Day 15
Well day 15 is in the books. One of the more boring days on the trip. Early breakfast which is getting less stellar everyday but hey it’s a meal and there are people here that don’t get that all the time. After breakfast I was going to do a little walk nearby but I had to get some Mozambique film ready. We weren’t going to watch any but then Deb and Linda decided we should so I got that ready. We also had meetings with a few players to air out a few issues.
After this we got ready to go to practice. We practice from 1-2 at FMP Basketland. A basketball high school with a club affiliation and 2 full gyms. Our last practice as a team. We met as a group beforehand to discuss our final goals and to have each player discuss what they can learn from the last 3 days of the trip. When it came to my turn I talked to them about choices. I can hear most of my players who read this saying, “I’m sick of hearing about choices”. I told our team that Kelsey has heard it a lot in 4 years. I said that they have a choice to fold up the tent and go home or they can try and salvage some pride. I told them they could go to the other games and watch the other players and learn what it’s like to play international basketball. What I said next seemed to perk up a few ears. I gave it to them straight like I would in our locker room. I told them that we did have some talent and that we weren’t a team. I told them that contrary to what they might think, there are players who are much better than they are. I then told them that all the words they said were nice but they don’t mean shit if they didn’t go out on the court and back them up. I really only know one way to be honest about it all. This group has some unwarranted ego. Some players seem to believe that because they are in the NCAA they are better or that makes them higher up. What I think is that these European players could give 2 shits if you are in the NCAA or the Intergalactic Superstar League. Once you are on the court they will outsmart you and tear you a new one.
Sorry for the rant, more to come later. On to practice. We had a very good practice with quite a bit of energy. People were focused on the task at hand and overall our last practice was a good one. Hopefully it transfers to the game vs. Mozambique tomorrow. We stopped off for lunch after practice and then gave the girls the option of taking the evening off or go with the coaches to watch the semi-finals. All of them chose to watch the games.
The U.S. beat Australia quite handily with their athletic ability and defensive pressure. It was nothing spectacular on offense, they just did it with pressure. They took Australia out of their comfort zone. The second game was pretty to watch. Although it got out of hand in the middle of the 3rd quarter, Russia put on a clinic in beating the Czech Republic. I will watch this game many more times. If I could make every player in Canada watch it I would. I will hopefully get the chance to show many Cape Breton kids. Good ballhandling, great spacing, tremendous passing and an impressive understanding of the game. I will definitely be making clips of the game to show my own players. As a purist who loves the fundamentals, it was a pleasure to watch. To give you an idea of how impressive it was, their 6’7” post player popped out to the 3 point line to catch the ball, drove to her left (her wrong hand), began to shoot the ball and at the last second fired a left handed pass across the paint to her teammate for a layup. Pretty impressive stuff.
Time for another rant or just a little turn off course. I’ve been thinking of this for most of the day. One of the major lessons I was hoping our girls would learn here was one of pride and determination. This country is a very proud one. That is all I see everywhere. The people are so friendly and seem to be hard working people. Our girls were slowly giving up after a few losses. This country has people living in slums and poverty is evident. They are a war torn people whose city was torn apart by war and NATO bombings. What did they do? Did they quit? Nope they rebuilt their country and you can see their pride. I absolutely love it. Our kids quit after a few losses and whine because they have to eat some different food. They have to grow up a little and feel a little more grateful for the opportunities presented to them. I am sure that many of them will forget the poverty they saw here until they see a picture months down the road. I think we have done a disservice to society by spoiling many young people the way we have. They get most things handed to them and don’t have to work hard. Even this selection process. No tryout camp just a phone call and you are on the team. They have developed a sense of entitlement and that is not what we need. But sorry for that little rant.
Tomorrow we play our last game vs. Mozambique at 12:30 Cape Breton time. Hopefully we come out with a big effort and finish up strong. The basketball “on court” experience will end tomorrow for me but I will go and film as many games as possible before I leave. I will also try and talk to as many coaches as I can. There is so much to learn about the international game.
Coach
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