Great start to the Fall season with a close game that we failed to close out.
Takeaways:
- No hesitation on our shots
- Our advancement of the ball was good
- Man to man defense was good
- Our transition defense was mediocre, they got a lot of easy buckets
- We lacked in finding bodies for boxing out
- Our pick and roll defense needs to be tightened up
- 0 for 8 on the free throw line will only result in a loss
- Butterfinger syndrome with receiving passes
- Week1 Stats – please click here
Sportsmanship
I would also like to talk about sportsmanship and the spirit of competition.
Dreamhoops contacted me yesterday about a few parents that allegedly confronted the organizer about “making noises during free throws“. We huddled in our post-game meeting and the team didn’t feel that this was an issue and there were no beefs about the calls being made. This was strictly a parents issue. There are absolutely no rules against making noises during free throws. I’m sure most of you have attended live NBA games and distractions during free throws is an important part of the game. We cannot control what other teams and fans do, we can only focus on what we do. I wish those parents would have approached me first and I could have helped address the issue. You are not only representing 204 Customs Basketball, you are representing your boys, your families.
We felt the game last night was clean and calls were evenly made. These in-game activities, combined with physical play and hostile environment should be nothing new now in highly competitive Grade 9 Basketball. We want to remind you though that future games will be 10x more intense than that game yesterday.
I have now been given a warning for two of our parents and the next time this happens, they will be ejected (which has happened in the past to us) and banned from the games. We want to continue to keep the focus on the kids’ progress on the court and these distractions add another layer of complexity in managing a team. The last thing we want is for our parents to miss supporting their young adults.
This is not just an issue for the Dreamhoops league, this will happen in other leagues and exhibition games as well. If parents still feel strongly about this point, we fully respect that and would like to provide the following option.
- The boys are welcome to join our practice and training sessions but will not be eligible to play in any games.
- Unfortunately, we cannot refund the Dreamhoops registration as that is now paid for, the jerseys are yours to keep.
- The 2014 Fall 204 jerseys will still be completed and yours to keep
- We are adding an addendum to the 204 waiver forms to address this type of issue and will give you an option to opt out of the games or continue on with the full program.
We believe in play-fair competition and we don’t condone any unsportsmanlike conduct whether it’s done to us or our players/parents behaving on and off the court. That responsibility is on me as a coach and I will do my best to address referees/organizers if I feel there is a need.
I don’t think this would have happened if the outcome of the game was different and that doesn’t teach the boys anything about a graceful loss. This game is not only about physical strength, more importantly I think is the mental toughness and if you don’t feel that this is something you don’t want your sons’ to be a part of then we fully respect that decision. Let’s look forward to week 2 and stay together! #teamworkmakesthedreamwork
Now on a lighter note, checkout some of these online vids
[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vSb1o0Inag’]
BC Senior Boys Basketball Environment – http://sportscanada.tv/index.php/basketball/hs-bb/bc-hs-basketball/senior-boys/316