Last Wednesday we had a match against a really good school and we beat them. I didn't really play well though, I wasn't confident handling the ball and was afraid. My coach kept telling me to be more aggressive on court throughout the whole match and even after the match.
So, I took that advice and I had this strong urge to do better and I improved! By the next match, which was on Monday, I played a really good game! I scored two three pointers, drove into the basket strongly and was really confident. That was the first time I've scored a three pointer in a game. It's like I improved overnight, amazing.
Then we had another match on Tuesday. I did well too, I scored a three pointer and had a fast break and I drove in a few times. I played well and was quite pleased with myself.
However, today there was another match and we played against a lousy school. We lost the match and we should've won it, I honestly don't know what happened. I was doing my part on defense and offense and was running down the court, but we still lost. The team was just in bad form, and I feel like I'm also responsible for losing due to my lack of fighting spirit.
I didn't hustle for the ball as much due to fatigue and my confidence level, well, it was alright. I was sucking air by the start of the second quarter and was lazy on defense. I should've slept properly last night but I didn't, I only had 4 hours of sleep and maybe that's why I underperformed. I bet if my teammates put in a little more effort into the game today, we would've won.
I was so pissed off that we lost the game, and during our debrief our coach was telling us on how he has given up on us because we have given up on ourselves. I do agree with him on that, the reason we didn't win the match was because we've given up on ourselves even before the match was over. We barely had the fighting spirit and we weren't hustling for the ball. Everyone was just lazy.
We are a talented bunch of players, teachers and coaches from our school and other schools have told us that we are talented. Well, we are. We got basketball scholarships to enter the school, most of us have been playing for more than 4-5 years! We've got girls who were captains of their primary school teams and many skillful players. But why can't we win? It's because we don't have the mental strength.
In order for us to get the mental strength we need, we first have to
- Play our matches to win. If you don't have that winner's mindset, you won't go far.
- Want to get the ball and hustle for it.
- Not be lazy.
- Determination
I'm very sure these tips can help any basketball team out there, or even any other sports based team. Everyone needs this. I'm pretty sure there are more tips but these are the only ones I can think of right now.
Other than that, I'll just end it off here. I'll be using this for future reference.
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