UT Chattanooga Team Camp

My First team camp as head coach started out with a little anxiety. I was nervous getting there because three of my starters and another support player were at football camp, and I did not know what time they were going to arrive. Well they did not get there for the first game and we went with 6 players. I'll tell you it is hard to play an up tempo game with only six players. Also, of the 6 players I had, only 2 had varsity experience. We did the best we could, and I was surprised at a few of the players who I knew nothing about, but we got blown out by a team that we should have beaten. We had a few hours before our next game, so we went back to the dorm and waited. I received a call telling me that the players I was waiting on were on there way and would be there for the next game.

The next game I did not start the football players because I was told they had some bruises from football camp and it may not be a good idea to push them. Well, they pushed me to play and I gave a little time. The moment they were inserted into the line up the game changed. They went in and were behind by a few points, but by the end of the first half we were leading. We went on to win the game by a good margin, maybe 10 points. The next game was the next morning. The ones I think that will be our regular starters began the game. We started off slow, but got in gear and ran away from the team. We won this game by a good a margin as well.

We played at 4pm next. We came up against a team from Georgia. This team was a little bigger than us, but I did not think it was as good as us. We started slow, continued to play slow and could never pick up the pace. We did not hit jump shots and we were even missing lay ups. We lost this game by a pretty good margin against a team, I think we should have beaten. I let the guys know I was unhappy with the effort and that we needed to do better next game, because the next team was better than the one we lost too.

The late game on Saturday, was against a darn good team from Tennessee. This team was talented, and athletic, and not too mention they played very well together. We played up to the competion and even though we lost the game, I was happy with the effort. We wound up losing the game by just 7 points, but we played better than we had the game before. We were done for the night and played again at noon on Sunday, Father's Day.

After getting the guys up to eat breakfast and call their fathers. We went off to the main Gymnasium to play another good team from Tennesssee. This team was very athletic, but not nearly as talented as the last. We once again started off slow. After watching the starters fumble through playing defense and not run the offense, I pulled all five of them and inserted the subs. I let the starters know they needed to wake and play basketball. The subs played well but were outclassed on the court. We got down by about 15 points at one time. I then put the starters back in the game. Once again, the momentum changed. The starters got us back to a 5 point game by halftime. In the second half, I platooned the starters and the subs to give them some rest. We were in the game with the starters and the subs gave us a deficeit. The fourth quarter was all about winning the game. The starters had it with one or two subs. We wound up being down by 3 with 1:30 minutes to play. We got into a situation where we had to foul to stay in the game. The other team converted on their free throws and kept ahead of us. We lost the game by 6 points. I told the guys a I was happy we came back, and it just seemed we ran out of steam. It helped us learn that we have to come to play from the very start of the game.

The next game was a local high school in the area, at 3pm. We were going to play a team that was no where near as talented as we were. I started the regular starters, but it was my plan to have the subs play most of the game. The starters clearly outclassed the other team and got a significant lead. The subs got in the game and played well, keeping the lead and stretching it out some. We won the game going away, by about 20 points. The next game that day at 6pm was very similar. A very under talented team. We won this game with the subs once again playing most of the minutes. We now had the rest of the night off. I took the players, both Varsity and JV, to Mellow Mushroom in downtown Chattanooga. It was a fun night had by all.

On Monday we had two games to play before we left for home. The first was played at noon with the second one right after it. The first game was once again against a very talented and disciplined team. We play terribly and lost by 30. I was upset that this was the way these guys wanted to end the weekend. I let them have it between games and ask them to think about how they wanted to end the weekend. I also saw that we were fatigued, so I told them to give me 4 hard minutes and I would get them a rest. We did this for the first 3 quarters. Again it was the starters getting a lead or holding a slim margin and the subs trying to hold on. The fourth quarter the starters wanted to finish the game and I let them. They came with in 3 points and lost the game by that margin. Even though they did not win, I told the guys to be proud of the effort and the weekend. They played together and learned about how to play with each other. It was a good weekend.

Even thoug I started out nervous, the weekend went well with no problems at all. In a year of firsts, it was good to get my first summer team camp over with with out a glitch. We play in our team camp on the 23rd, which was actually last night. I will post on that on thursday when we are all done. This team is exciting to watch though. I am very happy to hav this team.

First Summer Game

Last night the Raiders took the floor in two informal scrimmages. It was the first competition for the New look Raiders. After last season, the Raiders graduated 70% of their team. Leaving only 4 players with varsity experience. Although they are young, this Raider team will prove to be more talented and more athletic.
The Raiders first played the Raiders from North Forsyth. The NF Raiders are always known as a scrappy and physical team. They were that and they could shoot the ball. Our Raiders came out a bit slow. Allowing several easy basket and not getting hands up in shooters faces. The AHS Raiders fought from behind most of the first half. By the end of the half though, the AHS Raiders had clawed back to take a 6 point lead. The lead was gained through good defense and great team play on offense.
Once again this year, the focus of our offense will be to get out and run, and in the second half run we did. With some great boxing out and rebounding the AHS Raiders (thats my team in case you don't have the program) started to get out, run and get easy baskets. The AHS Raiders took a commanding lead and never relinquished it. The AHS Raiders won their first summer scrimmage by 9 points.
The second scrimmage was against North Fulton rival Chattahoochee High School. The Cougars last year were also a very scrappy team. One that came to play hard every night. Tonight was again no exception. The Cougars tried to press the Raiders early on. Though we did not convert on shots we did manage to get the Cougars out of their press. With tired legs and weary minds the young Raiders took poor shots and did not play good defense in the first half. The Raiders got down 25 to 8 at one point. The Raiders fought back to close the with in 9 at half time. IN the beginning of the second the Raiders came out with some energy and closed the gap to 4. In probably some bad coaching, the Head Coach put the subs in who allowed the Cougars to increase their lead to 12. With the running clock, it was hard to get the starters back in the game, before the Cougars had built their lead to 20. Once the Starters got back the Cougars were holding the ball and the Raiders could only get back to a 16 point game which is where the game ended.
I was pleased with the overall effort and with some of the things I saw. I think if the fatigue factor had not hit us so hard, we may have been able to over come the Cougars lead and defeat them. It is summer and this is the time to find out who are the solid players and who are the role players. I have to say I was pretty hyped up after the scrimmage and had to go home and do some Wii Yoga to calm down and get some sleep.
Our next games will be at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on June 13th. I will blog about the whole camp when we get back.