Photo courtesy of Joe Prax
Coach’s Journal: Elks Tournament.
Our favorite time of the year! It is always an exciting time to take part in one of the longest running tournaments in Alaska basketball history. From the top down everyone puts in such a tremendous amount of work and time (especially that stats team!) to make this, in my opinion, the best run tournament in the state. To the workers, volunteers, chefs, referees, coaches, players, managers, the staff at both schools the parents and anyone I may have forgotten to mention THANK YOU! Nothing goes unnoticed, you are what makes this tournament so memorable for the kids. Anyways, on to basketball.
Day 1: Nenana.
Practice this week was a slight bit lethargic. Our three missing guys from last weekend’s games were back and still working the crud out of their systems and getting back into game shape, and David must have caught what they had as he was out sick this week as well.
So coming into game one we had that to deal with, as well as our scouting report against Nenana. I believe they were missing maybe three of their own rotation players, and on top of that, we knew that we matched up very well against them.
In the past our group has had some trouble staying engaged in games that we have good matchups against.
One thing great teams can do is go into any game, no matter who it is, and play the same way with the same intensity to the best of their ability.
We started the season off with some of those old bad habits, but have been trending upwards since our loss against Seward in the Delta tournament. This would be a real test for us, coupled by the fact that we had a few guys getting over that lingering sickness. Which version of us would show up?
We started the game in our “42” half-court trap defense to kind of jump-start the mental engagement and it seemed to work. Almost immediately jumped out to a double digit lead as the game started, all from great looks. It seemed like we hadn’t missed a beat. The ball was moving, and when the ball moves it has energy. “Don’t go find the ball, let the ball find you” is a point of emphasis in our practices and this was a great example of why. We had only one or two defensive mishaps in the period that lead to two Nenana field goals, but before we knew it, the first quarter was over and we were holding almost a 30 point lead.
I think it is starting the click for the guys how to take care of business like a great team should. At the end of the day, it all really comes down to how we conduct ourselves and how we do our best to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be, no matter who we play or what we are doing.
The rest of the game continued in a similar fashion, eventually hitting that running clock threshold and sealing the win. Jarrett and Tino lead the way offensively, scoring 19 and 17 respectively.
Our next opponent would be the winner of Seward and Bethel. I was sort of hopeful that Seward would pull through, just because they gave us one of our only two losses this season, but either way it would be a great rematch against either team that won. Bethel ended up winning, so we prepared to face Coach Cronk’s former team: the Warriors.
Day 2: Bethel
We had previously played the Warriors over winter break in their Donlin Gold tournament, in what was essentially the championship game. (In a round robin tournament there aren’t really championship games, but the way our records played out, it turned out that the winner would be champion.) We ended up with the win, but it was such a great experience for the guys. I’ve never been in a gym that was so loud and passionate about basketball. The fans, parents and families were going nuts the entire game!
Because of the outcome of that championship game, I think it’s fair to say that Bethel had revenge on their mind. They wanted this game. Bad. And they played like it.
Bethel came out hot to start the gate, nailing the first shot of the game, a three pointer, almost right away, and we knew we were in for a battle. There were a number of lead changes in the first quarter before we were able to pull ahead by 6 at the end of the first quarter, but there was still a long ways to go.
Bethel was absolutely dominating us on the boards (rebounds) which was leading to a number of problems. 1. Might sound obvious, but if we don’t grab the board, we don’t have the ball and can’t score ourselves. & 2. It gives the other team a second chance to score on a possession. In the NBA the average “points per possession” scored is about 1.06. However, on a 2nd chance attempt that number jumps up to around 1.7. Essentially it’s getting close to double the points which basically comes down to they are much more likely to score on a possession if they get a second chance at a shot.
It can also be mentally exhausting to play a minute of great tough defense and force the opponent into a tough shot, only for them to get their own rebound in prime scoring location.
So, like I mentioned, Bethel wanted this game badly. And they played like it. In the second quarter that offensive rebounding lead to them having (what would end up being) their highest scoring quarter of the game. Going into the half Valdez still managed to cling to a three-point lead: 26-23.
Our halftime adjustments essentially came down to one thing…. Grab a freaking rebound!! Another point of emphasis we got across was to get more paint touches before we launched up three point shots, and both adjustments seemed to work.
The rest of the way we doubled their rebounds, and managed to hold them to only two field goals made in the 3rd quarter.
Nick had gotten into some early foul trouble and sat much of the first half and in the second half picked up two more fouls (you’re only allowed 5) but managed to finish the game without committing another. That kind of composure, to continue to play tough defense in a situation like that, is what helps make a great leader and can set the tone for a team in tight games such as this.
Going into the fourth quarter we really emphasized getting the paint touches and having mental toughness to keep that sense of urgency strong, which in turn lead to an offensive explosion. A 19 point fourth quarter, doubling Bethel’s output, sealed the win for us and sent us to the championship round: a rematch against the Nome-Beltz Nanooks.
This is the rematch we all were looking forward to as a benchmark to see how much we have improved. Nome is a top 5 rated team in the state, and handed us our only other loss this season. In that game, the Nanooks jumped out to an early 12-15 point lead on a barrage of 3pt shots in the first quarter. However, the 2nd, 3rd & 4th quarters combined we actually ended up outscoring them by around 3-5 points. What might the game have looked like if we had had a better first quarter? No way to tell really, but it was something to build off of going into the final round of Elks Tournament play.
Day 3: Nome
I think everyone was eagerly awaiting this game. The crowd was a sea of black and the boys were locked in.
The tip went up, straight to Nome and they scored almost immediately. Defensively we were again running our half court trap and had some moderate success with it. The unfortunate part was, from all the turnovers we were able to generate, we couldn’t convert them on the other end. Lots of missed shots right at the rim. After a few possessions where we didn’t get back on defense fast enough, Nome had built an 18-7 lead.
Despite those missed shots at the rim, the positive from that is that we were generating a lot of good looks at the basket, which is what our game-plan is. Great shot selection. We just had to stay mentally engaged and positive and we could come back. Remember great teams can weather the storm and stay focused in times of trouble.
In the second quarter we did just that. Jarrett himself had a bit of an offensive explosion scoring 13 of our 15 points. Nome still scored 7 points of their own, but we had made it a game again & had all the momentum going into halftime still trailing by 3.
Coming out of the third quarter we fell into a few of our bad habits. Forgetting to recover on defense or having a mental lapse on a rotation; and a team as great as Nome will convert on those mistakes every time.
We had a few possessions where I think the panic button got flipped mentally and we began to launch threes just seconds into our time with the ball. Timeout. Time to regroup.
Coming out of the timeout we found a little spark and made a bit of a comeback and even tied the game. As I mentioned though, teams like Nome will take one little slip up or one lazy closeout and convert those opportunities at a high rate. They did. And held onto a 3 point lead, 35-32, going into the final period.
Another quality of great teams is that constant sense of urgency they carry about them at all times. They never take their foot off the gas, because anything can happen while there is time on the clock. As the final period continued, Nome kept the pressure on and had another scoring outburst while our boys struggled to get the ball in the basket. It seemed that any run we went on, Nome always answered with a little more and eventually the clock became our ultimate enemy. Nome pulled away and wound up with the win 50-37. Valdez (both the boys and girls) ended up winning 2nd place in the Elks Tournament.
I mentioned before that we were excited for this rematch as a benchmark for how much we have improved this year. In my opinion these wins and losses aren’t really all that important. The important part is: Did we give everything we had to be the best versions of ourselves? If not, how close were we? Winning games, awards, trophies are all byproducts of that success. At the end of the day, it’s all about getting a little bit better every single day, and we always plan to be at our absolute best when the State Tournament rolls around.
Nome is a top 5 ranked 3a team and we pushed them to the final minutes of a championship game. If we just clean up a few of those defensive mishaps, or a couple of those shots at the rim, this just as easily could have been a win for us. These are the situations where we really grow and learn and hopefully carry that chip on our shoulder. We can be better, and we will.
Along with the 2nd place trophy, the Bucs also won the Best Free Throw Percentage award, and had three players named all-tournament: Nick, Tino and Jarrett. Next weekend we will be traveling to Hutchison for another round of conference games! Go Bucs!
See the full tournament results HERE.
Photo courtesy of Joe Prax