practiced with the big boys

[TheBigRaguPB4L]

my team had a practice/get out and play day tonight. we figured it would be dead like always and we'd be there with a few other people that really don't play much. we get there and the other team taht's there practicing is ground zero. nothing like practicing against a team that doesn't have to try to take your whole team out. on the plus side, you get to learn alot when playing guys that totally outclass you at every turn. of course, i would have learned more if i didn't get keyed off the break half the time. i've never seen so much paint being tossed around. at least we picked up a few things. just when your team starts to think you're getting good, here come the pro's to let you know how much you suck.

[RT 01037]

same thing happend to me i was at a local turny and we thought we where good and we played some amature team and got beat bad i guess you just gotta partice alot.

[Mild 7]

Hey Ragu

Long time Ragu!

Sorry I've been out of touch. I upgraded my computer so I lost all the infos. Anyway, my brother is setting up a private game next Saturday, 23rd of March. Are you going to be around to ref our private game or do the field is going to choose? I figure you would be the best person to do so. Let me know.

[TheBigRaguPB4L]

youu could always request me, but i don't know. i haven't worked there in a month. probably longer. ****, if anything, i would want to play. but whatever. i think i should get down there to work before i lose my ref status. we'll see.

[bsolomon]

When you practice, your team will naturally begin to achieve the level of the competition you practice against. If you never practice against teams better than yourselves, several things happen - all bad:

1) You begin to think that you are a good team because you usually beat every team you practice against
2) You begin to try things that shouldn't work, but you get away with it because the competition isn't good enough to stop it, so you think they will work
3) You never learn anything because you begin to think you always did everything right

When you practice against teams better than you, it is true that you will spend a lot of time getting spanked. the important thing is that each and every mistake your team made has an explaination. Don't walk off with heads hung low, and shake it off simply believing you couldn't beat a better team. Do walk off and get every member of your team together and get each and every player to explain what they did, why it did or did not work, how they got shot, who shot them, who on your team could have prevented them from being shot, etc...

Don't settle for excuses like, "they just keyed me off the start." If so, was the spot you were going for realistic for your speed?, could someone else have put down the shooter who hit you and allowed you to get to the spot?

Pros and the good amateur teams generally can set themselves apart from most other teams BEFORE they ever set foot on the field. They know where you will be going, and they will expend a considerable effort to prevent you from getting there. You will need to work just as hard to ensure you will get to those spots. You can't just assume you will get to the spot because you got there against a squad of newbies or rec ballers.