Boone County Lumber lost its game by 3 points tonight.
What is the point of building up a game plan, if you're going to scrap it the moment you go on the court?
I had a bad game tonight. The only redeeming feature about it is that everyone else had a bad game, too. 0-4, 0-3, 1 assist, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, an attempt at a game-saving foul when the other team was running out the clock (I got the foul - it just didn't save the game), four turnovers that I remember (three to Bobby). And that might not be the worst game.
Skander, despite my urging for him to come out aggressive, came out passive. I'm looking for instant offense from him, and he didn't get started until 5 or 6 minutes in; he didn't bring the ball up the court until the second half, with the exception of one play where he didn't watch for the wolf on the inbound. Skander, going at full speed, aggressive, from minute one, puts up a MINIMUM of 16 points against that team. Skander, coming out passive, not taking and commanding the ball - trying to be "Skander, the role player" - goes scoreless at something like 0-6. He drew two fouls that I remember, and it seemed like another two as well...that's what Skander can do against these teams. Do that against Boone Electric, and they fold like a cheap tent. We got #10 to foul out - and almost came back on them because of it. 5 more minutes...5 more minutes, and they're ours.
I just don't get it. We talked before the game about how important it was for him to come out aggressive. We talked about how dreadful it is to have 3 handling the ball. But instead of calling 3 off the ball, instead of taking command, he decided to wait until someone gave him the ball.
I hate it. And the reason I hate it is because THAT'S NOT SKANDER. That's not the guy I respect and admire on the court. When Larry Bird referred to playing like women, that's the guy he was talking about. The Skander that *I* know - *MY* Skander - has too much pride to let teammates punk him out of the action the way that one did. He OWNS players like # 3; he doesn't defer to them.
He tells me that he doesn't know the guys. Well, DUH - I don't either. I know two players - Bobby and Skander. Skander knows two players - Bobby and me. Bobby knows two players - Skander and me. That has to stop being an excuse. Bobby and I have played *1* *GAME* with #3. (And I hate him. Just so that that's clear.) Skander is 50 times the player that that guy is, and yet Skander is deferring to him - like #3's opinion means *ANYTHING*. It's such undeniable garbage. The guy is an idiot, and Skander is thinking that he has to impress the guy. The heck with that. Bobby has played on Boone Lumber the last two years now, and me, the last three. Impress *US* - not some guy we picked up just so we'd have a substitute.
As for Bobby, I'm going to put glue on Bobby's hands. Of course, I full well expect him to drop the glue. Probably out-of-bounds.
And Skander *DID* draw a third foul that I remember - on a guy coming through his screen.
What upsets me the most is that because of this game, it's likely that that's the last of the court time Skander and I will see together. The team is being taken over by outsiders, and they're going to demand more and more time together, and Skander and I will both end up sacrificing our minutes - minutes that SHOULD BE productive minutes together on the court.
We lost a game we shouldn't have lost, and set ourselves up for a losing season based on the fact that we're NOT going to have cohesive teams on the court, because we're letting outsiders with no intention of playing team basketball take over.
And we get Ott Trucking next week.
It's the Carfax team all over again.
Where are you when we need you, Todd - and Greg - and John?