I wouldn&#039;t call us super quick, though our PG is our heart and soul and he is very quick.&nbsp; He just goes balls out every second he is on the court (and because of that was defensive MVP in our district last year).&nbsp; We do have some big guys that come off the bench, but our starting post isn&#039;t that tall (he is strong though).<br /><br />Tonight the varsity lost by 9.&nbsp; Hamlin had a 6&#039;5 leaper that dominated the game until he fouled out in the 4th quarter and we started coming back.&nbsp; We missed too many free throws down the stretch to pull any closer, which is OK for now because it was the first game.&nbsp; Our 1-3-1 defense looked good for the first time.<br /><br />My JV won by 3 points.&nbsp; We were down at halftime, and I pulled out...you guessed it, the old 1-2-2 full court press and we took it them in the third quarter and took the lead.&nbsp; We missed a lot of shots, and had some bad passes, but again, I think it was more first game rust than something to be worried about.&nbsp; This JV is better after one game than my JV was at the end of the year last year.&nbsp; I actually have a few basketball players, and not just football players in shorts.<br /><br />Now we host a JV tournament, and for some reason, we draw Eula in the first round.&nbsp; Eula is a very good team, and they don&#039;t play football.&nbsp; All they do there is crank out long distance shooters in hoops and distance runners in track and CC.&nbsp; They are a machine.&nbsp; We will need to make the game ugly and knock down some shots to keep up with them.&nbsp; The varsity is going to a tournament in Ballinger, so I may not get to see them play this weekend if our games fall close together and I can&#039;t make it back in time.

We won in the first round of our tournament by 7.&nbsp; We beat a team that has been practicing since the first day of school...we have had two practices.&nbsp; Our guys just played balls out and with confidence and did what they had to.<br /><br />They had a guy who could shoot lights out, so in the second half I switched defenses every trip.&nbsp; A 2-3 zone that cheated to the shooter, a box and one, and half court man.&nbsp; When we went man, we showed 2-3 and jumped to it.&nbsp; I only went to the 1-2-2 once as a suprise (I felt if I ran it any more, we would be toast, they have been practicing since August, they can run their press break in their sleep), and the one time it got a steal, a bucket and a foul.&nbsp; Have I ever mentioned I love that press?<br /><br />We play Roscoe in the second round tomorrow and then either have a third place or first place game against Ballinger or Jim Ned.

I really like to hear the coaching strategy of this stuff.&nbsp; It is amazing how changing up things can really affect how a team plays..........especially a high school team.<br /><br />Keep the updates coming..........but I want the strategy behind it as well.

Great moves Coach!

We played Roscoe in the second round and won by 4.&nbsp; We came from down 6 early and took a 9 point lead in the 4th, and held on to win.&nbsp; This advanced us to the championship game, where we played Ballinger.&nbsp; All I can say about that game is that we lost, and it was over quickly.&nbsp; Ballinger was quick and could shoot.&nbsp; All five on the court could shoot.&nbsp; You don&#039;t see that out of a JV team very often in small school West Texas.<br /><br />Not much strategy to discuss for today.&nbsp; The Roscoe game was a grind-it-out, they ran a 1-3-1 halfcourt defense and we just went what most people call &quot;domino&quot; and got it into the middle.&nbsp; He was getting their middle guy in foul trouble, so they started to deny him and then we started hitting the bottom guys going backdoor.&nbsp; Not rocket science, just what you have to do against a 1-3-1.&nbsp; Luckily, we made our shots and made them pay (Ballinger ran a 1-3-1 as well, but we couldn&#039;t hit a thing when we got a look).<br /><br />We play again (both JV and VAR) Tuesday against Hamlin again.&nbsp; I will have one of my starters back that was out of town this weekend.&nbsp; Then we have a week off, and when we play again, I will have my best guard back from grades, and the varsity will have their best scorer back that a week from today in the Albany tourney.<br /><br />2nd place in the tournament wasn&#039;t bad at all for only having two practices and having two starters out.&nbsp; Hopefully we can continue to improve.