PAA 15U Division, Kilauea gym
Another 12-point lead, another tough loss. We're 3-2 in PAA 15U, but this really was our game to win. I feel bad for the team. We played great team basketball for most of the game.
Where we let this slip away: 1) Defensively, lack of communication in picking up one of the Cats who got hot and made four 3-pointers in a row. It's both communication and basketball IQ that win close games, and we had no business letting one player beat us that way; 2) Lack of IQ on offense. We were virtually unstoppable on the high post with Chase and Gabriel making shot after shot in the first half. But our guys chose to go away from what was working for most of the second half. Even a play I called to use low and high post passing didn't get executed. Why?
One of their players arrived late, and though he's tall (6-4?), we never really tested him and their 2-3 zone consistently after halftime. One defender changed our players' vision of offense without blocking a shot, without doing much at all. It's a mental game, and we showed an unwillingness to attack. When we are not aggressive, we end up settling for lower-percentage shots, and that's what happened. We hit a cold streak from the 3-point line and no matter how many times I called for our high-post offensive sets, our guys just didn't have the guts to attack the Cats' defense consistently. All it takes is an entry pass to the low post and a bounce pass to the cutter from the high post. But nobody listened.
Losing Gabriel in the second half (stomach ache) hurt us big time. Without some of our best defenders, not having him on the floor limited what we could do defensively.
We need courage, quickness, patience and teamwork on both ends of the court. If we prioritize those important factors, we will do fine. We can win this league. Without them, we go from 3-0 to 3-2. We can blame injuries and illnesses, but we led by 12. Repeat success. Repeat success. Repeat success.
Lineup: Jhevin, Trinity, Sierra, Javan, Jonah, Josh R, Gabriel Porras, Chase Santos, Ryan, Kyle Moraga, Felcris Ahadain.
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