Off The Cuff Review of Game 3

This was a close game.

We did some things really well.

We still need work on some others.

I firmly believe we need to shoot the ball more. Why are we so afraid to do it? You can’t win a game if you don’t shoot. As I’ve said before, 30% is a VERY HIGH shooting percentage. That means we’ll probably shoot 20%, OK? That means ONE in every FIVE of our baskets, roughly, will go in.

They got sixteen points today. We got 12. Could we have won?

Absolutely — as I said, you guys played really well. All we had to do was take 50 shots. Thats about 14 shots a quarter. And guess what? I’ll bet you a tic tac apiece that we only took about 30 shots. And 1/5 (or 20%) of 30 shots is six baskets, which gave us exactly what we ended up with: 12 points.

I begged and pleaded for you guys to take more shots. But that doesn’t get them taken. Apparently, I need to come up with a new strategy.

On the plus side I will mention a few stand-outs — Katherine had some fabulous Crazy Monkey defense on the low post — popping out fantastically to challenge anyone foolish enough to drive baseline! Well DONE! Just like we did in practice!!

Savannah and Heidi – great hustle. You pulled down a lot of rebounds and played REALLY tough in the paint!!! And there wasn’t even ONE three-second call made on either of you all game!! Fabulous! Yes, you both truly performed like the Queens of the Paint you are! You pulled down some great rebounds. Now we just have to condition ourselves to go after the balls that are on the floor, too, instead of letting someone else pick them up!

Sarah and Kelly W. and Julia and Alyssa. You guys were passing the ball famously! Really nice ball movement! I think we pass the ball better than most teams in our league, and that’s due in large part to you four! Now what will it take to get you to hock up a few more shots? If each of you could just put up 2 more shots a quarter that would be THIRTY TWO EXTRA SHOTS PER GAME!!!!! That would have doubled our score, in theory! The only one of my guards who (finally) listened to my incessant rantings and started shooting was Danielle! I should also point out that all five of the people in this paragraph played some pretty good D, too. Danielle, you seemed to stand out, for some reason, as playing really hard D — but I have to reserve formal judgment until I review the tape.

Kelly B, you’re shot is looking better and better all the time — now stop being afraid to use it! Plus, you’re getting better at grabbing the ball. We just have to work on getting rid of it a tad quicker — either with a shot, or a pass back to the guard you got it from.

Overall: I think you guys are improving your skills every week, and those skills are shining in the games. What we’re not showing so much right now is confidence in our shots. We just look afraid out there. Let’s get tough and UNafraid. Specifically, let’s get unafraid of taking shots. Unafraid of boxing out, and unafraid of grabbing our ball anytime it comes into our bubble!

Once we get unafraid like that, guess what? The other teams will need to be very afraid…of us!

Thanks team!

-Coach Jim.

Game 2 Review

OK! Here’s the game in review.

Let’s get right to the nitty gritty: DANIELLE is our tic tac point winner this week with a 29 Points! How did she do it? you ask! I’m glad you did! Here’s how it broke down:

She pulled down TEN rebounds for 20 points
Put up Seven Shots for 7 points
And two steals for 2 more points

One of the reasons I was disappointed, as I mentioned in my previous post, was that we did NOT increase our tic tac points, which is my main goal each game, regardless of the scoreboard. We scored 128 points this time, as compared to last game’s 197!

On a more positive note:

• We had 8 certified box-outs
• We went after loose balls pretty aggressively
• We passed better
• We got to, and stayed in our offensive and defensive spots pretty well
• Heidi, Savannah and Jen Coffey stepped up pretty well as Queens of the Paint against their big center, Devon.
• Alyssa and Julia in particular were passing the ball better than in the previous game – nice work.
• Danielle, as I mentioned earlier, was an all around utility player, stepping up to do a bit of everything
• Kelly B. and Katherine took some nice shots from “their spot”
• Sarah Shields led the way in shots taken…again!
• And Kelly W. was a moster Boxer Outer with FIVE — about 60% of the team’s total!

Now. What do we need to work on? These are my goals for our team — EVERYONE on our team:

• We have to continue with our fundamentals.
• ALL of us need to be EXCELLENT passers.
• We all need to have a comfortable, consistent shot with GOOD FORM.
  And we should ALL be able to make 1 out of 3 shots from our favorite spots, without pressure.
• Every single one of us should be able to make and receive good, hard passes.
• WE NEED TO ALWAYS SPRINT DOWN THE FLOOR! Waaay too much “loping” in the games!

In addition, I would add some specialty goals as follows:

• Our Point Guards need to be able to dribble equally well with both hands and drive to the hoop with a lefty or righty layup.
• Our Centers and Power Forwards Should be MASTERS of controlling that two feet of space in front of the hoop, pulling down rebounds, asking for the ball (with a target of where they want it) and shooting 30 percent inside the key!
• Our small forwards and shooting guards should be quick, and particularly good at making great, quick passes to people who are open in the key and nearer to the hoop than they are.

So! Are these things going to come easy? No. We have to work at them and we have to want to be a good team. And I think we all do want them, and we all do want to be a good team, so now it’s time to prove it with continued hard practice. I’ve said before it won’t come over night. It will take a lot of continued practice before it becomes second nature, and “automatic” But halfway through the season, I see us being a very sound team. We have a lot of raw talent. We just need to polish it and get us meshing together as a single unit.

We’re not a large team and that’s going to make our work all the harder. It means we’ll have to work twice as hard for the rebounds and twice as hard to get our shots up past the towering giants. Are we up to it? I think so. So let’s start fresh next practice!

See you then!

Coach Jim.

Game 2

Hey guys.

Today was disappointing because we did not play like the team I know we are!  We did not play to the same level, defensively that we do in practice. And we just could NOT sink a shot!

That last one (not sinking a shot) happens some days. But our defense — particularly in terms of guarding the key and not letting people take easy layups and baseline drives — really has to improve.

Next practice we’ll focus on a few things:

1. Making good hard drives to the hoop.

2. Playing more aggressive defense on the ball, at the baseline,  and when people get into the key.

3. We will work hard at sprinting back. I know I’ve said this a lot, and I’ll say it more if need be. Once that ball is turned over we have to sprint back!

We’re not going to scrimmage against the other team, but we will spend a good chunk of practice scrimmaging each other. I don’t like the pace of scrimmage when we do it against the other team. I also don’t like all the time we spend sitting and waiting to go in.

That being said, we DID go after the loose balls a lot better, and we DID hold onto the ball and not turn it over as much. We also did some great pass-and-pass-backs more than once. Also, this time I DID see some boxing out!

Little by little we’ll put everything together. It’s not going to happen overnight, and we really have to want it. If we keep working on all aspects of our game, and putting 100% into the game on game day — holding nothing back — we will start winning.

See you on Tuesday night!

Coach Jim

Great Practice!

I’m proud of you guys!

You put in a lot of effort yesterday. That was a demanding practice and you worked it tough both mentally and physically.

A few things I wanted to touch on:

FIRST: Really nice boxing out. I know I’ve harped a lot. But this is the best I’ve ever seen you guys do it. Now do you see how you really have to drive that person back? DIG your heels in and push! I know some of you said you did box out, but just turning your back on someone and lightly brushing your back against them is not a good box-out. You have to do it just like you did in the sumo drill! Would a light brush have worked there? No! And it won’t in the game — you did this in practice JUST like I want you to do it in the game! Nice job — let’s see it on Saturday!

SECOND: Nice solid passing!! Remember we want to pass quickly and pass often! Move that ball around fast and accurately, and you will find someone open!

Remember also, you want to pass towards the hoop! This includes your first great choice of Give and Go. When we run the offense. Or the second-best choice of passing to someone standing under the hoop (usually Savannah or Heidi), or finally someone popped out at the corner — Katherine or Kelly B, usually.

Doggy Bag Drill — Practice (against a wall, or with a friend) catching the ball while wearing oven mitts. This is not easy. You really have to grip the ball. But once you get used to doing that, you’re hands will stick to the ball like glue once you take the mitts off!

THIRD: Know Your Spots! You did well both offensively and defensively in practice. If you know your spots on offense, you’re going to find someone open, or be open yourself for a great easy shot. If you stay in your spot on defense, we won’t leave people on the other team wide open for an easy shot!

SIDE POINT: If you’re playing down low on a block, and someone comes towards the hoop — go toward them and put a hand in their face!! Growl if you want. A nice low watch-dog growl to warn them they’re getting too close. Heidi and Savannah — You stay in that key (it’s okay to do that on defense) at all times. You are the LAST line of defense and queens of the paint!! So if someone tries to get in there…. You step in front, put a hand in their face, and stop them cold!

FINALLY: We stretched out their defense beautifully. And you saw how it paid off — it gave us a wide open lane! Sarah Shields and Kelly W. used that space to blow by their defenders and go for easy layups. Danielle, Alyssa, Jen Coffey, and Julia can take two steps AWAY from the key, then BLAST to the hoop, calling loudly for the ball (the lane’s WIDE OPEN, why not?) Heidi and Savannah — you guys can put a hand up — give the guards and wings a target – showing that you’re ready to get a pass, and go to the hoop with the ball! And Katherine and Kelly B. You guys did an excellent job popping out on the ball-side, grabbing the pass, and passing really quickly right back, or under the hoop. A word of caution to you two — even though we’re all fantastic boxer outers and rebounders, don’t be tempted to hock up shots on those corners that are outside of your range! Your best bet is to get the ball closer to the hoop — preferably with a pass to someone whose already there, or if not, then with a quick dribble and shot.

OH. ONE MORE THING: Your animal drills were FANtastic! You should always, always, always, ALWAYS go after the ball that way — 110%! Loose balls should ALWAYS end up with the Tic Tacs!

That’s it guys. That’s all I got for now.  Review this and think on it a bit before our next game, and lets shatter  our previous Tic Tac Point Score of 197. Let’s aim high. Say…a bijillion. Shots, rebounds, box-outs, great passing, give and go, running the offense, and keeping to our spots — Let’s do it all!

See you Saturday!

Coach Jim

Final Notes About our First Game!

Hey Guys!

Well, here’s the final word on our very first game.

A Word About Winning

First. Let me remind you that this first game was not about winning but about analyzing. It was about trying things and observing where we are, developmentally — both as individuals, as a team, and frankly, for myself as a coach! Now let me be clear. This game wasn’t about winning. From here on in, winning will be part of the equation.

From here we’ll hone our skills, fine-tune our game, and build the best team formations that we can. That means putting people in the spots to which they’re best suited for the team, and playing the right combinations of players (that’s my job.) It also means working hard on individual skills like shooting, dribbling and passing — that’s you’re job. Sure I can provide tips and pointers and practices and instruction, but it’s ultimately up to you as to how much effort you want to put in.

We love to play, as I said. And of course, we all want to win. This team has a lot of talent on it, and you guys are all very coachable. To me that means that we can and will win games as long as you guys continue to pay attention and practice hard in the gym (and maybe even at home, too!)

The Tic Tac Point Sheet

TEAM GRAND TOTAL: 197

Yeah. Our Team Grand Total was just shy of 200 points. Our goal every game is to keep increasing those Tic Tac Points. Game after game, we’ll keep raising the bar (and our efforts) and see if we can, as a team, keep increasing those total points. As you look at the categories below, you’ll see that they have nothing directly to do with scoring, so no matter what the score, we should be able to keep cranking up these points!

Shots: We took 51 shots. At least that seems like good news, except when you compare it to the other team which took almost twice as many. But let’s not get hung up on that right now. There’s a reason we didn’t take so many shots, which I’ll get to in a moment.

Bottom line: 51 Shots means means we took only a little over 12 shots per quarter. We can do better!

TURNOVERS: This is that “reason we didn’t take so many shots”, which I mentioned above! We turned the ball over — let people steal it, sat in the key too long, dribbled off our toes, made bad passes, or generally caused the ball be “turned over” from our possession to the “bad guy’s” team FORTY TWO TIMES! Yes! 42 Times! If they scored on just 20 percent of those turnovers (which they may have — I didn’t count) that’s SIXTEEN POINTS!! Do you know what that means…? I’ll tell you, below.

Bottom Line: If we accept that 42 turnovers could’ve led to 16 points, then if we could have cut our turnovers down to zero, we would have made that a much closer game. In fact, the final score was 18 to 32. So if you subtract 16 points (those turnover points) from their score, you end up with 16 points. Meaning we would have won by a basket. If that doesn’t make us want to improve our ball handling skills, I don’t know what will. See how important good dribbling and passing are? And just being aware of where you are (in the key or not, and for how long) can make the difference between a Win and a Loss!

Boxing Out: 0. That’s right. I went through the entire video 1 frame at a time and NOBODY boxed out. Had one of you tried to box out just 2 times per quarter, it would have earned you SIXTEEN Tic Tac Points! SIXTEEN Points for simply turning your back to the nearest opponent and giving them a big old butt out of your key! Next time I think we as a team should easily — EASILY — get 32 Tic Tac Points in this category as a team! Don’t you?

Bottom Line: After all the practice we did on it, it is a crying shame that not one of you boxed out a single time! Tsk Tsk!

Steals: 12 steals x 1 point per steal = 12 Tic Tac Points for the team. Incidentally, I might as well mention this. Why do you think I only award one point for a steal and two points for something like boxing out? If you said it’s because I think working on boxing out is more important that us trying to steal the ball, then you are CORRECT! Stealing is great, but boxing is a much more fundamental skill that will hurt us MUCH worse if we don’t do it, than stealing will help us if we DO do it. That sentence was confusing. I hope you understood it anyway. Let’s move on.

Rebounds: We got 40 rebounds as a team. Not bad. I bet we can do better. But not bad. Multiply that by 2. Why? Because rebounds, like boxing out, are more important than steals to me. So that means 80 tic tac points. Next game we’ll shoot for something like 120 points in this category!

Bottom Line: If you can’t get the rebounds, you’re missing out on a lot of scoring opportunities! And if you DO box out, you’ll get a lot more rebounds! See how that works? Increase your Tic Tac Points (TTP from now on) in boxing out, and you’ll increase your TTP in rebounds — it’s practically automatic!

5 Consecutive Passes: We did this 5 times for a total of 15 TTP. We need to raise this total. Passing is crucial because against zone defense (which is what most MYA teams are playing) PASSING IS WHAT WORKS BEST — ball movement. If we were playing man to man, moving PEOPLE around would work best — but we’re playing ZONE. And the keys there are to STRETCH out their defense, and to PASS PASS PASS!

Bottom Line: The more successful you become as passing — the more WE become a GREAT passing team — the more open shot opportunities we will have. Period. So? WE NEED TO HAVE THE COMMON GOAL OF BECOMING A GREAT PASSING TEAM! And we will.

Getting the Ball Into The Key: This is VERY important. Remember! We want to always be moving to the basket, offensively, so getting the ball into the key is…well.. KEY! We did this 13 times. Each time was worth THREE points, so that gives us a grand total of 39 TTP in this area. Not too shabby for the first time, but we’ll aim higher for next game.

Bottom Line: If you get the ball into the key, you increase your chance of making the shot exponentially (that means by a lot!)

Give & Go: Zero Points. Hm. We didn’t do this at all. Which is too bad, since it’s actually the first part of our offense! What does that tell you? Yep. We got a zero on Run Offense, as well. Listen up. The give and go is one of the most important fundamentals in basketball and, in my opinion, one of the easiest to get good at. It’s literally like this: Point Guard passes to wing and cuts to the hoop. Wing passes RIGHT BACK to the PG, who strides in for an easy layup! Even if you don’t do a give and go, the PASS AND PASS RIGHT BACK should be a huge part of your game. It’s a very easy way to free someone up. Especially in the game we just played where defenders were leaving their spots to double team us, leaving LARGE chunks of the key — and many of our players — OPEN!

Bottom Line: We will master the pass- and pass right back technique, and as a result will get some players freed up easily!

And the Grand Pooba Winner of the Tic Tac Point Award for Game 1 is……

(Drum Roll, Please…)

SARAH SHIELDS!

Well done Sarah! Well done Kelly W, Alyssa, Julia, Danielle, Jen, Katherine, Kelly B, Heidi, and Savannah, as well! You all did some good stuff, and surprised me in some areas, and I look forward to seeing all of us become better and better with each passing practice and game!

See you all Tuesday Night, where the official award will be presented to our TTP winner!

-Coach Jim.

Game 1 Notes

Preliminary Review

I hope you guys had fun. That was mandatory after all, if you remember.

This game we did a lot of good things. We had some good quick passes that really got through their defenses pretty well. And we played some good defense.

A couple of things we have to work on — and these are just preliminary notes — are the following:

• Taking the open shot quickly, under pressure
• Catching the ball on the move — seeing it into our hands — before we go on.
• Defending the blocks — those blocks on either side of the hoop were wide open too much. This goes back to playing in your spots on defense.
• Getting the ball into the middle — we were wide open a few times with no pass! and then…
• Taking the shot right away when we get the ball in the middle!

I think the biggest overall issue was that we were nervous. Not only was it our first time in a real game situation as a team, but I also mixed up the formations quite a bit. Remember what I said. This first game was nothing more than a big fat experiment to see what we needed to work on most, and which combinations of players worked best. As the season goes on, I expect we’ll have just two to four “team formations” that we use all the time.

I’m going to review the video now, and I’ll be posting up pieces of it later.

Good effort — and we’ll have the points tallied by Tuesday!

-coach

Magical Game Day Fun

Hey there basketballers! It’s Coach Jim with some words of wisdom — or at least some words — before our first game! But first…

Remember, I would like you to be there at 9:00AM in the JMUES APR this Saturday Morning! If anyone can’t make it, or needs a ride, call 603 913 3824, and let me know!

FUN

I just wanted to go over a few quick points. Some of you might be nervous or excited, or psyched up or psyched out. And my main piece of advice to you all is (drum roll, please..)

Have FUN!

Don’t make me sing the fun song. I mean it. My follow-up piece of advice, which will aid you in having fun is: trust yourself. You’ve all been working hard, and you’ll all do great.

I don’t care about the score — in fact, we’ll be keeping our own Tic Tac Points for each quarter as we try to achieve “mini goals” in the game. I don’t care if you get instamatic amnesia and suddenly forget everything we’ve been working on. You know what a basketball is and you know what to do with it. If not, here’s a hint: Put it in the hoop. Well, I guess that was more than a hint. That was pretty much it.

Oh sure, you can dribble it and pass it, too. In fact, I would highly recommend it. Aren’t I full of great pre-game advice? But my main goal for all of you is to have a great time out there. Practice is where the hard work happens; Games are where the magic happens. And isn’t magic fun? Sure it is.

What’s All This About Magic?

So what do I mean by magic? Magic means that, as far as I’m concerned, games are about one thing: “playing“. Playing is fun, right? Yep. Last time I checked. The “magic” is when you find out as you’re playing, that you’re magically using these little skills that we’ve been working on. You’re magically getting better and better, because of the hard work you’ve already put in at practice! You’re really going to surprise yourself — I’m sure of it!

Oh. Just so you know, the magic won’t all appear in the very first game. We wizards have to keep honing our skills, you understand. In fact, the very first game (in addition to being a fun time) is something we Tic Tac Basketball Wizards refer to as “A Big Learning Experience.”

I don’t know about you, but my Wizardly Skills don’t extend to seeing the future. That’s why I read my horoscope. So I don’t know what’s going to happen. Do you? (If so, please don’t tell me — I want to be surprised.) I am excited to see what we do awesome and what we need to improve on. And there will be both of those things. Awesome things, and things that need improvement.

The important thing is that you don’t worry about the improvements during the game. Just play. I’m not going to yell or scream or bellow or any other synonym of shout. That’s not my coaching style. If I have something to say, I’ll save it for between quarters, or I’ll call a time out.

Two Things…

I know you guys want to play. And I know you guys want to win. Who doesn’t? Playing and winning. Two of the best things ever. What’s more, I’ve seen how hard you can practice, and I know you can win. All you need to do is two things: Relax and Play Hard.

That sounds a little contradictory, but it’s really not. You can be relaxed when you pass and shoot–as in not being nervous or worried. And you can still play really hard at the same time. Sprinting after the ball. Grabbing the ball. Passing to the open teammate. Making a great smooth shot — all while you’re pumped up and yet relaxed.

There are only two things that would disappoint me (I seem to like the number 2). Thing 1 is if you didn’t have any fun. Thing 2 is if you didn’t make any mistakes.

What? What did I just say? I said I’d be disappointed if you didn‘t make any mistakes! Am I crazy? I don’t think so. Then why would I say such a thing? Two reasons (You knew there’d be two, didn’t you, you Smartie — oh wait no, you’re a Tic Tac…) Yes! I want you to make mistakes, because if you’re not making mistakes it means you’re “playing it safe” And why would you play it safe? Because you’re nervous and worried about messing up. After I told you not to be! How dare you?!

So the first reason, to recap, that I want you to make mistakes, is that it shows you’re playing your hardest and not worried about playing perfectly. If you’re playing safe (ie. not making mistakes), you’re not playing your hardest. You just can’t do both at the same time. You can’t worry about playing perfectly and “safely” and go all out. Period. Remember, you’re having fun! That’s the primary goal. So, what’s the second reason I expect you to make mistakes?

The second reason I expect you to make mistakes is this: If you’re playing safe, you won’t make as much “magic” happen on the court. And believe me: I want to see a lot of magic. A bunch of Houdinis is what I want to see out there on the court. Lots of Prestos and Alakazams and Abra Kadabras and Bunnies Appearing Out of Nowhere….OK. Maybe not that last one. But Swishes Appearing Out of Nowhere and Incredibly Unbelievable Passing, and Super Spectacular Fast Breaks, and Death-Defying Defense. Those are all magical things. And I want to see ‘em on Saturday!

That. And sprinting. Let’s not forget about the sprinting.

One Video, To Go

Now. To further the idea of magical fun on game day, I’ve included this little video for you. Hope you guys like it:

Get Ready for the Game!

Great practice tonight!

You did a really nice job working on your shots, and I saw a lot of hustle, which was great.

Please CLICK HERE TO REVIEW THE REVISED OFFENSE a few more times before Saturday!!

Shooting Review

1. Always use the same amount of force in your upper body. When you go to practice shooting, always start close enough to the net so that you don’t have to jump. This is called the “zero” point. As in “zero” jumping necessary. Get used to how it feels. It’s really about “trusting” your shot. That your arm will do the same exact thing — with the same exact amount of force — and with the same exact “snap” and “floppy fish” motion every time! That’s why you practiced doing that with your eyes closed — so you could get used to the feel of it. And guess what? A lot of you guys got swishes with your eyes closed!

2. Get the ball nice and high. Think rainbow. Think big arc. You want the ball going up high for many reasons. One reason is that when it comes down at the hoop from a high angle, the hoop is a bigger target than if it comes in from a flatter angle. When it comes down from a high (say 65 degree) angle, it’s almost twice as big a target as when it comes down from a low (say 30 degree) angle! That means you have about twice as much chance of getting it in, based on the area of the target alone! But wait! There’s more! You also get a “softer touch” on the ball when you shoot higher, because the ball gets a chance to slow down by gravity! A softer touch means a better chance of it rolling into the hoop!

3. Adjust your leg power to increase or decrease your shot. Remember, you’re always using the same amount of force, and the same exact snapping motion with your upper body. So how do you change the distance of your shot? The only way you can! With your legs! Your legs are the strongest, and most stable power source you have! Use them wisely!

4. The more you practice this great motion, the more “automatic” it will become. You’re body adjusts and “learns” as you shoot. You don’t really have to say to yourself, “hm.. I missed to the left, so maybe if I…” No no no! Just notice how your shot went, and let your smart body fix it for you. It will! You want to get the “feel” of it.

5. Consistency impresses me. Distance does not. I’ve said many times, I will be much more impressed if you can make10 swishes in a row from inside the foul line than if you can make 2 out of 10 from the three point line. Why? A few reasons. First off, we don’t count three pointers in this league. Second you’ll just make more shots the closer in you are. Third. If you can start by consistently making shots up close, there is NO difference (except force from your legs) in making the longer distance shots! It’s the same mechanics. So: Start in close (at the zero point) and get wicked good at those shots, then, when you’re hitting 8 out of 10, take a step back and shoot from there.

Keep practicing that shooting!!

Boxing Out:

If one thing’s clear from tonight’s practice, it’s that we really need to box out! There are 2 keys to this:

Key #1: You should ALWAYS stay between your offensive man and the basket! You, as a defender, are allowed to be in the key. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be between your man and the basket 90% of the time when you’re playing defense!

Key #2: As soon as the shot goes up — YOU FIND YOUR MAN and then, with your arms up at right angles (ready to rebound) you push your hips back that offensive player and PUSH her back. YOU will control that 2 foot space in front of the basket. That’s YOUR space!

Some of the Super Stand-Out Boxers tonight were Kelly W., Julia, and Katherine, if I remember correctly!

Run the Offense With Good Quick Passes!

This is really two things in one. Although we practiced the offense quite a bit, we didn’t seem to run it in the scrimmage tonight as well as we did in practice. So please, review the video a few more times to get as familiar as possible with it!

Finally EVERYONE did a terrific job sprinting the floor!

Thanks again, see you Saturday!

Practice Tomorrow!

Just wanted to remind you all that we have practice in the MES tomorrow (same Tuesday time and place)

A few heads up on practice:

1. We will be devoting about a third of it to shooting — I want people taking a LOT of shots this Saturday, so we might as well review good technique to get them to go in.

2. I revised the offense a bit — It’s still the same principles — stretching out the defense and passing a lot, starting with someone at top of key, and on each wing, then passing to a wing and cutting — but the cutting is a little different. And number 4 and 5 have something SLIGHTLY different to do (You hear that number 5? You get to do something! That’s one of the reasons I switched the offense — it was way too boring for my fives! Also, this one opens the lane more.)

You can review the new offense, and come ready to roll by clicking the link below:

Yes. Click this link to see the revised offense!

Thank you team Tic Tac.

See you tomorrow night!

Practice #6

I just have to say one thing about practice tonight: AWESOME Job!

O – My Goodness!

You guys really dug in learning that offense tonight!! I am proud of you!!! It’s not the easiest thing, but you will end up knowing it like the back of your hands — the way you picked it up tonight, I’m absolutely sure of that!

If you need to review the play — and I really encourage you to do it — remember you can see it online by hitting this link:

Click Here To See The Revised Zone Offense

(Oh! And kudos to Alyssa who I know already looked it over!)

Now why am I so excited and proud of how you ran the offense tonight? Because you did EXACTLY what the offense was supposed to do!! You stretched their defense Waaaay Out! You gave us plenty of room to drive right into that wide open lane which (unlike US!) they didn’t seem to prioritize protecting!

So again…All I have to say is CONGRATULATIONS on a great practice. For your first time running that offense in a game situation, I am very, very proud of you guys.

D-Riffic!

ALSO! You played some great defense in terms of STAYING IN THE PAINT! Did you notice that they didn’t take too many shots outside the paint? We played really tight D! That kind of discipline, as I said early is fantastic, and it’s what is going to separate us from the rest of the league! That kind of defense is going to make the difference between winning and losing!

Once again — my only criticism is this. Although you earned many tic tacs for boxing out in the drills…you need to make it an absolute imperative when you play in a game or scrimmage, as well. As you may have noticed, we’re not a very tall team. But we are a very smart team, and we are a very tough team. You guys have shown me you can box out. I just want to see more of it in the scrimmages and games.

Last thing about your effort — I was VERY happy to see you sprinting the floor both on offense and defense!! NICE!

A Few Parting Notes

And finally, I would like to apologize. I had arranged with the coach to scrimmage for the last 10 to 15 minutes of the game. I was ready to go at that time, but he obviously got caught up in something. So I apologize to you guys for making you wait around. That will not happen again!

Thanks again for a great practice! Happy Thanksgiving to All You TicTacs!!The next time we meet will be in a week — Tuesday night at 5:30, at Mastricola Elementary again.