PAA League, 15U Division, Kilauea gym
Sharks have a very tall team now and our passing offensively against their 2-3 zone was often times slow and not crisp. Our 15U chemistry and flow are not there right now, unlike our 14U ball movement just two weeks ago. Our man defense was OK, but we need to get better at bringing help in the lane earlier — something that takes time and practice to develop.
We hustled, played with heart. Just not sharp. Again, this was a game that we played so-so. Not great. Not bad. We were down 12-0, cut the lead to 4, then let the Sharks open the lead back up to 12 by halftime.
Then we let the Sharks get open shots to start the second half and we were down 17, fighting to get back in the game the rest of the way. It's a shot-clock league and our perimeter defenders will need to be smarter. There were times we had good pressure, forced them out beyond the 3-point arc with 10 seconds or less, but overplayed on defense and allowed them to get a good look. It's something we have to be smarter about when that shot clock is winding down.
Right now, it's a dilemma. We've got some guys busy with football, some guys busy with other things, and some guys simply not showing up to practice. It's affecting our flow and chemistry, it's forcing me to bench some of our better 15U players. As much as I want to win, just as much (or more) than anyone else, we owe to the guys showing up to practice to give them the start.
It's never personal. It's just fair. If I don't hear from you guys who are skipping practice, please let me know what's going on, call/text me at 551-1054 so I know we're unified as a team. So the guys who are putting in the work know their teammates are being accountable when they can't make practice. The last thing I want is for some guys to drift off, skip workouts and fail to improve in these three months leading up to varsity and JV tryouts. We want to improve as a team and improve as strong teammates whether we're with our Thunder or our school teams.
But let's push ourselves to excel, to never be satisfied with "good enough". The time to step up and be your best is today, not next year, not next month. Improve 1% each day, that's a helluva lot over three months.
For now, we're 0-2 in PAA 15U, but once we start working together we'll get back to winning. We'll have momentum going into the playoffs. There's no reason we can't win this league. Just have to get focused and hungry, and right now ... we need more hungry players and fewer guys who are happy with "good enough."
Next: Thursday, 5:00 pm - Practice at Makiki Park.
Friday - No practice.
(updated) Saturday, Aug. 16, 10:20 am - Thunder vs. Hoops4Christ (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym
Sunday, Aug. 17, 2:40 pm - Thunder vs. McKinley (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym
WE LUB THIS GAME!
No comments:
Post a Comment