5 weeks went by pretty quick ....
Tomorrow starts the 5th and final week of the Flowing Wells High School Summer League. The program has 4 games on Monday the 27th and 6 games on Wednesday the 29th. As of now the program has played a total of 39 total games in a total of 8 game days and will play 49 total games within the 5 week period ... pretty impressive summer!
Even though the entire program (players) has not been available for every game and summer games are used purely as practice and for the purpose of game plan strategy testing, records have been kept. As of now Varsity has gone 17-3, Junior Varsity has gone 3-6, and the Frosh team has gone 3-7.
::::::QUICK OVERVIEW::::::
+ Participation has been great by all three teams. Unless vacation, health, or the dentist calls most of the girls have been constantly showing up for the games and practices.
+ Progress and development have also been seen by the coaching staff with each game and each practice. Learning new offenses, defenses and styles of play have been difficult but the information seems to be finally sticking within each level of the program.
VARSITY::::::: The team looks much better now than they did the first game of summer league which resulted in a loss to Tucson High. The team lost again this past week to Tucson High as well as Pusch Ridge after winning 17 straight, but was also without 3 seniors and 1 junior, all of which have had or been starters this summer or in past regular season games. With that said, Pusch Ridge must be applauded. They came out and played a great game hitting almost every free throw and outside shot they took. More importantly they just played a tough, smart and controlled game. Varsity still has a long road ahead of them, and only time will truly tell what kind of season this will turn out to be. The team at times seems to be content with their possible "potential" instead of understanding that "potential without the hard work means nothing". Every team and every player has potential. Hopefully our ladies will be able to turn their potential into individual and team talent.
The season will end for us as it will for every other team in Arizona, one of two ways, with or without a State Championship. I believe if the season ends without a State Championship, our girls will look back at the 2011-2012 season as a failure. The word "failure" is very strong, I fully understand that. The usage I intend to make is not in the sense of team bonding or improvement from past seasons, but more importantly failure due to a lost chance in their lives to have not only demonstrated their value, worth and ability to themselves but as well to accomplish something in their basketball careers that only a few are able to do. The last three years have been difficult for the FW Girls Basketball Program, and the ladies that have stuck through the hard times now have a chance as seniors to do something special. The team this year will do great things when reflecting on the last three years but without a final game victory in the playoffs, I personally believe with time we will look back and realize that we missed an opportunity for greatness.
Tomorrow starts the 5th and final week of the Flowing Wells High School Summer League. The program has 4 games on Monday the 27th and 6 games on Wednesday the 29th. As of now the program has played a total of 39 total games in a total of 8 game days and will play 49 total games within the 5 week period ... pretty impressive summer!
Even though the entire program (players) has not been available for every game and summer games are used purely as practice and for the purpose of game plan strategy testing, records have been kept. As of now Varsity has gone 17-3, Junior Varsity has gone 3-6, and the Frosh team has gone 3-7.
::::::QUICK OVERVIEW::::::
+ Participation has been great by all three teams. Unless vacation, health, or the dentist calls most of the girls have been constantly showing up for the games and practices.
+ Progress and development have also been seen by the coaching staff with each game and each practice. Learning new offenses, defenses and styles of play have been difficult but the information seems to be finally sticking within each level of the program.
VARSITY::::::: The team looks much better now than they did the first game of summer league which resulted in a loss to Tucson High. The team lost again this past week to Tucson High as well as Pusch Ridge after winning 17 straight, but was also without 3 seniors and 1 junior, all of which have had or been starters this summer or in past regular season games. With that said, Pusch Ridge must be applauded. They came out and played a great game hitting almost every free throw and outside shot they took. More importantly they just played a tough, smart and controlled game. Varsity still has a long road ahead of them, and only time will truly tell what kind of season this will turn out to be. The team at times seems to be content with their possible "potential" instead of understanding that "potential without the hard work means nothing". Every team and every player has potential. Hopefully our ladies will be able to turn their potential into individual and team talent.
The season will end for us as it will for every other team in Arizona, one of two ways, with or without a State Championship. I believe if the season ends without a State Championship, our girls will look back at the 2011-2012 season as a failure. The word "failure" is very strong, I fully understand that. The usage I intend to make is not in the sense of team bonding or improvement from past seasons, but more importantly failure due to a lost chance in their lives to have not only demonstrated their value, worth and ability to themselves but as well to accomplish something in their basketball careers that only a few are able to do. The last three years have been difficult for the FW Girls Basketball Program, and the ladies that have stuck through the hard times now have a chance as seniors to do something special. The team this year will do great things when reflecting on the last three years but without a final game victory in the playoffs, I personally believe with time we will look back and realize that we missed an opportunity for greatness.
Let's hope in the next 7 months before February comes calling these ladies figure out what is important to them in their basketball careers and more importantly what they want to look back on and remember --- coming up close or giving everything possible to achieve a final goal!!!
JUNIOR VARSITY::::::::: I don't get as much time to watch the JV team in practice and games as I do the Varsity and Frosh teams. The team has lost a few players that have turned from Juniors to Seniors, so their season will really depend upon who steps up as their new go-to-girl and scorer. Will one person take on this role or will a few players step up and share the burden? The team still has the main core of players as well as a few that went from the freshman team and are now sophomores. Last season was a success for the JV team as they went 16-3 and with all respect to the Varsity team last year's JV team really set the bar for last minute heroic game conclusions. Besides Varsity's overtime loss at the end of season to #1 Catalina Foothills the Junior Varsity team demonstrated a knack for winning at the buzzer. Will this team be able to do the same, will they have the ability to make late runs and keep late leads and hit the game winners when they present themselves? Again only time will tell. On a final note I believe the teams season will depend greatly on two things. First, the team needs to utilize their quick reacting and cohesive defensive pressure. As a whole the team does a great job causing turn overs and turning much of the defense into fast break offense. But that leads into the second part. The team has to improve greatly on their ability to not only finish but as well choose the best shot for each possession. If the JV team can make more of their layups and stop taking bad shots I think they have a chance to surprise a lot of teams this year.
FROSH:::::::::: The freshman team is always a difficult one to write about because in most cases its difficult to look at their past performance (Junior High) or truly know who will be on the team with the influx of new students attending the school in the fall and possibly trying out for the team. Well, due to Junior High record keeping and Summer League it doesn't seem to be that difficult this year.
The Frosh Summer League team consists of 7 players that were apart of the Junior High teams. The remaining players have yet to be seen and their status probably won't be known until November 1st roles around with try-outs. In Junior High the team went 13-2, winning one tournament and losing in the end of their season championship game, a heartbreak I hope they remember and use to fuel their winning desires this coming season and during their High School basketball careers. The team has ability, a ton of potential and above all they work well with each other and seem to all be friends. But what they have going against them could be the inability to understand this is the crucial time within their young basketball careers that if they do not take advantage of will determine the rest of their ability, talents and forward progress. I think the Frosh team if kept together for the 2011-2012 season will do some great things, even possibly go undefeated (yes I said it), however that will and can only be accomplished with a ton of hard work during the off season and the month of November. And trust me they are going to work hard, harder then they have ever had to in the sport of basketball. Welcome to High School ladies!
But more importantly, I think this core group of players have the ability if they put in the work and stay focused to accomplish big things at Flowing Wells. Their Frosh year can be a big stepping stone for what I see them possibly accomplishing their Junior years when many of them will be on Varsity and Senior years when they are all together again on Varsity. I know I will be keeping track of them over the next four years.
JUNIOR VARSITY::::::::: I don't get as much time to watch the JV team in practice and games as I do the Varsity and Frosh teams. The team has lost a few players that have turned from Juniors to Seniors, so their season will really depend upon who steps up as their new go-to-girl and scorer. Will one person take on this role or will a few players step up and share the burden? The team still has the main core of players as well as a few that went from the freshman team and are now sophomores. Last season was a success for the JV team as they went 16-3 and with all respect to the Varsity team last year's JV team really set the bar for last minute heroic game conclusions. Besides Varsity's overtime loss at the end of season to #1 Catalina Foothills the Junior Varsity team demonstrated a knack for winning at the buzzer. Will this team be able to do the same, will they have the ability to make late runs and keep late leads and hit the game winners when they present themselves? Again only time will tell. On a final note I believe the teams season will depend greatly on two things. First, the team needs to utilize their quick reacting and cohesive defensive pressure. As a whole the team does a great job causing turn overs and turning much of the defense into fast break offense. But that leads into the second part. The team has to improve greatly on their ability to not only finish but as well choose the best shot for each possession. If the JV team can make more of their layups and stop taking bad shots I think they have a chance to surprise a lot of teams this year.
FROSH:::::::::: The freshman team is always a difficult one to write about because in most cases its difficult to look at their past performance (Junior High) or truly know who will be on the team with the influx of new students attending the school in the fall and possibly trying out for the team. Well, due to Junior High record keeping and Summer League it doesn't seem to be that difficult this year.
The Frosh Summer League team consists of 7 players that were apart of the Junior High teams. The remaining players have yet to be seen and their status probably won't be known until November 1st roles around with try-outs. In Junior High the team went 13-2, winning one tournament and losing in the end of their season championship game, a heartbreak I hope they remember and use to fuel their winning desires this coming season and during their High School basketball careers. The team has ability, a ton of potential and above all they work well with each other and seem to all be friends. But what they have going against them could be the inability to understand this is the crucial time within their young basketball careers that if they do not take advantage of will determine the rest of their ability, talents and forward progress. I think the Frosh team if kept together for the 2011-2012 season will do some great things, even possibly go undefeated (yes I said it), however that will and can only be accomplished with a ton of hard work during the off season and the month of November. And trust me they are going to work hard, harder then they have ever had to in the sport of basketball. Welcome to High School ladies!
But more importantly, I think this core group of players have the ability if they put in the work and stay focused to accomplish big things at Flowing Wells. Their Frosh year can be a big stepping stone for what I see them possibly accomplishing their Junior years when many of them will be on Varsity and Senior years when they are all together again on Varsity. I know I will be keeping track of them over the next four years.