Upward getting started!
Yesterday was a big day for basketball all the way around.
I got my Upward Basketball Rosters. I'm going to be coaching two teams with Chris Valleroy, who will have one of his sons on each team. We practice on Wednesdays.
Our 3rd/4th grade team is the Yellow Jackets. You can access their web page here. At first look, we have a very deep and talented team, based on the evaluation scores of the players. I'm eager to see how this team will work out, because it looks like we have a very good chance to play a very fast style of basketball. So far, I've got one guy who may have a scheduling conflict.
Our 5th/6th grade team is the Knicks. You can access their web page here. At first read, this is a team with some exceptionally big players, with a strong mix of quick players as well. Of particular interest to me is the fact the three players - Landon, David, and Mackoy - are all close friends, and Jake and Andrew know each other from church. That means either we'll have extremely GREAT chemistry, or we'll have a team divided by cliques and extremely POOR chemistry. It'll be up to Chris and me to make sure the team falls squarely into the former category. Also of concern is the fact that we only have 9 players, with one of those who may have to drop out due to scheduling problems. Also, for this team, there's still one player's parents who I haven't been able to contact.
All in all, Upward looks to be much more challenging this year - with increased expectations. Looking at the two teams, both are evaluated higher than the Spartans, but then again, you can't tell me that the Spartans' evaluations were accurate. Almost to a player, the Spartans were evaluated too low, and I could tell that at the end of the second practice.
I was disappointed at the Utah Jazz loss on Friday. A victory would have given Jerry Sloan 1000 victories for his career. The man is such a great coach; I wanted to see him get it. Utah's next game is tonight, at home, against Dallas. Skander and I might have to watch that one.
My fantasy basketball team won its game this week, and we're now up to 7th in the league - just out of the playoffs. Word is that Pau Gasol will be back later this week. That would be a great boost to my team, as Duncan and Gasol run opposite schedules this week.
Last evening, I went out and played some 21 with Caleb and Shannon. Amazingly enough, I won two of the three games. The first game was simply a matter of making my free throws - I hit all 12 that I took. Caleb won the second game in convincing fashion. I won the last game on a crazy come-back. The winning shot was a banked left-handed jumper on the left side of the court when I got Shannon off-balance. Also in that game was a left-handed, one-hand, off-balance shot that went in.
The real problem out there was Shannon, because he was playing exceptionally dirty last night. Of course, dirty Mruzik defense is something of a family tradition, but Shannon is taking it to new levels. Every Mruzik plays close, and every Mruzik commits blatant blocking fouls, but Shannon actually PUSHES on the blocking fouls. He's starting to develop a hand-check - likely stolen from Tim Vargesko - and between the body block, the hand-check, and his willingness to reach in to steal the ball, you're talking a VERY physical player. I try to be patient, but there's only so patient you can be, and I'm using most of my fakes - giving him a clearer and clearer picture of what I can do and what I can't - which will allow him to play dirty more effectively. And in 21, I don't have the big counters that I need - the ability to get him off of me by passing and cutting or the opportunity to run him into a pick. Once we get into a real game, we'll fix the dirty play.
Caleb and I also worked on pick-and-roll a bit, with me showing him how to recognize the difference between pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situations.
I am starting to worry about Caleb's drive move. A couple of times, it was a blatant travel. And worse, one time, it was a carry move followed by a travel. I think part of it is a remnant from him learning to dunk. What he's doing is legal - if you go by the rules for travelling from the pros. But if you go by high school or college rules, he could have some serious trouble in an officiated game.
And, of course, in playing those games against Shannon and Caleb, I've done something to my left side. It might be a back thing, or it might be a pull of something toward the front of my hip. Either way, it's really sore today. It occurred - I think - when I was trying to pop Shannon as a warning to stop bodying me. That should make tomorrow's City League game interesting.
And for the City League, after talking with Travis Acton on Friday night, I'm looking at re-instituting an old tradition that he and I used to have. I shared the tradition with Skander years ago, but it sort of died out when Skander's games were confined to late Friday nights, with him hanging out with other friends afterward. But now, it's time to bring back this blast from the past: how well we play decides where we have supper that night. Play well, and we're looking at places like Red Lobster. Play bad, and it's Long John Silver's. That might really help get Skander back into the right frame of mind for tomorrow night's game. Right now, he's being aggressive, and that's a big improvement, but I'm afraid his confidence is shaken. I'm going to try to get him back on track. We're playing Foundations of Columbia, so we should win, but I'm more interested in getting Skander on track. The season is pretty much toast for any chance of a championship, but we now need to get chemistry in place for future years. Skander's going to be vital to that.