7th Grade Blue-May 14-15

Sorry for the shortage of blogs lately, I apologize, it's been hectic. I will have blogs up for the final 2 weeks to include Reno. Moving on, we played very well this weekend and the scoreboard showed as much with a 2-1 record and a very impressive +33 point total. We had great individual performances as well as almost everyone contributed on a team that suited up 11 players. We also beat two rivals of ours who have been beating us up until this weekend. A really satisfying thing is that when we played teams that were not as good we took care of business and won easily, this is what good teams do they play against themselves and don't play "down" to the level of the competition. That shows that we are learning what good teams do and are trying to become a good team. We executed well and played unselfishly all weekend and even in our defeat we played our game and had our chances to win the game we just couldn't make a basket when we needed them most. We have a great group of young men and I will do my best to maximize their success by properly preparing them in the limited time we have until Reno. We showed great improvement this weekend and that's what is going to happen when we put forth the effort, energy and focus that we have in the last few weeks. I'd like to personally welcome Tyler Jacobs to the team, in YBA he's now to be known as the "quiet storm". Here are some quick recaps and game performance leaders.

EHD TROJANS 29 YBA-X 53

Easily our best performance against an EDH team this year. We started well except we couldn't get the ball to actually go in the basket in the first half. However, we gained confidence and became more aggressive as the game wore on. We played outstanding in the second half (once we got to switch from the closed rim) and dominated the game as it was a showcase of what we can be. I was very impressed with our overall team play and was very pleased with how well we passed the ball and how unselfish we were. We continually showed patience and made the extra pass to get the best shot. 

Offensive MVP: The whole team

Defensive MVP: Davion Andrews for his defensive impact

Rocktown 40 YBA-X 55

The first time we've beaten Rocktown with #15 Cody Lane (brother of UCLA scholarship basketball player Brendan). The most impressive thing about this game was the impact that Daniel had on the game. He came in and dominated the game 1st example: he dominated by ABSOLUTELY SHUTTING CODY DOWN. I haven't seen the game film but I don't think Cody scored when Daniel was on him. He frustrated him and completely took him out of the game from both aspects, offense and defense. 2nd example: If he wasn't guarding Cody he (not a doubt in my mind) would've had a triple double w/ scoring, assists, and rebounds. He still had the most assists on the team and he was playing the post position for us! example #3: He made everybody on the team better, case in point, he assisted on at least 3 of Matt's baskets and showed the team the blueprint for how to execute the tempo we want by getting the ball ahead quickly and precisely. His new YBA name is "Danu" because he's Manu Ginobilli's little clone. It wasn't all Danu though, he just set the tone. We played very well in the 2nd half after a close 1st half. We ran them out of the gym and showed that our tempo can be a weapon. Everybody who wanted one got a break away lay-up, especially when we recognized that their press didn't extend past the back court. I know Brandon, Tony, & Matt had at least 2 break away lay-ups, and Matt probably had 5 or 6 at least. We showed great growth in this game from the 1st to 2nd half and that's impressive.

Offensive MVP: Matt Stockman

Defensive MVP: Danu Claydon

Thunder 43 YBA-X 36 

We played well but they were tough inside, and we just couldn't get a basket in the 4th quarter when we needed them most. We absolutely learned some lessons from this loss and I have no doubt that we will take our lessons with our lumps and learn and grow stronger as a team. We played 3 very good quarters against a very well coached and gritty team. They were tough minded as a team and played hard the entire game. We have to learn from them and get gritty and show the consistent effort level that great teams have. Individually, I know that Davion, Adam and Matt all learned and either showed growth in game or will show it moving forward. This was a game that we wanted to win, but it didn't hurt us to lose it either. 

Offensive MVP: TJ "Cap"  Aldrich Shadle for his knifing and one layups.

Defensive MVP: The whole team for shutting down all but one player basically

Coach's Thoughts

I am tremendously proud of us for the growth and heart that we showed this weekend, and although we didn't get a trophy we got something better. Confidence, trust, unity, & the chance to grow from a set back, which is the true measure of success for us. Seven thousand quotes exist about how it's not how many times you fall but how many you give up. There's a reason that there are so many...