Props to my son

[Eurocat]

I never thought I would have an athlete in the family, we are all medical nerds (except for me, I faint at the sight of a drop of blood, so sad too bad). But my 14-year-old had really taken basketball to heart and even though he is only 14 they make him play in the 15–16-year-old league and in last week's tournament he was names MVP for the finals game where he scored 27 points and snagged 24 rebounds.

Before anyone gets too excited, no there is not a chance he could go to NU, he is not that good, the league is very good, competitive, but I know enough about bball to know what limits are. Maybe, MAYBE he could be second string at someplace like Lehigh or Colgate.

But basketball - which he only got into recently - has really changed and improved him, More self-confidence and self-discipline,

So, props to my youngest!

Go Cats!

ps - I will edit to add - he is an absolute f*cker on defense. I can't get more delighted, So many times some prima donna from another team will come down lah-dee-dah dribbling between his legs and behind his back (which is fine, but do it because it is effective not to show off to the cheerleaders) and my son will casually guard him and WHACK - ball rolls out of bounds. The prima donna will give a stare like "Bro, wassup?". Back on the court WHACK. No foul, all clean, just no bs. Probably my favorite part of his game. It is so funny to see the opponents reactions, they are like "hey, what are you doing"?

 

[Hungry Jack]

Youth sports are such great teachers. So happy to hear about your son.

I love kids who play defense.

 

[hdhntr1]

I never thought I would have an athlete in the family, we are all medical nerds (except for me, I faint at the sight of a drop of blood, so sad too bad). But my 14-year-old had really taken basketball to heart and even though he is only 14 they make him play in the 15–16-year-old league and in last week's tournament he was names MVP for the finals game where he scored 27 points and snagged 24 rebounds.

Before anyone gets too excited, no there is not a chance he could go to NU, he is not that good, the league is very good, competitive, but I know enough about bball to know what limits are. Maybe, MAYBE he could be second string at someplace like Lehigh or Colgate.

But basketball - which he only got into recently - has really changed and improved him, More self-confidence and self-discipline,

So, props to my youngest!

Go Cats!

ps - I will edit to add - he is an absolute f*cker on defense. I can't get more delighted, So many times some prima donna from another team will come down lah-dee-dah dribbling between his legs and behind his back (which is fine, but do it because it is effective not to show off to the cheerleaders) and my son will casually guard him and WHACK - ball rolls out of bounds. The prima donna will give a stare like "Bro, wassup?". Back on the court WHACK. No foul, all clean, just no bs. Probably my favorite part of his game. It is so funny to see the opponents reactions, they are like "hey, what are you doing"?

Well he still has some years to develop and if he can play D ( Playing D is like breathing. Cannot live without it) There is still a shot

 

[Eurocat]

I doubt he has the "build", my sense (and I am not locked into this, I would love to be proven "too pessimistic") is that he stays in Europe or if comes to America to someplace like Fordham or Hofstra or Wagner (this is me naming programs near me that I know about, I am sure there are many others) but, because he is pretty sharp in the head, becomes a very good coach. But he is 14 for all I know he will announce he wants to do pre-med like everyone in my family except for me (blood...yech....).

And of course, at his age he could build up and out, time will tell, he is only in 9th grade.

The almost creepy thing is not only does he follow the NBA and his favorite players, he also knows stuff about the G-League that no normal non-obsessed guy would know. He knew that Jacob (JACOB not Obi) played (and plays) Topin for the Knicks and he sends me data about how Boo Buie is doing. He knows more about Boo than I do and I was his biggest fan.

Boo Buie - The NBA G League

Boo Buie (born December 7, 1999) is a guard for the Westchester Knicks on a Two-Way Contract with the New York Knicks. He played college basketball at Northwestern.

gleague.nba.com

I give him a one percent chance of playing in the Bigs, but he could definitely turn his "Charlie Hustle" into a coaching gig he is freaky enough about the sport.

Who knows? He is having fun and staying clean and studious, and I will never complain about that.

Go Cats.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I never thought I would have an athlete in the family, we are all medical nerds (except for me, I faint at the sight of a drop of blood, so sad too bad). But my 14-year-old had really taken basketball to heart and even though he is only 14 they make him play in the 15–16-year-old league and in last week's tournament he was names MVP for the finals game where he scored 27 points and snagged 24 rebounds.

Before anyone gets too excited, no there is not a chance he could go to NU, he is not that good, the league is very good, competitive, but I know enough about bball to know what limits are. Maybe, MAYBE he could be second string at someplace like Lehigh or Colgate.

But basketball - which he only got into recently - has really changed and improved him, More self-confidence and self-discipline,

So, props to my youngest!

Go Cats!

ps - I will edit to add - he is an absolute f*cker on defense. I can't get more delighted, So many times some prima donna from another team will come down lah-dee-dah dribbling between his legs and behind his back (which is fine, but do it because it is effective not to show off to the cheerleaders) and my son will casually guard him and WHACK - ball rolls out of bounds. The prima donna will give a stare like "Bro, wassup?". Back on the court WHACK. No foul, all clean, just no bs. Probably my favorite part of his game. It is so funny to see the opponents reactions, they are like "hey, what are you doing"?

24 rebounds! Geez, that’s a lot of missed shots to haul in.

He is going to need a bigger stadium to handle all of the fan interest. Just messing with you Euro. Congratulations on your sons success.

 

[GOUNUII]

Youth sports are such great teachers. So happy to hear about your son.

I love kids who play defense.

Me too HJ. I coached youth basketball for 25 years. One year my 5th grade "C" team had to play up against a lot of "B" teams. We had a hard time scoring, the 24 best players in the class were on the A and B teams. But we learned to play defense. I remember well the game where our plan was to disrupt as much as possible the opponent's point guard and best player. It was our only chance. So I put my 2 best defenders on him, rotating the two and telling them we had 10 fouls to give and if we didn't use them all we weren't being aggressive enough.

After one ticky tack foul call, my player looks over at me in frustration. He had never had the green light to play so aggressively that he was bound to draw some fouls. My exact words were "Don't worry. You're playing exactly as I want you to. Keep it up." How could I have anticipated that the official would immediately T me up for that comment. Apparently, he thought my before its time Zack Edy defensive strategy was an afront to him. What a MORON.

We lost a lot of games that year, but went on to win that game 16-15.

 

[DaCat]

@Eurocat make sure your son works on his plus/minus, it’s the most important metric!