4th grade Xtreme had yet ANOTHER great week of training, practice and games. The boys worked really hard in training and had a high level of focus in practice. We worked on refining our offense and defense this past week, and I think it really shined this weekend. I will keep adding wrinkles to the mix as the weeks progress.
We played our first tournament game this Saturday against a familiar EDH 5th grade team. We got off to a slow start, but finished strong. We really let the size of EDH affect us in the first half. Their size along with our inability to just get a couple shots to drop, kept the game close.
In the second half our team began to click. We started to run the offense and hit our cutters. Spencer, Josh and Chase really got us into our offense and created some opportunities off the cuts. Nathan and Julian helped out in the post and hit some big shots down the stretch. In the end, we turned up the heat and were able to pull ahead for the win. Great job guys!
On Sunday we had 2 games. The first game our comp team played the 3rd grade tournament team. Noah, Zeki and Garrett played all the minutes they could handle. Garrett hit some huge jump shots out there. He was on fire! Noah seemed to get every rebound in his area. Zeki played with the same fire we have come to expect. He was able to run the offense and get to the basket. This game allowed us to play some of our players out of position. Vince, Ryan and Sava all played on the perimeter, and they loved every minute of it. As this team progresses, expect to see more of that. I’m going to start to play some of these players out of their comfort zones. I don’t expect them to be perfect when I put them in new positions as we are all a work in progress.
As a side note to this game, I want to take a minute to speak about our 3rd grade tournament team. These kids did not quit. They could have easily packed it in and given up, but they weren’t having any of it. It’s a testament to each of those players and Coach Lance that they kept playing until the final buzzer. They deserve a lot of credit for their effort and hard work, and I’m proud of what they have accomplished.
Our final game Sunday was against our BIG brothers, the 5th grade comp team. We played well for most of the game. I asked Coach Tom to have his team press us as much as they could. This was the first real game time pressure we have had to deal with. I felt that the boys handled the pressure fairly well. We will work on it a lot in practice this week. We made some errors, but for the most part did a great job. This game was a great learning experience for all of us on and off the court. We learned a lot about body language on the bench. The boys learned that they still need to conduct themselves with a high level of sportsmanship on the court and on the bench. When on the bench, we can’t hold our heads down, complain or negatively react to your teammates, opponents or referees. These are difficult but necessary lessons to learn. We were able to pull together as a team in the 4th quarter and once again, pull out another victory. I don’t think I have ever coached a team that finishes as strong and determined as this team does. There is no “quit” in this team’s vocabulary. I have never been so proud of this team. They managed to turn what could have been a negative experience into a positive growth situation, and we are a stronger team for it today.
This was a long and hard week on the kids, and they ALL have responded well to it. Now that I have a good feeling for the boys’ personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, I will be challenging them constantly. Each player will be addressed differently whether it is playing out of their desired position, learning a new skill, mental approach, body language, etc. I have already seen some huge changes in each of the boys this session. We have a strong group of kids who really want to reach that next level of play, and it is my responsibility to get them there. Please take a moment as parents to really fill their emotional tanks. All of our boys deserve a pat on the back for a job well done this week.
I just know that this coming week will be another good one. We have more high-intensity training on Monday and another great practice lined up for Wednesday. I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know that we have been given an official assistant coach; Jayson Price of the YBA family, will be a great addition to our coaching squad. Jayson is a great guy and very eager to learn and help the kids improve. We are very lucky to have him. Please take a moment to welcome him to our team on Wednesday.
Thanks,
Coach Mack
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