11-15 Practice. Man defense: We're going to play a lot of man to man defense. But our opponents should be confused and think we are playing zone. Brendon will pretty much stay in the paint and only pick up his man when he comes into the paint area. All other players are in either Help mode or Deny(don't let your man get the ball) mode. If your man is within one pass of the ball, then you are in deny mode. If your man is 2 passes away from the ball(weak side) then you are in Help mode sagging all the way into the paint while keeping an eye on your man so you don't lose him.

Man offense: The start of motion offense. wings work down pretty low(8-10 ft from the basket) and then sprint out to receive pass from point guard. The point guard screens away from the ball and you are waiting to make a pass to your team mate coming off the screen. Forwards should be in the corners at this point. Don't come into the lane because you will just draw defenders. Forwards should be spotting up for a possible pass and shoot. Don't forget to give your ball handler a target. Meaning, make sure he can see you and has a clear path for a pass to you.

11-17 practice: Zone Defense: With a zone, we're working just as hard as man defense. If you are not, then you aren't playing zone properly. If there is nobody in your zone, then extend your zone and find somebody. Keep moving. The more active we are, the more it looks like there are six players on the court instead of five. Remember to yell SHOT! It's super important with Zone because once a shot goes up, everybody has to find the closest opponent and box him out. The paint is OUR domain. Nobody is allowed in OUR paint.

We need to get in the habit of yelling SHOT which will get us in the habit of boxing out better. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for our success.

3-2 zone: The weak side wing defender must become the weak side rebounder! Both low men must leave their post area and cover the corners if the ball goes there. With a 3-2, the inside is vulnerable to penetration but with our size we should be ok.

2-3 zone: This zone would be used when we want to pack the middle in and we're not afraid of the opponents outside shooting. We'll use this zone a lot on in-bounds to prevent any easy baskets.

Under basket In-bounds: Stack play- spread out. 1st man moves toward baseline and then into the corner. 2nd man moves toward baseline and then backs across to draw big man. 3rd player slowly fades to the 3 point line 4th player draws any remaining defenders away from the lane we're trying to create, 3rd player now sprints down the lane opening looking for a high pass and layup. Inbounder must make very good 'fake' passes to each of the 4 players unless any of the players are open, then you give it to him.

11-19

Side In-bounds

Man in-bounds

press-break (opposite of what they setup as) ie 3-2, we go 2-3 on offense.

11-23

2nd part of Man forwards now get involved. Ball goes down low and a double screen develops.

Dribble drive offense is introduced as an alternative to Motion offense.

boxing out is a craft that you perfect with practice. We need to continue to practice. I see improvement but we have a long way to go.

11-24 Last full practice before tournaments.

Intensity in games will be far greater than what you have experienced in practice. If we practice like it's a game, we will be more prepared.

Concentrate on Zone today. Offensively, now we do much more passing. A lot less dribbling until we get the defense out of position and then we pick our spots to drive.

Forwards; This is where you need to read the dribbler and step back to create space for a pass from the driver.

specifics:

vs 3-2 defense we make our offense basically a 2-1-2. With a high post player in the middle.

vs 2-3 defense, we make our offense basically a 3-2. With a low post player and a base line player.

vs 1-3-1 defense, very similar to 3-2 where we are 2-1-2 but both forwards get deep in the corners. Two guards bring the ball up on each side and eventually make the defensive wing commit for a pass to the strong side corner. The weak side corner is also open. This is one of the few times we want to make such a long pass. High post player must be patient as he will become open once the ball gets to the corner and the corner player drives to the basket.

11-28 Tournaments: Nice job so far this weekend. We made it to the 2nd round of the LaSalle tourn. Something we havent' done in 6 years. We made it to the finals for the 2nd year in a row in the Ambler Catholic tourn. That's three wins in one day. That is quite an accomplishment. However, Think about these things and be prepared to execute vs St. Catherine at 4:00pm Sunday.

1. Drive to the basket early to set tempo of the game.

2. No outside shots until the ball has been passed around from side to side at least twice versus zone.

3. Keep our center involved early and often! All passes must be above Brendan's head!!!!

4. Don't be a spectator on offense. If you are not shooting and not getting the rebound, you should be sprinting back to play defense.

5. Rebounders, look for outlet passes. We turned the ball over on most fast break attempts. This is not acceptable. Outlet guards should be on the side. Rebounders should count on seeing you there EVERY TIME. If you are open, they will get it to you, if not, they will HOLD the ball, give it to our point guard and bring it up under control.

6. You work hard to get a good shot close to the basket. Concentrate and visualize the ball going through the basket upon release of the ball. VISUALIZE IT GOING IN and most times it will.

LaSalle Tournament: St. Catherine- We put together a very nice game tonight. Our best play by far. Our defense really tightened up and we got a lot of turnovers and turned them into points. We took care of the ball, we shot well. Excellent job. Nick led all scoring with 20 followed by Steve with 15 and Brendon with 10 and limited playing time. Nate had 4, Hunter 5, Mike 2, Alex 1

Ambler Catholic Finals: Mary Magdalen Win 48-28. Another nice effort against probably the fastest team we've played. We adjusted nicely to the speed of the game and handled their press as well as can be expected. Steve, was an assist machine tonight while getting the ball to Brendon for a season high 19 points and 15 rebounds. Nick K added 10 and 4, Steve with 6 and 4, Hunter 6 and 4, Mike 4 and 2. Nick Diehl had a 3 early to spread the defense out. That's some pretty good balance again.

11-30 LaSalle Tournament update: We are one of 8 teams remaining in the tournament. We play Nativity again. This is the team we beat in the 1st round of Ambler tourn. These guys hit 8 threes for more than 1/2 of their points to stay in the game. This is our chance to show them that it was a fluke they came as close as they did. A win puts us in the final 4 next week!

12-01 LaSalle Tournament: Nativity; Win 38-20 We established control of the game early on. We didn't score much but our defense was great. holding a final 8 team to 1 point in the first half isn't too bad! This was a classic team effort all the way around. Nick D, Nate and Alex held their top scorer to 1 point for the entire game! Nick K, Steve, Hunter and Brendan led the scoring with 10, 8, 8 and 10 respectively. The three also were responsible for 22 rebounds. We were 13-18 from the foul line. Overall and very nice effort. You earned a spot in the final 4. Nice job!

12-05 St. Isadore: Win 48-43 After a solid first half, Nick dehl again hit a couple of threes early. Shoot more! Nick Kush had a great scoring first half with 14 points coming from a lot of assists from steve. Then things didn't go our way much in the 3rd quarter. Hunter got injured and soon after Steve badly sprained his ankle. But the remaining players pulled together and kept the lead. Nate's 3 3's really were daggers every time they tried to make a run. When Steve went down, our offense struggled but our defense continued to create turnovers. Mike pulled down a season high 5 rebounds in the 2nd half and got a key basket late in the 4th quarter. Hunter went 3 for 4 from the foul line also in the 4th quarter when it really mattered.

12-06 Mt Carmel: Loss 49-36. With Brendan and Steve out and Hunter not 100%, we really had trouble getting in any kind of rhythm tonight. Most of you were playing positions you were not used to. (shows you why it's important to really absorb and learn all positions in practice.) We got to the basket quite a bit but our shots were weak and showed signs of fear instead of looking for contact. We struggled for more than an entire half to run any of our offenses. Too much panic without good reason. Nick really kept us in the game offensively by scoring 16 points in the 2nd half but not one other play made a basket! Too many times each of you passed up opportunities to 'make a play' and instead gave up the ball to a turnover. Despite this, our defense forced some turnovers and we hung in there and got it to 5 but we just couldn't get there. Late in the game we began to execute our offense much better and for that I am very encouraged. It wasn't a bad effort short handed against a good quality team.

12-07 LaSalle Tournament: St Andrew loss 20-42 Again with Brandon and Steve out and Hunter not 100% we really were out matched on the offensive end. Our defense however was quite good. Holding a quality team like this to 16 points in the first half is about as good as we can expect. Offensively we struggled but not because the other team was so much better. Now you know the value of knowing your plays. We just couldn't even run our offense because we didn't know what to do. That's a guaranteed problem. We couldn't even run a simple man in-bound play. Once they dropped into a 2-3 zone, we started feeling comfortable and executing. This should be a good learning experience. Maybe we'll see these guys again in the Districts.

12-13 Sash: Win 45-36 excellent inside out game early on helped us get out to a good start and we stayed in control most of the game. Nice defensive pressure caused quite a few turnovers by Sash. We went somewhat cold in the middle of the game missing some really easy shots. However, this was a respectable team that we beat without two starters and with Brendon just returning from surgery for limited minutes. Mike and Matt stepped up and gave Brendon and Nick some rebounding help. Nick had 21 points. Nick D had a season high 8, Mike had a season high 10 rebounds. We still need a LOT of improvement with boxing out. Overall though, a very nice win.

12-20 Stans: Win 35-23. This team didn't really test us. It was like a decent practice. We played man defense the entire game which was very good for us. Brendon and Nick both had 14 points each. We'll need this experience as we enter January which has a long stretch of real competition. Let's use the holiday tournaments to fine tune our games and go to the next level. As soon as we return from the holidays, we have MMR, then OLMC again (our only loss) and Jude all in the span of 10 days.

SMG Christmas Tournament: Because our tournament is a B tournament, our team will not be participating this year. However, I want Alex, Matt, Mike and Nick D to help make our B teams better and get some extra playing time in. So you are added to their rosters for just the tournament. See times in the schedule area. Also, I would like Steve, Brendon, Hunter and Nick K to help by doing the scoreboard, snack stand or clock during those four games. We only need two-three players at each game. Tell me which ones you can do. This would be a big help and a nice show of support for all the other Varsity players.

01-02 MMR loss 46-48 This was a tough loss after fighting all the way back to tie the score. We just came up a little short. One more shot, one less turnover, one more layup. But we are getting better. Nick had a SMG all time high of 25 points in the loss. Mike and Brandon both had 6 each. Everyone played well and contributed.

01-03 OLMC loss 38-44 This as another tough loss. We controlled most of the game but they were hitting most of their outside shots and we went cold. We also continue to let other teams get the share of loose balls. We really let this game get away by playing too much zone and allowing too many outside shots.

01-09 Isidore win 43-38 Wow, this was a big win that was almost a forfiet. This game didn't show up on our schedule and when the coaches called to wake our players up at 9;00am and gave them 15 minutes to get to the game, they responded with a gutty win with NO SUBS. 5 players all game. Very impressive.

01-09 Nativity BVM Win 44-42 Another tight game and big tournament win with only 6 players. We were probably still in a little bit of a stuper from having to get up and play an early unplanned game, but we managed to scrap our way to a win. Nate led the team with some key defensive plays and steals, Alex had his best game of the season hittting for 8 points in a game we really struggled from outside. Everyone contributed as Nick D had 8, Nick K had 12 Nate had 5 and Brendon had back to back 16 point efforts.

01-09-10 All Star Tryouts: Each A team sends there best two players to this tryout. We are sending Nick and Brendon. The coaches then pick the best two players from all these players to represent Region 20 in a Philadelphia District All Star game with the best of the best in the Philadelphia area. Congratulations to both Brendon and Nick K. Brendon got off to a quick start by hitting two early baseline jump shots and blocking not one but two shots by the 6' 3" Jude center. He later scored again, blocked another shot, and beat the Jude big man on a fast break showing everyone that he can handle the rock also. Nick Kush was given point guard duties the entire game and controlled the offense looking extremely comfortable getting almost any shot or pass he wanted. I think he knocked down a couple 3's and a cople 2's but wasn't getting the breaks as several shots rolled in and out. To get picked, you have to be darn close to perfect. In the end, Brendon was picked as on of the two players to represent Region 20 in an upcoming Philadelphia district All Star game. I would say Nick was probably 3rd or 4th best player in that tryout. That's a pretty impressive accomplishment! We have two new team leaders to take through the home stretch this season.

01-10 vs MMR Loss 49-31. For the first time we got blown out of a game. Our first thought might be to say we are not the team we thought we were. But logic will tell you otherwise. We have a lot of things to remind us that we are a VERY good team that just had an off night while the other team had a great night. Ambler Catholic Champs, LaSalle final four (maybe finals if we had Brendon or Steve), Carroll Elite 8 and competitive games against everyone else. If I seemed mad toward the end of the game last night, I was. Not because we were losing but because some of you forgot the most important goal of the year. To play your best and hardest and without fear. And when you realised you couldn't win the game, you stopped playing hard and you played scared. I thought by now you know that winning is not the goal. It's the result of the goals. So remember that for the rest of the season. We will bounce back from that loss. From a strategy standpoint, we played too much zone and we gave them way too many easy shots. Man defense would have limited those opportunities that got them in a rythem. On offense, we did not take advantage of our significant advantage. SIZE!, we didn't move the ball well when they played zone, and we didn't shoot the ball well. There's not much we can do about not shooting well(although if we got the ball to Brendon, we probably wouldn't have had to shoot well) but we can do something about the other things. We'll work on that tonight before the St. Jude game.

01-11 vs St. Jude loss 40-23 I never thought we were out of this game until there was under 2 minutes. We broke their press. We got a lot of good shots. We moved the ball on offense vs their zone. We moved the ball on offense vs their man coverage. We limited their shots to mostly outside. We basically shot poorly with the exception of a few late 3's by Nick D and Nate. By then the game was decided.

01-14 practice note We're starting practice at SMG and finishing practice at Indian Valley Middle School in Harleysville. We will get you from SMG to Indian Valley so have your parents drop you off at SMG and pick you up at Indian Valley.

01-16 vs Stan's. Win 50-30 We dominated this game from start to finish. Not much we didn't do correctly. Mike and Alex had season high 7 points each. Nick D you played your most fundamentally good game of the season.

01-17 vs Visitation BVM Loss 34-50. After being tie 20-20 at half, we just couldn't overcome Nick K's absence in the 2nd half. The score does not indicate how well we played in that first half. We just didn't match up well with their guards in the 2nd half. Still a great effort and a nice run in the tournament.

01-17 vs Corpus Loss 25-39. Down to 6 players again and now missing Nick, somehow we were tie18-18 at the half. We scrapped and played tough and for the first time since Steve was playing, I saw players playing with passion and an enthusiasm and spirit I haven't seen! This spirit has tremendous power. You believed you could win and you played without any fear. Everyone stepped up and tried to do their part to make something happen. And things DID happen. Unfortunately in the 2nd half, good shots just wouldn't drop and we didn't get many breaks. I think you guys just ran out of energy at the end but you outplayed a very good team for 3 of the 4 quarters of that game.

You guys showed a lot of courage, tenacity and spirit today. Everybody look out if we get healthy.

01-20 Guys this is the home stretch. We've played together for almost 90 days and your committment has been very good. We've all dedicated a lot of time to our team. In the beginning of the season we all agreed we would stay committed to the team. This is an important personality trait to have. When you start something, you finish it. You don't build a house and leave the roof off. You don't get rid of your wife for a new one. Your teamates are not like an old bike that you get rid of for the new one! ;) You don't let your team mates down by showing them that another team is more important. Just a few days ago I said that I felt that something special happened at the Corpus Game. We have a couple more weeks to stay together and finish what we started if for nothing else than....something special might happen.

01-23 Jude Loss 51-38 Guys we played these guys real well in the first half despite way too many turnovers. In the 2nd half we just went cold and they started making shots. We didn't handle their 2-3 zone well. We let them get too many fast breaks. With all that we were still in the game until late in the 4th quarter.

01-23 Philadelphia Area All Stars: Brendon played in the philadelphia wide All Star game Saturday night at 8:00pm at The Fellowship House 5 Harry Street Conshohocken. He represented our region very well despite some incredible players. Points, blocks and rebounds.

01-24 Sash Win 50-31 This Sash team was missing a couple of key players and struggled from the beginning. We pretty much dominated the entire game. Nice job.

01-27 Corpus win 45-37. Guys this was a really nice win. You didn't shoot especially well, you didn't take care of the ball particularly well. You made several mental errors, but you WON. All 8 of you played some really tough defense and kept a cushion for their run in the 4th quarter. Then you matched their run with your own. Nick Diehl had a season high 18 points! Even though Nick Kush and Brendon struggled offensively, they still had 8 and 15 points respectively. Brendon also had 17 rebounds. Michael had 7. But what is most impressive is the late game shots, passes, defense, ball control, press break, attitude preserved the win. Very impressive. You guys have been improving and getting better together all season. This was one of our 3 goals and you guys are playing great together. Let's keep it going this weekend!

01-30 MMR loss 41-63 We let these guys get comfortable shooting and they are a very good shooting team when they have time. We're not going to win many games when we give up 63 points.

01-31 OLMC loss 48-58 It's pretty clear that Brendon adds a tremendous boost to our defense and offense. He hasn't been in foul trouble all year...until this game. We can't beat the good teams when he sits on the bench for almost half the game. Then Nick got hurt just before we made our run. We turned the ball over quite a few times. More than normal. Still we had a chance to get a posession that could have cut the lead down to 6 points with plenty of time left and we didn't get a missed foul shot. That should never happen. It's the little things that turn into big things. Play smart, take care of the ball and we win that game. On the bright side, we get this team again in the playoffs. Anyone want to lose 4 close games to the same team? I don't think so.

02-07 OLMC loss 35-48. Well for 1/2 of a game we had it together and had that team completely frustrasted and ready to self implode. Two 3 pointers rattled in and then out. We got a rebound and made an unforced turnover and instead of being up 8, we were only up 3. Being so short handed and in foul trouble again, we really needed everything to go our way the rest of the way. It didn't. A bunch of shots wouldn't go down. We played the wrong defense against their center and just let him kill us time after time. So a bummer of an ending to a somewhat frustrating season for all of us.

However, remember what our goals were in the beginning of the season.

1. Play your hardest at all times. You still don't fully grasp this concept but you are a lot better at it than when the season started. I am confident you will fully realise this in the next year or so regardless of your chosen sport.

2. Establish new friendships beyond your normal inner circle. For coming from 5 different schools, you guys played and hung out together like you have been friends since 1st grade!

3. Become better basketball players. You all are clearly a lot better than when you started the season. You know the game better. You know High School and even College offenses and defenses.

4. Follow through on your committments and finish what you started. Each of you had a lot of things pulling you in different directions. School work, school activities, injuries, sickness, other basketball teams, being tired, being cold etc. All things that make you have an excuse to say, 'I don't really want to practice'. However, you guys really stuck it out and fought through all those distractions. You stayed committed and came to practices and games. Although the results of end of the season appear to have made your efforts in vein, that's far from the case. Don't forget, only one team in any season ever gets to experience being the champions. But you are now much stronger. People count on you when you make committments and you are better prepared to evaluate the things you want to commit to. As you move from grade school to high school to college or get a job, distractions will be everywhere. Weigh your options and determine if you want to make a committment. Then always follow through on your commitment.