 COACH LEAVITT’S POST GAME PERSPECTIVE
Saturday February 6, 2010 - 3 PM - The post-game huddle found me consoling our full team knowing that we had just suffered a 2 point loss. I told the team to hold their head’s up high because they had played well and fought back from being down by 8 points. I reminded them of how well they played, how many steals they made, how many times they had frustrated the other team. I also shared great praises on their ability to put into the game all of the things we have been practicing over the past few weeks. And with that we yelled “Go. Go Black!” And went and gave the other team high 5’s.
I found myself going over the score sheet, of which I keep during the game and I realized that our Spartans scored 28 points, while the other team only scored 26. Instead of losing by 2, we actually beat them by 2 points.We were victorious and still have lots to be proud of regarding the way we played.
PLAYING FAIR - I have been so impressed with our team’s game play.Our players want to play by the rules, and they want to know when they cross the line of gaining too much advantage. In our practices I show them many tips regarding what they can do, WITHIN THE RULES, to gain advantage without playing dirty. This involves setting picks, rolling to the basket, Swiping down the ball to clear space, and stealing. Our players are quick to pick up on what to so and it is great to see them implement it into their game.
 DIRTY PICK? - Yesterday in the first half of the game Joseph went down the court and out by the free throw line he set a pick and the opponent came towards him and Joseph leaned over and just about flattened the other player. Later in the game I talked to Joseph and he did not realize that when you set a pick you cannot lean or throw a shoulder. Instead of getting upset, Joseph listened to my guidance and went back out on the floor and set more fair and legal picks. Was Joseph’s pick dirty? I would say no because he did not realize what part of what he did was wrong. He made a mistake. Luckily the other player was able to get back up and was okay.But the great news is that Joseph learned how to do it and from here on out we will see equally great picks without anything movement that could be deemed as dirty.
DIRTY GAME PLAY - Each week we see one or two players on other teams play maliciously dirty. One week we had three of our players get smacked in the face.In our latest game their player #15 continually grabbed onto the jersey of whomever he was guarding. I find this frustrating as I have a zero tolerance policy for malicious dirty play. Their coaches can see what their players are doing and they should be putting a stop to it immediately, but they don’t. I am not talking about going for a steal and fouling. I am talking about grabbing, pushing, and taking advantage of the fact that the referee is going to let 95% of the stuff go. That is the drawback of this Orem City League. The powers that be seem to think it is better to not call anything or keep score. That all of the games are just for fun. What they don’t realize is that these young men want to know the rules and play within the guidelines. They are smart enough, old enough, and mature enough to play by the rules. We do them a huge disservice to look the other way.
 REBOUNDS - Our team is really doing well with rebounding. I watched Andrew, Brayden, and Aaron pull down at least a dozen rebounds and that really helped our game. There were a few times where the other team got them because of sheer height, but I was glad to see that we were in the right position to make a play for the ball.
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