A Tale of Two Halves

NCC 92- MILLIKIN 68
93 Shots (37 at halftime)
37 Threes (16 at half)
40% ORBs (26% 1st half, 50% 2nd half)
47 Turnovers (18 at half)
+19 Shots (-6 at half)

If anyone can explain to me how a team can score 27 in one half and a team record 65 in the second, I'm all ears. 

The first half we spent sleepwalking on the offensive boards, and shooting like the backboard was our true target; our 10-37 shooting performance was an insult to bricklayers everywhere.  But amazingly once again the team changed personalities at halftime and played like a team possessed for the final 20 minutes.

Why the discrepancy?  My only guess is that dysfunctional old-school basketball habits and attitudes are so deeply ingrained in our players that--for entire halves at a time--they forget all they've been taught about what it takes to win in the System. When you've played a conventional style in which lack of effort is easier to disguise, it takes multiple wakeup calls to understand that in the System, you can run (and gun), but you cannot hide, as long as you insist on just going through the motions. And when it comes to offensive rebounding and attacking the rim (as opposed to attacking a spot on the court about eight feet from the rim), there is no substitute for effort and desire.

I recall the 1987 movie classic Broadcast News in which the character played by Albert Brooks plaintively quips to his beautiful young co-worker (played by Holly Hunter) on whom he has an unrequited crush,  "Wouldn't this be a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive? If  'needy' were a turn-on?"

In much the same vein, "Wouldn't this be a great world if you could play great System ball without really giving much effort?"

Sadly, you can't.  Gladly, we figured that out at halftime.