The game is about relationships. Our culture defines them and as an old guy mentoring young women, I know that I don't know what they're thinking. I don't know what they're hearing.
Feedback. Are we giving and getting enough? If we're asking the question, then the answer is NO. I'll email the parents about their concerns.
Oops. That was embarrassing. I invest a lot of time preparing lineups with enough balance with ballhandling, scorers, rebounders, toughness. But that exposes us (at times) with lineups unable to press or otherwise limited. This weekend, I erred in thinking that one player was unavailable, so I labored to fix this on the fly, and it was part of the problem. I don't like to put players in situations where they are overmatched.
Three words. What three words describe you? What three words describe your team? What three words would someone else use to describe your team? What three words would you NOT want to hear about your team? I don't want to hear SOFT, SELFISH, or SLOTH.
Unexpected progress. Teach them how to play. Teach them how to play. How? Last night we split the groups first into BIGS and GUARDS-SWINGS to work on positional skills. In the latter group, they played "20 passes" (a shortened version of "50 passes." A group of four tries to make 20 passes without a steal or turnover. You have to pass, cut, and repeat. We followed that up with four-on-four halfcourt and the ball started moving.
During the "offensive development phase" the ball kept moving and it started to look like basketball. Sometimes 50 (Spread) created 20 (passes) action because players recognized their work defined their involvement. It's not perfect, but it looked better.
Firing squad. Nobody gets fired. But if they did, what would be a firing offense? Bad transition defense is high on my list.
Manna from Heaven. If I found $500, where would I invest it in my team? I'd love to have a youngster who would track game stats (e.g. shot charts, assists, turnovers, rebounds, steals) and present it in a useful format.
Female heroes. Everyone needs heroes. Society tends to dismiss and devalue women. Only 49 percent of Americans acknowledged being "comfortable" with the possibility of having a woman President. At least they were honest. I've seen a myriad of women disrespected in medicine, whether administrators, physicians, nurses, and others. Our girls need heroes to become actualized. Find heroes for them or at least share ideas on where to look...like Sara Blakely, CEO of Spanx.
Empowerment. Empower the girls. Empower them to succeed and to fail. Put them in positions to succeed humbly and to fail graciously.
Lagniappe: BOB Stacks.
