This post is really old. I wrote it October 30th, and that was probably a week or two after I had coached...Of course I never actually put it up, because that requires taking 60 seconds out of my 'hectic' life....soooo here it is for anyone who wants to take a little journey back in time....
On Tuesday I got a text message from Marcel asking me to coach his men’s team on Wednesday. Actually it said, “Can you do our practice Wed?” I answered, a little afraid that he was asking me to coach it, “You want me to come play in it or coach it?” Of course coaching is what he wanted.
Marcel has done so much for me to help me be here, how could I say no? I told him yes and waited for further instruction. None came besides the practice time. I asked him if he would be giving me more information. I did not hear back.
On Wed mid-morning I got an email saying that the guys really needed to work a lot on defense and that I should have a lot of fun drills. I text messaged him and asked him how many guys he expected to show up. He responded, 5-12. I told him that makes it pretty hard to plan for, he agreed. Such is the nature of the club teams over here….
I made a list of “fun” and competitive drills that incorporated defense, transition defense, screen defense (although I have no idea what their team philosophy is on defense or on screens)…I figured I needed at least an hour’s worth of drills. Marcel thought he may be there in an hour, practice time is an hour and a half. I figured, if I add water breaks and then time for 5v5 I will be able to fill the whole time if need be.
I got to the gym on Wed night, 15 min till practice time, and just a couple of guys were waiting for me. I walked in to find that the divider for the gym was down, cutting the court into two rooms. Great. No transition drills, no fast break drills, no full court 5 on 5.
More guys started showing up. One of the weirdest things to me about German basketball guys is that they do not use the locker room to change. They just walk into the gym and strip down and put on their basketball clothes. I busied myself with shooting on a hoop while they got ready- not really interested in seeing a bunch of German dudes in their chones.
Kjell walked in the gym, he is on the men’s team as well (a lot of these teams have players anywhere from 16 years old to 30+). He came over to greet me, then told me he had to go bc he had practice. “I know,” I said, “I am coaching your practice today.” He was surprised. I wondered if any of these other guys knew that I was leading the practice…
Once it seemed that everyone was arrived, dressed, and ready to go I asked one of the guys who I knew spoke some English to round everyone up. We all came together. I made a brief introduction:
“Hello, my name is Jessica. Marcel has asked me to coach your practice tonight, I am not entirely sure why, but let’s go.”
I realized later that maybe I should have let them know that I do have some coaching experience, but oh well.
We got into it. Well, most of us. One guy went over and sat down on a mat and started stretching. He continued to do that through most of the practice, then went behind the divider and shot on the other basket. I have no idea why. Another guy started the drill, but after one drill went and sat on the bench and did not participate the rest of the time. "Is he gonna play?" I asked one of the dudes who spoke some English. Dude shrugged, "I guess he is tired."
So we had 9 guys. No 5 v 5 shell. The upside? We could still do my defensive drill that is 4 on 5 and this gave us perfect numbers for 3v3v3. Good thing I had come with a long list of possibilities because my options were getting knocked out left and right.
The guys listened to all of my instructions and went through each drill. The competitive drills seemed to get them going, and I had fun watching them. Here and there I offered some extra instruction, but I had no idea what sort of knowledge these guys really have or how they would take it from a girl. Outwardly, at least, they nodded their heads and seemed to appreciate the tips. I made the losers of the drills run sprints, which for some reason, was somewhat enjoyable to me. Must've been the affects of having some authority...Also, I think it was fun because I think they were surprised I was making practice a little tough. However, it also seemed like they were up for it.
The best drill that we ran was 3 on 3 on 3. In this you have two teams start out on the floor with one on the baseline (teams are 3 players in case somehow that was a question). As soon as one team scores the defense runs off the floor and the new team comes on. The team who scores does not have to check the ball or wait for the defense. They can just grab the ball out of the net and once it is cleared to the 3 pt line it is live to play. It is fun because it is really fast paced, and you can really get going on offense if you are quick to get the ball out of the net. The guys liked this game. At their request we played it a couple of times.
Marcel got into the gym around 9:25, 5 min before practice was over, so I just finished it out. When we were done I let him know that the floor was his. He huddled the team up and, in German, spoke for a couple of minutes. I just stood there, not really knowing what was being said. The group broke up after this and began to get ready to leave. Mission accomplished, I guess.
When we had left the gym, Marcel was also taking another player to the train station. When we got in the car they asked me if I knew what was being said in the huddle. I informed them that I had not the slightest idea, except that there was something about an upcoming game...They informed me that in the huddle the players were telling Marcel that they really liked the practice- in fact they said it was the best practice they had had (which I think Marcel was embellishing to make me feel good) but still, that was good news. However, I was also told that the guy who had done one drill and then sat out the rest of practice had said that he had no idea what I was saying. Oops. I was probably talking way too fast.
All in all, I enjoyed the practice. It was fun to lead a group with such athletic capabilities and also a group that really wanted to compete. I loved the fact that after they played the first round of 3 on 3 on 3 they wanted to play again because the teams who lost wanted an opportunity to redeem themselves.
Also, it must have gone pretty well because a week or so later, I was invited back to coach again :). Maybe I should let the NBA know that I am available...
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