Living Orange: 5 Points

Sunday, January 25, 2015

5 Points

Carter scored his first points in a basketball game yesterday! Woohoo!!!!! Yesterday was his team's fifth game of the season and their best one yet. They finally played a team that was closer to their ability and experience level. They only lost 24 to 21.

It's hard to admit, but Carter is the worst player on the team. There are only 6 kids on the team and none have played before so no one on the team is great. Carter's main hold back is he's timid or scared of the ball. He's not overly aggressive on defense either. He basically understands the game, but he lacks experience and so he doesn't react very quickly in the game. But he's improving and still never complains about playing. He actually says he likes it.

Carter took a shot in the first quarter and got fouled. He'd probably only taken a couple of shots total in the first four games so it was impressive that he felt confident enough to shoot (he usually panics and tries to pass the ball).

I think both Brian and I 100% believed he was going to airball both shots (that's what he does in practice). BUT HE MADE BOTH SHOTS!!!

Carter was the only one to score any points for his team in the first quarter. We were crazy proud of him.

Carter got fouled in the second quarter too and made the second shot. He was up to 3 points for the game!

And then in the third quarter, one of Carter's shots went in! Yay! He had a total of 5 points for the game.

In addition to his improved offense, Carter had some great defense. He rebounded a couple of times, stole the ball once, and caused a few jump balls. Go, Carter!

After the first game and realizing that it was going to be a rough season for our team, Brian bought bracelets for the kids as rewards. He planned to use them like baseball coaches use game balls. A player can earn the bracelet by hustling which means defense gets rewarded.

Brian had the bracelets made so they say "2014-15 EWA Tigers" and "MVP" on the opposite side. (EWA is the league the kids play in - East Williamson Athletics.)

Brian has been bringing 2 bracelets to each game. This week the two players that earned them were Cade and Carter. They are our 2 weakest players and both had great games. We were so proud of these boys and the entire team!