Overtime Thriller!!!
Wow! I can't believe I was coaching a game like this in only my fifth game ever! The referees had split after the A-team game, so some parent/teacher/janitor from their school had to ref the game all by himself. Plus, the guys running the clock were members of their OWN basketball team. So fouls weren't getting called, travelling wasn't getting called, my players were getting hacked left and right, and we got nothing for it except for a turnover.
But they hung in and built a four-point lead with about a minute to go. Then, this pudgy kid on the other team, who had been shooting like Pistol Pete Maravich nailed a long three, and they stole the next pass we threw and put in a nice running jumper. We were now down 1 with 30 seconds to go. My kids brought it up the court and the ball was stolen again. They ran down, missed a layup, and we got it. David was fouled, but again there was no call. So I called a timeout, but the ref didn't see. Time expired, and they had won.
However, the ref had turned around at the last second, and apparently had made up his mind that since I was jumping up and down, leaning onto the court, making a "T," that I had been doing it for some time (I had). So het let me have the time out, and put three seconds back on the clock. And, for some arbitrary reason, we got to take the ball out at half court. Our first break of the game.
Now, this is my fifth game coaching of all time. I have no super secret plays saved up from years of experience. I don't really even know what I'm doing half the time, except for telling them what I know, which is hardly a professional opinion when it comes to basketball. But I had Jordan inbound the ball to Trey, who would then throw it to Luke, my best player, who would be coming off a double screen. Luke would take one or two dribbles, and throw up a three-pointer, or a closer shot if he had time. Luke rolled his head back in hope and clenched his eyes shut, since he knew he was the man of the hour.
It worked. But as he was taking the shot, he got hacked as time expired. As usual, I was expecting no call. The other team's players were streaming onto the court amidst shouts of celebration. But the ref blew the whistle, apparently because I had been yelling ALL game, and finally gave me the foul I was looking for. So there's Luke, with nobody on the court, no time on the clock, with two shots, down by one point. He dribbles, sets, and fires. The other team shouts out "LOSE!" and "MIIIISSSS!" as he shoots, and the ball clanks off the iron, off the backboard, off the iron, and misses. This is extremely unsportsmanlike, but I refuse to succumb to it, and tell my players to keep quiet.
Luke wipes his hands on his shorts, gets the ball. Dribbles - one, two, three - sets, and fires. "LOOOOSE!" "MIIIISSSSSS!" The ball flies in a beautiful rainbow arc and splashes through the hoop. OVERTIME!!!
Luke gets absolutely MOBBED by the team as he comes back to the huddle. The parents are cheering, and the scoreboard operators are dejected that their efforts at adding the wrong amount of points and starting and stopping the clock whenever it benefitted their team had failed, at least temporarily.
In overtime, the other team jumped out to an early 2-point lead. But we clawed our way back, scored twice, gave up a basket, and scored twice again. Up four. They run down and hit a jumper. We try to hold the ball, are getting fouled, but nothing is called, and they steal the ball. They bring it up, miss a shot, miss a put-back, miss another put-back, we get the rebound, and WE WIN!!!!!!! 44-42!
Phew! I had so much energy after the game. My kids did SUCH a great job! We're 4-1 now, with a 1-point win and a 2-point win. Herculean effort by Luke with that foul shot and 13 points on the game. And a great job by Brandon, my sometimes starting point guard, for coming in off the bench in OT after Trey got knocked in the head and after not practicing all week and immediately hitting a jumper to put us up by 4. I wish I had a video of this for all time. What a great way to go into winter break.
GO TCDS!
But they hung in and built a four-point lead with about a minute to go. Then, this pudgy kid on the other team, who had been shooting like Pistol Pete Maravich nailed a long three, and they stole the next pass we threw and put in a nice running jumper. We were now down 1 with 30 seconds to go. My kids brought it up the court and the ball was stolen again. They ran down, missed a layup, and we got it. David was fouled, but again there was no call. So I called a timeout, but the ref didn't see. Time expired, and they had won.
However, the ref had turned around at the last second, and apparently had made up his mind that since I was jumping up and down, leaning onto the court, making a "T," that I had been doing it for some time (I had). So het let me have the time out, and put three seconds back on the clock. And, for some arbitrary reason, we got to take the ball out at half court. Our first break of the game.
Now, this is my fifth game coaching of all time. I have no super secret plays saved up from years of experience. I don't really even know what I'm doing half the time, except for telling them what I know, which is hardly a professional opinion when it comes to basketball. But I had Jordan inbound the ball to Trey, who would then throw it to Luke, my best player, who would be coming off a double screen. Luke would take one or two dribbles, and throw up a three-pointer, or a closer shot if he had time. Luke rolled his head back in hope and clenched his eyes shut, since he knew he was the man of the hour.
It worked. But as he was taking the shot, he got hacked as time expired. As usual, I was expecting no call. The other team's players were streaming onto the court amidst shouts of celebration. But the ref blew the whistle, apparently because I had been yelling ALL game, and finally gave me the foul I was looking for. So there's Luke, with nobody on the court, no time on the clock, with two shots, down by one point. He dribbles, sets, and fires. The other team shouts out "LOSE!" and "MIIIISSSS!" as he shoots, and the ball clanks off the iron, off the backboard, off the iron, and misses. This is extremely unsportsmanlike, but I refuse to succumb to it, and tell my players to keep quiet.
Luke wipes his hands on his shorts, gets the ball. Dribbles - one, two, three - sets, and fires. "LOOOOSE!" "MIIIISSSSSS!" The ball flies in a beautiful rainbow arc and splashes through the hoop. OVERTIME!!!
Luke gets absolutely MOBBED by the team as he comes back to the huddle. The parents are cheering, and the scoreboard operators are dejected that their efforts at adding the wrong amount of points and starting and stopping the clock whenever it benefitted their team had failed, at least temporarily.
In overtime, the other team jumped out to an early 2-point lead. But we clawed our way back, scored twice, gave up a basket, and scored twice again. Up four. They run down and hit a jumper. We try to hold the ball, are getting fouled, but nothing is called, and they steal the ball. They bring it up, miss a shot, miss a put-back, miss another put-back, we get the rebound, and WE WIN!!!!!!! 44-42!
Phew! I had so much energy after the game. My kids did SUCH a great job! We're 4-1 now, with a 1-point win and a 2-point win. Herculean effort by Luke with that foul shot and 13 points on the game. And a great job by Brandon, my sometimes starting point guard, for coming in off the bench in OT after Trey got knocked in the head and after not practicing all week and immediately hitting a jumper to put us up by 4. I wish I had a video of this for all time. What a great way to go into winter break.
GO TCDS!
posted by GM | 18:51
1 Comments:
I love it! GO TCDS! This is an exciting time for the kids and for the coach. Hope the rest of your season is as great!
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