Don't judge this team by
its wins and losses
BY ED WRIGHT
March 28, 2010, 11:55
a.m.
Barely three minutes into one of my Community Education Basketball
League team's games this past winter, I called a quick time-out -- the
second of the three I was allotted for the entire 40-minute game -- a split
second before my trapped-in-the-corner point guard could get tied up by
two opposing defenders.
At which point one of my most astute players, Noah, tapped me on
the shoulder and offered the following advice:
"Coach," he said, half smiling, half serious, "You may want to
save your last time-out for the second
quarter."
That was just one of the unforgettable moments that
unfolded
during the C League Sixers' season that was nearly void of victories,
but jam-packed with smiles.
If Vince Lombardi was sitting next to me right now, he'd
probably hit me over the head with his clipboard, but he couldn't
sway me on this point: Winning isn't
everything and it's not the only
thing, at least not in a third- and fourth-grade basketball league.
If you judged the Sixers on their hustle, heart and
never-say-quit mentality, they would have walked out of the Discovery
Middle School gym after our final game carrying the largest solid-gold
trophies known to man.
We opened the season like world-beaters, winning 20-19, but not
until a last-second Warriors' lay-up sat on the rim for a couple
seconds before the ball decided to fall our way.
As noted scholar Rasheed Wallace put it, the ball don't lie, but
as it sat on the rim that sunny Saturday afternoon, it was way too
close to revealing a truth I didn't want to hear.
As I walked off the court with my players, jubilant smiles
creasing our faces, Rex, my tallest and most athletic player, looked up
to me and said, "Coach, we've already won as many games as my team did
all of last year. This is going to be a fun year."
I nodded approvingly and we both smiled, uplifted by our 1-0
record and first-place standing -- having no clue that this would be
our final post-game victory walk.
But this column isn't about being the best 8- and 9-year-old
basketball team around, otherwise I'd be writing about the Clippers, a
group of highly-skilled youngsters who thrashed us 50-something to 10.
Let's just say I had a hunch the game against the Clippers
wasn't going to go our way when seconds after the opening tip their
point guard dribbled between his legs six or seven times then zipped a
no-look pass to his wide-open teammate underneath the basket.
My jaw dropped to the floor.
And even Noah was left speechless.
Things got so out of hand against the Clippers that during one
late-game timeout, I told my team to avoid looking at the scoreboard,
kind of like a parent warning their kids to not look directly at the
sun for fear of life-altering trauma.
Part of our team's struggles was due to the fact that I decided
to go "Bobby Knight" on them. No, I didn't throw chairs or tantrums,
but since zone defenses rank right up there with asparagus and spinach
in my book, I insisted on playing straight man-to-man defense all
season.
As a result, we gave up a lot of lay-ups when our opponents'
best players simply overmatched us, but the way the boys were moving
their feet and working their tails off to stay between their man and
the basket toward the end of the season made it all worthwhile.
The coolest, most admirable trait all nine Sixers shared was
this: Even though we lost six straight games -- sometimes by wide
margins, sometimes by a hair -- they came to practice the following
week ready to go, ready to get after it.
They put their heart into every dribbling drill as if a stint
with the Harlem Globetrotters was at stake.
And you would have thought the winner of our weekly "Lightning"
games was going to take home a 60-inch high-def TV -- not the actual
prize: a pack of Starburst.
Everybody on the team played like winners, we just didn't win.
But then came our final game of the season against the Heat,
who, like us, was not a regular visitor to the win column.
In one of the most thrilling contests in the history of the CEBL
(I may be exaggerating here just a little), we exploded to a 12-4
second-segment lead before the Heat countered with a 12-0 run to grab a
16-12 half-time advantage.
Undeterred, we scored the next nine points to take a 21-16 lead
with eight minutes to play.
Our long-sought-after second victory was so close, we could
taste it.
It was like sitting in the drive-thru at Burger King after not
eating all day and smelling that Whopper with cheese that was waiting
just two car-lengths away.
Everything was clicking. Rex and Chase were grabbing every
rebound.
Ben, Bryce and Roshon were knocking down their jumpers.
Cameron was running into walls chasing down loose balls.
Matt and Roenick were playing Ben Wallace-caliber defense -- and
Noah yanked down possibly the biggest rebound of the season when the
game was tied in the final two minutes.
Trailing 30-29, with 11 seconds left, we corralled a rebound and
headed up court. This would have been a perfect time to call a time-out
and set up a game-winning play, but guess who used all three of his
time-outs in the first half?
Noah was thinking the same thing and shot an "I-told-you-so"
look in my direction.
To make a short story even shorter, the Heat's defense buckled
down, we weren't able to get off a final shot and lost 30-29.
The boys took it hard, as you would expect from true competitors.
But as they walked off the court for the final time with a 1-7
record, I couldn't help but think to myself, "There goes a group of
winners."
And I have no doubt if Vince Lombardi would have been in the
Discovery Middle School gym that day, he'd have thought the same thing.
Ed Wright
can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.
ED WRIGHT COLUMN
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