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The Answer May Be On The Field Already
by Tully Beatty
I'll go ahead and assume we're pulling, so that will give our guy what we hope to be two chances to make up for the first half, even the score, and allow us to see if what was said at halftime served any purpose; or was the guy simply standing there nodding his head like a boxer, in one ear and out the other, all the while wondering if he should've run off to the Honey Bucket or maybe he should put on a different wrist band, maybe someone has some tape he can borrow, maybe some Gu will help, maybe some Red Bull, maybe he should go mess around in his bag and look for something he knows isn't there—the things they didn't carry.
There are times when, despite your effort, you have to tip your hat and take 70. And of course there are other times when you have to say, f*** all that s***, enough is enough. My feeling is that if this troublemaker is a handler, then make him handle. I'm not against fronting him in order to push him away from the disc, so I'd only buy in to half of that scouting report. It's important to keep in mind that he's not a handler by himself. That is, he's has someone to complete the chemistry and that guy may be the one to really clamp down on. Someone else has to step in and step up and place tremendous pressure on the other handler. And hopefully that defender isn't addressed directly and instructed to step up. Simply, they know the drill and what's at stake and their game becomes something that it wasn't before, because obviously that is what our opponent has done with his game. And perhaps some gamesmanship is in order: during a stoppage you whisper under your breath, "Whatcha you gonna do, fluffy? You taking me deep? You gonna go deep?"
And then again maybe not.
Above all else, I'm looking at two defenders who know how to play an off-man high count; I'm lucky if I can get one. So other than me, I'm looking for someone a little more than half-witted. Immune to exhaustion with an overall toughness about them and smart enough to know that once you've earned the turn, you have to score, and while doing that, tire this guy out as much as you can to make him twice the liability on the next point. If the right adjustments have been made, then this stud will get more points in the 2nd half than he did in the first. Maybe that proves to be the difference and he gets extended and maybe a bit frustrated because the O isn't clicking like they did in the first half. And maybe, just maybe, he finds his place in the sun in the second half and then you and your team, but probably just you, walk off seemingly content in knowing that the reward is in the effort, and sometimes that's all there is.
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 |
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