DIG DEEP

It really is amazing what a difference 24 hours can make.  After losing that 24 point lead last Friday night, and coming face to face with the issue of complacency, the players had a players only meeting and made a statement the next night.  They beat that same team the next day and seemed to be coming back into their own.  We tried to take that momentum into this past weekend's road trip.  Unfortunately it seemed that Friday they were slipping back into their old ways.

Playing a team that is, to say the least, much less skilled than us and one that we should beat, our girls seemed to again let that complacency monster find its way back into the game.  To put it mildly, we played like CRAP!  Shooting less that 28% for the game and getting out rebounded by 12, is one of the worst performances of the season.  This made for a very long night for a game that again we should have won or at least made a lot closer, that now we were never really in.  I couldn't help but think on the way home after the game: "Where is that team we saw earlier in the season?", "Where is that team who is fired up and has a passion for the game?" " Where is that team that I know they can be?"  As a coach, you learn pretty quickly what your team is capable of, unfortunately they don't seem to learn is as quickly if ever.  I could only hope Friday would be different.

On the long drive to Louisiana on Saturday, the atmosphere on the bus seemed a little different.  I am not sure how or why but it just did.  Maybe the girls were thinking about the last 2 games we played against the team we were traveling to face.  Maybe they were thinking about the loses that should not have been at the hands of this same opponent.  Maybe they were thinking how they could lose a game when up by 2 with less than 10 seconds to go and the ball.  Maybe they were thinking any of those things, but it was different all the same. 

So, tip off time and away we go on Saturday.  Everyone fired up, everything looking good.  Then it all came crashing down and I thought to myself, "here we go again!"  About 4 minutes into the game and it started to get ugly.  With just over 5 minutes to go in the first half the opponent scored their 40th point.  Usually when we give up that many points in the first half, we know its going to be a long night.  We just don't really have the offense to be able to compete with that.    With 2:30 left in the first half, we found ourselves down by 31 points and even though we got it back to just 23 by the time the first half buzzer went off, we knew there wasn't much to do or say.  Its almost like the girls had already checked out.  As the head coach and I stood in the hallway before going into the locker room, we discussed this fact.  They were just counting down the day till season was over.  Its as if they didn't care what happened from here on out they just wanted it to be over.  So, we thought we'd help them out.  We quickly calculated the days left till end of season and walked into a silent locker room.  Coach wrote a big number 35 on the board and asked the girls if they knew what that meant.  No one answered.  She  told them that was the number of days till the end of the season.  Since it seems you guys are already counting them down and just riding this out as if you don't care, we thought we'd help you out.  So if we need to, when we get home, we can just put that up in our locker room and keep the tally gong.  She then proceeded to tell them that she didn't really know what to say anymore because everything she has tried up til this point has not worked to motivate them.  So they just needed to figure it out themselves.  With that we turned and walked out.

I must say I am not sure what went on in the room after that but I don't need to know.  The second half started with us going on a 32-18 run and halfway through only being down by 10.  Then another quick 6-0 run gave us or first lead at the 6:54 mark.  These girls were playing like a team possessed.  This was the team I knew they could be.  This was the team they are deep down inside.  When they dig deep, this was what they were capable of and dig deep they did.  They would NEVER relinquish the lead after that.  Shooting 62% and getting to the free throw line an astounding 26 times in the second half  just goes to show what they can do when they stay calm and truly do DIG DEEP!

Complacency

Complacency will kill a team.  Not the quick get it over with death but the very slow painful agonizing type death that makes you only wish it was quick.  Its painful to watch and painful to live.  For a team I think its harder to watch as a coach and know there is really nothing you can do about it.  You can encourage, you can motivate, you can even yell, but unless they players decide to change none of it will help.

Unfortunately, I believe we are there!  We started the season off well and at one point were 5-2 but now all that has changed after a 7 game losing streak.  We see moments of brilliance.  There are times of perfection.  Even minutes of masterful teamwork.  These seem to be all short lived and the old crummy complacency creeps back in.  Its not that they enjoy losing, no one does!  Its that they almost seem to not want to push themselves, not want to get better, no want to step-up.  Its frustrating and heartbreaking at the same time.  We can only sit and wait and hope they soon snap out of it.

A Chance

I had some time to think on the bus ride last night.  We lost a close, hard fought game that most probably thought we would be blown out.  On the ride my thought weren't on the game or the one we'd play in the next 24 hours.  Instead I was thinking about coaches.  Those i have played for, coached with, coached against and even those I have watched as a spectator.  I thought how it was kinda funny that there are so many different ways of coaching.  Though there are similarities, most are very different.  There seems to be no right our wrong way to coach.  There is no class you can take or book you can read that will teach it to you.  The best coaches adapt their style as needed to fit their team or even a given situation. 

I thought about how coaches develop their styles.  Most coaches glean from their experiences to develop their "style" of coaching.  My first experience with a coach was little league baseball.  When and where I grew up there was no softball so if girls wanted to play they had to play baseball with the boys.  I really didn't have a problem with this since I had a brother 15 months older than me and most of the kids in my church group that i hung out with were boys.  However, most boys or even male coaches didn't want a girl on their team. 

After tryouts, there was no guarantee that i would be chosen for a team mush less actually play.  My parents soon got a call that I was chosen and when and where I would practice.  At the first practice, I walked on the field with my glove and was welcomed with a huge smile from my coach.  He introduced me to the rest of  my teammates, all boys, who of course had mixed emotions.  I was just glad to be there. 

I can't really tell you much about that season.  All I remember was that soon my teammates all accepted my as just another teammate.  I even was starting a few games by the end of it.  My first experience with a coach was a positive one, not because of some great thing he taught me, but for the simple fact that he gave ME a chance.  When most others refused just because i was a girl, he was able to look past that and see me as just another player who wanted to play the game.  That was the greatest thing he ever could have could have done for me, well that and ask me back on hi team the next season which he did without hesitation!  He helped me learn to give players a chance, no matter what they may look like on the surface.  If they are willing, give 'em a chance.  Will is half the battle.