Seriously. What do we really talk about after a game like this? What do we look at? Who do we focus on? The players? The coaches? The pre and post soap opera dramas outside the game? The side stories? What?
I alway have a problem writing after a big win. Really hard to think of a topic to focus on. Take this game. 110 points. 6 players in double figures. High double figures. Three point shots: 15. Very sexy numbers. Very powerful team. Right?
OR the other news and side dramas: Mark Dyke allegedly victimized by racial slur trash talking. Dirty fouls, specially off rebounds and later during scrub time. A thrown out bench warmer claiming the game was fixed. C’mon dude 41 points? Two of the opponent’s star players not 100%. A former coach saying that once again, our team did not do anything special. They just didn’t play their game. Trademark of formers? Just observing.
Had enough? I HAVE.
You know these stories are really unfair to us as a team, to us as a community, to us as La Salle. Mind you I am not singling out anyone here but everytime a team loses to us, we hear something other tha La Salle played great.
Well enough is enough. I will say it. LA SALLE PLAYED GREAT!!!! Just as I chastised our fair weather fans for leaving us when the game was lost, I also have disdain for comments downplaying our efforts when we win.
To set the records straight, this article is my tribute to the players after this game. You played GREAT DEFENSE GUYS!!!!! Period.
That’s the nutshell story of this game. Personnel wise this season, La Salle just matches up well with UST. You really have to watch the games live to appreciate the defensive effort the boys exerted in this game.
People jumping screens, going over picks, boxing out, blocking shots, going for rebounds, and playing through trash talking, dirty physical plays, and keeping their cool.
UST has great guards and perimeter shooters. So do we. UST does not have an inside presence. We do. UST does not have a rim protector. We have three. Do I go on? So the game plan was simple. Stay on their shooters. Go over screens. Don’t zone. Pressure them full court. Guess what? It WORKED!!!! AGAIN!!!!
We won the game in the first and third quarters, the two quarters we are actually weakest at. We usually start slow in both halves and in this game, we reversed that trend. And we won it defensively.
Us scoring 110 points is just a bonus. Look at the third quarter score of UST. 9 points. That wasn’t bad shooting on their part. That was excellent defense on ours.
Well before anyone hurls hatemail against anyone, specially me (I don’t get paid here, by the way) all I am saying here is that this is just a game. A basketball game. Nothing more, nothing less. Some people, players, coaches, fans, just don’t sit back first, analyze the situation thoroughly, BEFORE opening their mouths.
Just be magnanimous in victory, and gracious in defeat. It’s a game. It’s a struggle. One wins. One loses. One wins the championship. Seven don’t. That’s it.
So again. What do we talk about? The game? Guys, why don’t we talk about these young kids instead, huh? Teach them values of struggle, not cheap shots. Respect, not excuses. Acceptance, not accusation. Win-win, not win-lose. Mold our kids into something better than us.
So how do we do that? By our examples. We should be before we teach. We are after all, Christians. Christian Universities. So please be careful what you say and do. These kids will get. But we should first. That’s what we should talk about.
Animo!!!!