A few weeks back on Hardwood Hustle there was discussion on changing things up during tournament time vs “Go with what got you there”.
I was firmly in the go with crowd. We have played man defense only the past 2 seasons. Then I went to scout our next opponent the night before. I saw a team with gifted athletes who all could drive it. And contest physically for every rebound and loved to press and run.
We were in trouble. I thought we had about a 5% chance of winning. Prolly gonna lose by 20 was what my gut said.
I thought hard on it, and bounced the idea off my assistant coach, and at our 1030am team meeting before the noon tip, I told the team we would play a 1-3-1 half court.
We won by 5.
Now here is the *…we had played 1 team that did the same zone to us earlier this season, so we had a feel for it. I also knew our opponent could not shoot well from outside. And I told them they had to erase an opponent from every rebound. Our press break did not change. And I told them that 98% of the time, we should go with what got us there!
I just wanted to share this with you all, so that you know you can make a hard decision too and go against the grain. Even your own grain.
Thanks PGC for your vision to help grow us coaches!
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