OFF TO A ROCKY START

Your very own team took the L in their first home game. They played hard and are continuing to work to bring you the best games. Here’s some inside details from the coach, and one of the players.

On the Varsity Boys Basketball team, there are 6 full time players. Starters are Cade Johnson (11th grade), Bennett Olson (11th grade), Jaylen Schweiger (11th grade), Aidan Moran (11th grade), and Parker Maahs (10th grade), the one sub is Matthew Johnson (10th grade).

The only senior that plays this season is Igor Shevchenko. Where’s that senior representation? Mr. Reynolds, history teacher, JV head coach, and Varsity assistant coach says, “Cade is the best at everything”, when asked about the strongest player.

When watching the last game- PACT vs Community of Peace Academy, Coach Reynolds made some observations. He saw, and believes the team needs to work on having better offensive chemistry, and better defense. He does not think the team is strong enough yet, part of being strong is being able to be in the perfect defensive position and stance at all times, and this is something he believes they need to work on.

Reynolds thinks that the team did much better than the first game. He thinks that there was a lot of growth between the first game and this second one. On the offensive side of things- they did a better job working the ball around. On the defensive side of things, Reynolds says that they got beat up. He would go as far as to say that the team did terrible on defense.

Something really good that happened was that the coaches were able to figure out the weak spots. This was good because they can build up and work more on these parts that they had struggled with. It helps them be able to complement the good things, work less on them, and then focus on growing at the weaker parts for the

The final score of the game against Community of Peace Academy was 65- 57, a loss. This game was intense. PACT was ahead for awhile and then in the last about 7 minutes, Community of Peace came back strong and took the win over the Panthers.

Unfortunately, the school spirit was poor. There were not a lot of fans there at all. The fans that were there, were not cheering. Matthew Johnson says, “There were lots of fans there, but no one cheered except for 2 people.” We need to support the team! Cheer, get on your feet, and be loud for your school! Possibilities to get more fans to the games would be things like giveaways. PACT used to have half time games. It would be something like $1 to try to make a half court shot, if you made it, you got a prize. Coach Reynolds says that he would consider giving extra credit in order to get fans there. Where’s your school spirit?

As a coach, you typically have a philosophy. A coach’s philosophy typically contains the beliefs and principles that the coach will follow to achieve their goals. Mr. Reynolds philosophy is, “defense wins champions. Defense all the way.” Reynolds believes that the best 5 players play. In order to be the best team, you have to play your best players.

A multiple sport athlete is exactly what it sounds like, someone who plays more than one sport. Sometimes that can be a problem. The athlete might prefer his other sport. Reynolds encourages his players to play more than just one sport. In fact he wants them to play more than one sport. It keeps you in shape. It helps you stay loose, and fit. It is better to do more than one sport than to come and play a season of basketball, and then just sit and do nothing until next season.

Playing time is often a big issue. Players tend to think very highly of themselves and they think that they should be playing all the time. That is true for very few people. Although it sounds mean, you can’t have the bad people playing if you want to win. When asked how he dealt with the parents and players who believe they should get more playing time, Reynolds said, “ I tell them to tough it up. They gotta earn the time.” he says, “I am more than willing to tell them what they are doing wrong so they can improve and have a possibility of getting more playing time, but they can’t think that they will each get equal playing time, it doesn’t fit with my philosophy, the best five players play.”

Many athletes and teenagers have very busy lives. “When a player misses a practice because of something he could of skipped, I do not deal with that very well,” says Reynolds. “These players, they lose minutes (playing time). You are in a sport, and that is what you should be doing.”

“My players represent me. If they get in trouble, they don’t play.” Mr. Reynolds has some expectations for his team. If you really wanted to be playing basketball, they shouldn’t be that hard to follow. “They have to stay eligible, otherwise you let your team down. It’s selfish to choose not to do something because you’re lazy. Your team needs you.” says Reynolds.

Coaching is rough. Reynolds tries to be the best coach there is, and that means that you need to improve and learn. “I get on kids too much. I need to be more affirming instead of just telling kids what they are doing bad at or what they need to work on.” He says that, “I need to talk to someone I trusts about schematic issues. I can’t act like I know everything, because I don’t. I need to be more relational, get to know my players. I need to stop yelling at the refs. I can’t call people names.”

As a coach, you are a role model to your players. To be a role model, Reynolds thinks that he needs to have a servant leadership. He isn’t going to ask the players to do something he wouldn’t. He is, however, going to push them to be the best they can, both as an athlete and a person. He needs to teach and live how to have a disciplined life.

Typically, the manager of the team will videotape the game and then the coaches will check it out and see thing that they need to work on next practice. Each practice is different in that sense, but some stuff is similar. The coaches evaluate weaknesses based on the film, then they work on the weaknesses. They check out the next team that they will be playing and they build in the areas where the other team is going to pressure and be better.

In a pre game talk, Reynolds chooses to focus on the basics. He never gives the remember this, remember this, remember this talk. He only says two to three things tops. He also always concludes with telling them to have fun. In his half time talk, Reynolds makes adjustments for the second half. The second half is usually what wins or loses a game. In the post game talk, it is usually pretty chill and short if it’s a win. If it was a lose, it is not as nice as a win. Usually the case for a loss is the shortage of effort and energy. Coaches tend to get on the players if they don’t finish strong. It’s all about how you finish, you want to finish better than you start.

Your team has to be motivated to want to play a game, especially the hard and the really easy games. To get them to want to play well, and to play right, you have to tell them their role. You have to get the players to understand the big picture. Explain the reasoning why one person is better than another at a specific thing. It helps to use examples, to point out people who have bought into it. Reynolds says, “Jaylen and Aidan are perfect examples of people who have bought into their role. Because they understand their role as strong defensive players rather than being the player that scores the most, they are more successful and they can help coach the other players that might want to be the best at more than just one thing. They get to play basketball, and that should be enough motivation.” Reynolds has been quoted saying, “I’d give my left nut to be able to play.”

Reynold’s philosophy is that the best five players play. Based off of this philosophy, he says that it is fair to have freshman on JV and juniors on Varsity. If you have a ninth grader that is the best, you’re going to put them where they are going to help the most and be the most successful. No question. Reynolds considers it a disservice to a junior who is bad to put them on Varsity. He says that life isn’t like that. You’re going to choose the best ones for the best team.

Reynolds says that he wants his players to describe him as intense. He wants the team to win. He wants the team to get better. “Reynolds has definitely helped me become the player that I am today.” says Matthew. He says his coach has taught him to always have a good attitude, and to play hard.

During a game, there is only 1 sub. That means that it is going to be the same 6 players playing the whole game. When a player gets subbed in, the player comes over to the bench, and shakes hands with his teammates that are sitting in case they are needed. There is always a seat open next to the coaches for the player who comes off. The guy sits there and the coaches tell them what they are seeing on the court. The things that this player is doing really well, and something he needs to work on. For instance, it could be that the lane is open and he needs to make a move to get past his defender and into the lane for a short jumper or a layup. Making a move is saying do a spin move or a fake, and dribble around the person guarding you. A short jumper is when you dribble in close to the basket and then pull up and take a shot. A layup is when you take it all the way to the hoop. You get two steps and you finish up.

Coaching is Reynolds’ passion- it is something he loves to do. Coaching is the reason he teaches. Since Reynolds can’t play anymore, he says that coaching is the next closest thing to playing, so as long as he can be a part of doing something that he loves, he is fine with coaching.

Coach Reynolds is in charge of defense. As the defensive coach, in a typical practice, he works the guys hard. “My five top priorities in a practice are defense, defense, defense, defense, offense.” Back to his philosophy, defense wins games, so that is where he sets his focus.

The team would very much appreciate your support. As a student, you get in free, there are no excuses. They work hard in practice to bring you an interesting game. They provide you with free and exciting entertainment. Come support and cheer!!