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- Aug 26, 2011
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Yeah, we had a press too. We played a 1-2-1-1 (Diamond) that worked well because most kids (including our own) couldn't get enough distance on a deep pass and our soccer players we're exceptional at swooping in and taking any pass that didn't have enough mustard on it and they weren't afraid of contact.Fun convo,
Shell drill all the way, but I might throw in a 3-1-1 halfcourt trap at some point to generate turnovers since we can't press until the final minute of any half.
I concur w/ every coach on here, middle school is all about skill building, teamwork, building character and understanding the game.
My only bugaboo is that we practice, at most, two times a week for 50 minutes. I'm in a league where some teams practice every day, so it's been a rough few years especially since our international students play very little, if at all, basketball outside of school, or even watch it for that matter.
We could have played it all game, and with our stamina probably could have really run scores up at the JV level, but that wasn't the point. Nothing wrong with soccer, but one of those JV kids, if she started with basketball instead, could have probably played in college. Just exceptional speed and instincts. Just we had to build her dribbing and shooting up from nothing. Forcing ourselves into half-court games was also about skill growth. That kid went to Brown on a sailing scholarship, though, so she hasn't done too bad for herself...