Holy sh*t this team reeks...
Outraged over the ineffectiveness of my current team I have decided to leave the group and move ahead of them. With the school intramurals approaching soon I expect them to at least carry a significant amount of pressure coming into the opener this weekend.
I have been participating in the practices for the past two weeks and what I’ve observed for the most part is that I have noticed nothing much that would make this group worthy to be called a team. Every time they’re on the court all I see is a bunch of bloated egos that thrives on dazzling the crowd and posing for the cameras which is not surprising that most of them can’t play defense. What irks me the most is their inability to focus on the upcoming games when it counts. Often I hear them talk about how good they would look in their new La Salle-inspired uniforms, or where to pig out and get together after the games. Illustrative of the attitude they have on as well as off the court, those statements really blew my lid off! Poof!
If these guys think they could just give up on winning and forget they’re representing our college department, they’d better be not serious coz for once if it weren’t for us, the students, they wouldn’t be sporting those new uniforms. Our departmental fees and sports fees say that you play for the name on the front of your jerseys that says CAS and not for the one at the back that reads “one big showboat”.
As for me, I will go back to my usual thrice a week, two-hour routine at the ISC, back to the place where competition, camaraderie, and new acquaintances meet. I learned my A-game there, I learned from the amateurs to the coaches still playing the game they also love. There I can also freely belt out my frustrations because the basket there doesn’t talk back to me when I do something wrong.
Overlooking the Kid at the games
Lebron James is probably the youngest among the crop of talents in the USA basketball team, yet this kid phenom is able to triumph over the pressure and hype that has brought him in Athens. I remember he was benched often during the preliminaries because coach Larry Brown said he wasn’t “ripe” enough to be on the court, yet every time he was given the opportunity he gladly steps up and contributes to the team. He may have lapses on defense but when you see his stats, he is playing a significantly mature game than before. Heck, he’s even playing much better than Melo. He takes timely shots now, going 5/6 against Australia? Not bad. He also somehow extended his range, I saw him drop the first 3pt shot of the team during last three games, a category that has been the team’s trauma throughout the competition. His stats may well improve though their chance of winning the gold is impossible, I’m more thrilled about what this renewed sense of maturity and development can do to his game next season, I mean this kid is arguably the most talented player in the NBA today, we could just sit and wait untill the highlight reels (and the wins) keep coming in for King James.
USA Men's Basketball: Bronze or Nothing
Not gold, not even silver. After Manu Ginobili and the Argentineans trounced USA yesterday, the US men’s team would have to settle for a bronze medal if they want a bit of consolation. They became the first USA men’s basketball team to lose grip of the gold medal after the US started sending professional players to the games in 1988. Their next primary objective? Beat Lithuania in the medal round this Sunday. It would be interesting to see how they will adjust to the more experienced Lithuanians and their fluid style of play after they were beaten in the eliminations. Will we see Startbury make 31 points again like he did against Spain? Will my boy LeBron James take center court this time and help the helpless Americans get past the humiliation? For sure, Melo also knows he can make an impact so he’s itching for playing time, but alas, he has been given the “Darko treatment” with Emeka and Amare too. Hey, coach brown, where’s the love yo?!
Hanging On
Luckily I'm still practicing with the team but the regular basketball practice has lately made me rather fatigued. The coach’s new system requires us to outrun the opponent because of our significant lack in size and bulk so apparently he wants us to boost our fatigue levels a couple of notches higher to maintain our speed and intensity throughout the game. That together with discipline and tireless hard work will be our advantages when playing against the much taller and bigger opponents.
I'm hope I could make the final cut, I have been working on both my strength and weakness, my jump shot and my ball handling respectively. I shoot before practice, I shoot during practice, and I shoot after practice, but I still have to find the range beyond the 3pt line. My dribble needs some work as well. I still find it rather difficult to efficiently execute the pivot and the jump hop, both skills needed to gain separation from a defender in order to get a good look at the basket. In fact, I am not really a good one on one player; I’d rather pull up for a shot when the ball ends up in my hands. But with the improved ball handling I can take my man off the dribble, break a full court press and and/or create scoring opportunities for my teammates and myself.
I don’t mind waking up at 5am for workouts, sprinting, stretching, taking pain relievers, or playing with a sick stomach anymore because the thought of improving, being better, being the best, is emphatically stimulating.
