Tips for starting sharp?

[stripes]

I had a JUCO game a number of years ago and missed an obvious foul on a play to the basket off of the opening tip. Coach got into me for not being ready to referee and he was right. I guess I tried to ease into the game instead of being ready from the start.

That was all the wake up call I needed. I have mentally prepared in my personal pregame to be ready right from the toss. You never know hwen you'll have to get right into it.

Good luck.

[Back In The Saddle]

I'm kinda like stripes (well, in a very limited way). My wake up call came from missing a backcourt violation right off the tip a year or two back. My pre-game now includes watching for this, and I specifically call it out as a way of demonstrating that we are in the game from the opening tip.

BTW, I believe any time you can find something concrete to watch for or do during a situation, it works better than the more passive "don't miss anything" approach.

[Adam]

My wake-up came last year in a lower level game, actually. Held ball on the opening tip, prior to team control being established by either team. We had the original jumpers re-jump (afterwards, we both knew we'd screwed up).

Couple years ago, had a jumper steal the tip and I missed it. Had the same team the next game, he did it again. I didn't miss it twice.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

I'm kinda like stripes (well, in a very limited way). My wake up call came from missing a backcourt violation right off the tip a year or two back. My pre-game now includes watching for this, and I specifically call it out as a way of demonstrating that we are in the game from the opening tip.

BTW, I believe any time you can find something concrete to watch for or do during a situation, it works better than the more passive "don't miss anything" approach.

Mine came a few seasons ago. Tip, long pass, foul under the bucket. I was the U in 2-person and barely had gotten half way to the baseline and had a lousy view on the contact and passed. I learned to go and if the ball shoots the other way, my partner will adjust and become the lead.