The Story So Far.

Hi there and thanks for checking out my blog. Its pretty basic at the minute but when i can figure out how to upload video/audio i'll upload some VLog footage and some generally interesting things.

Ok so the story so far. Im Martin and i attend the UoB. I spend five days a week playing basketball and if im not playing, im thinking about playing or researching offensive/defensive plays or systems, reading about basketball or listening to music...oh and Iwatch family guy/scrubs/south park. Oh and i sometimes go to lectures, but don't count on it.

Now i know what your thinking. 'wow this guy needs to get a girlfriend/a life/a hobby/high'. Well what i say to you is im a commitophobe, my life is fantstic thanks and i wouldn't trade it for the world, reading is my hobby (to be fair i really only read books on coaching, basketball and sport, but it still counts as a hobby) and as for the getting high....no comment.

So as for the team: Well last year the team was relegated, but this wasn't due to bad performance, but becasue our captain didn't submit our last result so the league docked us a load of points and because the league tables were so close we were moved form a play-off contesting position to relegation. So were all pretty upset. But on the plus side were in a division that we have a very good chance of winning this year.
Also last years team was very corupt. Due to the lack of a coach our captain ran training and ultimatly decided the team. And so a culture developed where the captains friends got to play and the rest of us didn't. So we didn't have the best players on court and as such ended up playing games of 1-on-1 because the team wasn't working together. As a result the 1-on-1 turned into 1-on-5 and we got hammerd some games.

This year should be different though, for a number of reasons. We have lost a lot of dead weight over the summer as seniors have graduated and this should allow us to be more dynamic this year. Our old offence revolved around feeding the post, we had two big post players, craig and grizzly, who posted up and tried to score. However with thier graduation brings about a movement similar to when shaq was traded to the suns. This allowed the heat to become faster and more dynamic. This year we have more skilled and better conditioned guards and agile post scorers. So we are integrating a form of the dribble-drive motion offence and focusing more on fast breaks and transition offence/defence. My ideal scenario is for us to mirror teams like Memphis tigers (NCAA) but with better shooting hopefully.

So the team this year:
Greg: Greg is the captian of our ship. Hes a short point guard whos passing and knowledge of the game is top quality.
Will: Will is our social sec and one of our post players. Will is more of a power forward with a stocky figure and good height
Martin: Thats me. Im a centre but i also play small forward, can jump high and am pretty quick around the basket. Love playing defence and getting rebounds.
Dave: Dave was our shooting guard last year and will probably still be there this year. Dave is a good shooter and is unselfish
Adam: Adam played point gurad for a bit last year but is more of a small forward, quite and alrounder he doesn't excelle at any one thing but he is a solid player.
DJ: DJ is our best point guard, an inner city baller whos been playing since he was born. He has a comprehensive understanding of the game and the skills to execute the plays he makes. Should have played more last season but was benched far too much.
AJ: Aj is big, tall and athletic. He also has a lebrone james complex. He thinks hes and outside shooter or a drive and dunk player and practices his shooting non-stop but never seeems to get any better in games. We have loads of small quick guards who can make it to the basket but we dont have big athletic post players. So he should play in the post or he wont get any court time this year.
Ash: Ash or flipper as he is know due to his conections to the swim team. And this is just his problem, he lacks comitment to the team. He obviously lacks some skill but has made massive improvement over last season. But he just isn't comitted enough to basketball, so on the bench he will remain.
Tim: Tim is asleep, all the time. But when he wakes up he actually shows patches of brilliance. Again he lacks comitment to the team and appears sparodically. So unless he shows some considerable comitment he will continue to be a splinter jockey.
Deep: Deep was looked over considerably last season due to the amount of characters at training and the lack of a coach. He has considerable talent and is a jack of all trades. He could be quicker but has a considerable knee injury which could contribute to his slight lack of speed. He is a solid defensive player and a great rebounder. As long as that knee is 100% he should expect minutes this season.
Kas: Kas is an average guard, not physical enough to go through his defender effectively but not really quick enough to beat them off the dribble. He can hit threes but only when standing still and uncontested and he lacks a consitent jump shot. Hes a great guy but in my opinion is over-rated as a guard and needs considerable improvement to gain any court time.
Dan: Dan is the loudest person in the world. He is obviously part of the team for the social side. He has improved vastly since last year, but his achillies heel is his inability to listen. If he absorbes even half the advice he is given, with a bit of practice he could move his way up the bench to a contesting starting spot.
(sorry if the above seems a bit judgemental, all these people are my friends and im not judging them as people. This is just my honest opinion of thier basketball ability)

So with that said I have high hopes for this year. Our combination of quick guards, dribble-drive offence and work ethic combined with the fact we are in a lower divison means there should not be a single game we don't win.

Maritn