Making the high school team as a freshman was pretty awesome. I felt cool. I felt proud of myself. Within myself, I felt a confidence grow that I didn't really have before. I had always been a shy kid. I was fine around people I knew, but in new situations with new people it took me some time to warm up and be myself. I had the self confidence all throughout the tryouts that I would make the team. It wasn't arrogance, it was just the fact that I had been playing up a grade all of my career up to that point, so I felt comfortable with the competition. As a member of the team, I did get some preferential treatment at my school. Not really by other students, but by the faculty. I had to leave school early on game days to travel and so forth. In gym class, I didn't have to dress and participate on game days. It was kind of cool to have people ask me why I was dressed up, or leaving early, or not playing in gym class. Outside of that, I didn't get the instant popularity that I hoped would accompany my making the team.
Once I made the team, the coaches made no secret that they had no intention of playing me. "You are a freshman, so you won't get much playing time at all." I was told to expect minimal time on the court, and that if that was a problem for me, I could leave the team and try out for the 9th grade team. I didn't even think twice about leaving the team. Again, in my head I was playing at my skill level. The first few games were just as the coaches said, I didn't play more than a few minutes total. As I sat on the bench, I was able to view the game from a position I was not used to. I had to watch other guys get called up before me. I had to watch them play well, play bad, but simply play. I didn't like it, and had a conversation with myself that I still remember to this day. "You are just as good as the guys starting and getting time. Maybe even better," I thought. "When you practice, play like it!"
It was a few weeks into the preseason, and we were having practice in the little gym. I was on the floor with the "B" team running a 1-3-1 defense to give our first team a sense of what to expect from our next opponent. My coaches put me on the point/ top of the 1-3-1 zone; partly because I was big and took up space, and partly for fun. I saw this as my opportunity. I got in my stance as the point guard brought the ball up the floor. I attacked him with defensive pressure, got a steal and a layup. I ran back to the defensive end, and got ready again, chills all throughout my body. The guard came back, with a determined look on his face. I applied pressure again, not letting him go where he wanted to go. I stole the ball again, and got another layup, more chills. As the guard came back again, I could tell he was really mad this time. He came right at me, full speed. I let him run into me. My coaches wisely let the play continue and I got right back up and in his face defensively. For a third time in a row, I stole the ball and we scored. I think of that practice as the day of decision for me. I had decided within myself that I was good enough to start. I didn't mope about not playing much, but used it as motivation to make others see that I was a starter. I was obviously good enough to make the team. The coaches must have seen something in me that lead them to choose me, so I wanted to show them why they needed to play me.
As a result of that practice, my playing time went up. Against our next opponent we played a 1-3-1 zone just to see how they would handle my pressure. The point guard brought the ball up, saw a big 6'5" dude at the top and looked at me like "you're kidding me right?" He looked like he thought I was going to fall over or that he would school me. That just stoked the fire inside me to wipe the smirk off his face. I applied the pressure, stole the ball, and we scored.
In my next week of practice I focused on out playing the starting center when we scrimmaged. He was thick and strong, but didn't really have great skills in the post. I used my speed and skills against his size. I knew at that time that I couldn't out muscle him down low, so I used my brain instead. As the week progressed, I found myself on the "A" team with the starters. Another game came and went with more playing time, and me taking advantage of every second I had on the floor. I started the next game, and did so for the rest of the season.
This was a great boost to my confidence on and off the floor. I felt like I had some swagger. With my success came some resentment from other players. No sophomore wanted to be out played by a freshman. No starter wanted to lose their spot to a freshman. Yes there was a team mentality, but I noticed that some of the guys didn't like the fact that I was playing and they were not. They were looking for me to slip up so they could capitalize on it. This just motivated me even more to be as perfect as I could be on the court. I didn't score as much as I would have liked, but really became the go to guy on defense, and to help my teammates when they got beat. I also learned how to set a wicked screen, and leveled a few guys along the way. My work didn't go unnoticed by the coaches of the JV team. Soon I was being called up to play JV and I started getting good minutes there. Again, I got some dirty looks from others, guys who were juniors, for playing in front of them.
This is becoming a saga, so I will pause here and ask that you keep checking in. More to come.
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