Week -5 Recap - Scrimmage #1 vs Joondalup Wolves

Yes, five weeks out from season start and we had our first outing against someone other than ourselves. It is so nice to get out on the court against another team, it's difficult to figure out what exactly you are doing well and need to work on when you are intra-squad scrimmaging. You focus on defense, the offense slips and you need to switch...it's easy to lose focus.

Anyway, we played the Joondalup Wolves at Joondalup yesterday (Sunday). We learnt a lot and I got a great picture of where we are at. We played 8 x 6 minute periods to allow us to switch things up a little. Coach Hood and myself talked before each period and ran certain defences to allow us to try things out. It's great to have a like minded coach willing to cooperate with those sorts of things and benefit both teams.

We played a lot of our youngsters, as a matter of fact...*grabs calculator*...our average age was 21 (take out Andrew McLennan and it goes to 20 hahahaha...sorry Andrew!). We had three 17 year olds, three 19 year olds in the squad, all SBL Rookies. It's great to see the younger players stepping up and maintaining the intensity. They have a long way to go, but acquitted themselves well.

I was pleased with how we went and pleasantly surprised with the intensity. The Wolves had a great lineup for us with Matacz, Gates, Upstone, Butler, Pearman and Hawkins amongst others lining up for a run. Our technical execution was lacking as was to be expected and playing against a physical opponent was something that some of the younger players hadn't experienced before.

We have our two training sessions this week to continue to learn and adjust, then the Country Cup over the weekend where I expect we will be playing around 5 or 6 games. Again a great opportunity for us to take a few more steps towards being ready for the season to kick off.

Progess to date

Training has continued and we are progressing well for this early stage of the season. The times of 8:30pm – 10:30pm Mondays and Wednesdays is pretty hard on all of us, but we work what we are given. I would prefer more training too, but again we are limited in what we can do. In regards the squad, Mike Jones should be arriving soon, with Tim Kruge soon to follow. With this and some possible late additions to round out our personnel, we will be ready to hit the season running.

I am trying as a coach to maintain intensity and as I have mentioned before, increase the scrimmage component of our training sessions. I have tended to interrupt sessions a lot in the past, and crammed them with drills and when they run over (which they inevitably do) the time for scrimmage has generally been less than 25% of the session. Now I am aiming for a minimum of 50% and so far, so good. It seems to be allowing the players to become familiar with each other’s games, preferences and at the same time learning the team philosophies and gaining game specific fitness.

We have our first hit out this weekend in a scrimmage against the Joondalup Wolves. Then the Country Cup at Perry Lakes over the 1st and 2nd March. Country Cup provides a great chance to rotate players through various scenarios, try different things and see where we are as a team. Both these hitouts are very early in the schedule so we (and I assume most of the participants) are nowhere near ready for a ‘real game’. But it is a great opportunity to identify areas to work on (aside from the ones we already know about) and perhaps areas where we could exploit a previously unknown strength or hide a weakness.

We then have a tentatively scheduled scratch match a fortnight after against the Perth Redbacks, and a fortnight until our first hitout at Kalgoorlie. I’m pretty happy with that schedule, I believe it gives us a nice workup to the season and opportunities in the right places to review and tweak things.

Of rosters and such

Well, I guess you could say things are a little more sorted, not necesarily for the best.

When the dust has settled, we aren't as deep as I would have liked. With the finalisation of our training schedule, we have lost Neil Purcell to work and study commitments. Completely understandable given his situation, but nonetheless very disappointing and a big blow.

We have also lost Kosta Ilic, who will be remaining at Stirling. Good luck to him for the upcoming season.

So our roster now looks like this:

Jon Moon
John Taylor
Andrew McLennan
Mike Jones
Tim Kruge
Jarrod Balcombe
-----------------
Ty Alabakis
Nathan Friend
Clint Burbage
Jeremy Nichol
Nic Donlagic
Lucas Offereins

Ty returned from America this week, and has commenced training with the squad. We are unsure if he will play at this stage, as we need to confirm his ongoing availability based on possible US commitments, however we are hopeful he will be a part of the team.

I believe we have a solid 6 players and some very talented juniors, and I have no doubt we will be fit enough to play our style. What worries me is (*touch wood*) the inevitable injuries, work/personal commitments etc that occur during the season to rob a team of key players. It is covering these events that worries me more than actual depth in any one game.

We have our assigned training schedule now of Monday and Wednesday evenings 8:30pm to 10:30pm at Ballajura Community College. We had our last off-court fitness session yesterday (Monday) at Kings Park, and the improvement across the squad from when we started has been substantial. Now we need to continue that underlying focus on the court.

Again touching a nearby chunk of wood, I am happy to rotate only as deep as needed/we are capable of in any one game. You can only put 5 players on the floor and I am confident some of our development players will take their opportunities and really show they deserve some time. Although the situation reminds me of a quote I read recently:

Lately, with point guard Tony Parker out and Popovich all but forced to increase Ginobili's workload, the Argentine guard has been reminded of one of life's most frequent lessons. Be careful what you wish for.

"When I play 28, 30 (minutes), I'm always upset and want to play more," Ginobili said. "When I play 40, I say, 'I never play 40, I'm tired, I need to play less.'"

The moral of the story, as Ginobili sees it? "Players are never happy," he said with a chuckle.

(http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA020508.BKN_spurs-pacers_manu.en.37ea0ad.html)

Clash of styles...or is it?

Recently there has been a lot of movement in the NBA. Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors, Pau Gasol to the Lakers, Shaq to the Phoenix Suns. In the tough, generally more “up tempo” Western Conference a couple of bigger, slower players added to what have been some of the quickest teams (although Pau Gasol isn’t exactly slow, but still noteworthy).

As my coaching philosophies have developed over the years, I have leant towards a more up-tempo, open floor offense rather than a grinding half court set style. Defensively I prefer an aggressive, pressuring defense where the players are allowed to gamble and use their natural abilities (athleticism, strength, mobility, instincts etc.) to best effect.

So it is with great interest I have watched the unfolding events with the Suns and Warriors in particular. I admire Don Nelson and the frantic pace at both ends of the floor that the Warriors play. Coach Mike D'Antoni and his up-tempo style fit this also, although perhaps not quite as aggressive on the defensive end. How will the additions of bigger, slower players like Webber and O'Neal affect these teams?

Both seem to agree somewhat...from a recent interview with Don Nelson:

-Q: The Suns play so fast, will that style work with Shaq?
-NELSON: Nobody runs a five-man break. Because you have to one guy back dragging up or to change the ball. I’m sure they’re no different than we are.

And excerpts from an interview with Mike D'Antoni:

D'Antoni found irony — and humor — in the second-guessing of the trade. "Well, first we can't win without a big man, and once we get a big man, now we can't win with a big man. That's a funny argument.'' D'Antoni wasn't finished. Recognizing a Los Angeles reporter, he said, "Didn't the Lakers have Showtime and a 40-year-old center running down behind everybody?''

In town coaching the New Orleans Hornets against the Suns, former Lakers star Byron Scott seconded that sentiment.

"To me, it's a lot like the '80s, when Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) was up in age. We were a fast-break team, but when Magic (Johnson) needed him, we called him down, put him in the post, throw it to him and spread the floor. That's exactly what Phoenix is going to do with Shaq.''

It will be fascinating to see how these teams adjust, from a chemistry and style perspective, over the coming weeks. I for one will be watching with great interest.