Joe's Basketball blog

Well, this week has marked the serious start of Upward Basketball again.

I went to Memorial Baptist to do evaluations on Tuesday and Thursday nights of this past week. I saw several of my old players - Stephen, Matthew, Kellen, and John on Tuesday night, and Connor on Thursday night. I also got to say hello to all of their parents, and each of them seemed to be pleased that I was returning. I've also been told that Jake and Nathan are returning as well. Marcus and Bryce are moving over to CYBA. I haven't heard about Noah.

I didn't get to do evaluations of any of my old players except for Connor. And let me tell you, Connor looked good at everything except the free-throw line. Of course, Connor is still young, and they've moved them back to the real free-throw line at the real height for the goal, so give it time, and he's going to be tearing that up, too. Connor looked particularly good on the lay-ups, which pleased me, since moving to the new height could have caused him to be a little scatter-shotted. All in all, I expect Connor to be one of the strongest players in the league - even though he's moving up.

I also heard from a friend that Kellen did incredibly well on the evaluations. I think that's awesome. I hope someone told Kellen and his mom that. Kellen has the most wonderful skill set - he's got a pretty shot, a good dribble, a good passing eye, good defensive footwork - he's got the entire package. I'd just like to see him be a little more confident, because this guy is a real talent.

I joked around a bit with Stephen. He's got such a great personality. He'll probably be the top player in the 3rd/4th grade division this year. I told him I was going to run him to death this year.

Matthew and his mom hung around a little afterward, and Matthew's shot has really matured. He's going to have a great year.

I didn't get to talk to John very much. We were swamped with drills when he came through. I'm interested to see how John reacts to becoming one of the big men for the league.

As for the new kids coming through, I was surprised to see a lot of girls out there who could give a lot of the boys we evaluated a good game! Lots of the ladies actually impressed me, although there's still a noticeable exposure of the basketball on the dribble for a lot of them. One of these days, someone is going to have to explain to me why that is. Then again, these drills didn't measure anyone's ability to PROTECT the ball.

I think the young man who impressed me most was a small, young guy - oddly enough - named Connor. He had a beautiful shot, and great form, but it took him some time to set his shot up. Now, once he did, the kid was money. In all of the other drills, he did extremely well. I can see him having some trouble finding enough time to get the shot off, but outside of that, this kid could do some things.

Overall, I didn't see enough 3rd/4th graders to get a feel for what the league will be like. Perhaps a number of them went through evaluations on Monday. Perhaps we did so many evaluations of girls and younger/older kids that we just didn't get a good sample. And perhaps it's my own poor memory of names and faces.

But, if I'm honest with myself, I really miss the Spartans. My guys were AWESOME, both as players and as human beings. Actually, they give me a lot of hope for the younger generation. I hope they never change, and always stay the same kind of unselfish, hard-working guys that showed up for me last year.

Stephen, Matthew, Kellen, Nathan, and John will be in my division, and there's a very real chance that I may not get to coach any of them again. That makes me really sad, because give me those five, and I'm willing to take on any team in the league. Despite the fact that that would be a small team, I'd bet we'd trounce most opponents.

The other thing that makes me sad is that there were two pairs of guys who could have taken their on-court cohesiveness off the court and become great friends there, too - and neither pair will get the chance, since one of each pair will be in the 5th/6th grade division this year. The pairs are Stephen and Jake, and Connor and Nathan.

Stephen and Jake were the foundation of the Spartan's fast-breaking offense. Jake was usually ahead of the pack, and Stephen was usually throwing the ball ahead to him. And as the year went on, you could see Stephen scanning the floor - specifically looking for Jake, and you could see Jake looking for Stephen the same way when he was under pressure.

The other pair - Connor and Nathan - ought to be brothers. These guys are cut from the same cloth. They're both intense and competitive. They both enjoy winning, and celebrating the win. Connor, of course, would be the older brother - a little more secure, more of a "take-charge" kind of guy, a little more serious, and not quite as quick to celebrate. Nathan would be the younger brother - the one who is always willing to celebrate, a little more quiet, a little less of a "take-charge" guy, and maybe even just a hint of undeserved self-doubt. These guys anchored our defense, and if I had to name our top two defenders, these were the guys. I once compared them to Stockton and Malone because of a few pick-and-rolls that they did. Perhaps a better comparison would be Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - although that's more personality than actual game. They even shared the team lead in blocked shots. Amazingly enough, I don't think they ever saw themselves as a pair to the extent that I did.

I sat down last night, and watched the video of the game against the Huskies. Of all the videos, that's the hardest one to watch. It was far and away our worst game. We came out flat offensively, and unalert defensively. Perhaps it was the emotional drain of our game against the Tarheels. Perhaps it was just one of those days. But that's a really tough video to watch, because I know that the guys are all so much better than they looked in that game. Well - I take that back. Noah actually looked quite impressive in that game. He scored, got some boards, and took pretty good care of the basketball. But Noah was the only guy who really had a good game.

Call me nostalgic, but the Spartans were awesome. We might have to do a team celebration of the year we had - a one-year get-together - at Chuck E. Cheese's or something. Just get the gang back together again.

I wonder if I'll feel as strongly about my next team. Admittedly, I've never felt this strongly about a group of guys I've coached before. Maybe it's just Upward, but in the back of my mind, I don't think so. I think that the Spartans were just a great group of guys who reallly got the message that basketball is about more than just how many points you score, or how many points you win by - but about how you deal with your teammates. They just plain got it - more than any group of players I've ever seen since my friends Jeff, Daren, Robby, and Chad were playing in 5th grade 23 years ago. Just amazing.

Well - if any of you old Spartans are reading this, just know that I'll be cheering you on - even if I'm coaching against you. Oh - and I've taken the time to update the web pages with some more photos and stats and such, so check them out.

Yes, yes, yes! Chris Valleroy - Jake's dad - is going to be my assistant coach for Upward!

I'm going to be coaching two teams this year, and I'm already starting off with an awesome assistant coach. And, of course, that means I'm coaching Jake in the 5th/6th grade level, which means that even before I've seen my roster, I know I've got one of the sharpest basketball players out there for my team.

Mr. Valleroy was a wonderful team parent last year, and I recommended to Todd that he ask Mr. Valleroy to coach one of the teams. Mr. Valleroy knows the game, and any group of kids will benefit from his teaching, but more so than that, Mr. Valleroy has the right attitude to approach the game. That's something that many parents find difficult, especially if they've played the sport. You have to strike a delicate balance between encouraging a young player and discouraging bad habits. You have to override the desire to try to tell your kid to do things the way you did things. And Mr. Valleroy did just wonderful with Jake. Jake's a player with no bad habits, a willingness to share the ball, and a clutch performer. You have to think Mr. Valleroy would be the same kind of player - and will teach the same kind of things as a coach.

So, going in, I know that the 5th/6th grade team has a strong coaching advantage. The question will now become what level the players are at; is it a well-developed team capable of running a structured offense, or is it a team best served by a free-flowing offense like the Spartans ran last year? Perhaps just a few out-of-bounds plays?

I'm eager to get my rosters and get things rolling.

Also, last night, I played at the Tribune, with a guy named Allen, and against Steve and Lee. We played three games, with Allen and me winning the first and the last - the last on a 3-pointer by me with the score tied.

I struggled with my outside shot, especially so in the first two games. However, I went to the drive, and I was doing very well with the baby-hook coming off the spin move. Steve tried to back off so he wouldn't be vulnerable to the spin move, so I faced up, and just shot a couple of times.

More importantly, my hands were very active - the most they've been in a while - and I got a good number of deflections, tips, and shot-blocks. My passing wasn't where I wanted it, but part of that was because we were playing 2-on-2, and my teammate isn't a cutter at all. C'est la vie.

Afterward, I hit 19 of 25 from the free-throw line. Close - still not there yet, though.

I'm feeling pretty confident right now. We'll have to see how well it carries over to Tuesday's game against Foundations of Columbia.

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.

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.