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Like all of the other games in what would turn out to be a winless season, we fell behind quickly. The spread eventually settled at 20 points as our boys worked hard to even get off one shot.
It was a tough season. We were placed in the wrong division and just couldn’t compete with teams that were taller, faster, stronger and more fundamentally skilled in every aspect of the game. Practice though we might, success was tough to come by.
In our league, we played the same teams three times. Most coaches realized after the very first game that we were overmatched and took actions to limit the blood bath. I saw coaches pull their team aside and forbid players from running the fast break any time they were ahead by 10 or more. I saw coaches mandate that their kids walk the ball up the floor, run the play and make a minimum of five passes before they took a shot when they were up by more than 20 points. I saw coaches take the extra step of moving their big guys to the top of the zone so our smaller guys could fight their smaller guys for rebounds.