April 22, 2024 - FLAT TRIANGLE... HELP!

What’s the first rule of “DEFENSE”? Well when I was still coaching, mine was simple, “STOP THE BALL!” In any defensive scheme, players are given coverage responsibilities and are required to shut down the man or area to which they are assigned. Yet the reality of a game is that at times players find themselves out of position, or maybe just overmatched by the opposing player…giving the opposition an edge… or a lane to get to their goal.

Most view strong defense to be based upon strong individual effort. BUT I believe great defense, like great offense, is based upon strong team effort!

Way back when I was a young player, I started hearing coaches explain how to be a good man-to-man defender. It involved things such as staying low… taking away the opponent’s strengths… how/when to go for steals… etc. When guarding a guy without the ball, I was taught how to be in a position to deny the pass to my guy… if I were 1-pass away I was instructed to be in a deny-position, where I was up on my guy with an arm in the passing lane… careful to not let my guy cut behind me. If my guy was 2-passes away from the ball (farther distance), I was taught to be in a “HELP POSITION,” which my coaches called “FLAT TRIANGLE.”

“FLAT TRAINGLE” simply meant I needed to be in a position to see man and ball… I should always see my responsibility, and also always see where the ball is, in case my teammate got beat and I needed to help. “FLAT TRIANGLE” was named that because this positioning required me to be positioned between point A (my man) and B (the ball) in a way to see both, resulting in a shortened triangular position. And since the first rule of defense is to stop the ball, at times I had to leave my assigned responsibility to stop the player with the ball… after all, the only guy in the guy that can ever score, is the guy with the ball!

But what happens if I stop the ball and the opposing player then passes to the guy I was originally covering? Well, as mentioned, defense is a team effort… one of my other teammates that was in a help position would then need to step over on the guy that got the ball. And during this time, the original teammate that got beat has time to recover to a position to hep the team.

“FLAT TRAINGLE” is also simply referred to as “HELP DEFENSE!”

1 Corinthians 10:32 tells us “GIVE NO OFFENSE…” Is there a better call for strong defense?

Yet we must understand that our “opponent’s” offense is not trying score at a particular goal, but the goal is to break us down… the word OFFENSE here deals with the idea of leading me and/or my teammates into sin. So how do we shut down this offense?

One way is playing in a “FLAT TRIANGLE” where we are aware of not just ourselves but also our teammates… where we are willing play “HELP DEFENSE” to pick up a brother/sister…

1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being. The word SEEK which Paul uses here involves a strong definition of an individual demanding something from someone or craving individual needs… it is a me-first instead of team-first mentality.

WE MUST LEARN TO PLAY TEAM DEFENSE… where we are aware of man (my personal responsibility) and ball (my teammate's responsibility)… and we must be willing to step over and help!

April 15, 2024 - "A Badge of Honor" - I think not!

In 2007 a new product hit the athletic market in America… yet it was initially a product that was “earned” by a group that had risen to the top of their game… the product was introduced in Las Vegas to the US National Team for hoops… it included Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, etc. The product was Nike ELITE socks, and Nike would quickly get their design department to work to provide an opportunity for the general public to purchase these socks… and even customize them to their own liking… I can remember young players strutting in with their new socks on, as though gong to a store and spending money made them a great basketball player…

I have probably written about these socks in the past on these weekly Game Plans, yet I saw an article written from a design/advertising perspective (DesignBloom) talking about the rise of popularity in these socks all over the globe, and what they represent, and I quote, “the logo is a badge of honor of the court…”  

Well, the coach in me gets a bit fired up… you don’t purchase elite status, you earn it! ELITE status should be the result of ELITE accomplishment via ELITE work… The reality is that I can purchase and wear a pair of Nike ELITE socks, but it sure won’t get me a place on Team USA… THEY ARE NOT A “BADGE OF HONOR,” anyone can buy them!!!

I know this weekly Game Plan is based upon the very fact that our standing in Christ, our place on the team, is by grace alone… through faith alone… in Christ alone! It is a free gift we could not earn!

Titus 3:5-6 not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Note: our ELITE standing is a result of the ELITE accomplishment and work done by Jesus. HE EARNED IT FOR US!!! Therefore, I cannot boast! (See Ephesians 2:8-9)

Then, once on the team, I think it is important that we remember that “wearing those ELITE socks, involves a challenge:

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED in God SHOULD be careful to MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS. THESE THINGS ARE GOOD AND PROFITABLE TO MEN.

We are commanded to not flaunt our position on the team, but to make sure we are a good teammate!!! Throughout the Playbook (The Word) we are told to, out of our gratitude, be FAITHFUL!