Final Score Doesn’t Always Tell The Story

By Jon Buzby | Posted 1/24/2020

Last weekend my son played in two basketball games and lost both. But the lessons he learned landed him and the team in the win column.

In the first game his team jumped out to a big lead and the players (and coaches) started relaxing just before halftime.

In the final few minutes of the second quarter, the substitution pattern was distorted, offensive plays were run lackadaisically, and a once 20-plus point lead was reduced to a dozen.

Despite the coach’s warning at halftime, things didn’t get much better in the second half. The players rushed transitions and made a poor pass and shot selections. On the defensive end, they were more worried about grabbing rebounds and creating fast breaks than securely getting the rebounds in the first place, resulting in several sloppy turnovers and easy layups for the opposition.

All of a sudden, we trailed by three points with under 10 seconds to go. A rushed 3-pointer was way off the mark and the ball sailed out of bounds as the final buzzer sounded.

The lesson was simple: It’s never over until it’s over. It’s important to play hard and smart until the final buzzer sounds.

The second game he played on a different middle school-aged team against a high school squad in an MLK Showcase. The younger squad hung with the older one and lost by just five despite being clearly overmatched in size alone.

Despite the loss, the players had a chance to see what the future holds for them, and skill-wise, to what level they’ll need to develop if they want to play at the high school level.

They all gained confidence in themselves, having more successes than failures and learning quickly that if they box a high school kid out, it’s just as hard for them to get the rebound as a middle school player. And if you take good open shots and make smart passes, they work against any defense, regardless of the average age or height of it.

The lesson was simple: Losing often creates learning experiences which, if carried forward, will turn into wins.

For the weekend, the lesson was also simple: Everyone wants to win, but sometimes winning can’t be determined by the final score alone.

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years with perspectives as a parent, coach and board member. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Coaching Kids Made Easier,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.

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