When the coach left the gym, our team morphed into a kickball/rugby hybrid that hardly resembled basketball. Dribbling was now optional and throwing elbows was mandatory. But what do you expect with a room full of unsupervised junior high boys? You certainly don’t expect structure, you expect rough-housing and goofing off. When our coach returned this is what he walked into.
Given his insatiable quest to be the next Bobby Knight, our coach did the only proper thing–grab a basketball, kick it into the rafters, and pop a vein in his neck while yelling at us. As junior high boys we wondered why he was throwing such a stink about our goofing off in practice. It wasn’t like we were messing around during a game—it was just practice.
When we played our first game, we got blown out. The other team ran up and down the court on us. They had structure, we simply had individuals trying to put a ball in a basket. In short we played how we had practiced. This is why our coach had been so upset with our lackadaisical attitude about practice. He knew what we didn’t; namely, you play how you’ve practiced…
Continue Reading at For the Church…
