The biggest difference in males going from high school to college is that in high school the bathroom sign reads ‘boys room’, in college it says ‘men’s room’.
Everyone gets excited when they see a young kid dribbling a basketball between their legs or spinning four basketballs on their fingers!
People rave about a ten year old kid because he can make 5 jumpers in a row from the NBA 3-pt line.
Parents, media, fans and even coaches. Everyone wants to be the first person to discover the next phenom.
That’s all good but please keep things in perspective; these are KIDS!
There are two 8th graders here in my city that a lot of people are getting juiced up about. They are getting looks from the local high schools and to top it off, their dads played ball too.
In the past I have been guilty of hyping kids up. I have said, ’so and so’ is the next (enter your NBA player). I really try and stop myself from doing that now.
I just hope that people don’t expect so much from these two kids. I hope they don’t log onto to their favorite message board on the internet and rip these kids because they shot 4 for 15 from the field and had 6 turnovers.
I hope they realize that when they go see them play for the first time that they don’t expect to see superstars. These kids will miss shots, turn the ball over and get scored on. They will jog up and down the court and lose interest just like their favorite NBA superstars.
I can just hear it now, ‘Coach, did you see that 8th grader from Lansing’?
I have seen both of these 8th graders play, they are good basketball players. I’m sure they will have bright futures, but I will never expect them to make me go ‘wow’ when I go to their game.
If I could sit in a room with them I would give them the following advice.
Do well in school. Be a great kid to your classmates/teammates. Listen to your teachers and especially your parents. Do some chores around the house, don’t disrespect authority and most of all, work hard on your fundamentals. Dribble, shoot, pass and most of all, play defense with a lot of energy.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
