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Category: Basketball (Page 2 of 3)

BCH U16-2 vs SpVgg Höhenkirchen 1 (2nd game)

April 22, 2018 / / 0 Comments

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“If you’re never satisfied with what you have achieved, you’re never going to be satisfied with what you do achieve.” /Chris LoCurto

 

We first met this team on off-site game earlier this season and went down 60 to 34. (Read here…) That was a game to learn a lot from and keep many things in mind for the next ones. Höhenkirchen is a respectable team in this youth league sitting at the middle (place 5) out of 10 teams. We are still sitting at place 9 and not breaking the set  goals. Developing, but not winning. This was the 2nd last game we would have this season and winning it would’ve meant some confidence boost going into off-season. Didn’t happen – we lost again 65 to 74. Now we’re off to last game of the season against München Baskets which we have to win with at least +24 to be able to finish the season in Place 8 instead of 9. This will be a task of U16-1 Coach Sidney as I won’t be able to Coach this last game myself. Now to re-cap the last game.

First Quarter

To be honest first quarter was like the whole game and the whole game was like the first quarter. We started out by getting minus 7 (11 to 4) in first four minutes and never recovered those 7 points at the end losing by 9 points (letting opponents score the last 2 points in last second…). At this point #5 was showing his willingness to score while the team was focused on keeping #10 in check which was a problem last game also. Funny thing is that we focused on #10 a little bit too much which allowed others to score as a result. First quarter ended 20 to 14 for Höhenkirchen. A score with which you can work with.

Second Quarter

As said the second quarter went on at the same manner. Teams exchanged points, our defense and focus was at the best in this quarter. After this quarter I was pretty positive that if we pushed full-court defense for the last two quarters we could take the game. Players looked good and we still had managable score after half time 40 to 32 (second quarter went down with 20 to 20). After some talking and tactics for rest of the game in lockers we went out again.

Third Quarter

Unfortunately for us the opponents came out more focused than we did and pushed. Both of their main players #5 and #10 were doing a great offensive and making our defense suffer while penetrating it due to lack of focus. Our offensive were stagnating a little bit, which wouldn’t have been a big of a problem if defense was running. Though, mental block came again and we couldn’t run defense as good as before and instead of crawling out of -6 pit we dug it deeper to achieve -12. 60 to 48 after third.

Fourth Quarter

The only quarter we managed to win with 17 to 14, but which didn’t bring us the glory. Little mistakes came together and made a big impact. Opponents had small, but good roster and we didn’t deliver. It all came together and we went down at the end  with 65 to 74. It was a bit painful, because we could’ve, but didn’t. So there’s that. Thanks for the game!

Summary

Long season. We have worked on ourselves and we bacame much better than we started. Still not enough. The only reason I am awaiting the off-season is because it will allow me to look back at everything, understand what we did wrong and what exactly needs to be done. One more game is ahead of us and we have a plan to win it to land 8th place instead of 9th. It will be a tough job though. Still, games like these make you realize that only place to look for answer is in the mirror. Oneself is the problem and oneself is also the answer. Opponents are good, so the only way to win is to develop yourself. Keep training, keep learning, keep going. This wasn’t a one year plan, this is a damn beggining of one hundred year reign. Await us, we are coming.

 

Coach Valts

BCH U16-2 vs TSV Haar 2

January 31, 2018 / / 1 Comment

 

“Ain’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back – everything is different.” /C. S. Lewis

Last Sunday (28.01.) we met TSV Haar 2 in Hellenendome for a rematch. At first time we met, on off-site game at Haar, we lost with 42 to 34. It was another painful loss back then, because I knew we could have taken it. Now it was time for rematch and show what we had learned in past months. I knew that opponents didn’t sleep and Haar is a very respectable team. This is their second U16 team as first one plays in Bezirksoberliga (2nd Place with 2 points behind 1st – Jahn München). For their second team they have Kreisliga where they are currently at Place 7, two places over us. There was no doubt that if we wanted to win – we had to give our best. Focus from minute one, control the ball in defense, make their best players tired and make our baskets in offense. If we were able to do it – then we had a chance to defend Hellenendome and take another important win in Round 2. Important for our mental strength and confidence for upcoming game at Ottobrunn next weekend.

First Quarter

In first quarter our guests started stronger and made our defense suffer. We managed to score first two points of the game and Haar answered with swift 3-pointer right after. After another made basket and two missed free-throws our offense struggled and Haar managed to penetrate our defense and create good scoring abilities. Our team seemed to be asleep for first quarter and we went down with 8 to 15, Haar leading after first.

Second Quarter

On second quarter team woke up, Hellboys came in dealing a blow. Defense was in control which allowed offense to thrive! We had a good run with good scoring possibilities and team made 25 points this quarter. Haar made only 9 points on second quarter and all were made by #44. So we had managed to neutralize other guys and our concern after the halftime would be this particular player. With this successful quarter we could come back and over the top with 25 to 9 for us we went in halftime break with 9 point lead, 33 to 24.

Third Quarter

Haar had something saved and after halftime break started strong by drawing two fouls from us in first two minutes and scoring 4 points (for our luck missed 2 freethrows). Middle of the quarter went better for us where due to good defense we had some extra ball control in offense and managed to penetrate opponent’s defense. Last two minutes went better for them as we failed to perform in offense and quarter ended with a draw 8 to 8, 41 to 32 we went in fourth.

Fourth Quarter

After some stronger words from my side guys went in. Message delivered and we started strong by scoring 7 points without an answer. Best Haar could do was to draw 2 fouls and get 2 points out of them. With 5 minutes in fourth quarter we were up with 11 to 4. Hellboys made opponent Coach to take a time-out. This did good for players of Haar and they picked up pace to try and even the game. Our main headache stayed the number 44, but before the minute 39 his fuel ran out. From that point onward game turned for us and we could score some more baskets from freethrows and finish fourth quarter with 21 to 16. Hellboys hold their ground in Hellenendome and celabrated victory against strong opponents with 62 to 48.

Summary

In this game I saw how far guys have come since first meeting TSV Haar 2 last year. They had developed their basic skills and grown mentally. Confidence was better, they trusted each other and themselves to take and make shots. To make DECISIONS. Very important aspect that has appeared in this teams repertoire. The more decisions they make, the more they will learn – either by succeeding or failing. This team has taken a good direction and we have another hard off-site game this weekend against TSV Ottobrunn (currently Place 6, three places above us). Another tough opponent. Team looks good and despite winning Ottobrunn on Round 1 with 75 to 50 at Hellendome this upcoming game won’t be easy and will take all our focus from first whistle to the very last one.

One Team, Hellenen Go!

Coach Valts

BCH U16-2 vs TSV Grünwald

January 23, 2018 / / 0 Comments

 

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” /Marcus Aurelius

 

And to play basketball. This is a thought that rarely comes into one’s head. What a privilege it is to wake up in the morning and be alive and well. Be able to train and play this magnificent sport – basketball. Truly a gift from gods. So is Coaching.

So I woke up at last Saturday’s morning after one hour of healthy sleep (was working night shift). A little bit exhausted.  Originally Sunny wanted to deal with this game today as she coached the guys on my absence last time we met TSV Grünwald. She wanted to do better as first time. Unfortunately, she had her hands full so it was all on me. Instead of chilling on the bench and being mere observer – today was full get in and get banging day for me. As Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says: Bring it on.

Very important game for the young ones. After struggling with the Round 1 where we got only two wins and landed on place 9 out of 10 Teams – we started Round 2 today by meeting the 10th place on our first game. I knew that this was the game that would set the mood for the whole Round 2 and win won’t come easy.

I knew the Coach of the Grünwald, we made our D-License together last Summer, August of 2017. A good Coach who knew his game and had a Team that was very able to give us hard time. I still trusted what Sunny had told me from the first time our young ones met them and I also trusted in my preparations with the Team on pratice floor. Our condition had gotten better so was our offense. I trusted my guys to do good ball control in defense and to be able to score in offense.

Game time.

 

First Quarter

Prior to game I noticed that Grünwald had some height advantage. One of the guys could almost freakin’ dunk! That player had to be controlled and handled extra. Also I had a flair that on of their Playmaker’s could be a problem – if he managed to set-up game and play on big guy, we had a problem. Also he seemed very good on his feet, fast. He had to be exhausted.

My game plan from minute one was to take Playmaker on full court defense to exhaust him and pressure the other team to change Playmakers more frequently. Second point was to actively change defense on the Big guy. If he was to get the ball on post or near it, he had to be doubled by small guy on outside and helpside had to be ready on the weakside if he decided to drive basline/middle.

First five minutes our defense was in good control and opponents didn’t score. After that they got some freethrows and we continued our defense strong till minute nine. Then number 12 blasted three-pointer and it shook my guys. Important loss of focus abled opponents to score two more easy baskets in minute ten and we finished First quarter with -1, 8 to 7 for Grünwald.

Second Quarter

Second quarter started better for opponents who made couple more baskets as we did. I didn’t sweat it as I still had two timeouts for this half-time. Around minute 14 our defensive work brought some fruits and we broke it even 14 to 14. Opponent Coach wasn’t happy about loss of lead and took time out to slow us down. After that we continued our effort in defense – it payed out in couple more baskets. I felt that our position was good and used my timeouts in minutes 18 and 20 to try out some strategic plays in offense. It was important to develop understanding of Coaching board and comprehending play small amount of time. It worked well and we scored another basket at the end. By winning this quarter with 13 to 9 we managed to go in half-time with 3 point lead, 20 to 17 for Hellboys.

Third Quarter

Half-time discussion went well for both teams and start of third quarter was equal, couple points and not so big action. We opened more at the end of minute 24 what made opposing team’s Coach to take another timeout. It worked more for us than them and we scored six good baskets and came in lead with 30 to 19. After that game got more action and both teams had scoring opportunities, though we made their opportunieties in free-throws and spared two more points. Third went down 14 to 8 for us, 34 to 25 into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

We sticked to our strategy in fourth quarter also and made their offense hard by making our defense dense. It worked, but we missed some scoring opportunities in offense and didn’t make some freethrows. Overall fourth quarter was average in scoring as we broke even with 7 to 7. We won the game with 41 to 32 and got a win after a very long time.

Summary

As I awaited, Grünwald put up a good fight. Thanks to our efforts and ball control in Defense we were able to defeat them for the second time. What I liked the most was that team had gained increased Team Spirit which was now more present than in previous games in Round 1. It made them play better in offense and work as one in defense which will be crucial in upcoming games. Change has started and now I have to water it and let it grow. I am very positive that if we keep up the good work as in this game – we will play some good basketball also in upcoming games and hopefully get some more wins! Main factor – keep training hard, keep growing.

Coach Valts

 

 

“The Art of Persistance” or preparation for Round 2

December 23, 2017 / / 0 Comments

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There are times when you do your best and yet end up losing anyway. This can become a very frustrating experience if faced for a longer period of time. If I did not know better – I would have given up long time ago, but that much I have learned: if you keep practicing withing your best conscientiousness and keep making good, quality decisions – one will eventually succeed.

Recently I had a conversation with a Head Coach of BC Hellenen first man’s team. He beautifully pointed out that as likely winning and success becomes a habit over time, so does losing and failing. This is just a thought I needed. Powerful insight of a Coach with many years of experience behind him. Advice I can trust. Now, I have been poundering on this thought for over a week now. I really want to do my best on teaching and training my Youth Team, therefore I seek for answers like this one. For ideas, thoughts and methodics. After meditating upon this thought and drawing parallels to my Youth Team, I decided it is time to read my favorite book again. “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Truths and lessons presented in this book have helped me in past and I hoped they would also help me now. It did.

“In ancient days warriors made themselves unbeatable by constant practice. Knowing they could never become invincible, their efforts enabled them to see the vulnerability of intended victims. They did not think in terms of beating the enemy by overwhelming him with boastful actions, but rather, they saw the reality of extending their skills through the enemy, which they acknowledged was the same thing as physical combat. They were also aware of their own limitations.

They constantly practiced, knowing there was no other way they could make the enemy vulnerable. The enemy had to do that himself. Because a warlord knew how to win does not mean that he did – but he did know that the enemy had the same attitudes and would be seeking the same results. Regardless, he continued to practice until he became the very object he was seeking and, in so doing, learned that if invincibility exists at all it lies in the attitude of attack – offensive or defensive.”

Sun Tzu “The Art of War”, Book Four “How to think of War”

After I showed these lines to my good friend Sid, he just went: ” The kids should be reciting this next practice.” Agreed, these words are a key to powerful mindset. Proper mental strength –  mentality of ancient warriors.

Nowadays we tend to forget about these physical things, it is all about mind now (or either one of them), but you see – it all goes hand in hand. Balance. I have always thought that kids should be prepared in more than one art of sports. Why? It creates diversity in their minds and abilites. One understands things from other perspectives and can combine this knowledge to better him/her-self. For example, I learned a lot more about myself of doing MMA fighting and boxing in a year, than I ever did in ten years of basketball. Then I used this knowledge and new learned abilities in basketball environment and my game became much better than before. (And vice versa, skills learned in basketball also helped me in fighting sports, for example, in boxing with peripheral vision.) Fighting sports bring with them strong mentality and hard working culture. Very important factors. This is also what I teach to my Youth Team – hard work, mental strength and never giving up. Even if you lose – you keep going, there is no other option. Wisdom of ancients.

Let us return to previous thought – losing becomes a habit. Bad layup becomes a habit. Bad jump shot, bad throw, wrong finger movement. Sometimes you do your best, but your technique is wrong or lacking. Then one must go one step back at a time and find out which part of all it is that needs to be corrected. Only then the bad habit can be broken and new one implemented. You see, you just can’t get rid of a bad habit without putting something in it’s place! If you break it, then a new one must takes it’s place. Then get the new habit drilled over and over and over and over and over again. Though, as we all know – habits are not easily broken. It requires much more work and dedication to break a habit and implement a new one than just starting out and learning the right one to begin with.

So for me it is clear now – we have a bad habit of losing. That is a problem and every problem has a solution. This one has a quite simple one – break the bad habit and implement a new, better one instead. Habit of winning and success. It will take some time and struggle, some dedication and will to break oneself. There is only one thing I am afraid about – that not everyone will be able to do it. That is life. Also an understanding of ancients.

Preparation. We had a good one, but it needs to be changed to even better one. It has to be better than enemies (opponents). Enemy has the same attitudes and are seeking the same results as we are. The only way we can overcome our opponents is to train better than them and understand the game in ways they cannot. This is how we gain advantage. Constant, hard practice. One cannot train soft and fight hard, one cannot be inconsistent and await victory over consistent enemies. Consistency must be number one rule, without it – we fail and fall into the pit of failure and losses. With it we rise up to fight our enemies in the same level or above and deliver our best abilities. This is the truth that Aristotle expressed long time ago:

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

This far it is clear – practice constantly (and qualitative) and break the bad habits. What else do we need? Confidence. Very, very important. As John Maxwell put it:

“It’s not difficulties that defeat us, it’s lack of confidence.”

This sentence beautifully correlates with thought expressed by Henry Ford:

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

This is another thing that needs to be done more carefully. Get them shot of confidence. Now, as far as I understand it – this is more a thing of leadership, that is – me as a Coach. First of all, I myself must be confident that our training regimen (constant practices) are preparing us properly against upcoming enemies and battles. I must be confident in my strategies and knowing the enemy. And that I am, and that I will. If a Leader has confidence in himself then his troops (Team) will have confidence in themselves. This is the way of Heaven. Universal Law.

This is what is coming up. Many things has been done, many thoughts has been clarified, ideas understood,  strategies made. Still some of the stuff needs a little polish up on top before Round 2, but I am pretty happy how things are going. We ended Round 1 positively on practice floor, now let’s keep it going in Round 2 and get back on track.

One Team, Hellenen Go

 

Coach Valts

BCH U16-2 against TSV OH Deisenhofen

December 13, 2017 / / 0 Comments

 

“If you can’t solve a problem, then there is an easier problem that you can solve: find it.”  /George Polya

At this point I call this being a little bit stuck. There are things you just can’t riddle and sometimes all there is left is to simplify the whole operation. I refuse to believe that there is yet another team that is purely better than us. I believe, no – I know that this team is capeable to play in this league and compete, there is just something off. There is something that needs solving and it seems that those are some very basic things.

Last week we met Deisenhofen at our home. Our defense at Hellenendome went down after four quarters when we capitulated to guests 28 to 67.

First Quarter

Guests had pretty tall roster. It will be very hard to use little guys because that would put us in disadvantage in Defense. Still, they had to be played and my big guys on field had to take the responibility in Defense to help at penetration from outside by playing helpside and boxing out properly.

We started out and we hold up pretty good till minute 5 losing just by 4 points. Then mistakes started to happen. Time-out Hellenen. Unfortunately, that did more bad than good and opponents loaded 6 points till minute 7. After that – our defense went to ground and they went on rampage. Dive after dive and finding that hole in Defense – they kept putting ball in. We struggled in our Offense as against taller guys it was hard to penetrate and our shots were not finding their way into the basket. Losing 8 points with no answer we were going down at first quarter badly. Also mindset started to wander and took focus with it. I knew I will need another time out at second quarter and opponent Coach was smart enough not to take one as his Team was crushing us down. At minute 9 some guys managed to go through and get fouled on shot attempt and made freethrows, but that didn’t save us from going down in first with 10 to 26. Minus 16 – hard to deal with.

Second Quarter

They came crashing down and made fast 10 points leaving us at 10 to 36. Enough to demotivate any team. Time-out Hellenen on minute 13. Come on boys, let’s do some Defense at least. Fast forward, opponents scored only 14 points this quarter and we managed to keep them down 20 for the rest of two also. Offense – 3 points for us. We had nothing to answer with. We went in half-time break with 13 to 40.

Third Quarter

This was the same as second point wise. Our Offense tried to penetrate opponents, take them from afar with shots, but ball always find it’s way out of the rim… or around it. Sometimes there are just these days… To be honest – Defense was okay. Against taller team we managed to close middle to penetration and control the sides. Opponents scored mostly due to our inability to properly and timely box out and take defensive rebounds. This must be fixed for next game. Third went down by scoring 5 and letting in 15. 18 to 55 after third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Well, I think anyone understood what’s the outcome of this ramble at Hellenendome this time. Still we had to learn from this game and keep going in order to do so. We ended fourth by scoring 10 and letting in just 12 points. Still very dissapointing loss again as I know we can do much, much better. Hellenen went down with 28 to 67. Thanks Deisenhofen for the game and lessons.

After brainstorming through this game and taking in some Feedback I drew some conclusions. It was now clear visible that there must be some important changes. I have been too soft on this. It’s time to simplify and teach some important lessons. You can have a one bad day, but if it happens multiple times – it’s time to find the problem and get rid of it. Observation seems right – it’s in the head, I think I am just wrong about the depth of it… it’s much simpler as I have imagined.

There is Christmas break coming. It’s time to go through everything and develop some new foundations for the round two. Await us. We’re coming for Round 2.

Coach Valts

BCH U16-1 game against DJK SB München

November 19, 2017 / / 0 Comments

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” /Phil Jackson

 

This weekend I also got a chance to coach our U16-1 team while their Head Coach Sidney was absent. I have been following them from start of the season and was already familiar with some of the player from last season. Also co-Coach Sunny was there to help me as she has been with this roster from beginning of the season and knows the guys well. I never reject a good counsel.

The struggles of team were known to me (they were 0-5, almost all games lost in last seconds with minimal difference) and Head Coach gave me clear goals for the game. Develop the team spirit and encourage to play good, hard basketball. I knew what was going on and what had to be done – I had similar struggles in my team.

Before the game I prepared the Team for hard game by reminding them of good defense, a lot of running and hustling for every rebound and loose ball. Looked good. Off to game.

First Quarter

It is always hard to coach another team. Even if you’ve followed them and know some players it still is another coaches team. They have been put together in special way, they have developed a specific mentality and team spirit. Beginning was something that happens in a lot of teams – guys slept in. That’s something that happens with young guys – they can’t put themselves in focus from first second of the game. Offense was going okayish, I’d write it off due to being guests on another gym – always harder to score. Defense however had to be good, no excuses, but too many light baskets were let in due to bad focus and not properly closing out on distance shooters. Also rebounding was struggling as guys “forgot” to box-out opponents. First quarter ended 27 to 11, Hellenen behind.

Second Quarter

After a short talk with the guys, they seemed to have woken up and starting to take control of the defensive situation. No more useless tries to steal the ball from dribble – defense switched to just controlling the man with the ball and directing it to sidelines and baseline. This approach confused opponents and let us keep our defense in check – getting some balls and making some points. Second quarter went to defensive end and Hellenen ended up with 14 to 8 win in this quarter. Great result driving down from 27 to 8! It allowed us to go into Half-time break with just -10, 35 to 25.

Third Quarter

Half-time break allowed opponents to figure out the confusion and make their home atmosphere work for them. Still, ball control in defense was working very good and baskets were lost now only due to new pick and roll strategy from opposing team. Their best players exploited our confusion now and got some quick baskets doing just that. In the end of quarter guys managed to take it under control, but oh boy – offense started to struggle. This quarter also went down for us losing it with 18 to 15. Only -3 thanks to good job in defense. -13, 53 to 40 off to fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Quarter started good – defense was still controlling ball really good, guys were communicating and switching better, that made it hard for opponents to make easy baskets and they had to struggle for every point in the start of fourth quarter. We needed points. This fact turned something in young ones heads and players started to get out of control in offensive. Too individual, rushed shots, losing nerves. This brought doom over the offensive game and while defense was still going good – lack of intelligent and rushed offense opened borders for some easy baskets for opponents. They gladly took the opportunity to keep the lead. Fourth quarter also lost with -1, 16 to 15 and game went down -14 for Hellenen, 69 to 55.

———————-

Overall good team with good fighting spirit and strong, focused defense. Faults lie as for many others in ability to be focused from second one. It leaves team in disadvantage and it’s harder to find the pace afterwards. Once this problem is solved – wins will start happening instantly! Also it would also help fix mentality of some players that lost their cool in last quarter thinking that they can fix the game 1 versus 5. It doesn’t work that way. It takes individuals to make up the team and it takes the team to put the ball inside basket and defend your zone from opponents on the other end. Everyone must keep himself in check and sacrifice his ego for the team. In return team will grow stronger and will be able to accent everyone individually for their skills. Doesn’t matter  if as scorer, play maker, rebounder, defense hustler or fast break runner. You give yourself for the team and team will give back. Keep the spirit strong. Keep hustling. Wins are just around the corner.

Coach Valts

BCH U16-2 game against Altenerding

November 19, 2017 / / 0 Comments

 

“The fear of finding oneself alone – that is what they suffer from – and so they don’t find themselves at all.” /Andre Gide

Lost 51-57. We did win 2 out of 4 quarters which is a positive change comparing to previous games. Slowly, but steady we’re getting to know each other and work together as a team. Some of the guys still has individual troubles – it seems they don’t trust themselves. Still fighting with their inner-self over the confidence. Game of basketball (as many other sports) directly reflects this – if you’re not sure, if you don’t trust yourself then you suck out at the game. The more you suck out, the more depressed about it you become. Now, there are some guys who picked up the fierceness of combat and ability to lead, to trust teammates. They’re slowly changing the micro-climate within the team. My hope is that this change will influence everybody and till we hit middle of the season (approaching fast) we will have a mentally strong team who trust their learned skills in practices and will be able to hit back on teams we lost to in next round.

Next round is what I am going for.

First Quarter

Again inability to focus on the game from the start. Crucial mistakes were made and points which could’ve been spared. This also applies to confidence and mindset. Mental stability and capability to start strong from second one. We lost first quarter 17 to 8. A minus 11, but we could work around it if we picked up focus and managed to stop their number 9 (top-scorer in the league, avg 36pts) from diving and getting easy baskets. Also number 7 was fast and causing us trouble with his rebounding abilities. In first quarter team slept in defense way too much.

Second Quarter

Now, this quarter was better. Numbers 9 and 7 were dominating for opponents, but we managed to hold them in check and they got confused. We managed to use it in our advantage and make points. Defense picked up and closed middle for number 9 to dive. Some easy baskets missed in offense, which could’ve helped us to break the game, but can’t wish for everything in one go. We won this quarter with 16 to 9 and went in half-time break with just -2, 24-26. This was something we could keep working with!

Third Quarter

Mistakes started to happen again. Stupid mistakes. It was like someone turned the brains off for the guys. Not boxing out and letting opponents to stay in our zone for rebounds, lame passes which caused turnovers for easy baskets and lost points, lost focus in defense and offense. Again – easy layups missed. Small, unnecessary mistakes leading to loss in this quarter 16 to 11. Might seem just 5 points, but we had some luck on our side. Minus 7 after third, 35-42.

Fourth Quarter

Little things matter. Despite picking the game up, many fouls were made and our luck was opponents didn’t made free-throws. Number 9 dominated for opponents and inability to stop him cost us the game. We won this quarter with 16 to 15, but lost the game 51 to 57. Minus 6. This could’ve been a win. Just a little more focus and decision making. Use of mind. We will go for next one! Win is near!

———————–

I must admit that it’s harder than I thought to get guys trust themselves and achieve focus. Our society wants everybody to be successful and doing something, achieving this and that. Our society also goes away from themselves as never before. We have so many distractions in our lives that we forget who makes the change – every individual together in a team. We got distractions on every corner to keep us busy, but we don’t find time to work with ourselves. To develop our natural abilities – seeds are given us in birth, put inside us, we just need to stop and find the time to grow them.What I see are kids who learn many things in their young lives and get educated , which is good, but I also see that they’re confused as they spend 8 hours learning literature and mathematics, but spend none in learning how to work with themselves. To be alone, meditate, get to know inner self and find confidence in what they’re doing. Working and sorting their minds. Focus is lost due to need to be doing something all the time. This reflects on the field. This is troubling for me as a Coach and a Human being. I will do my best to teach them the skill of focusing and being in the present moment. As should everyone else. Kids must not be afraid in finding themselves alone, focused, not stressing, otherwise they won’t find themselves at all and become just as everybody else. Everybody will be everybody, but nobody will be himself…

Coach Valts

 

 

 

 

 

BCH U16-2 game against Höhenkirchen 1

November 13, 2017 / / 1 Comment

 

“To run fast and shoot fast doesn’t matter anything. Mind over everything.”

/Pēteris Višņēvics (Basketball Coach)

Another game down, another loss, another lesson learned. We went down with 60 to 34. Opponents had a strong roster and advantage of the home court. One big guy my size (for that age – quite impressive!) and a really good diver with some crazy arc shot from mid-distance.

Goals for this game were:

  • Keep the big guy in check to our best efforts as we had no one to match him in size.  He had been playing also last year in this age group and had skill advantage. The secondary goal was to get him fouled out of the game.
  • Keep the Diver in the check with full-court press the whole game. He’s top-scorer for opponents and his best one was 37 points per game, in another going 26. Tough job for the guys.
  • Get better in offense. I can say that defensively this team has been doing okay, but offense was struggling. Goal was to take more shots in mid-range and free, non-contested shots from three-point line.
  • Break the mental block in team to make them work more together and play harder, better basketball.

First Quarter

Team went in knowing that very tough job awaits. I had been telling them that two of opponents are very hard to deal with and if we take care of them – we have a chance for a good game. Full-court press on the Diver and practice not letting the big guy to post-up in the Zone. Also, if he manages to get the ball – we double him. Now, the quarter was struggle as always, at start guys slept in defense, offense not quite running, missing baskets on fast breaks. Team did a little bit worse than okayish and we ended up with 19 to 8, 11 points down. Nothing big, I awaited to get kicked in the knee at first quarter because of their experienced big guy and the Diver. Still, bench presence was good, motivation okay and guys fought well.

Second Quarter

Now this quarter went to shit. 13 to 4 loss for us in this quarter. (Luckily for us – opponents also missed shots and some Freethrows) Offense was struggling a lot, shots didn’t go in – which wouldn’t be a problem if guys wouldn’t get mental block again. They made bad decisions, bad passes – no one wanted to take responsibility and initiative. DUe to that – those who did, didn’t get any help from others. Bench went silent, defense started to make mistakes, attention went down. Guys started to think there’s nothing to do. First-half ended with 32 to 12. The score won’t be so disappointing if there was a fight and we Team would just miss buckets, but the fight wasn’t there. Mental block.

Half-Time Break

There was only one thing to do – take the team to lockers and give them reality check. Ask some questions and make them answer for themselves. What are we doing here? Do we drive all this distance just to mess up again? Do we want to play like kids or like young men? Fight like individuals who can’t take responsibility for their actions or take it, make it matter and work together as a team? Trust each other and help each other in defense – because that is what men do. That is how men play basketball.

Now, this turned some gears in their heads. We went out, warmed up for second-half and went in the game.

Third quarter

The team I wanted to see. Young men, not kids anymore. It took the realization that it’s up to them to choose – fight or not. Guys started to fight as a Team. Took individual responsibility, made better decisions, fought in defense alone and together. Helping, talking! Communicating! Now this is was some good basketball. Because of the good defense also offense did better – more penetration to basket, more fakes which lead to more fouls from opponents and some Freethrows. Sadly enough distance shots were still missing and without them we couldn’t pull over – lost third quarter with 11 to 8. Minus 3, not 11, not 9. Three. Mental block had been lifted.

Fourth quarter

Now, one thing is to fight knowing that you can win, but I think most of the guys realized that this game for us was as good as dead – we woke up too late. But this was the new team, the team who had realized that fighting now is more important than the score at the end. So they learned and applied this new knowledge. They fought. Worked on given goals. Top-scorer was in check, made some points, but was far from scoring over 30 or even 25 this game. He checked out with 17 points. Now, some of them were over defense and pretty lucky. I consider that  guys did pretty neat job keeping him in check. Talking about the big guy – he checked out with 20 points what doesn’t surprise me as he had big advantage over our physical abilities. Sorry, we checked him out! After 39 minutes we got him fouled out. Too late, yes, I know, but goal accomplished! 2 fouls happened in 3rd quarter and 2 in 4th. If we had the mentality of second half – I am sure he would be out till half-time and we would take the game. This time we ended up with 17 to 14 loss on fourth. Also just minus 3!

End game 60 to 34 due to bad show on first half.

Now, despite the loss – team learned a lot, did improve and at the end accomplished all goals I had set and ordered:

  • Guys did hard job the whole game to keep the big guy on check! No issues there, very good job. And he got fouled out also! Doesn’t matter that it was 39th minute. Goal accomplished.
  • Second tough job – done. Had to change guys frequently and this job checked their stamina. Whole time when he was on field – full-court press and deny. There were some holes now and then, but barely noticeable and most of them due to the reason that defender had to help a teammate on stopping another opponent player form diving. Goal accomplished.
  • All right, first-half wasn’t better, but second was! More jump shots taken, more three-point shots taken which resulted in more offensive rebounds and more points. Comparing to previous games – great achievement in second half. More confidence individually and as a team. More passes, more teamwork. Goal accomplished.
  • We go the mental block after first half and lifted it in second. Didn’t happen in previous games. Will to fight was there, higher focus and in second half there was no recrements left from this mental illness. Goal accomplished.

Now it is important to keep this attitude in the Team. This was first (very) important step in life education of these young men. Make a decision, take the responsibility, work as a team, help the team, help your brothers of basketball. Do your work as individual to get team going and get the work done as a team. Transformation. Mind over everything.

My job now is to strengthen these principles in practices and make them work with the first second of the next game. I have a good feeling about this.

Coach Valts

BCH U16-2 game against Haar 2

October 23, 2017 / / 0 Comments

 

Mental struggle continues. After our first game against Ottobrunn it seemed as good Season start for my boys, but unfortunately at second game in Holzkirchen Team got mental block. Since then we are struggling against every other team that comes before us. Mentally. Also in this game where struggled the whole game and then broke down in last six minutes because of the mental issues. Lost 34 to 42.

We managed to achieve a goal as a Team to play good defense. It still isn’t perfect or even very good defense, but it is good defense. Good defense is good enough for now. It will develop over time. At least team has no mental blocks there, only thing to do defensively is to keep working on communication, out-boxing and foot work. I am happy to say that my young sirs understood the message from the team defense and now it is question of time and effort.

Offense however… is not so good. Part of it might be that I put a bigger emphasis on defense at the beginning of season. Since the game with Holzkirchen I’ve been putting emphasis on offense which requires a different kind of mental game as defense does. While in defense the players has no problem taking on contact and closing the players – in offense team is somehow afraid on taking the contact. I have to find a way to make this work. Willingness to do lay-ups and plays without being afraid from contact coming.

This refers also to 50-50 balls. Because of the fear from contact players also don’t go for loose balls (which are called 50-50 balls because of the same chance anyone getting it – opponent or yourself). This is a big problem as there are many situations per game where the ball is for the grabs and the opponents get it just because they want it a little bit more. This transfers also directly to rebounding or any type of fight for the ball – after first step of aggression, that is – jumping and touching the ball, players stop and don’t go for the second, third or whatever step to SECURE the ball! This is mental thing, this has to be drilled mentally not to stop on spot after first step, but do whatever is necessary to secure the ball and start our possession.

Now, these are the observations I have. It is very important to act on this mental game as it can’t just be fixed with more drills or more running or whatever. It is also important to act upon them as it reflects the whole being of a young man. This mental fear can come or go into young man’s life and do a damage there. My goal here is to teach them to become mentally strong on the field and hope that they will be able also to transfer this skill of mental toughness into life. This is the vision.

Coach Valts

BCH U16-2, game against Holzkirchen

October 8, 2017 / / 0 Comments

 

“Don’t be upset about the results you got with the work you didn’t do.” /Unknown

This pretty much sums up the game of today. We went in with confidence, too much of it and came out crushed. Focus had went to sleep, courage ran off and heart seemed to have stopped to beat. There was nothing in my knowledge I could’ve done to turn this around. That angers me. Also, as a Coach, my job now is to find a way, a solution to this problem we faced today and expel it from our dictionary. It can’t happen again. It will though, but at least we will be ready for it.

Complication of overconfidence and ignored rules of war.

I let them fly. The first game was good, why not? Let the boys have the confidence boost. I also unknowingly underestimated our next opponent. Their will to win. Now, from the perspective of “The Art of War”, I didn’t prepare for the War properly. I let my troops loose and it resulted of lost Focus and Discipline. If we were in the order, it would’ve been much closer game. Team was strong, but we could’ve done better for sure with more Focus and better Discipline.

The second thing is that Team lacked ‘Fierceness in Combat’. We lost it in fear. We lost it because Leadership (that’s me) failed.

“There must be no hesitancy in using any method to bring about the complete and utter destruction of the enemy. It is the only way to ensure victory of a lasting nature.

Fierceness is a natural state when troops see the wisdom of their leader. Correct tactics are required to ensure that any approach to the enemy will be consistent with victory. It is the perceptive warlord who prepares for any eventuality and accepts victory with a glad heart.” /The Art of War (S.F. Kaufman interpretation)

Now, this is the thing. Steady hand. Not just from the players, but also from the Coach. My hand today wasn’t steady. I lacked the knowledge and the wisdom to turn things around. I hadn’t planned for the particular eventuality which the game took. Leader had no answer when nothing we had learned worked and players lost courage. We hesitated to answer the opponents for too long. They over ruled us with their confidence and willingness to dominate. Once some of the players recovered and find the flame of fighting inside them, it was already too late. Enemy had grown too strong already.

The Future.

“If you want to walk in fields of green, you have to be willing to dig in the dirt.” /Unknown

We trained before. With a structure. Now it is time to re-structure and work harder. Today was about waking up – game must be taken at least one level higher as it was. You don’t continue as you did before and get better results. You embrace the defeat, find the solution and keep working harder, better and smarter. This is what awaits the BC Hellenen U16-2. Growth in mind and body.

Coach Valts

 

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