Our Sons Basketball Team

Basketball Player

Our son, John, is an 11th grade high school basketball player who started out the season averaging 15 pts. per game with several assists and steals and very few turnovers. His game high was 31.

Lately he has fallen apart, can’t make his shot (free throws are still good), bad passes, travels, loses the ball, turnovers, and he’s really down on himself.

He is a captain and can’t get his team fired up to win — he said nobody cares and he hates to lose. Their record this year is 4 wins and 11 loses. They really aren’t a bad team and if they all would be on the same page for a game, they would win.

He did not have a good game tonight — only two 3-point shots made; he had at least 10 turnovers — travelings, bad passes, fouls. He came home tonight after losing by 2 pts. and just emotionally fell apart and said he just tries so hard and nothing goes right and he’s so sick of losing and playing so bad that he really doesn’t know what to do.

It’s not like him to be that way. We’ve encouraged him to believe in himself and play for the love of the game but he just can’t seem to get the monkey off his back.

Any suggestions?

Mom

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Feb 08, 2008
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He has to stay focussed…
by: Joe Waters – webmaster Thanks for asking such a great question.Your son sounds like an outstanding player…a well-rounded player with leadership qualities. Sometimes the players of the team aren’t on the same page and some just don’t seem to care whether they win or lose.

This can be frustrating to the player that are dedicated to the team and want to win as much as possible.

Here’s what I would suggest for your son.

1. As the team captain, he should call a team meeting and have all the players talk about the season. They can figure out why they’re losing and try to make changes to improve their performance and attitude.

2. Your son has to stay focussed on playing the best he can every day in practice and at each game. He can’t let the poor attitude of his players get him down.

Hopefully the other players will realized they are bringing your son down and bringing the team down and change their attitude and performance.

The bottom line is, your son is responsible for his performance and his outlook on the game. He can’t let the other players influence how he approaches basketball. He has to commit to going 100% each time he steps on the court – that’s both mentally and physically.

Well, I hope this helps. I wish you and your son the best of luck!