Hit The Floor

L Doesn't Mean Give Up

The Bleep of a buzzer was all to familiar to the Saint Augustine Boy's Basketball Team. The bleep that meant, ' That's right, you lost! Gather up next week for another loss! ' The bleep ultimately meant that their demise of losing this year's league was all but indefinite. They gathered down in St. Susanna School's main hall, which was lit by skylights. A painting on the right side of the elaborate hallway illustrated their logo, a maroon- red T with the words St. Susanna encircling it on the top. The boys sat down on the rug, looking up at their sad faces. Coach Tom clapped. "Alright," he said ruefully. "Things could've gone better today. Coach Ed raised his eyebrows in a way that said, "Better isn't the word I would use." He joined in, but with a slight tone of excitement coming from his voice. "We have adopted a new strategy," he said, looking at the boys hopeful faces. "We," he said in a quiet voice, "Are gonna base all our plays off of statistics."

The boys almost immediately were scrutinizing the idea, and finding every hole in it, and ask a question. "How do we know it's gonna work?" Liam had asked. Even Ryan had a question. "What if we forget the statistics?" Coach Tom replied, "It will. We... know it will." Josh had replied, "Wha-" Coach Ed cut him off, and said, "Look, we know what we're doing, so just do what we tell you to do, and you'll, we'll, be golden."

At Monday practice, the boys were quite surprised at what the coaches had prepared for them. The first thing they did was sit down while the other team was practicing, and go over a few things. Their new offense was the 1 3 1, all of the positions based off stats of were people their size made most of their shots. Their point guard, Liam, was supposed to throw it to the 1 person down low, who would float in and out of the lane. The 1 person was Ryan, their team's best shooter. The three people by the foul line could also get the ball, and pivot and shoot. All and all, it was a good offense, but their defence couldn't need to improve more. But that was what Tuesday practice was for.