My daughter has until a year or two ago been a head taller than almost every other kid in her class. As a basketball player, whether it was me coaching her or somebody else, the natural inclination has always been to put her down low in the post both on offense or defense. After all, we think, if she is so tall, isn't that where the tall girls go?
Unfortunately, she's never really fit that role. While through the years she has been a nightmare on defense when the ball comes into the paint, and even now it seems rare that anybody scores on her, there's been many other ways in which she has not lived up to what we wanted her to be. She doesn't have the mindset to really crash the boards (which is very necessary at this level since most kids can't shoot), and she never really developed an inside offensive game, where she can take take a quick dribble and drive in for a shot. We've worked on it, but it's not easy for her.
And so at times watching her play has been frustrating as both a parent and a coach. Why won't she get that rebound? Why won't she turn and score over somebody? And why on earth can she never, ever win the opening jump ball of the game? Grrrrrr.
I've always believed that the best coaches figure out the strengths and weaknesses of each player and finds what is best for them. And so the problem has not been with my daughter, but how I and others have coached her. We have tried making her into a 5, when she's probably something else entirely. I just didn't know what it was.
It finally hit me a few games ago, when the offense on our team really started to click. We were whipping the ball around the perimeter, and she started jumping out and becoming part of the offense 18 feet from the basket. Her passing, which has always been good, really started to be excellent. Rather than be a spectator while the other four ran an offense with the (unlikely) hope that she would be there for a rebound, she started finding a new role. Some of the other girls started crashing the boards and she simply sought out space to receive the ball and make 10-foot shots. And when other players came out to guard her, she continually made good passes over and under that have led to easy scores for her teammates.
A similar thing happened on defense. Rather than being shoved around underneath by some girls who I fear already have diabetes, she started covering more mobile players out on the wings. At least a few times this season she has picked off passes across the middle like a free safety and before anybody else noticed she is on the other end for a layup (sometimes missed, but that's another story). Her long stride and wingspan make it where lazy passes have no chance.
There's a life lesson here. Sometimes we try to box people in and say that they are something when in fact they are not that at all. Jesus continually spoke that by our fruits we will be known...but sometimes we have to take time to stop expecting that an apple will be an orange. I have wondered in recent weeks how her basketball life would have been different if I hadn't so quick to assess her height; would she be a tall point guard now? Probably not; her lateral movement is not that great and dribbling has never been a strength. But would she be a dominant shooting guard or a wing who could cut inside? Who knows.
I don't have any delusions that my daughter is now re-inventing herself into being a college prospect at basketball...but I am happy that she finally found a coach who has started to use her correctly, something that I and others never seemed to do. Now, if only he would stop letting her do the jump balls...
