...and I guess we can't have nice things just yet.
So, we've played 8 halves of basketball so far this season, and only 2 have been worth a sh**. The first half today was one of those 2 --- which encouraged me for a minute --- but boy, did it revert back in a damned hurry. So... here goes:
- Madison was as advertized... didn't hit a 2 point shot until the under-8 (on an awful TO), after 5 3s. And for the most part we did a decent job defending a drive-and-kick team. We did get a tad loose on some of their drives, but you live with the occasional 2-ball. We weren't as gpod after the intermission, but we contested their 3s just enough.
- and whew--- great to finally see our phantom Puff emerge off the bench early!... and he meshed in pretty well. Seth got off to a good start --- and good to see him hit his first 3 (on a set play), before reverting to bad habits vis-a-vis forces and ill-advised dribbling. Dunn played well, as usual, until once again inexplicably being reduced to phantom status (more on that below)...
- speaking of dribbling, our efficiency was inversely proportional. Our best possessions in both transition and half-court were facilitated by the PASS, whilst the ones that went south came from excessive dribbling. Gee.. imagine that.
- and transition --- by my notes 11 outta our first 17 points came from transition... and then we apparently (everyone except Leaky, anyway) forgot how to do that without forcing drives off the dribble.
- speaking of Leaky, he was the rock that quietly kept us from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, with key takes, running the break correctly and timely rebounds.
- but let's get down to brass tacks: We flat got beat in the second half, and it tells a toubling story. The team had a bad half, and being candid, the staff had a bad half. Let's start there --- what does it tell you when a team like Madison comes out and commits to playing INSIDE-OUT, and we (with 6'10 and 6'11) suddenly can't even make a post entry?.. or really even try, for that matter? Un-friggin-real. Nance spends way the hell too much time on the perimter and Mando has to be a garbage-man to get touches (good thing he can get offensive rebounds).
- and once again, the "rotation" (big air quotes)? There is just no rhyme or reason to it. Look, I liked that Hubert called a couple of plays to build Seth's confidence, but after that it was Nate Britt syndrome --- no sense of spacing and taking the ball into no-man's land. Meanwhile, Dunn comes in, performs well, then doesn't get a damn minute in the second half. The last thing I want to see is Dunn get mishandled (like Platek was) to the point it starts hurting his confidence, but it's on the way unless we nip that in the bud. And Nickel? Gee, gotta love those cameos. And news-flash to the staff --- we lost the second half with that tight "rotation".
- finally, and I only mention this because it was glaring --- the zebra crew was just incompetent, I mean, middle school matinee girls game bad --- to the point Mando had to take one ref aside and gently lecture him about the nuances of having guys literally hanging on your arms. BUT, this performance wasn't about that --- it was about the stuff discussed above.
Anyway, there it is --- one good half followed by reversion. Welp, off to the great northwest and some more prominent opponents. Hopefully the guys will rise up... and the staff does some serious self-scouting before we depart...
So, we've played 8 halves of basketball so far this season, and only 2 have been worth a sh**. The first half today was one of those 2 --- which encouraged me for a minute --- but boy, did it revert back in a damned hurry. So... here goes:
- Madison was as advertized... didn't hit a 2 point shot until the under-8 (on an awful TO), after 5 3s. And for the most part we did a decent job defending a drive-and-kick team. We did get a tad loose on some of their drives, but you live with the occasional 2-ball. We weren't as gpod after the intermission, but we contested their 3s just enough.
- and whew--- great to finally see our phantom Puff emerge off the bench early!... and he meshed in pretty well. Seth got off to a good start --- and good to see him hit his first 3 (on a set play), before reverting to bad habits vis-a-vis forces and ill-advised dribbling. Dunn played well, as usual, until once again inexplicably being reduced to phantom status (more on that below)...
- speaking of dribbling, our efficiency was inversely proportional. Our best possessions in both transition and half-court were facilitated by the PASS, whilst the ones that went south came from excessive dribbling. Gee.. imagine that.
- and transition --- by my notes 11 outta our first 17 points came from transition... and then we apparently (everyone except Leaky, anyway) forgot how to do that without forcing drives off the dribble.
- speaking of Leaky, he was the rock that quietly kept us from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, with key takes, running the break correctly and timely rebounds.
- but let's get down to brass tacks: We flat got beat in the second half, and it tells a toubling story. The team had a bad half, and being candid, the staff had a bad half. Let's start there --- what does it tell you when a team like Madison comes out and commits to playing INSIDE-OUT, and we (with 6'10 and 6'11) suddenly can't even make a post entry?.. or really even try, for that matter? Un-friggin-real. Nance spends way the hell too much time on the perimter and Mando has to be a garbage-man to get touches (good thing he can get offensive rebounds).
- and once again, the "rotation" (big air quotes)? There is just no rhyme or reason to it. Look, I liked that Hubert called a couple of plays to build Seth's confidence, but after that it was Nate Britt syndrome --- no sense of spacing and taking the ball into no-man's land. Meanwhile, Dunn comes in, performs well, then doesn't get a damn minute in the second half. The last thing I want to see is Dunn get mishandled (like Platek was) to the point it starts hurting his confidence, but it's on the way unless we nip that in the bud. And Nickel? Gee, gotta love those cameos. And news-flash to the staff --- we lost the second half with that tight "rotation".
- finally, and I only mention this because it was glaring --- the zebra crew was just incompetent, I mean, middle school matinee girls game bad --- to the point Mando had to take one ref aside and gently lecture him about the nuances of having guys literally hanging on your arms. BUT, this performance wasn't about that --- it was about the stuff discussed above.
Anyway, there it is --- one good half followed by reversion. Welp, off to the great northwest and some more prominent opponents. Hopefully the guys will rise up... and the staff does some serious self-scouting before we depart...
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