Scoring 100 Points

Coach Jesse sent an email out to the players and parents of his 8th grade team, talking about philosphy and thought behind scoring 100 points on a competitor.

Coach Jesse hits the two basic points that come up in such a debate: (1) shouldn't the kids be allowed to play to their best level since they work so hard to train, and (2) what is the actual damage done by scoring 100 points against a competitor?

Two years ago, the STARS Class of 2013 was playing a high school team and with many minutes left on the clock, they hit 90 points. The high school team was at about 30 points. I made it clear to the STARS that they would suffer immensely if they hit 100 points.

Recently, I came across a situation where I knew my 7th grade team could really outscore the opponent. I grappled with the two basic points. I decided that I would let the boys play to their full potential the first half and relax their play the second half. To challenge them (they were not focused before the game), I told them that they did 20 suicides for every point the other team scored. That made them focus on execution of their defense.

In both cases, why didn't I let our team run up the score? Several reasons:

1. Why is 100 points a benchmark? If you look at Jesse's email, you realize that 100 points is this significant number. Why is scoring 98 against an opponent "not enough"? Because when we hit 100, we have done something significant. Not in terms of our achievement - but in terms of the punishment we have dealt the opponent. Alaska STARS Basketball is NEVER focused on punishing the opponent.

2. Professionalism. How can you play like professionals and run up 25 points a quarter in a game that has a running clock the second half? What you are doing if you can achieve that is no longer "basketball". Therefore, it can no longer be professional. What happens on the bench or on the court when the 100 point mark is achieved? Celebration. That, again, is unprofessional.

3. Community. When the Class of 2013 almost ran up the 100 points against that high school team, I stopped them for the above reasons AND for an important third reason. I wanted that team to want to play us again. If I beat them too bad, I risked our future chances of competing with them down the road. If we beat a team very bad, what are the chances of that team participating in the events that we are in or, worse yet, in events that we sponsor and want community involvement in? I used the term "damage" and that damage occurs when you score 100 points on a team when the opponent is not competitive. There is damage. Real damage to your program.

4. Development. I saved the best for last. Yes - we train hard in basketball and, yes, often our kids have to show restraint against those teams that are not as developed. And, yes, there is a certain unfairness to that. But, Alaska STARS Basketball is MORE than just a basketball program - it is a youth development program. As Jesse noted, we have very solid standards we expect for our on- and off-court behavior. We want our participants to be outstanding in school, at home and ------------ as members of a community. So, our program looks to our kids to be mature enough to throttle down the execution of their play when their play reflects poorly on their discipline and their respect for others in the community.

It has been rare, but I have been on the receiving end of a few lickings that have seen our boys get blown out. We have had a strong enough program that we could actually invite those moments as opportunities to learn and grow and hone our development. Many other teams that we could conquer in such a manner are not "programs" at all. They are teams. They are formed by parents who want their kids to play in a sport that they love, to experience "teamwork", to get exercise and ... maybe ... to play in a high school program. We look at our kids and we set a bar for performance and we expect them to succeed in high school and we even prepare them for the opportunity to play beyond high school if the chance presents. We are different. I don't want us crushing a kid's love for this game - even recreationally. I don't want damage. I am glad to see that we have the maturity for restraint.

For restraint is the right thing to do at times.

Thanks, Jesse, for bringing up the topic.