Inspiration in Anticipation of Frustration

Practice this morning. Kids filtered in late, but the workout was really solid nonetheless. Very hard to think about getting on kids. Chris mentioned that I might want to think of some punitive component, some way to get these kids to MIT on time – meaning by 6:50 so we can open at 7AM and get a solid 55 minutes in. In truth, while this is consistent with the rigor and seriousness we wish to, and successfully, convey, the fact that kids are coming from all over – Central Square, North Cambridge, Malden, Lawrence, Dorchester, South End, and more. And while I suppose the argument could be made that this is consistent with the differences students bring to other components of school where we demand a leveling, an equalization regardless of circumstance, morning practices somehow exist outside of this realm…

Perhaps it’s because standing there in the mornings, watching kids going all out – practicing taking charges, working on their handle, sprinting up and down the court, encouraging each other, finishing with suicides including push-ups at the turns – makes being inspired so damn easy. Yes, we have poor morning workouts. But with even those there is a sense of solidarity that is valuable, special, unique. It comes at times to the classroom, and when it happens – at the end of the year, for example, when a class has coalesced into a functioning unit, a family, that looks out for one another and truly cares – it’s magical. With team sports, however, the potential is there and when it happens, when a group comes together, it’s similarly wonderful. Somehow, and it’s tough to articulately capture its essence, but morning practices seem to facilitate the process.

Tomorrow evening we play Academy of the Pacific Rim (these charter schools do have wonderful names, huh?). They’ll be big and physical. It might be a running clock, in the true spirit of ensuring our league avoids official regulations that confer legitimacy. It might involve the worst of last year’s referees (one guy, clock in one hand, referring to the other players by name). Will report back on the outcome. Will undoubtedly be interesting. And infuriating. Hopefully, we’ll head into the vacation 3-0.

Notes on a Cancellation (No Scandal)

On the train to New Haven, can’t put any more work into one of my take-home finals, listening to some solid music and thinking about a few things…

Tonight’s game was cancelled. CCSC and BCCS were off today with schools cancelled all over the area, though not the other Cambridge public schools, interestingly. As such, BCCS could not get its guys (or girls) to our place… Unfortunate as it would have been a good opportunity to work on that which we focused this past week – transition defense with good communication and matching up as well our Manhattan and 13 offense against various types of zones. Against City on a Hill, we didn’t figure out to beat their pressure-heavy 3-2 until the middle of the second half, and even then we had a bunch of turnovers with guys trying to dribble through traps or floating skip passes. In practice, we had seven or eight guys playing defense, in some seriously modified trapping 3-2s, 1-3-1s and 2-3s. The kids began to get it. In reality, it’s about being stronger with the ball, not floating passes and resisting the dribble to attack before the ball has been adequately swing and the zone is struggling to recover. With four or six or even three passes, we were getting lay-ups and open jump shots. Will have to be a focus this entire year and beyond.

Boston Collegiate, our would-be opponent tonight, is likely going to struggle this year, having lost one solid and one remarkably-skilled 8^th grade students who opted to transfer to a school with more renown sports programs. Unfortunate for them. I think they also lost their coach, who got the job at BB&N, coaching football and basketball. We can’t get enough time in the gym, though, and playing in front of fans on the main court would have done us well.

On a related, perspective-gaining note, Orin sent me a picture message with a snap of his newborn son – Gabriel Horace Gutlerner. He was a bit overdue, seriously overdue given that they fully expected him a couple of weeks early (ago), and will mean that O, understandably, of course, is a little less available for late-night hoops strategy sessions and practice planning (actually, maybe he’ll be more available for those things…). Very excited for him and to meet the little man, who will undoubtedly have a killer anywhere-inside-the-arc-and-sometimes-outside-of-it jumper by the end of year two. Or twelve.

That’s it. Practice Sunday in the morning at the Y in Central. Supposed to be terrible weather Saturday into Sunday as well, so we’ll see. I’m done for a bit on the 18^th, which will be and feel wonderful. The last few weeks have been a push and while I at no point have regretted the coaching duties, or the time consumed with practice or long-running, non-functioning-scoreboard games, the extra time to focus would have been helpful.

Until soon…

A Sloppy Win and an Exhilarating One. 2-0 Heading into Friday Night...

So, much to catch you up on. I want to tell you about tonight’s game, an incredible thriller, an inspiring win, but it must wait. Some context, first…

On Friday night, at home, we beat Foxboro 55-45. We were bigger, stronger and faster. And we played more sloppily. But, and this took some time to realize afterwards – as all of the coaches, through phone calls over the weekend, emails and in-person debriefs, tried to figure out why the win felt like a loss. Here’s what I think: We didn’t play crisply. We turned the ball over a lot, got called for lots of travels, missed lay-ups, settled for many a one and done. More than that, however, this was our first official game – suiting up the Nike uniforms, playing in front of our home crowd at MIT – since the MCSAO tournament last year, when we played nearly flawless ball that exemplified the team’s growth. And here we were, light years ahead of where we begun last year, but with much higher expectations. More upsetting, kids looked down as they played, like they weren’t having fun. They were also quarreling with each other, which I hate. Both things we needed to address heading into tonight’s game.

However, stepping back, we won. We were 1-0. We were starting the season with a win for the first time since CCSC opened its doors and fielded its first hoops squad in December 2005. More than that, a silver lining emerged that isn’t inconsequential. We won without playing our best ball. Last year, when we played poorly, or turned it over a lot, or got mad at each other, or committed a lot of fouls, we lost. Sometimes, we got blown out. But this game, doing all of those things, we won. Not only that, we were up between 6 and 14 the entire second half. So the good news, I suppose, is more wiggle room. But I, or we, won’t be lowering expectations either…

We had nothing over the weekend – no practice Saturday or Sunday. Conditioning outside was iced out yesterday. All of this meant we were heading into tonight’s game, a real unknown against a team that didn’t field a team last year, but prior to that was so good that that joined another league (or so the rumors go…), with no prep. School released the ball players early, but, per usual, we waited a full half hour for the bus. The ride to this incredibly massive, and well-kept, YMCA was quick and the girls were suited up and warming up well before the other team. The girls won, playing well. City on a Hill’s girls team wasn’t disciplined, fouling a lot, and the game – played in an old gym, with a semi-functioning scoreboard, and a slippery floor – didn’t end until after 6.

We changed at their halftime and used another court, on the side, to warm-up and review some things. We didn’t tip until close to seven, I bet, and by then, the scoreboard wasn’t functioning at all. The result was a teenager with a stopwatch and a serious reliance on the girls doing the book. We had to constantly check in about score and time and the scene is one I cannot do justice. We had one assistant coach by the table, keeping track of those keeping track of the score and another monitoring the clock.

We didn’t know what to expect in part because they had lost to a top-tier team by 13 and beaten one of last year’s stronger squads by 30…apparently. During warm-ups, they looked big. The kids were very athletic. Ultimately, they had started two decent big men and three very good guards. We opened the game with a bucket, which was answered by an NBA-range pull-up 3 that looked way to effortless for their point guard. And from there it was on. Back and forth, with no team able to gain more than a three or four point lead.

At the half, they were in foul trouble. They weren’t disciplined, fouling often. During our free throws, it was the players on their bench that were yelling, which we tried to point out should either be self-policed in the name of class and self-respect or result in a technical, as it was ridiculous. Jude played incredibly, slashing the to hoop, heading free throws, locking his man up on defense. Bayoan quietly poured in 17 points (he scored 18 Friday night against Foxboro). Geo ended up guard their point guard, who was hurting us, and clamping down on him admirably, in addition to pulling down enormous rebounds, especially down the stretch. Michael played wonderfully, hitting two huge wing jump shots, converting on some layups and playing with a passion that only he seems able to muster. Wale, after starting slow, led the offense during the second half, making good decisions, picking up fouls, playing smart. Others got in and contributed.

With four minutes left, we went up four, after trailing for a while. I knew this, by the way, only from the scorer updates and the kid holding the stop watch and calling out the time at random intervals. But we let up, turned the ball over on some critical fast breaks, missed some shots, committed some fouls and found ourselves, with two minutes left, down one. At this point, they started to hold the ball. We played tight defense, though, forced some misses and with less than a minute left, Bayoan calmly drove baseline from the left side, went under the hoop and finished a beautiful reverse. We were up. They missed a shot, Bayoan was fouled. Missed both free throws. They missed on another possession. Geo was fouled. Missed both free throws. With four seconds left, they had the ball and time for a final play. Their point guard ran up the floor, eluded a defender and threw up a running one-handed 3 attempt…which was off the mark. We won, amazingly, 57-56. And we outplayed them. We played smarter and more disciplined and, perhaps what matters to me most, with class, no shit-talking, and a lot of positive energy and encouragement. A beautiful win against a very good team, one that we will surely see later in the season, which might be bolstered by another big man.

No pictures. Sorry. I’m only now, two hours after the end of the game, calming down. An incredibly exciting win. We practice tomorrow, Thursday morning, then host Boston Collegiate at home on Friday night. With any luck, and if we keep improving and playing team ball, we’ll be 3-0 heading into the weekend. A very solid win. Orin dashed home to see if Jo was any closer to delivering their second child, a boy. Chris, Ryan and Jeremy were all in attendance, helping out, working with kids, getting excited.

Extremely proud of these kids, of the way they carried themselves, of how hard they played, of how they supported each other, of the win. One of those nights where, despite the fact that we ran late and that I should be prepping the two final papers I soon have due, this all seems so very worthwhile and important.

Until sooner, I promise. Thanks for reading. Go CCSC.

Pre-Game 1 Musings

We open the season tonight against Foxboro Regional Charter School at home. It is actually a perfect opening opponent. FRCS lost their stud player last year. He is likely playing college ball somewhere (which is a good thing, as far as we’re concerned). But they’re well-coached, they have their own gym (no small feat in our league) and they’ll push our defense to stay focused, to keep their positioning. We’re more athletic and should be ok tonight, but I’m still nervous, as I suppose I should be…

Looks like we’ll have our top nine players eligible. Somewhat miraculous as a couple of weeks ago I was being forced to think about how our team would do with three or four starters sitting because of grades. Yesterday, instead of going to practice at 7am, Geo went to school to work with his Spanish teacher. They had an incredible session early in the morning, one on one, and he revised a test he had bombed. That, coupled with an improved attitude, another project and his teacher seeing the power of his involvement with hoops – how hard he is trying – has resulted in him being able to play tonight, which is wonderful. He is a leader, the captain since he was in 8^th grade, and we need him out there. He highlight, however, the pass-fail dichotomy that dictates status, which I previously described as problematic for myriad reasons.

A student not eligible, a newcomer to CCSC with tremendous skills, will not be with us. In fact, I just received a text from his advisor and he might no longer me a member of the CCSC community, which is sad and has larger implications for the students we are, and are not, intending, determined, to serve.

Last few practices have been solid. We’re ready. We’re miles ahead of where we started the last two years, as Orin pointed out when we met this morning to talk about the line-ups, starters, game plans, etc. Should be a full house, lots of energy, teachers watching their students, a ton of fun. Can’t wait. I’ll post results and pics sometime soon.

Approaching Opening Night -- Lots on which to work, like, um, grades

To whom does one ask forgiveness when a blog entry has been thought about often, but not actually carried out? Why isn’t it possible to get credit for thinking about blogging? Anyway…

It’s December 1^st. Since the last entry, we had two weeks of practice and a scrimmage. Grades, keeping track of them, talking with kids about them urging kids to get them up, continues to be the part of this experience that makes it most difficult. I hesitate to say I hate it, because I don’t. I believe in hoops as a motivator and its power. I believe in the value of having three, four, five or six positive male presences at each practice, meeting, scrimmage, game for kids to relate to, connect to, understand, share with. It is powerful and good for them. Many don’t have enough role models in their lives, or male ones, and this I makes a difference. So why is the grades piece so frustrating?

CCSC has a problem. The lion’s share of those who make honor roll (all A’s and B’s), or high honor roll (all A’s), are female. Yes, there are some males who receive the honor, but not many. And if you count African-American males, or Haitian males, the numbers plumet and the percentage is revealed to be miniscule. Take a moment to look at any of the numbers, or read some of the literature on black males, graduation, prison, etc. and you see why this is such a pressing issue. No, they’re not out on the streets, or even failing out, but they’re not excelleing. It seems, like black males at CCSC are stuck in some paradigm where passing and failing exists without more subtle gradations in between. Whereas our female students seem more aware of the value of high grades and push for them, for many of the males, passing is the goal. It is enough.

Responses to queries about grades are met with comments about passing and failing, not doing well, getting an A, making honor roll. This is an issue. For all of us. How, as a school, can we change the paradigm for these young men. How can we alter the lens through which they view their academic record. I have said it before, but with a new school and a student population that is not constantly exposed to people who have gone to college, the conception of higher ed, of moving on, is almost foreign. Until some kids make it, and, sadly, until some kids do not, our kids will not learn. Until they see that for colleges, an A is different than a C, we will continue to have these issues. Graduating some classes, having some kids get in to, and rejected by, colleges will make a different. So we continue to struggled with five or six kids who are hovering, between passing and failing. Some have been suspended multiple times this year already and are poised for expulsion hearings. But wait, I find myself screaming, hoops has not been given a chance. Wait before we rush to judgment. Let’s see if the presence of some men in their lives, the possibility of playing in front of family and friends on Friday nights can turn things around. We shall see…

Practice continues to go well. As has become custom, there emerge ten things to work on for every one thing – skills, play, situation, scheme – we get to. Our “to teach” list is growing, not shrinking. Kids are working hard, though, and improving. Attendance at our Wednesday practices is always nearly perfect. And our numbers showing up for the 7AM workouts have been solid. Kids, incredibly, come from Malden, Roslindale, Dorchester. And some are there before I am. And I drive. And they don’t. It’s gotten dark and cold. Hopefully, they’ll continue to make it a priority.

Depending on grades, it still seems like we’ll have 8-10 guys pushing for time. There is a top six. Excitingly, though, we now have a second group – made up of juniors, sophomores and a freshman – who will also push for time. This serves to make practice more competitive and makes the starters less secure, which will hopefully keep their work ethic strong. We’re continuing to focus on skills, especially in the mornings, but will, starting tomorrow, work more on our offensive sets and defensive pressure. We learned a lot from the scrimmage against Boston University Academy this past Wednesday.

We took the T over. With the girls and boys, the managers, and some student fans coming along, we were a site. We rolled into the BUA building with about forty kids. Needless to say, they stick out at BUA, which is predominantly white, affluent, not dissimilar from the high school I attended. The girls lost by 2. They played well and Jeremy, the new coach (who is also teaching at the school) knows his stuff and cares. A bunk call, to which I advised him he should become accustomed, cost them down the stretch, but he had to have been impressed. Returning girls have improved, their attitude is positive and a 7^th grader should be starting at the point guard position by opening night. Needless to say, she is something to see.

In our locker-room before halftime, I again reiterated that not all students would suit up and fewer would play. I feel compelled to continue sending this message, though I’m not sure some kids get it. All of the middle schoolers stayed in street clothes, as did one of the 11^th graders, who has been missing practice and tardy a bunch. He was very angry.

With our starting five looking solid, we scored the first 12 points. We then subbed for all five, a pattern we would repeat throughout the scrimmage in an attempt to see a lot of kids and a lot of combinations, and the second group did well. We won by two in the end, but the score was not indicative of the extent to which we could have dominated. Regardless, we got to see some kids and saw what needs to be focused on moving forward. Defensively, after the smothering defense that held them almost shotless for the first four minutes, we let up. Later that night, it occurred to me that the intensity dropped because every group then entered thereafter with a sizable lead, until the end, when they made a little run. The intensity needs to be ratcheted up. Additionally, position was off and we’re not where we need to be in terms of helping out. We didn’t take a single charge, which we work on daily in practice.

Offensively, we’re miles ahead of where we started the previous two years and far from where we need to be. We seldom passed more than three or four times before jacking up shots. Against their zone, our Manhattan didn’t work. We need to focus on getting the ball to whoever is running baseline and then dumping to whomever is diving towards the hoop. We rely on slashing too much and jumpshots that aren’t yet polished. We were more athletic than them by far and did not kill them on the board. Going straight back up, finishing on the break, triple threat position and first steps without traveling are all components that need work. We will perpetually struggle this year to find the balance between running and slowing it down. I have to believe that we can get out and run, and finish, as well as any team in the league. But our advantage last year was our ability to slow it down, to work the ball against zones, to change the tempo and frustrate teams.

Oh, and we fouled a ton. No reaching, no slapping. That will also be a focus of tomorrow’s practice. Yesterday afternoon, after school, we watched film from last year’s championship game. We wanted to kids to see what we’re striving for, what we can do, how we can play. We’ll see what effect it has.

Season opens Friday night. No idea how many kids will be eligible. Going to be fun regardless, though… Enjoy the snaps.

Tryout Wrap-Up and Thoughts Looking Forward...

Last Wednesday, because there is early dismissal and as a result of their not being any detention on such days, 35 kids showed up for tryouts. The session ran for two and a half hours. Again, we ran them ragged, focusing on core skills and attempting to weed out those who did not fully comprehend the level of commitment we intend to demand, and have demanded in the past. By the end, kids were gassed.

The next morning, Thursday, we reconvened at 7AM for our first morning session. We will hold two morning practices per week – on Tuesdays and Thursdays – and seeing whether or not students could make it, would make it, was crucial. We had fewer kids show, but, amazingly, still ended up with about 25 students. Again, we went fast and furious for 55 minutes, ending with a lot of conditioning (during which Chris bluntly stated in a bellowing voice, “yeah, guys, I thought he was crazy the first time I showed up for one of your practices as well” in reference to my own tendency to push the kids in a serious way). We wrapped up before 8 and had kids cleared out by ten after. Word was that they got to CCSC on time, or at least the lion’s share did.

It constantly impresses me how many kids want to have this experience, regardless of the time we demand, the energy, the commitment. With everything else on the plates of these youngsters, they have decided that this is worth it. It is crucial for us, the coaching staff, not to forget that. Ever. Despite home situations that are less than ideal – to put it mildly – and academic expectations that are, simply put, more intense than the majority of high schools out there serving our population of students, these kids are openly submitting themselves to even more requirements, rules, regulations. The new kids, without having experienced what being on a real team is like, how it can be profoundly impacting, have heard about it, or came to CCSC because of it, or have faith in that which is to date foreign (in a way not dissimilar, actually, to the typical CCSC student’s thinking about college, about which they hear constantly, but in reality, means very little and could not be more amorphous), gave all of themselves.

And then we posted cuts on Friday at noon.

I wasn’t at CCSC, I was, in fact, in class, but I received an email from our AD. He wrote, “_____ just saw the list. By himself, he said "wow." it was the saddest expression I've ever seen. He didn't know I was watching. Toughest thing a coach ever has to do.” Indeed. It felt terrible. The named student had played last year, had improved tremendously. But not enough. He was not going to make many of our games and was not good enough, as a 10^th grader, to push for playing time. He would have excelled on a JV team. But we don’t have one. Nor do we have a team for freshman or middle schoolers. Arg. We did, however, opt to keep five middle school kids who are the future of CCSC hoops. Today, at Monday Conditioning – which we’ll do weekly until it begins to snow (though 10 of 23 kids today were in either homework or behavior detention!).

There is, it seems, an inherent contradiction at work, one which I am struggling to wrap my head around and far from solving. Every student deserves a real, genuine, legitimate team sports experience. It is, however, the process of selectivity, of cuts, of focusing on a manageable number of kids, that makes the experience real, genuine and legitimate. As such, the cuts make it real and are thus necessary, but they’re heart-breaking, especially once you begin to see the effect that participation has on kids, what it can do for their self-esteem, their physical development, their commitment to school.

Today, as I mentioned, Will, the humanities teacher who is teaching my curriculum this year to CCSC’s 10s, and who helped coach the CCSC soccer team, took the kids out with Orin and did some conditioning. This is a new component of our regimen and yet another attempt to make up for the perpetual struggle to get enough time in the gym. This was, obviously, not in a gym. But, if we continue with the pace we’ve established, we will figure out a way to get these kids into incredible shape and keep them there. It will then enable us to run with anybody. As an aside, our challenge will be the balancing of this running, frantic, pressing style (which I am convinced we can do as well as anybody in the league and now have a deep enough roster to accomplish it with 8, 9, 10 students competing for burn) with the slowed-down, organized style that we proved can beat any team last year, the style that few other schools seems to take seriously and embrace. Tomorrow, 7AM. Then Wednesday from 2 – 4:30PM. Then the Thanksgiving break with a practice Sunday to run off that bird. Pictures coming soon, I hope. I should have taken a pic of the 35 who came out last Wednesday. Would have been an amazing shot. Thanks for reading.

Tryouts, Day 1

It started up again today. I must confess that so much thought has gone into this season and there exists so much excitement – from the kids, from us – that expectations are high – for winning, for enjoying ourselves, for continuing to offer a real team sports experience to kids who may have never had one.
Counting a couple of stragglers who rolled in late, we had 22 kids show up. Every kid from last year, except one who transferred to another high school for family-related reasons, is back. As such, these next few days will be interesting.
What do we owe those who played last year? What is having been on the team, but not having actually gotten playing time worth? How many middle schoolers should we carry? Is there an obligation to build the program?
Already difficult decisions are creeping to the forefront. We have students who have played the last two years, committed themselves, sweated a ton, been positive influences on others. We have new kids, unknown quantities, with skills. Will we opt to take some younger kids, some new kids, at the expense of those who work hard, but won’t play? We have two more tryouts to figure it out.
Moreover, how do we approach the season? We were 6-12 last season. We lost to every team but two. Yes, we won the tournament, peaking at the right time and playing almost perfect basketball, but what attitude will the returning kids bring? We have committed to reminding them of the 6-12 record often. We have also framed this year as one during which others will be gunning for us, when we will no longer be able to fly under the radar and surprise people.
So what did we do today? We talked, stretched and then ran. Starting with two types of defensive slides, kids were out of breath (one was hunched over the only garbage can in the gym) after the first set of defensive drills. We take pride in our being the only team to play man and will remind them of it often. We then moved into 15 minutes of full-court dribbling drills, which was followed by the some full court 4-corner lay-ups. Expecting to then get booted from the gym, we ran. A lot. First sprints, 3s and 5s. then, in the interest of providing kids with a real taste of the new four months, we did two Detention Georgia Techs. Needless to say, kids were gassed. With extra time, we went into lay-ups, then jumpers, and then 3-2, 2-1 to close. Then we ran some more. All in all, we have an hour and twenty minutes in the gym and used all of it. Kids were gassed. We needed to hammer home that we were serious about conditioning, after seemingly warning the kids weekly throughout the fall. Even the soccer kids, having finished their season Saturday, were struggling by the end.
Afterwards, we spoke briefly. I am trying to be very honest and transparent with these kids. We will run a ton. And constantly. We will practice three times a week and condition outside until the snow comes on Monday afternoons. They must commit themselves fully, as we have. I owe them a real basketball experience, a real team experience. There are no promises of playing time. There are no promises of making the team. The experience is cheapened, is disingenuous, if we cut corners, if we don’t put in as much as I feel I’m asking them to give. We looked good today – Orin, Chris and I had practice plans types and spreadsheets with kids names and the specific skills we’re evaluating. We’re ready. Shit, we’ve talked about it, thought about it, smiled about it and longed for it for some time now. It’s here. And it will consume the kids fully. But with it comes pride and a the sense that they’re part of something real. And many of these kids need it. We run it like a family and will continue to. This is when some of the toughest kids do the best in their classes. There is something to work for, there is a reason to put post-its on your sweatshirt reminding yourself to stay out of trouble. Otherwise, the team suffers. Kids will learn that immediately.
Lastly, I told kids that they shouldn’t return if they are not ready to fully commit. I told them I would not think less of them if they opted to focus on something else. But in continuing to try-out, these kids must understand the commitment they’re making.
It was, of course, a pleasure to be out there, to be coaching, to be smiling and joking with kids, to have the season in front of us and a world of potential waiting.
My photographer is in New Haven. I can’t promise images of the same quality this year, but we’ll do what we can. Thanks for reading. Hope to give you something wonderful to watch starting in December.