Wollongong Seaside Classic

Hi all,

Congratulations to James Trimble who won the best training award and MVP in the game against the development team on Saturday. James listened really intently and did everything that was asked of him.
Also congratulations to Jackson Gogoll who won the layup competition with 9/10.

Next week there will be no training as the boys will be playing at the Wollongong Seaside Classic. The details are below, inlcuding directions, but if anyone gets stuck or needs to know more there is a new link to the right for the Illawarra Basketball Club where the games will be held.

We now have the draw for the games down in Wollongong on Saturday and Sunday next week. Game times are at the bottom of this post.

There are a number of duies and fees that need to be organised.

• Fees: Games fees for the weekend are $160. Michelle will collect $20 from all parents before the first game at 10am on Saturday, March 4.
• Bench duty: We need to supply two people for each game.

Game conditions:

• Games will consist of 20-minute halves.
• The half time period is 3 minutes.
• There is one time-out each half per team.
• The clock only stops for time-outs.

Directions:

• Take the Wollongong exit at the bottom of Mount Keira.
• Turn right at McDonalds roundabout.
• Turn right at the next roundabout then right again at the next roundabout in that street.
• You should now see Beaton Park entrance on your right.
• Address: "Snakepit" Foleys Road, Gwyneville.

Game times: We are Sutherland Blue

SATURDAY

10am: (This game cancelled)

2pm: v Sydney City 2. Court 3.

5pm: v Illawarra White. Court 2. (new time)

SUNDAY

Playoffs

10.30am or 11.30am: depending on results (court 1 or 2)

1.30pm (court 1 or 2)

Zone 3 shootout

Coach's award
First up, congratulations to Nathan McOrist for being player of the game last week in the match against Manly.
And congratulations to Addam Stone for his training award today.
Keep up the good work both of you.

Next week we will be running the lay-up competition again and yes the bag of goodies will make a return for those who score 8 or better.

ZONE 3
Meanwhile, as promised here are just a few of the pics from our day at Zone 3.
The flash on the camera is pretty powerful so it has taken away from the blacklight illusion that makes this laser game feel like it is played inside a computer.
It was a hoot of a day and we hope that those who couldn't make it can come along to the next outing.








Warm up: Anthony challenged the boys to a game of air hockey before the shoot-out at Zone 3 began.

Final briefing: The boys and Anthony's sister watch attentively (now that's a first) as the Zone 3 expert passes on some last minute tips.

Chaaaaaarge! The games begins and Aaron hunts for his first victim.

















Hands up: Jackson G (kneeling) and Addam prepare to take on all comers.

















Taking care of business: Addam lines up his next target.

















Face off: James and Michael battle it out, while James' brother waits to pick off the winner.
















Gotcha! Jackson S takes out an innocent photographer.


















From the watchtower: James spots someone below.
























Special agent: Marcus of the under 14, division-2 team joined in for the fun.








Instinct: Jackson's sixth sense warns him that danger is approaching.

















Emergency: Michael blows up one of the six hidden bases around the maze.....

















......and then quietly slips away.




























Duel: Addam and Anthony surprise each other in a blaze of laser fire.













They'll be back: The boys pack away their guns and gear after the first game

Schedule and games

Hi All,

UPDATE: The time and location of pre-season games has just been given to us. We will be playing at Bankstown on March 12. See the schedule below for more details.

Competitions with prizes: From this week on, we will be organising some competitions after training on Saturday. There will be small prizes for the winners and those who achieve excellent results.
If the boys want to win something this week they should practice layups (on the left and right side) and their dribbling skills.

Zone 3: Also remember this week is Zone 3, from 5pm. We will be taking plenty of photos and will try to put together a selection of the best for everybody to keep.

Schedule: John has also given us a schedule over the next two months. This is a chance for parents to find out just how many weekends they will have to let their gardens grow wild.
The dates and events from now through to April are as follows:

FEBRUARY
February 18, 2pm: Training (5pm Zone 3)
February 25, 2pm: Training and scrimmage v development team

MARCH
March 4 / 5: Tournament in Wollongong
March 11, 2pm: Training and scrimmage v under-12a
March 12: Pre-season Sydney conference (grading)
8am. Court 3. Versus Sydney Comets
Noon. Court 4. Versus Bankstown Bruins
2pm. Court 3. Versus Manly Sea Eagles (again)
March 18: Training
March 19: Possible Sydney conference grading games
March 25: Training
March 26: Sydney conference, round 1

APRIL
April 1, 2pm: Training
April 2: Sydney conference round 2
April 8, 2pm: Training
April 9: Sydney Conference round 3
April 15, 16: No training (Easter)
April 22, 2pm: Training
April 29, 2pm: Training
April 30: Sydney Conference round 4

Pre-season v Manly

Above: The boys warm up before the game


Pre-season game, February 12
Manly Sea Eagles div 2 v Sutherland Sharks 2b
Loss 38-36.

In a tight contest that went right down to the final possession the boys fell just short after some stifling defence by Manly in the last few seconds of the game.
That said, there were some great plays by all the members of our team.
Nathan McOrist, our top scorer with 17 points, showed how important it was to get to the hot spots. He had 18 shots, ten more than any other player, simply because he was always the first person close to the basket. If the rest of the boys follow his example and get to the hotspots, they will have the same opportunity to score big points.
Michael Northey and Jackson Gogoll will also increase their scores if they work on fast break lay-ups. Both of them had steals that led to fast breaks but were unable to convert. A division-1 player this year had the same problem last year when he played in division-2 but with a little practice he is now one of the most valuable point guards in the top team, and he scores well.
Yet they contributed in many other ways, especially in defence. Michael Northey was outstanding on the boards pulling down eight rebounds. Anthony Rodriguez was also fierce with another seven and also showed he had a sharp outlet pass. Our other big man, James Trimble, had a quiet rebounding game but showed excellent court sense when he offloaded a pass while triple-teamed in the key to create an easy basket for Nathan.
The two Jacks, Jackson Suva and Jackson Gogoll, along with Aaron Caldwell were also great on defence. They showed quick hand speed and great anticipation, with a combined 13 steals between them. All three see the court really well.
Addam Stone showed great ball control and on the two occasions that he brought the ball up, the team scored off his long and accurate passes. He also drove strongly to the basket.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the game was the number of "stat sheet stuffers" we had - players who worked on every part of the game.
Anthony Rodriguez filled every column, including the blocks while Jackson Suva, Nathan McOrist and Addam Stone all contributed across the board.

Scorers: N McOrist 17, A Rodriguez 6, A Stone 6, J Suva 5, A Caldwell 6.
Rebounders (top 5): M Northey 8, A Rodriguez 7, J Gogoll / J Suva 5, J Trimble / N McOrist 3
Steals: J Gogoll 5, A Caldwell/J Suva 4, A Rodriguez 3, A Stone 2
Assists: A Stone 2, A Rodriguez/J Suva/J Trimble 1
Blocks: A Rodriguez 3, A Caldwell 2.


Statistics

4. Nathan McOrist
Field goals: - Attempted:18 Made:8 Shooting percentage: 44%
Free throws: - Attempted: 2 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 50%
Rebounds: 3 Steals: 0 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 1 Blocks: 0
Points: 6

5. Jackson Suva
Fields goals:- Attempted: 6 Made: 2 Shooting percentage: 33%
Free throws:- Attempted: 2 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 50%
Rebounds: 5 Steals: 4 Assists: 1 Turnovers: 3 Blocks: 0
Points: 5

6 Michael Northey
Fields goals:- Attempted: 8 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: - Made: - Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 8 Steals: 1 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 4 Blocks: 0
Points: 0

8. Aaron Caldwell
Fields goals:- Attempted: 1 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 100%
Free throws:- Attempted: - Made: - Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 1 Steals: 4 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 3 Blocks: 2
Points: 2

9. Jackson Gogoll
Fields goals:- Attempted: 6 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: - Made: - Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 5 Steals: 5 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 8 Blocks: 0
Points: 0

12. James Trimble
Fields goals:- Attempted: 2 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: - Made: - Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 3 Steals: 0 Assists: 1 Turnovers: 4 Blocks: 0
Points: 0

13. Addam Stone
Fields goals:- Attempted: 6 Made: 3 Shooting percentage: 50%
Free throws:- Attempted: - Made: - Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 1 Steals: 2 Assists: 2 Turnovers: 2 Blocks: 0
Points: 6

31. Anthony Rodriguez
Fields goals:- Attempted: 5 Made: 3 Shooting percentage: 60%
Free throws:- Attempted: - Made: - Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 7 Steals: 3 Assists: 1 Turnovers: 3 Blocks: 3
Points: 6

Game this Sunday and tips

Hi all,

I have just received the times for our game on Sunday.

Game times: We will play a Manly division-2 side at 10am. Everybody should be there by 9.30am.

Training: It's back to 2pm on Saturday for the forseeable future.

Meanwhile here's a pic taken during a time-out at last week's game.

The boys look pretty relaxed despite the loss, which is a good thing.

To help keep them relaxed and still improve their game here's a simple (almost blindingly obvious) tip that I picked up from a book called The Double Goal Coach by Jim Thompson.

I've tried it with Addam and it really works.

In the book, Jim Thompson reports how a number of highly successful coaches have run what they call a two-minute drill. It’s used mostly when a team is in a slump or playing poorly. You know the kind of game where nothing goes right.

For two minutes the coach looks for genuine positives.

If a player makes a pass that didn’t work but was a good pass, the coach praises them for a good pass. If the players take a good shot, but the shot misses, the coach still calls out good shot. For two minutes every call is positive, (great position under the post, good catch, nice drive whatever you see as long as it is "truthful" praise – false praise does not work)

It’s a case of calling out whenever the players do something well.

The positive feedback lifts the emotions of the players and improves their game. More importantly they also try to repeat the things that got them praise.

Former Stanford women’s tennis coach Frank Brennan, who won 10 NCAA titles, used it on days when practice wasn’t going well. He waited until he found something he could truthfully be positive about. Bit by bit he would move between courts genuinely praising all his players.

"After he finished with the players on the last court, he turned around, and he always found his players transformed, each playing much better than before." (Pg 82).

There's nothing stopping parents extending that drill to an entire game.

Sharks v ACT Rats (division 1)

ACT Rats (division 1) versus Sutherland Sharks 2B (division 2)
Loss: 65-20
Pre-season game. February 5.
The ACT Rats division-2 team was unable to make it to Sutherland for the weekend so our boys suited up against that club’s very tough division-one team instead.
It was perhaps the hardest way to start a pre-season hit-out. I doubt we’ll play another side of this calibre for the rest of the year.
Proof of the quality of the Rats was that the team went on to win every game on this day, including those against the Sutherland division-one team.
Despite being smaller and not nearly as strong as the opposition, the Sharks 2B team showed some promising moments, particularly in the second half, when some quick passing set up a couple of great fast-break baskets.
Coach John Suva was also very impressed with the way the boys attacked the basket against this big team.
We struggled with our rebounding at times, giving up too many second and third chances to the ACT because of our physical disadvantages but Kurt Joyner (4 rebounds) and James Trimble (5 rebounds) put in some great efforts in torrid conditions.
Team turnovers were very high and there were no assists, which showed just how much the Sharks were bottled up. Once again, this came down to the quicker foot speed and anticipation of the ACT.
Despite this loss, the boys have no reason to be despondent. They showed a never-say-die attitude that will hold them in great stead when they come up against teams of their level over the next few weeks.


Statistics

4. Nathan McOrist
Field goals: - Attempted: 9 Made: 3 Shooting percentage: 33%
Free throws: - Attempted: 0 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0
Rebounds: 0 Steals: 0 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 1 Personals fouls: 1
Points: 6

5. Jackson Suva
Fields goals:- Attempted: 1 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 100%
Free throws:- Attempted: 0 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 0 Steals: 0 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 1 Personals fouls: 1
Points: 2

6 Michael Northey
Fields goals:- Attempted: 5 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: 2 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 50%
Rebounds: 1 Steals: 1 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 4 Personals fouls: 2
Points: 1

7. Kurt Joyner
Fields goals:- Attempted: 2 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: 0 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 4 Steals: 2 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 6 Personals fouls: 3
Points: 0

8. Aaron Caldwell
Fields goals:- Attempted: 2 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 50%
Free throws:- Attempted: 1 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Rebounds: 0 Steals: 0 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 5 Personals fouls: 0
Points: 2

9. Jackson Gogoll
Fields goals:- Attempted: 7 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: 4 Made: 2 Shooting percentage: 50%
Rebounds: 1 Steals: 1 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 2 Personals fouls: 0
Points: 2

12. James Trimble
Fields goals:- Attempted: 2 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 50%
Free throws:- Attempted: 0 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 5 Steals: 1 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 5 Personals fouls: 1
Points: 2

13. Addam Stone
Fields goals:- Attempted: 3 Made: 1 Shooting percentage: 33%
Free throws:- Attempted: 3 Made: 3 Shooting percentage: 100%
Rebounds: 2 Steals: 0 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 1 Personals fouls: 0
Points: 5

31. Anthony Rodriguez
Fields goals:- Attempted: 1 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: 0%
Free throws:- Attempted: 0 Made: 0 Shooting percentage: -
Rebounds: 2 Steals: 0 Assists: 0 Turnovers: 1 Personals fouls: 3
Points: 0