This post may not make sense to everyone but I'll give it a shot. In sports, a competitor who can do a skill quickly without losing control is at an advantage. Skill takes practice and with competence comes quickness. Think of using a phone. I watch kids on their devices and I am astonished at how quickly they can text and scroll, and who knows what else. It's almost like they've been doing it all their lives which, of course, they have. I've never quite adapted to the slower pace of coaching middle scho0l kids after being a high school coach for many years. You simplify everything which limits what I teach. For example, in high school, we used to have maybe ten offensive sets and a number of defensive schemes including traps/presses/zones/man/etc. Now, we play one defense and have one offense versus man to man and one versus zones.
That brings us to inbounding het ball, either at the defensive end of the court, on the sideline, or underneath our basket. Due to the inordinate number of jump balls and fouls at this level, inbounds plays at our end give us numerous opportunities to score, especially since most junior high teams defend them poorly. In high school, we had a dozen but my teams now really only run two of these plays, But, we score a higher percentage of our points in these situations than we do in typical clock running action. That brings me to Kristen. I would guess she played 98-99% of the minutes this COVID year as we only had six players. Kristen is the only girl who took the ball in for us, no matter the position on the floor. I trust her implicitly in the most important role in these dead ball scenarios. You see, I call out to Kristen what we will run and she tells the other girls so they can get to their designated spots. But there is a catch. We don't break on a ball slap- we go when the referee hands the ball to our passer, in this case, Kristen. If she gets to her place too quickly, the official will set the play in motion when the other four aren't ready and the five second countdown begins. Kristen was the best of any player I've ever coached on any level at taking her time getting to her spot. Not one referee told her to hurry up or set the ball on the floor if they were not satisfied with the urgency she was demonstrating. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you but a too enthusiastic passer causes chaos at this level. Kristen kept us grounded with her casual gait to the baseline.
Life is a series of vignettes where we rush from one place to another. We put too little time into something at our own detriment. Last week, I had an 8th grade boy turn in a major assignment which he admittedly completed in thirty seconds. When I pulled him aside, I made the point that a number of the 8th grade girls had spent at least two hours on the same project. I gave him the option of taking a zero or redoing it. To his credit, he chose Plan B. (And he is one of my favorite kids!) There are scriptural examples of not rushing into action. Why didn't Jesus leave immediately to go to Bethany when He heard His dear friend was gravely ill? He knew that God would be glorified if He was deliberate in His movement.... which is exactly what happened. Lazarus was raised after being dead for four days and the Savior performed perhaps His greatest miracle! Sometimes, delay is the best alternative for the greater purpose. Sometimes, it's the only feasible alternative. For a 7th grader, Kristen has a pretty good grasp on that reality. At times, basketball mirrors life.
Applicable quote of the day:
"There is more to life than increasing its speed."
Gandhi
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org
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