The Seahawks hosted the Bournemouth Razors in the opening fixture of the 2018-19 Dorset Basketball League and we started nervously but used experience in our starting 5. The offence was working well to begin with, moving the ball and getting good looks, but we couldn't convert.
Down the other end, the Razors showed their experience in years, by working the ball and finding open looks to get good shots, which were dropping. And soon the heads started dropping.
Defence was weak, letting players stroll in and score, or giving away cheap fast breaks, but the biggest flaw throughout the game was the amount of heart and hustle on defence. Players did not know which defence we were playing, zone or man, and would be all over the place, not picking people up, drifting so far out of position we left huge holes in the floor. It was shocking.
Offensively we then got lazy, trying to make something happen, and started shooting 3's again, which we hit 2 maybe from 20, but when we worked the ball and got good shots, surprise surprise we scored lay ups. It was too bad at that end, scoring 37 against a strong team, but actually missing a bunch of open shots, there were positives to take from that.
Then there were points which I "tried" to address during training and before the game, about attitude. It just wasnt good enough. Players moaning that they weren't getting the minutes, then when they were on, not proving to anyone why they should be on. It should be in you know you're a "bench player", come on get your minutes and prove to the coaches and players around you why you should be getting more minutes.
NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED:
Players on the court talking to the crowd not concentrating
We have a timeout and switch to Zone D, and then we step back on the court, and players are asking who they are marking??
Players not knowing the basic difference between man and zone
Players leaving the game to talk to people playing table tennis
Players not hustling on D
Players way out of position
Players switching to man to man D for inbounds passes
No talking
No boxing out, 2nd, 3rd, 4th offences
Players more worried about how many they scored versus the way we player [we lost by almost 70 - thats the only stat that should matter]
There was loads more. Watch the video. We will go through it at training.
Thursdays fixture will see players sat due to attitude and those showing the most heart and concentration during training will play.
Finally, I would like to apologise for my language used after the game, although I was angry it was unacceptable and I apologise for that. However, I do not apologise as to why I used the language and the actions of some players.