I was sub-teaching
– I mean guest teaching – P.E. at Rancho San Justo Junior High
School in early November when my conversation with RSJ Athletic
Director Ted Schmidt turned to coaching the 7th grade boys
basketball team. In short, they were looking for one. Hint.
Hint.
I was sub-teaching – I mean guest teaching – P.E. at Rancho San Justo Junior High School in early November when my conversation with RSJ Athletic Director Ted Schmidt turned to coaching the 7th grade boys basketball team. In short, they were looking for one. Hint. Hint.
Let me tell you my friends. Once one coaches, it’s like acting. It gets in your blood. I have both acting and coaching cells channeling through my veins so I know first hand. I’ve done been bit. As for coaching, I had coached off and on (mostly off) for a period of 30 years at different levels – third grade to head junior varsity high school boys basketball coach to assistant girls varsity coach, which I’m trying to forget. And yes, the sport has been usually basketball, or, as the inventer Dr. James Naismith wanted to call it, Basket Ball.
My heart said ‘yes’ to Schmidt’s proposal, but my common sense as a sports editor covering the local prep scene said logistically it couldn’t be done. I perused the winter schedule and the fall postseason slate by Hollister High and Anzar High teams. I felt deep inside that I could do it, so I took the position.
Schmidt gave me a whistle out of his closet, but the pea quickly pooped out and I had to go buy another one. I’m a great one to blow a whistle. It’s a coach’s vehicle for exhibiting power. Many a player in past years have had to have their hearing checked after I let loose with a loud whistle.
That said, there were more important things to address, like, you know, forming the team. Originally, there was to be a combined sixth and seventh grade team, for that was the way it was done in the past. But after about 40 sixth graders joined 26 seventh graders for a few days of tryouts (how do you spell chaos?), it was decided that this was to be a seventh grade boys team only. The sixth graders have their own season, playing local teams not long after the first of the year.
My assistant coach was Rich Haggett, who is a teacher at Quimby Oak Middle School in San Jose. Haggett, a known youth baseball coach in Hollister, coached many a hoop team at Quimby Oak and had a great deal of success. He also brought National Junior Basketball to Hollister last year. I knew he was qualified to be my assistant and I needed one, in case I had to bolt to a Central Coast Section water polo match or something like that. Turns out I didn’t miss a day in the six-week season, which concluded Thursday with our game with Margeruite Maze School (more on that later).
Now the hard part. The rotten part. The miserable part. Trimming the roster. It’s not enjoyable. I knew that I would have to cut some kids who I had reported on in youth sports, mostly youth baseball. Sure, some made the team, but many, not all, were kids I had met before. Even worse, we had a game scheduled with Aptos about six days after the first practice. We had to get down to our team and the sooner the better.
After two days of tryouts, which is way short of a proper chance for the kids to show themselves, coach Haggett and I evaluated our personnel. I opted to list a 12-man roster with three players who could be invited back if other players got hurt, sick or quit. Those things happen at any level.
We started out with a lot of sickness that first week for if one recalls, there was a severe bug going around at that time frame. I even caught it badly for a weekend at about mid-November and didn’t feel well through Thanksgiving.
We had some practices as a group, then I handed out the proverbial letter to the parents, addressing team policies, playing time, etc. My policy wasn’t set in stone, but I never broke the rules laid down, which weren’t nearly as strict as say, a high school varsity level team.
My main concern was playing time. I felt, and Schmidt agreed, that all the players should play and I would try to play them each game (they did). My main theory on playing time is that it should be evaluated over a period of games, not just one particular game. I didn’t really know the competition, but, Haggett’s son, Brian, had started on both the sixth and seventh grade teams last season, so father Rich knew who would be the tougher teams.
Aptos, which had some players from their Little League World Series all-star team, was one of them. We were up eight points rather early and playing well then all heck broke loose. One of our starting forwards got bumped in the nose by one of our own players and his nose bled. He had to sit for about two quarters. Our starting center, who stands about 6-0, fair-sized for a seventh grader, was sick all week and was still sick at game time. He gave it a go in the first half, but his congestion in his lungs worsened and he didn’t play the second half (and Aptos had height and crashed the boards like banshee warriors). Our starting point guard had three fouls then mysteriously picked up his fourth and fifth fouls early in the fourth period (or was it late third) and he was gone. We lost 44-37, though we led by five at the half and looked pretty good at times, considering it was our first game. Despite our foibles with the aforementioned, we missed several free throws which would have won the game.
But, there was no league, no trophies, so what the hey? The important thing as far as I was concerned that I wanted to teach all of the kids on the team to about the nuances of hoop, so they could be prepared should they continue on in high school, or even at a higher level. I also wanted to make it fun.
Anywho, there were eight teams who played each other. Three of our games were in Watsonville. Our second game was at Monte Vista Christian. I thought we would never get there. We eventually did. When we arrived, the airplane hanger of a gym we were supposed to play in was dark. The power had gone out. My first thought was that we went all that way for nothing.
Lucky break. The what looked to be athletic director came over and said we could use the main gym, meaning the one the high school team used. It was beautiful. I immediately jibed the MVC 7th grade coach that it was a great move for him to have the power shut down in the other gym, so we could use the big one.
We won by 21 without our center, who was now on a cruise. Before the game I had delved into my player pool and pulled up Ryan Eaton, who was going to add some much-needed muscle around the glass for us. Eleven different players scored, including Eaton, who had a layin bounce around and in.
On to our second of three trips to Watsonville – Lakeville. Again, without our center, Matt Buzzetta, who was still cruising. We fell behind early and rallied to within four points late, but it was not enough. That was to be our final defeat of the season. The only excuse was not having Buzzetta, who is a fair difference maker. I felt we still had the goods to win. Lakeville shot the ball extremely well and I was lax on defending the perimeter, hoping they would cool off. They didn’t.
We won our next two games by 21 and 15 points, then were fortunate to beat Pajaro 55-4 at home. During those three games, I set the starters down whenever possible and played my remaining eight players, many times putting a new five for a quarter at a time. I knew I had to do that for we had two toughie’s left. One, the game at Maze to end the year, was scheduled. The other was a fair-sized road trip to San Jose to play Quimby Oak, Haggett’s school.
We traveled to Quimby Oak two days ago. Haggett, Rich that is, gave me the tour of the gym like a proud papa. The gym was impressive as it was massive. There were large, new scoreboards on both sides of the gym. There were chairs lined up for the players to sit on as fine as many colleges. Adults, not kids, ran the clock and did the scorebook. We had to scramble to find someone to do both for our three home games. We tried to bribe an eighth grader with $5 to do the clock on Tuesday. He didn’t bite.
Sizing up Q.O. wasn’t too hard, looking at them in warmups. Haggett knew a couple of the kids who would be the ones we’d have to be conscious of. Mainly one. A slick guard named James Payne. Payne shot off his hip from outside for nine of his 14 points in the first half. We led 19-17 at the intermission. It was our seventh game, their first for their season starts later. I knew that would play to our advantage, as would our height advantage.
We had done some good things, but Q.O’s quickness was tough to deal with. I knew this would be a wire game and it was. Again, free throws were our achilles heel. We went 5-for-19. Somehow we were able to spread the floor in the final minutes in the tightest game we had all year. We showed poise, holding the ball, making them foul. We won 35-33 behind Brian Haggett’s 15 points. Kevin Burley had eight points. Buzzetta had seven.
I told the team what a great win it was. Rich Haggett said it is hard for any team to come into that gym and win and that onlookers were impressed with our club.
We were up for Maze on Thursday, our in-town rival. I’m sure they were up for us. We knew we had to stop their point guard, Marty Bueno. Bueno is quick as a whippet and was born with innate basketball sense. I concocted a box-and-one, assigning point guard Ron Pedagat and backup point guard Austin Schmidt to hound Bueno all game. It worked mostly, though Bueno had nine points and made so many plays that is seemed he scored more than that. We seemed to be taking control of the game early in the fourth period, but Maze, to its credit, didn’t quit. They came back, which foiled my plan on playing some reserves. I had inserted about five non-starters in the first half and early in the second half, but couldn’t leave them out there for long. Bueno was a pest defensively and made it tough on us to handle the ball. We pulled away, coming out of the offensive duldrums with a spread offense. Up by nine with a minute to play and Maze on the line for a one-and-one. A few of the kids hadn’t gotten in. What lead is safe? I comprimised as much as possible and got them in with about 37 seconds to go or so. It was hardly what I wanted. I had hoped for an earlier extension of the lead. Maze wouldn’t let it happen.
We won 40-33. Six and two on the year with one definite should have won (Aptos) and probably another (Lakeville). Maze could have said the same thing with a one-point loss to undefeated Aptos on Tuesday and a three-point defeat to Lakeville.
That’s basketball.
Will I coach again? I don’t know. I do know that I had 13 outstanding individuals on my team, not only as basketball players, but as people. I also know we had the best team, as a whole, from 1-to-13. Unfortunately Dr. Naismith designated five players on the floor at one time, which is the coach’s No. 1 dilemma.
I wish all of my players continually work on their game. For someday, I hope to be writing about them in the paper and feeling proud inside that I once coached them.
