Game 5: Honey Creek 48 W.V. 16

Another game of "What happened, and where did we go..."  This is a theme that is fairly common when trying to adapt to a new concept..."Enthusiasm and adrenaline" will carry you for only so long...and then you have to have an "understanding of what is needed" to sustain any type of previous success...In the last couple of games we have learned we are not there yet...(but we ARE making steps in the right direction...)

"Learning to compete" is a necessary step to advance towards the goal of "winning"...You don't just show up with a game plan and say, "now we can win"...If it was that easy, there would be no such thing as a "lop-sided" win/loss"...As I thought about last nights game, it didn't take long to figure out what the "obvious" issues were/are for our team...In the first half alone, we missed at least 6 (a generous figure btw...) open lay-ups, not to mention the countless turnovers...(additionally, we were a pathetic, 0 - 8 from the foul line! This does not bode well for a positive outcome...and yet we were down only 4 at half.)

There are two schools of thought that we can take....1st, we can say, "well at least we stayed with them for a half..." OR we can have the mindset, "I don't want to let this be the height of our success...to play only 1 good half of basketball every game....I WANT MORE...I AM CAPABLE OF MORE!"

If your answer is the latter, the desired results come about in practice, not in the game...As I told you guys in the locker room, we have to work harder to simulate "game situations" in practice so we don't get surprised by the speed of the actual game...This transition takes discipline, self motivation and a willingness to not accept failure as an option...(I am not speaking to "winning vs losing", but rather "competing at the highest level your capable of"  versus "rolling over when the heat gets turned up because that' what we have always done"...

There is a great story in the bible that I always think about when I am in situations that I recognize I am at the cross-roads of these two choices....In the Book of Judges, a man by the name of Gideon was called to lead his people into battle against a great army. Gideon had 32,000 men to do battle. God told Gideon,  "that is too many for this battle"...He went on to tell him to tell the people, "whoever is afraid, whoever is fearful of this battle....you should leave now" After Gideon gave this instruction, he only had "10,000 men left"!!

But God said, "that is still too many"...So he gave the instructions to have them go down to a nearby brook and of the men that dipped their hand into the water to drink rather than to "lap it up" like a dog...would be the chosen ones for the battle....After they had gone to the brook, only "300" reached to drink of the water with their hand!!

These were the "chosen" ones to do battle...The story goes on to say that these 300 men went into battle against a massive Midian and Amalekite army....(Btw, they went into battle armed with  "a trumpet and a pitcher with a candle inside it...") They were divided into 3 companies of 100 men...At the sounding of Gideon' trumpet, the men began blowing their trumpets and making noise and breaking the pitchers as they advanced...The startled Midianites and Amalikites thought they were surrounded by a "great army" so rather than fight, they fled....

The point I am wanting to make with you is not about the battle...The point is about the "faith" that it takes to "go into battle"...It doesn't take a huge number...it doesn't take the greatest armed soldiers(aka "most talented athletes) It doesn't even take the best equipment (facilities...$200.00 shoes...etc..) It only takes a belief that "you are behind the cause" (you truly believe in...) what you are going into battle for...

I have always told my players, "you don't have to be the best, as long as you compete at your best"...(Winning and losing will take care of itself...) The question is simply, "do you want to participate...Are you willing to sacrifice "self" for the better of the whole just to be included in the final count. (Or do you want to retreat because of fear...fear of pushing yourself beyond the same obstacles...)

You have come a long way from where you were when we first began this journey. But now is the time to decide if you want to go farther....I know you guys are capable of much more...The obstacle we face right now is "ourselves"....It is manifested in the form of "inconsistancy"....I want us to "go through it", not around it...I hope you guys are ready to get beyond "1 half" of basketball, I know I am...

Let' complete this journey and see what happens....   :)