Monday Morning Quarterback

Sharks LW Ryane Clowe was named the NHL 1st Star of the Week

Monday Morning Quarterback

One who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight
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Happy Monday as we sift through the final week of school before the Christmas break. Is anybody going anywhere interesting? Let's hope everybody finishes 2010 on a high note. Tons of stuff to get to today so.... Onto the MMQ...

What more is there to say about the Red Team's come from behind victory Saturday. After the first quarter, I walked to the scorer's table and whispered to Marissa, "Game's Over." Good thing I was wrong.

In the back of my mind, I did say to myself, "If any team could come back, it would be this team."

Last year's game against Holy Name was one of the best comebacks I had ever seen, which was 13 points in the second quarter. They also trailed 8-0 in their final regular season game, which they needed to win just to get into the playoffs. And then they played the last 2 minutes of their playoff game with only four players.

But in the end, this team just knows how to win.

However, as part of our job at the MMQ, is to see ways to prevent another epic comeback.

• Free Throws

Not the best showing from the line as Justin was the only one who was solid from the line hitting 4-6. Miles needs more arc on his shot and Michael Ng has gone cold from the line and 3 point line in the last few games.

• 28 minutes of basketball.

Not, just the second half or fourth quarter for that matter. There are a lot of games the Red Team seems to be unprepared in the first few minutes. Their preparation (and this goes for all teams) needs to start the second they step into the gym. Focus needs to be there during stretches, warm-ups and into the tip-off.

I find that most teams do not warm up at 100%. When you go through your lay-up lines, or jump shots or free throws, make sure you put yourself in game mode and be loose and ready to go once the whistle blows.

• Take care of the ball 

Plain and simple, the turnovers were way too many. In a division they are in, the self inflicted wounds will come back to haunt you. In the blink of an eye, the Red Team was down, and that was because of turnovers. They need to be more sturdy with the ball. When they face a press early on, they may get a little rattled. If they compose themselves, they can break the press.

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE OTHER TEAMS
The 6th grade is the only team with one loss out of all the St. Mary's teams at the end of week two. Part of the reason is that they were also unprepared to play their game. However, there was no epic comeback to speak of and their poor habits continued the entire game.

I want to make it clear that it's okay that they lost, and it's okay any team loses. But when you lose the way they did, it's not okay.

We have spent so much time devoted to talk about the 6th grade, and their potential, and how talented they are. In the end, it means nothing if they can't get it together.

Again, someone who observed their practice yesterday at NDV said that they were too busy fooling around, not listening to their coaches. This will be the last time this will be mentioned. If it happens again, the team will be nothing but an after thought, because we have exhausted almost everything we could think of to help this team succeed.

If they don't get it by now, maybe they never will.

4th, 5th, 7th and White Team wins
Nice job by the 4th, 5th and 7th grade to win games they are supposed to win. Sure, they had their share of things they could do better, but the good teams beat teams they are supposed to beat, and those teams did just that over the weekend.

The White Team falls into a different category because they needed overtime to overcome their mistakes at the end. In OT, they played with a sense of urgency, a purpose. The let down at the end of the game may have been a result of not being up in many games in the past, and not knowing how to close out games.

Friday night should've served as a reminder that you can never stop playing until the clock reads 0:00 at the end of 4.

Kudos to Mark, whose 24 points were overshadowed by the epic Red Team comeback Saturday.

And also, Jonathan, who took last week's game ball, scored another 15 points in the 4th grade victory.

EPIC VIDEO
Epic videos will be released now on Tuesdays. Mondays will be reserved for the Monday Morning Quarterback. Also, it doesn't hurt to read once in a while. Say the anticipation builds for Epic Video #3, which will debut tomorrow.