This is a long overdue post to summarize our final game of the FIBA World Qualifying tournament. It is amazing how as soon as the team divides up after travel home real life starts up in full force again and the environment you were completely immersed in for 2 straight weeks gets quickly left in the dust.
Final reports have been submitted on our season, and I now finally find myself making time to write the post on our Bronze Medal victory over Puerto Rico which earned us a spot in the World Championships to be hosted in Holland next August.
We had already played Puerto Rico earlier in the tournament, and although our previous game was a hard fought and close battle, we knew our game plan needed to be very similar in order to be successful and victorious again. I think already having played Puerto Rico really helped our team in mentally preparing for this game. Throughout the tournament we struggled to find the right arousal levels going into our games - we were either too worked up or too nervous depending on the competition or the environment. Having already played Puerto Rico meant we knew what to expect, and more importantly that our athletes knew what to expect.
Following a great deal of disappointment from our Brazil game the night before, the girls deserved a lot of credit for preparing themselves to play this game, embracing the opportunity to earn a medal and a spot in the World Championships next summer.
We came out very focused and intense, locking it up on the defensive end and forcing Puerto Rico into several shot clock violations in the first quarter. Despite our stellar defensive effort, we really struggled to put the ball in the basket. Although we were dominating, our inability to finish on the offensive end didn't allow us to pull away. Further, our momentum was stalled when a Puerto Rican player fainted on the court and was down for 8-10 minutes due to low blood sugar. This also seemed to give Puerto Rico a bit of a boost and we took a narrow 3 point lead into half.
We were never phased and never panicked, and continued solid execution of our game plan in the second half. An adjustment offensively to get the ball inside more to our size advantage got us to the foul line, got us some easy scores, and extended our lead as we continued our defensive presence. In the end we pulled away and earned a sound victory.
Watching the girls enjoy the victory, do the John Wall together on the bus, receive their medals and take photos together has been one of my most memorable coaching moments to date. Not necessarily because they "won" but because of how they came together as a true team, learned to sacrifice for each other and experienced the rewards that can come from always focusing on price, unity and tenacity - three things we emphasized from day one.
