The early season is always such an interesting time in many different regards. After months of being away from any real action on the hardwood, you never truly know what to expect until you take the floor on opening night in late November, (usually my birthday, everybody’s favorite holiday, the 29th). Then you get into season play early on and like every other team in the country, you have many skills or schemes to smooth out. As time rolls on however, you hope to gradually improve on a nightly basis in all aspects of your game, and it may not happen quickly but, slowly but surely as you’re watching the film from earlier on in the year, you think back on just how far your team has come.
We’ve hit that stage in the season thus far.
I’m sure both teams would say, there were some games early on that we’d wish we could do over again. Moments where we didn’t necessarily execute like we’d have liked and some shots we wished would’ve fell down the stretch. Yet, at this point in mid-January, each team is at a spot to humbly be proud of. not enough to be complacent and lose sight of the larger goal, but a spot to be proud of as something to build on later in the season.
Let’s take a quick look at where we stand going deeper into district play.
Through the first 17 games of the season, my beloved Lady Gobblers stand at 12-5.
Just like I mentioned above, looking back on November/Early December, there were some games I wish went the other way and some spots where we didn’t hit our shots. However, it’s all part of the larger game script. We’ve improved a ton in our offensive game since the beginning of the season. Attacking the rim and making our free throws (most of the time). But most importantly to my happiness, we’ve developed an identity as a Tom Izzo or Tony Bennett type of team. A team that plays exceptionally physical defense and takes care of the boards.
Like I said in the preseason show, I’ll always prefer my teams take on a defensive identity. When you play great defense, you’re never truly out of the game. If we’re down by 10 points or less at the half, I know we’ll have a shot to come from behind in the second half due to just how well we’re playing defensively.
The boys stand at an impressive record of 12-4 through 16 games.
The boys have the same identity we’re building over on the other side. A selfless offensive team that doesn’t care who scores when or how. A team that plays solid defense that also just like us, has them in many games down the stretch. The thing I’ve loved the most out of the boys team this year is the cohesion between the lower and upperclassmen. The team has a great balance between hardened veterans and young guys that are hungry to make a spot for themselves at the highest local level of basketball.
When you have a great mix like the boys (and girls) team’s have, the possibilities are endless on each end of the court, especially on the offensive end. When you have players that have experience running through an offense, it becomes much easier for the younger more inexperienced players to catch along. And the more experience you have, the better off you are.
I’m overjoyed with where both teams are at at this point in the season. Broadway has an identity for playing the game the right way. Both teams embody that play style to a T. I’m grateful to bear witness to all of it.
The Gobblers Basketball seasons continue with many of the regular season and postseason games broadcast on the Gobblers Sports Network. See the schedule at www.gobblerssportsnetwork.com
