pboettke
User
Junior Boarder
| Posts: 5 |   |
Karma: 0
|
end of game situations - 2007/12/30 14:47
A local HS team has good height and adequate talent to compete with anyone in the region, and this has been proven again and again this season as they have played each game to either a lead or 1 possession at 2:00 to go in the 4th. However, they have lost each of those games. Their 2 wins, they had big enough leads that end of game situations never came into play.
Turnovers, missed lay-ups, failure to box out, missed free-throws, etc. have plagued them down the stretch.
This is an extremely well coached team, but the reality is that they have only 1 player that has seen significant varsity playing time in pressure games in the prior to this season.
My AAU team last season had similar problems. We played over 20 games that were determined by 4 points or less, and I think we ended up on the losing side 2/3rds of the time. We qualified for D1 Nationals, and also played in some of the biggest events, but failed to advance as far as we could have in those tournaments because of end-of-game issues. On the one hand, we were in a position to win in almost every game we played against elite teams. But ultimately we failed to maintain leads or get over the hump down the stretch when the opporutnity was there.
So if I step back from these disppointments and focus on learning, I would like to hear from others:
What are the best ways to prepare teams to perform in those situations?
What are the best ways to help the kids keep their confidence and believe that they can execute down the stretch and finish off games?
Pete
|
