that Kanehe and Hsien were part of that list of 7 guys who went to Palolo. I wish I'd called a time out and double-checked the list.
So, only 5 guys went to Palolo. We finished the game at Koko Head with a relatively healthy, deep bench (even though Hsien had a stomachache and didn't play much), 7 players total there.
But at Palolo, they had just 5 guys. By the time the rest of us arrived, there was less than 10 minutes left and the Tar Heels led 31-27. Pretty good considering the situation. Nice coaching by Coach Loto and Coach Roy.
Of course, the guys looked very fatigued. At that point, I didn't realize they'd been playing with only 5. Before I walked in the gym, Coach Loto had subbed in Kanehe and Kapaa, who had run into the gym as I parked the car.
At this point, Loto said the Tar Heels had made a bunch of 3-pointers, which was my No. 1 concern when we beat them a few weeks ago, and again today. So I switched us to man defense when we fell behind by about 9 or 10 points. But they kept getting open, and this is another point that falls on me as a coach.
2. Defensive coverage. We started out in 12U as a man-to-man defensive team. We evolved into a matchup zone defensive team over time to counter 3-point shooting teams like the Tar Heels. Going to man defense should've solved the problem we had covering them out of the zone. But we lost our man several times, giving up layups and open 3s. This wasn't totally shocking, though. We don't practice a lot of man defense, and part of that is because we don't often get 5-on-5 at practice, which leads to another point.
Having just 5 players at Palolo also made it almost impossible to use our fullcourt pressure. A major minus factor.
3. We need everybody at practice. Middle school leagues are pau. There's no football practice (except for Tani and Chris in Big Boys League). I'll go more into this later in another post.
The game didn't finish well. Guys couldn't execute basic plays largely because of fatigue, and that's my fault, period. I also wish I'd used the only timeout we had left to sit down and find out from everybody what was working and what was not — like we sometimes do during games. I've rarely had this situation, walking into a game that was halfway (or more) through, and I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't stepped in, we would've had a chance to win this game.
I've always said that players win games and coaches lose games. From the very start, when I forgot that Hsien and Kanehe were supposed to be at Palolo early, our guys didn't have the right support. All our parents did their part. But I screwed this up.
I apologize to you guys. Tar Heels played a smart game, as expected from Coach Kelly and his guys. But I think the next time we have overlapping games, we'll just have a stronger unit at the playoff game early and let our younger guys start the other game. Period. That would prevent any confusion or mix-ups.
We're still one of the youngest teams in 15U, but I think we agree that we're good enough to win titles right now. It's a matter of execution and coaching, and the latter failed today.
Today's lineup: Sisifo Lauvao, Chris Afe, Keanu Pratt, Kyle Moraga, Jared Elwin, Kapaa Nishimura, Kanehe Nishimura, Gabriel Parros, Joshua de Jesus, Colin Ramos, Hsien Pascua.
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