Lots of stuff over the past few weeks
Well, the last several weeks have been basketball-busy.
For general basketball, I ended up playing over the earlier break back home with my brother and my old teammate Dennis McCormick's son. We played 21, and I actually won two games. We also played two games of horse, and I won one of those. Winning the two 21 games is actually an accomplishment for me, because I never, and I mean *NEVER*, win 21 games when my brother is playing.
I've played a couple of games at the Tribune. My shot isn't looking good at all there, and I'm really not sure why. However, my defense at the Tribune has been pretty good, except for one thing: Lee is posting me *WAY* too deep right now, and there's not a good way to fix that. This is one of those cases where, when there's no 3-second lane, a player like Lee can give me fits.
And another thing about Lee; he's starting to develop an annoying habit of reading when I'm pulling up with a three-pointer "early" in a possession...and BLOCKING THEM. Essentially, this means now, somebody besides Caleb is really sitting back and reading the 3-pointer. That means I need to focus on working on my fake again and getting these guys off their feet.
I also played at the Mizzou Arena with Matt and some of his friends. I shot well, but the pace of the game was beyond over-paced, and the players are notorious "me-me" guys. It's great for conditioning, but it's an awful game for a guy like me, who is a passer and a spot-up shooter.
Last night, I went over to Shannon's, and we played for about 2 and a half hours, finishing up at about 12:30. I passed exceptionally well, and drove well, but I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I looked AWESOME in warm-ups, and hit one of the two jumpers to be a captain. But outside of a put-back of a Shannon put-back attempt, I didn't hit anything else. Hit my shots in warm-up. Hit 42 of 50 from the free-throw line. Couldn't miss in pre-game warm-ups. And missed shot after shot after shot in the games.
I wasn't happy with my defense, either, except for the denial of the post guy I guarded in one of the games. We engaged in a real battle for post position, and I feel I did good in that area. But, of course, he torched me a couple of times from outside, and I didn't do anything offensively to bother him. And he was doing a good job of roughing me up outside, and on an enclosed court, that's a problem.
I'm really struggling against pressure right now. I'm going to have to be more aggressive and fight through some of this.
As for the City League...ugh. After the win, we decided to come back with an ugly loss. It started out really well, too - Dustin picking my man off me, me setting Skander up along the baseline, and Skander finding Dustin for the first points. It really started to go south, though, when Al, in his typical incompetent officiating way, blew an easy call on me getting hammered ACROSS BOTH ARMS - SIDE-TO-SIDE, NO LESS - in the lane. That sent the game out-of-control. Al also waved off a charge that Bobby drew THAT THE OTHER REF CALLED WHEN IT WAS *NOT* AL'S CALL, instead, awarding a basket to the other team, and giving them the ball (according to City League rules). #50 then got a technical and ejection at half-time for grabbing the rim (another City League rule). Top it off with me committing a *HARD* foul on one of their players that sent him to the floor, and Steve getting T-ed up by Al. At least I blocked my first shot of the year. Two to-the-backline assists. One bad turnover in the lane, which had #3 griping on the sideline.
You know, that has a nice ring to it: "#3 griping on the sideline." The reason it has a nice ring to it is that he was ON THE SIDELINE! Please, oh please, get that guy off of my team. I hate him. I detest everything he says and does on the court.
Shannyn came to the game to watch Skander. Her reaction was initially that she thought #3 wasn't bad. Skander corrected her, saying #3 was awful. The exchange that followed was priceless:
Shannyn: "Well, he acts like he can play."
Skander: "Got it in one, babe. He ACTS like he can play."
Todd, if you're reading this, please, oh please, oh please, oh please come back.
And, speaking of Todd, Upward Basketball is only a week away. I sat down with Chris, my assistant coach, and we talked a bit about the upcoming season. I got to see his sons, Jake and Dylan. Seeing Jake again was awesome. And I think Dylan is going to be a lot of fun to coach.
I sent all of my players - new and old - Christmas cards. I didn't have Nathan's address, so I dropped his card off personally, saw Nathan and his dad, and got some incredible news: Nathan was promoted to the 5th/6th grade division! I am so proud of this guy, and I just know he's going to be awesome. Nathan just needed a bit of confidence, and once given that, it's just a matter of time for him to be doing well.
There are some problems on my 5th/6th grade team. One of my top players, Landon, has a conflict, and may have to leave the team. It became official yesterday. Not sure what will become of it.
Finally, three items of note for general basketball:
1) I ordered an adjustable 40-pound weight vest. I plan on wearing it during our practices.
2) I need to get back to work on my diet. I weighed in at 208.5 this morning.
3) I'm going to the doctor today to get the warts on the bottom of my feet seen about. Don't know whether they'll be cut off, burned off, or frozen off, but I'm hoping to be in good shape for basketball. Getting rid of these things will be a welcome change, because the worst one, the one on the ball of my left foot, is constantly annoying me.