Today started with an early breakfast as we prepared to scrimmage for the first time. The Ontario under 15 boys team was driving through on their way to a tourney and wanted to play us so we said sure. The scrimm was scheduled for 11:00 AM but of course 3 of our players showed up around 10:30 after we told them to be there much earlier. Needless to say, anyone who knows how I treat lateness knows that I was far from impressed. We started the game sloppy and pretty much stayed that way for most of it. We played very robotic and didn't play basketball. We tried to execute everything to completion and never saw the scoring opportunities that were present. Our defense was shitty to say the least and we ended up getting tagged by 37. Credit to this U-15 team though as they were exceptionally athletic and had one player about 6'8". Their best player looked like he was about 22. I was checking to see if his last name was Almonte (for those who don't know, Danny Almonte played in the little league world series when he was 15 or 16 or something like that). The body this kid had was better than some on our men's team at CBU. But we shouldn't have been as bad as we were.
To top it off, our 2nd steadiest ballhandler busted her ankle and our starting point guard is now out with an ankle situation. Not looking like fun for next week but that is why we have practice.
Tomorrow we are up for an 8 am breakfast followed by practice at 9:30. We will watch video in the early afternoon and then play a local boys club team at 5pm tomorrow evening. We are separating the coaching duties as we go and I will be taking care of the defense for the majority of the trip. Problem is , we have so much offensive stuff to work on we barely get time for defense in practice. We'll have to squeeze some in somewhere. After tomorrow we will have 3 practices and 1 scrimmage to get ready to compete with China.
Today was a day of pretty deep thought for me. While I have to stay focused on this journey my mind never wanders far from my own team. While most schools have the luxury of having their recruiting finished months ago, we don't have that. (perhaps one of the most stressful points of my position). We have a number of obstacles that prevent us from finishing this task early so we are still awaiting word for some players and it is the middle of July. My guess is that CBU is probably in the top 3 or 4 hardest places to recruit to and when you do catch a break often there are internal obstacles that jump in your way but that is another story. It is not overly comforting to not know who will be on the court in a month and a half. I also wonder if we are preparing hard enough to battle next year. A number of teams have improved in the offseason and will be tougher but I wonder if we are ready to go. I guess that always happens at this time of year. My worry is that complacency has set in and we are prepared to slide back to mediocrity. I know many people say that this level of basketball works in cycles and that you can't be good forever. I think they are full of shit. Those who think like that don't win. I want to win every second we are on the court and winning doesn't mean on the scoreboard but also the lessons that hard work and competition teaches them. I know we have some great kids that will work but during summer is when I worry that the heat and the distractions of the beach or good times may cause them to lose focus. I guess it goes back to my favorite summer time question "There comes a time when winter will ask what summer did". I guess that's enough of my rant about the summer but my heart lies in a certain place and I can't shake it :)
Lastly, after this experience, I hope that our athletes are very thankful and grateful for everything they have. Hearing about the 3 teams sharing shoes was tough the other day but last night there were even more stories of other national teams in other countries who don't have enough money to feed their athletes or provide them with proper training. Stories of coaches and players being fired or assaulted for bad performances exist as well. Man this stuff really opens your eyes to how well we have it in Canada for the most part. We may not have as much as some but we certainly have more than most.
Wow what a pile of ranting for today. As always , there is more video to watch. Time to head off to videoland and get ready for tomorrow.
The journey continues.
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