Monday, October 31, 2011

Our First Loss


     Today was the first loss that we have had as a PJB elite team, which puts us now at 2-1. It was somewhat of a bummer, but under the circumstances, we learned a lot. Early in the morning at 7 o clock we met at circle sportif (our home court) and set off for Gisyeni, Rwanda. Gisenyi is a beautiful tourist town that borders Goma on the Rwanda side. It is about 5 Km from our court. We had a group of 12 players and a couple boys and girls that wanted to come watch, so we had a big group, but had no transportation. Luckily two of our elite players have a huge Lexus SUV, so we were able to drive most of the team to and across the border and to the basketball court. One of the coaches and the people coming to watch ended up walking or taking public transport to the court in Gisenyi.
            The court we played at was out from of a church, and kind of reminded me of the old SIS soccer field. It had two outdoor courts, and a dirt/gravel soccer pitch. Anyway, the court was horrible. It was small, the rims were each bent to about 9.5 feet and there were dirt and water patches all over the ground. The other team’s coach suggested we move courts, but the team from Gisenyi didn’t want to. It turned out to be great for them as it gave them an incredible home court advantage.
            Nothing against their team… they had great size and jumping ability. Had about 4 or 5 guys between 6’5-6’8. We should have beat them though. Right from the tip off I knew we were in trouble. Our guys were slipping all over the place and had trouble judging the way that the ball would come off the rim. They were getting every rebound and scoring all off of fast breaks. They also played a zone, and the first couple trips down our team had no idea what to do against it. It was like we were trying to deflate the ball we were dribbling it so much. We had no ball movement. Yet, we kept the game close, and after the 1st quarter (the time guy didn’t understand how to stop the clock, so it was a very short quarter) we were only down about 2 or 4 points.
            The second quarter was much of the same. A very short quarter again and just completely unorganized fast break crap. It would have made any coach in America sick to watch. So the first half ended in almost exactly 20 minutes and we were down about 4. The third quarter is when they began to blow us out. I cant really recall how it happened, but all of the sudden we were down 14 points and my assistant coach was taking a jersey from one of the players that wasn’t going to see action, so that he could get in the game. Our guys were playing without any knowledge of the game, so us coaches felt like we needed to get in to show them how to work a zone, get back on defense, and be patient. After that though it was between a 7 and 15 point game the rest of the game. It also wasn’t due to Gisenyi’s dominance. Instead I feel like we beat ourselves. Our defense was horrible, and our offense was even worse. I wish I could have put it to the guys as clearly as the speaker at Brent’s 2005 APAC when the principle (atleast I think that’s who it was) told us bluntly, “when in doubt… shoot the ball.”
            A guy told me after the game, its ok because if you win all the time you get to happy and forget about basketball. When you lose you are able to take a step back and evaluate and learn more about basketball, your teammates, and your strategy as a whole. As a coach I try to take that step back in a win as well, but it is just easier for some reason to do it after a loss. When things go wrong is usually when you see people evaluating situations, but when everything goes right you usually see people just riding along with no evaluation of what is going on. I think it is always important to step back in all situations, good and bad, and evaluate and learn from each of the situations. This is the way you grow, either as a team or an individual.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A Weekend to Remember


Blog Post 10/25/11

So it has been a minute since I have left a post. As I move along here in Goma and I become more and more busy I have less time to try and go get the Internet because I am less motivated to try and find it. I feel like I have become less dependent on the internet. It is a good feeling because I think in America we are to dependent on it, and its not really until you go without it that you realize how much you used to depend on it.
            Anyways, a lot has been going on. We just began construction on a new basketball court in town on Sunday. Much of what has been done so far is just clearing the area that the court will be built on. The land used to have trees, a mini garden, a little parking lot, and some useless big Hyundai freight containers. We spent Sunday chopping down trees, which was really fun. We also didn’t have a chainsaw, so there was about 6 of us taking turns hacking at trees with small axes until they came down. It was a great workout! It was interesting though because my main job is to just oversee that the work is effective and actually being done, so when I asked to help cut the trees down the workers thought that it was hilarious. I guess they don’t get a lot of muzungus offering to help do the hard manual labor. I just love interacting with the locals here. They really are great people.
            The day before we started construction, Saturday, was an amazing day. Hopefully I can add some pictures below, but I spent the whole day watching the High School Basketball Championships for Goma. It was an awesome atmosphere. It kind of felt like an AND1 game or a game at the Rucker because it was outside and the court was filled to the brim with people. People standing, people sitting, people up on the roofs of their homes with plastic chairs looking down onto the court, it was a great basketball atmosphere.
The games were really fun too. First was the 3rd/4th place game, which had a handful of PJB players on both teams, so it was good to see how the training we have been doing, paid off. The game was pretty lopsided as the team that won should have been in the championship. The team that won was also on of the coaches that I am teaching and working with at PJB so it was cool. What was awesome about the game was that the people treated me like a VIP guest. They took me to this area where the president of the tournament and the North Kivu Basketball Association was and other older basketball heads were sitting and gave me a seat right at center court. Then some of the announcers and random people would come up to me and say “hi coach” with a really big smile. They welcomed me really well. It was great! I felt like Spike Lee at a Knicks game.
After the consolation game was the Championship. It was fun to see again some of my PJB players, but also almost the whole Goma Bulls team was playing in the final. It was a very competitive game, and the Eminem that the DJ was blasting the whole game made it that much more intense. The players really played hard, and it was a very physical game. Very exciting to watch! Half time was the highlight of my weekend though. A street kid came out and began to break dance. The kid was incredible. He looked like he was about 5 but he could have been like 10. He was bending, flipping, and dancing all over the place. Many people in the crowd were impressed and would run out whenever they saw something they liked and threw some money at the kid. By the end of halftime the kids probably made 20$ worth of tips, which was great!
The weekend was really exciting. The tournament really made it great. I am really excited now because we will hold a PJB tournament in November which I hope is similar n entertainment, and can get out as good a crowd because it made for an exciting environment. Basketball really is the perfect weekend getaway. It is a safe and exciting environment for people of all ages and it allows for great camaraderie. That is all sports really though. That is why I love them so much. You can learn so much from sports, yet they are still the most exciting and fun things that you can do.






Sunday, October 16, 2011

Bull's Rematch


Goma Bulls Rematch

            So today was another Sunday and another game. We had another match against the Goma Bulls, the same team that we played two weeks ago. This week was a good opportunity for us though because they had their whole team this time. They had reloaded with all their best players. There were 4 new starters this week. I also found out that this team that we are playing is one of the top 10 teams in all of Congo, so we were facing a pretty big challenge today.
            Tip off was scheduled for 7:30 AM, but being on African time it didn’t start until closer to 8:15. It didn’t really matter though because I am at the basketball court every Sunday morning at 6:00 anyway officiating a league that we set up with all the kids in our program. We like to get going early here in Goma.
            The game was very different than the last one. We spent most of the game down, but we were also doing a lot more things right then the last game. Right from the very beginning we showed that we would play defense and rebound, unlike last game where all of their points were on fast breaks and offensive rebounds. To start the game I told the guys two things. 1st and foremost was that we only send two guys to the offensive glass and three guys get back on D. This was nothing against us, but they are just more athletic than us so we shouldn’t really expect to get many offensive rebounds, and their guards leak out real well so we need guys back if we aren’t going to get the offensive board. So that was my first emphasis, getting back! My second emphasis was that dribble should only be used to better a shot or passing angle. There is no other use for a dribble. We dribble way to much, but that is because the understanding of the kids here is very limited. We must get the ball moving “muzungarookai” (if that’s how you spell it). That means we need to get it going from side to side.
            Those were my two emphasis’ and for the most part I think we did a good job of it. Of course there were lapses where we dribbled too much, or lost a guy leaking out, but we did a good job listening and learning as a team. The first quarter was close, but we were down by about four after the first quarter and probably about 5 or 6 at the end of the first half. The 3rd quarter was bad for us as three of our starters got into foul trouble so we played with the lineups a little bit. At the end of the 3rd we were down by ten. The fourth quarter was more of the same as the 3rd but we kept it to a 9 or 10 point deficit. With three minutes to go we took a timeout and really just focused. We had to tell the guys to be patient and take their time, because that is when we would score. With about a minute 30 to go we were down 7 and hit back to back threes to cut the lead to one, then got a big stop on defense and with about 28 seconds left were shooting two free-throws down by 1. Dario, the founder of PJB was on the line. He missed his first and the other team’s coach called a timeout to try and ice the free-throw shooter. It worked, Dario also missed his second, but came up with a spectacular hustle play to run down his own rebound in the left corner. He then kicked it out to Jospan, our 17 year old point guard and he cold-bloodedly knocked down a three from the left wing. This put us up two. Best part is is that it was the first three I have ever seen Jospan hit. Anyway, that really sealed it for us. They drew a foul next time down with about 10 seconds left, but only made one free throw, and then the game kind of went from there. The last 10 seconds took like 5 minutes as any close basketball game does, but we ended up winning by about 5.
            It was a great and exciting game. Very emotional game, many of the Goma Bulls players were in tears after the game. PJB turned the page in Goma basketball. The Bulls are used to dominating but PJB is on the rise. No disrespect to them, they are a good team, and many of their players are my friends and great guys, but PJB is going to give it to whoever we go against. PJB! DEFENSE!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Is it better to believe in something true or avoid believing in something false?

So this is a question I wrote down in one of my notebooks. i don't know where it was asked, maybe in a lecture or a talk that I went to. Anyway, the question: Is it better to believe in something true or avoid believing in something false? really is a mind boggling question. Its really important to think about though. I think you can learn a lot about yourself if you really dive into what you believe regarding what is true and false. Anyway, while I was just sitting by the lake the other day I jotted down quick thoughts about the question:



In life you can only control what you do, what you think, and what you see. If you seek what is real in life and only that then the truth will reveal itself to you. If you indulge yourself with lies, gossip and false teachings then the truth will grow father and farther apart from you.
            In every human there is a divide between themselves and their true happiness. This divide becomes greater and greater as one allows bias, ignorance and selfishness obscure their truth. They forget to seek truth but instead are content with being told what to do or how to think. Wisdom manifests itself in the quest for truth. Ignorance manifests itself where there is an emphasis on what is false, even in the search for truth.
            We are born to be lifelong learners. We were MADE to seek wisdom and truth. If we concern ourselves with even the avoidance of what is false then we lose sight of the prize, which is truth.

Being here in Goma, even the decision to come to Goma makes me think a lot about this. Many people hear about Goma and the instability, the volcano, the lake, the poverty and they get scared. These things were definitely things that I had to take into account when deciding to come here and even these are things I need to be aware of while I am here. But I cannot dwell on these things. What I need to focus on is the truth. And the truth is that I am here in probably the most beautiful place in the world doing the thing I love most, coaching. I am hopefully giving hope to some kids, but even more so the truth is that the people here are giving me hope. Their reality is one with little hope and little happiness, but the people here don't live in a way that they try to avoid their deficiencies. Instead the people here enjoy their life, they take every second they can to be happy, they focus on the truth that they are living and are able to enjoy the people and world around them. That is all that is really important. 

I guess im really just an eternal optimist, but I want to enjoy life to the fullest!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

BALLIN


Believe that you can do anything
Always give your best effort in everything you do
Live with integrity
Love without fear
Indulge in the interests of others, not just your own
Never say, “I cant”

I am finally getting into a groove here in Goma with basketball and building relationships with a bunch of different people. The people here really seem to be wise people, but also really crazy. The thing I love about it here though is the genuine happiness that people have. Even though their lives are hard they are always willing to give you a smile and show you respect.
            Basketball has taken a little while to fit in to. This is mainly due to the language barrier and the lack of prior training and knowledge of basketball. I learned in teaching education that at the beginning of a unit you should always check for prior knowledge. This is one thing that this past week has taught me. I thought that I could just jump in the program and teach the fundamentals focusing on a couple skills a training session. This past week though served as a prior knowledge test for the players and I realized that they have little to no prior knowledge on the game of basketball.
            Due to the fact that the kids have no access to ever watching professional basketball (or even any type of proper basketball), good basketball facilities, and competent trainers, no players here in Goma really have a fundamental base. Each player plays off of pure athleticism. I really came to this realization this week.
            Now I am in the process of retooling the program in a way that we can best teach these kids the right way to play basketball. In this way I can hopefully also teach my fellow coaches how to properly run a practice. This past week I gave each of the other coaches reigns on the practice and their practices were really a waste of time. They did the same drills for 30 minutes at a time and spent almost half the practice running the kids. This is not a way to develop basketball players, or foster a love for the game. Really, who wants to come to basketball practice after a long day of school and run for half of the practice? Now I am trying to show the coaches all of the fun drills that we can use to further develop the kid’s love for basketball.
            One aspect of coaching that really drives me is the opportunity to serve others as an inspiration and a motivator. It is hard for me here and a little discouraging because of the language barrier that I cannot do this as well as I could in America. I love to give quotes and teach the important ideas in basketball such as a few I wrote in the poem at the beginning. This is one reason that I am really trying to learn French, but I am terrible at learning languages. I just hope to be a role model to these kids in action because I cant in word. I wish to be to these kids what all of my role models have been to me. I have been so lucky to have amazing models for the way to properly conduct myself, treat others, and treat life. I am very blessed. 

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Here are a couple pictures that didnt load last time from girls practice. I am struggling with the internet right now. Practice has been going great though, and it seems that we get more and more players out every practice which is good. I will post again soon with updates. A couple things that we have in store though... Meeting with Addidas to become our official sponsers, building a new basketball court with 6 rims, working with a sponser who wants to begin construction on a library, selecting the players for the elite teams to begin pre-season practice for our season in January.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

PJB vs. Goma Bulls


         Today I was part of my first ever match. I was a player/coach for PJB as we played the Goma Bulls. The league here in Goma is interesting because they don’t really have leagues for teenagers. It is like a regular adult league and there is a veteran’s league for the old guys. Anyway, from the kids I am training I will be selecting four teams: two boys and two girls. These teams will be playing in a league with adult players both men and women, so out teams will be teenagers in a league full of adults.
            Anyway, today was my first taste of Goma’s basketball league. We had a match against the best team in Goma, the Goma Bulls. Early at 7 AM we arrived at the basketball court for the 8 AM game. Even though the game was set for 8 AM, we are in Africa, so the Bulls didn’t show up until about 8:10 then had to warm up. So we ended up having like a 40 minute warm up. I was exhausted before the game even started. Goma is at a higher elevation than the Midwest, so it has been hard for me to breathe when I do anything active.
We were playing with PJB's founder, my boss, Dario, a PJB graduate who is 24 named Tchitchi, and a two Congolese brothers from the US named Adler and Christian, along with about eight of the boys that we are training for the regular season. We jumped out playing very well and led at the end of the first by about 12 points. The tempo of the game was very fast paced with most of the points coming off fast break lay-ups. The players in Goma have little to no fundamentals, but they are really good athletes.
            The second quarter the Bulls began to come back. This was due to the fact that they had three guys about 6’5” and they were pulling down every rebound. Even their big guys are fast and can jump high. One thing that I love about the way they play here is that they go after the ball on the glass. Everyone crashes the boards hard, and they make sure that no one else gets the rebound except them. It makes for a very physical game, but that is the attitude you need to be a great rebounder. So their big guys really hurt us by pulling down the rebounds which led them to some fast breaks.
            At half time we were up about 7 points. The second half was rough for us. We seemed to be very tired and looked beat up as a team. They had bigger guards and bigger forwards than us and they were just playing very scrappy. They scored a lot of fast brake points in the third and fourth to pull the game to a one-point advantage for them with about 2 minutes to go in the game. It was at this point that I called time out. I told the team that we had to control the ball. We had to slow the pace of the game and even though we are down we only should take a wide-open lay-up. As we slowed the ball down and passed it around we exposed the defense a lot. Within 15 seconds we had a wide-open lay-up to go up by one. The Bulls called a timeout, and so this time I stressed defense. They were terrible shooters and not great ball handlers, so we decided to pressure the ball handler with the point guard and then pack the paint with the rest of the guys. The other coaches also decided to put me in at this point. So we packed the paint, and our point guard forced them to take a contested three, and an air ball led to a fast break lay-up for us. Up 3. Next possession for them we trapped them at half court and got a steal and then slowed the ball down. We swung the ball around for about 30 seconds and got another wide-open jump shot and our guard, Jerry, knocked it down. We were up 5 with about 20 seconds to go so we just packed the paint and let the clock run out.
            We won the game, which was huge for PJB to beat the best men’s team in Goma. It also goes to show people that slow, controlled fundamental basketball is essential when a fast paced up and down game gets out of hand. It was a great day and a great experience. It also taught me a lot about what I need to focus my training on for the kids so that they can learn the right way to play the game.

Here are a couple pictures from girls practice: