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The last time we played this team in the tournament we lost to them by 39 points. As much as I wish I could say we beat them this time, I can only report that we’re improving – final score: 17 to 37… they only had us by 20, which I believe shows some improvement on our part as we have cut our deficit in half.
The culture of basketball here is interesting. First of all we only play two 10-minute halves, and the clock never stops. This makes coaching very difficult. The entire game becomes simplified down to basically two teams bashing it out; may the best man win?!? Secondly, the regular season here is only 1 month long! Its difficult to foster much growth and improvement in the course of only 4 weeks. Thirdly, and perhaps most influencing, the power of intimidation is staggering. I’m quite certain that the game is over before it even begins.
Windermere is a smaller school in comparison to the public high schools here on the island. We don’t have the luxury of running try-outs and choosing the tallest, fastest, or those with the best attitude. What we’ve got is what we’ve got, and I’ve written before, we’re playing some 8th graders against 12th graders. However, as a team, we’re pretty good, but all the other teams are bigger and our boys know it.
The problem was in this game the team broke down. Our normally scrappy defense had cement shoes. Our explosive offense lost their fuse. Our pinpoint passing was truncated. Rebounds didn’t exist. Confidence disappeared, and we had leaders hanging their heads on the court.
It was like those taller and older boys had scared ours without saying a word, and we knew it was our job to lose, so we did dutifully. The social factor of basketball here is so strong, the game is literally 30% physical and 70% mental.
As the coach I believe that it is important to make the ‘main thing’ the main thing, and “how you play the game” matters more that the final score in the end. Years from now, no one will remember the score, however individual and institutional character will continue on. Winning is always fun, but until we figure out how to do that we must at least learn to play with all our heads held high. We’ve got a lot of work to do.