Youth Basketball: Teammates Facing Teammates

Hot dog gets an early lesson to leave the mustard at home.

My daughter is the point guard for her 4th grade school team. Sometimes she likes to dribble with the ball out in front of her in taunting manner. She wants the defender to reach for the ball. When the defender reaches for the ball she does a crossover dribble and beats the defender to the left. It works quite often.

Game 146

On Friday night, CC baited her defender but the defender was very quick and took the ball from her. This happened two times in a row. I yelled to CC that this girl is too good. Protect the ball and stop fooling around!

This was an important game. First place was on the line and CC's new select basketball coach came to watch her newest players. (CC and CC's best friend Rachel both made the select team)

CC was matched up against a really tough guard #25 and Rachel was matched up against a really strong post player #10. CC and Rachel led their team in scoring with 6 points each. #25 and #10 from the other team also led their team in scoring.

CC's team lost. The big difference in the game was that CC's team had 10 players and the other team only had 8. All the players must play 50% of the game, so CC and Rachel could only play 2 quarters each. The other team had 8 players. #25 and #10 played the entire game and the other 6 players played the required 2 quarters. Without Rachel and CC on the floor to slow down #25 and #10, CC's team could not keep up.

After the game, I introduced my wife to CC's new coach. I told the coach that I was impressed that she came out to see CC and Rachel. She told me that she also came to see #25 and #10 who are going to be CC's teammates on her new select team.

The Main Point

Never underestimate your opponent.