Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Our First Major Dissapointment
Last night's loss to Wadena - Deer Creek (57 - 59) hurt the soul. It was the first time all year I felt the players weren't ready to play. Don't get me wrong. . . in scoring 57 points we did some nice things, we had a couple great rallies to come back from deficits and the effort was there. . . however, I just didn't feel that we were mentally prepared to be successful and that caused us to fall behind and have to make those rallies.
It is hard to explain the feelings I get as a coach after a game like this. . . It is like I get this "overwhelmed" feeling. Maybe it was because I know that this was a team we could have beat. Our schedule is going to get brutal once January starts with games against some of the best teams in the state. I want soooooooo badly for this team to start making in-roads towards a winning season. I would love for this team to be the start of the resurgence of Pelican Rapids Girls' Basketball. They are a good group of kids who are working extremely hard towards this goal and, like a parent, I want to see them be successful and have smiles on their faces. . . this was an opportunity to see smiles.
Even though I felt that the girls were not mentally ready to perform at the level needed in this game I take a lot of the blame home with me whenever we lose. . .I start to run through everything I should have done to make the results better:
*My pre-game talk should have been better.
*I should have pumped them up more.
*I should have called a time out at this point or that.
*I should have switched up the defense more.
*I shouldn't have switched the defense as much.
*I shouldn't have gotten so frustrated with the officiating.
*I should have done a better job of explaining things in the huddle.
*We should have more options in on our offense by now.
*I should be working harder with players on individual skills.
This list goes on and on but as the new day dawned the feeling of being overwhelmed gets replaced by. . .
"okay. . .what happened, happened. What am I going to do to improve myself and my team."
That’s my job. . . I need to pick up the pieces and help these girls rise above the frustrations. . .I need to show them that it is how we respond to adversity and our continued efforts towards excellence that will ultimately defines us a a success. To me this is a lesson I am trying to live out as there were times last year that I faltered in this aspect of my profession.
Time to get to work!
It is hard to explain the feelings I get as a coach after a game like this. . . It is like I get this "overwhelmed" feeling. Maybe it was because I know that this was a team we could have beat. Our schedule is going to get brutal once January starts with games against some of the best teams in the state. I want soooooooo badly for this team to start making in-roads towards a winning season. I would love for this team to be the start of the resurgence of Pelican Rapids Girls' Basketball. They are a good group of kids who are working extremely hard towards this goal and, like a parent, I want to see them be successful and have smiles on their faces. . . this was an opportunity to see smiles.
Even though I felt that the girls were not mentally ready to perform at the level needed in this game I take a lot of the blame home with me whenever we lose. . .I start to run through everything I should have done to make the results better:
*My pre-game talk should have been better.
*I should have pumped them up more.
*I should have called a time out at this point or that.
*I should have switched up the defense more.
*I shouldn't have switched the defense as much.
*I shouldn't have gotten so frustrated with the officiating.
*I should have done a better job of explaining things in the huddle.
*We should have more options in on our offense by now.
*I should be working harder with players on individual skills.
This list goes on and on but as the new day dawned the feeling of being overwhelmed gets replaced by. . .
"okay. . .what happened, happened. What am I going to do to improve myself and my team."
That’s my job. . . I need to pick up the pieces and help these girls rise above the frustrations. . .I need to show them that it is how we respond to adversity and our continued efforts towards excellence that will ultimately defines us a a success. To me this is a lesson I am trying to live out as there were times last year that I faltered in this aspect of my profession.
Time to get to work!
# posted by Viking Warrior @ 9:09 AM 
