newbie questions/comments

[David B]

Originally posted by tutall
mick - i am having a lot of fun, thats not the problem

just another - the other guy is getting most of the minutes for a couple reasons.... first, we have not played any big teams yet so all they have are little quick guys and i am 6'5" 230 so it isnt easy for me to keep up... in the games where they have a big guy i usually play most of the game. plus, the other guy is te starting quarterback and his dad is a big shot in town and politics at angola high school play a huge part in everything. Im not saying he isnt good but... i have had maybe 10 fouls all together but at least most of them are on blocks. one more minor reason is i just moved here last year and am still trying to get the hang of their system. they have totally different philosophies on defense especially. my last school we didnt believe in defense.... it was let them score so we could get the ball back sooner.

It can be frustrating being a senior and feeling like you might be overlooked a little, (reminds me of my senior year in HS many moons ago), but if you keep working hard, very very hard, you will get some time to show your value to the team and then take advantage of it.

As far as the fouls, you have to remember in HS there is the airborne shooter rule so if the shooter is in the air, you might block the shot but if you still make contact with the shooter while he is in the air its still a foul.

Now most veteran officials might give you the benefit of the block but by rule it still is a foul.

Also, remember blocks are good for intimidation, but they are NOT "good defense." All you are doing is giving the team the ball back with a chance to set up a play.

Many times on the blocked shot you might have bailed out a player who was out of control and never going to make the shot throwing up a prayer, but you by blocking it out of bounds give them the ball back with another opportunity to score.

I've seen a few who learn the art of tipping the ball just enough so they can grab it. Then you are playing defense because you just made a steal.

Good luck

Thanks
David

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

Granted, this part of the game is very different from boys to girls. However, I teach my girls to not worry about getting a shot blocked, because:

half the time it will be a foul;

and half of the times it isn't a foul, it will go out of bounds;

and half of the times it doesn't go out, we will get the loose ball.

So 7 out of 8 block attempts (very simplistically) by the defense turn out not to hurt us. For the same reason, we try not to "block" a lot of shots, but to challenge shots and stay in good rebounding position.

My point is that shot-blocking is overrated.

[Edited by A Pennsylvania Coach on Dec 22nd, 2003 at 11:05 AM]