The 100-0 Game

One of my favorite characters on Penny Arcade (okay, one of many) is Jesus, the Christ. Not only do Jesus and I share an affinity for the same games (Jesus loves Street Fighter and Mario Kart), but he offers a bit of advice that I think is outstanding, and that everyone should live by. Jesus says:

"Don't be a dick."

And--as always--The Lord of Hosts is right. If people would just act with respect and deceny towards one another, and be considerate of their fellow men, then the world would be a better place.

Unfortunately, though, most people act like dicks. Thus is the case of the 100-0 basketball game.

As any who read this know, I'm a basketball player. Have been since seventh grade. I've also coached many times in my life, ranging from adults to kids (seventh and eigth graders). So I am very qualified to throw my two cents into this issue.

Here's a synopsis of what happened: in Dallas, The Covenant--one of the best private school teams in the state--beat Dallas Acadamy--a school that specializes in special needs/learning disabled kids--100-0. The Covenant pressed the entire game--coincidentally, until they reached 100 points--which was midway throught the fourth quarter. The score soon became a national story--it was addressed on PTI & Around The Horn on ESPN--and Covenant officials the next day apologized to the Dallas Acadamey for the lopsided game. About a week later, when Micah Grimes (Covenant coach) posted a comment online that he disagreed with the school apologizing, he was fired. That's the skinny.

Okay. I believe it's been well established here that I am opposed to the forced mediocrity that is becoming PC in this country. I've spoken before that when an athlete steps on a court, it's their repsonsibility to be prepared for any outcome--a 40 point win, or a 40 point loss. I've had 40 point wins as a player and a coach, and I've had 40 point losses as both. It's part of being an athlete: some days, you go out and win big; some days, you go out and get your ass kicked. You have to deal with it, and there's nothing wrong with that.

That being said, in any sport, whether you're a player or a coach, when you play on a good team, you invariable will play a team that is far beneath you, skill wise. It's a fact of life. You can tell within the first play or two that no matter how poorly your team plays, you're not only going to win, but you're going to win big. I played in a game like that not two weeks ago. Here, then, is a guide to how you act as a player or a coach in that situation, since too many people are too stupid or egotistical to figure this out:

1) DO NOT GET HURT. By far the most important rule, and the thing I fear most when you are playing much less skilled opponents. Opponents of less skill do strange things that don't make sense, and often violate the unwritten, "you just don't do that kind of thing because someone can get really hurt doing it". Why? Because they don't know any better, or because they have poor skills and just get in the way. So don't go out there and try to dunk on them or other actions that really embarrass them, because you can EASILY get hurt doing that. It's simple self preservation.
2) Play your worst players. These guys work hard in practice, do all the little things, and just ache for a time to shine. Well, now's their chance. There's no way you're going to lose, so sit your starters the entire game if you have to--it can also be a good learning experience for them, letting them know what sitting feels like--and let your worst players get a chance to have some fun.
3) Work on things you're not good at. This is what we did in the aforementioned game two weeks ago. Gangstalicious runs a pretty devastating 2-3 zone that generates lots of steals and blocked shots. So what did we do? We played man to man, didn't trap, and worked on that since that's an area we need to work on. It was good practice for us, and it led to the other time getting a coupla easy baskets when--as usual, which is why we needed to work on this--we didn't communicate well on who was guarding whom and a guy was left open. Both teams win.
4) Have fun. Encourage your players to do things they don't normally do. Let your big man shoot a three or two. Try a different type of offense that you're never practiced but the kids have always wanted to try. Basically, just roll out the ball and let them have some fun.
5) Finally, most importantly, don't try specifically to run up the score. Don't press. Don't fast break every time you get the ball. If you're a good 3 point shooting team, don't specifically bomb away from the outside. Don't play your starters the whole game.

Do what Jesus says. Don't be a dick.

From every report I've read, Micah Grimes was a dick. This guy realized he could score 100 points in a game, decided he wanted to do it, and did whatever he had to to reach that goal against a team who he knew had no chance of competing against him. That's a dick thing to do. When he then refused to apologize for it, well, then he deserved to get fired. I would not have insisted on him getting fired--I could have lived with just a suspension--but if that's what the school felt like they needed to do, then so be it.

Like is quite often the case, it's not the final score that matters. Two fairly equal skilled teams can play on any given day in any sport, and one of them can end up killing the other. There's nothing wrong with that. But when two unmatched teams play, and the coach acts like an ass and does whatever he can to embarrass the other team...well, then that guy needs to learn a lesson, and if losing his job is the only way to learn that lesson, then so be it.

That's what you get for being a dick.