Last weekend I went down to Prosser for some family shenanigans and ended it with a few basketball games at good ol' Prosser High. My dad coaches the Varsity girls and my sister plays on the Freshman team so I got to see two completely different games. The Varsity game was fast paced with lots of steals (by Prosser) and lots of fouling (by Ellensburg). On the other hand, the Freshman game was more dribble down, run the play, miss the basket, other team rebounds, repeat. I think only 6 points were scored the entire first quarter! The Prosser freshmen lost by 1 (or something really close). It was a good game, and eventually the shots started falling, it just took awhile to warm up. One big difference I noticed throughout their game (other than intensity) was that, as freshmen, they tend to let the game and the play in motion dictate them instead of them initiating with the ball. Example: jump to the ball!
When running a play what makes it successful is the players moving and shifting to get open and never staying in the same spot. Creating space is another good word to use. Making themselves open. When they are open and when their teammate passes the ball to them, making it or breaking it can be summed up as "jump to the ball." When the ball is passed to you - what do you do? Do you stand there waiting for it to be received? Or, do you jump towards the ball and meet it in the air? Are you reactive (stand there waiting) or proactive (jump towards the ball to catch it)? There are many times the defense is jumping to the ball instead of the offense thus creating a turn over. Not ideal (for the offense anyways). Watching my sister's team play, not many of them know how to "jump to the ball." They run their plays well, take great shots and even create space to get open, but very few jump to the ball.
In life, it's kind of the same idea. When an opportunity comes to you, are you reactive and wait to see where it lands or do you see it coming and proactively jump towards it. Being proactive is a better prepared position to be in because A) you see the ball coming B) minimize the distance the ball has to go by meeting it part way and lessening the chance someone else might intercept it and C) by jumping to the ball you are one step closer to being in triple threat position (if you don't know what triple threat is, it means that you are in position to either dribble, pass or shoot from where you stand). I think lately I have been reactive. Meaning that when I see an opportunity coming I don't jump towards it. Instead, I wait to see what happens and, more times than not, it gets picked off and someone else now has that opportunity and I missed out.
This week on The Office they made New Years Resolutions. Of course, being The Office, they were either pointless or inappropriate. But still they made them (and then Pam had to throw them out, because, well, on the Office nothing ever goes right). I normally don't make resolutions, because, well - I don't keep them! I'm part of that statistic that drops off come February. Good intentions and no follow through (another basketball term that could be turned into a blog post). This year I'm not making a resolution, I'm making a change. I'm going to "jump to the ball" more often. Not just this year, but hopefully for a long time. Because life isn't about what happens to you (reactive) but about how you respond to life (proactive). I don't want to be the girl who reacts to everything but doesn't make things happen. I am going to make things happen. Anticipate change. Create opportunites. And not be scared to take the ball in my own hands and see what takes place.
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