Last night we hosted Hamlin.&nbsp; My JV won by 7, though it was a very close game.&nbsp; We were ahead by 1, with the ball and the play broke down with 36 seconds left.&nbsp; So I called a 30, and set up our spread offensive set because I figured they would go man and be agressive for a steal.&nbsp; We got the ball under our basket coming out of the timeout.&nbsp; We have two baseline inbounds plays.&nbsp; Both are out of a triangle set and I usually call &quot;1&quot; the whole game, to set up &quot;2&quot;.&nbsp; When I have more time I will diagram them on here.&nbsp; They are very simple but effective.&nbsp; I called &quot;2&quot; and we got a quick score to go up by 3.&nbsp; We were in our 1-2-1-1 after makes all night, so we jumped into it, got a steal and a hoop and all of a sudden it&#039;s a 5 point game with about 20 seconds left.&nbsp; I had them get back into the 2-3 and Hamlin missed a jumper, we pushed it up and scored on a jumper with 3 seconds left to go up by 7.&nbsp; A 6-0 run in the last half minute of a close game is always good.&nbsp; The highlight of the game was when I put in my last five in the third quarter and just had them go man to man and raise heck.&nbsp; They did just that and even forced a couple of turnovers (plus a few fouls) and got our starters some rest.<br /><br />The JV is 4-1 and off until next Tuesday.<br /><br />The varsity lost by 9.&nbsp; It was a close game, and we had four foul out in the fourth quarter.&nbsp; We only suited up 8 so you can do the math on that.&nbsp; Hamlin pulled away late.

I am going to enjoy this moment while it lasts...the Bearcats are hot.<br /><br />My JV steamrolled Coleman tonight at home.&nbsp; It was a 10 point game at halftime and then to start the 3rd quarter, we....yep, went to the trusty 1-2-1-1 press.&nbsp; We stole the ball 4 straight times and got layups, and before the end of the third quarter, I backed off the press ahead by nearly 30 points.&nbsp; It was the best quarter any of my teams has ever played.&nbsp; We didn&#039;t even run and offense, just layups.&nbsp; My bottom five got a lot of PT in the fourth and it was fun.&nbsp; We ended up winning by 20 something, I don&#039;t even remember.<br /><br />The varsity won big as well, also extending a lead in the third quarter.&nbsp; We were up by 4 at the half and went on a nice little run in the third, and didn&#039;t allow them to get a run together in the 4th.<br /><br />Today&#039;s strategy talk:&nbsp; the 1-2-2 zone.<br /><br />I haven&#039;t run it before, but I wanted to try it out so we had been messing around with it in practice the last week.&nbsp; Tonight I let them run it until the fourth quarter, and it looked very good.<br /><br />The top guy harasses the ball when it is above the free throw line.&nbsp; When it goes to the corner, the guard on that side goes down and the top guy replaces him, essentially making it a 2-3 zone.&nbsp; The bottom guys will always guard the paint area, and will never go out to the corner or up to a high post.&nbsp; They have the low block, short corner, or high post that may be sliding down.&nbsp; There isn&#039;t that extra guy down there like in a 2-3.&nbsp; The 2-3 has easier rotations, protects the inside better, and puts guys in better rebounding position, but the 1-2-2 if run right can put a lot more pressure on the offense.&nbsp; Tonight after several ineffective series against it, they started running a man offense against it.&nbsp; To me, that was the ultimate sign that was doing it&#039;s job, that they couldn&#039;t set up an overload or anything like that.<br /><br />Tuesday we start district at Stamford.

Thanks for the breakdown Aaron!

My JV won by one point, on two free throws from a sophomore guard with 1.5 seconds left.&nbsp; We were down one with 8 seconds left, and they had two free throws.&nbsp; They missed both, we got the rebound and called timeout.&nbsp; I made sure everyone remembered the &quot;full court game winning play&quot; we have been practicing since the beginning of the year.&nbsp; We had 6 seconds.&nbsp; I told our best guard to try to draw contact.&nbsp; He got the ball between the free throw line and halfcourt on their side, brought it up the left side, beat his guy, a couple of other guys stepped in to stop him, they hacked while he was putting up a shot.&nbsp; He missed the first free throw, but there was a lane violation and he had two more.&nbsp; He made them both.<br /><br />The varsity game was even better.&nbsp; We were tied with 18 seconds left and the ball.&nbsp; We brought it down to about 10 seconds and took a good shot, missed, got the rebound, our best shooter took a good shot at the free throw line and missed, and the ball was loose.&nbsp; Our PG who is just all-hustle got the ball in front of two defenders picked it up and from the left wing behind the three point line threw up a shot as he was falling down (never got his balance after getting the loose ball and he was getting hacked pretty hard too) when the ball was in the air, the buzzer went off.&nbsp; It banked in.<br /><br />With NT winning as well, it was a night for close victories.

On Tuesday, my JV suffered their second loss of the year.&nbsp; It was the first game after the break and we played like it at first.&nbsp; We were down 13-0 to start the game.&nbsp; We turned things around and got momentum in the second quarter, and in the third cut it to a 5 game and we were on the line for two shots.&nbsp; We missed both, and we never got that close again.&nbsp; There was good news though for the JV.&nbsp; We have a 6&#039;3 sophomore that had been on varsity but not playing much.&nbsp; He is now on the JV.&nbsp; So I have 6&#039;1 and 6&#039;3 down low, not bad for a small school JV.<br /><br />The varsity lost a heartbreaker.&nbsp; It was back and forth, constant lead changes the whole game.&nbsp; Then with 11 seconds left, we were down by 3 and had the length of the court to go.&nbsp; Our PG pushed up the court, and looked for his shot, then he dished it to our best pure shooter in the left corner and at the buzzer, he swished the tying three.&nbsp; I couldn&#039;t get up to high five him because I am on crutches (I had that bothersome plate and eight screws taken out of my leg, they found a broken screw which was the cause of the pain, I am on crutches for 8-12 weeks until the holes fill back in).&nbsp; The bad news is that our leading scorer had fouled out in the 4th quarter.&nbsp; In overtime, we couldn&#039;t get any offense going but still had a chance.&nbsp; We had the ball, down by 3 again, and our PG (the same guy who hit the game winner vs. Stamford) had a wide open look.&nbsp; It rimmed out.<br /><br />We have games tomorrow night, and I will see how best to use my new 6&#039;3 post.&nbsp; I think I will stick with the 3-2 zone on defense because I have two big guys for down low, and I have three quick guards.&nbsp; When the reserve guards come in the game, I will go back to the 2-3 zone.&nbsp; The rotations are much easier for that.<br /><br />The guy that just got moved down was first team all district offensive lineman, and he can move really well.&nbsp; I am thinking about putting him at the point of my 1-2-1-1 press.&nbsp; Imagine trying to throw around him in a trap.&nbsp; The top guy has the least amount of ground to cover, and he is plenty quick for that.&nbsp; It is just a thought, I will see if I go through with it or not.