A rough day back

At the start of this game, we were playing really well! The press we've been practicing worked well in flustering Ensworth early on, which led to turnovers and layups! The press break also led to some good looks and opportunities. The first quarter ended with Ensworth only up 4 points, 6-10. Even in the second quarter the same strategies were working, however the half court offense started to get frantic. The eagerness to score led to shots being taken while off balance or shots being taken without setting their feet. So the gap started widening despite some strong efforts on defense.

At half time it was 11-24. This is where the mistakes really started to compound. In the second half Ensworth 14 of their 20 points came from put backs (shots earned from offensive rebounds). Their offensive rebounding led their team to the win. (The other 6 points came from transition). The final score was 11-44. Ensworth applied pressure that we weren’t mentally prepared for. The first game from winter break will always be hard, however, the lack of communication says a lot about the team’s energy level and focus. It’s up to us coaches to help provide routine and drills to work on those tangible and intangible skills. And this game has shown where we can shine, but also where we need to focus our practice time (read “rebounding” and “communication”). 

FG 2s: 5/28 → Low in terms of field goal percentage (17%) but also in terms of shot attempts. Luckily we aren’t forcing bad shots, but we aren’t taking the time to make the good shots better shots

FG 3s: 0/7 → I’m glad we are trying to attempt more 3s! 

TOs: 13 → Not a bad number, but we can always lower it. Would it be ideal to have single digit turnovers, yes, however turnovers aren’t the main contributing factor for our loses 

Fouls: 5 → This number is miss leading because while it’s great that we didn’t foul, it also is reflective of the lack of aggressiveness on defense throughout the entire game

Rebounds: 11 → This is the problem. We need to change gears in games and in practice and focus on rebounding/boxing out

Steals: 4 → A fun stat and hopefully we can improve our timing/hand-eye coordination to increase our defensive