“Real teams play defense and rebound,” Coach Acevedo said at the start of our second practice. “Teams with heart play defense and rebound. Since our first practice was all about defense—”
“Today is all about rebounding!” Red said.
“Exactly.” Coach Acevedo pointed his whistle at Red. “Let’s get poppin’.”
I checked Red. Rebounding involved physical contact. A lot of physical contact.
“Rebounding isn’t just a skill,” Coach Acevedo said. “It’s a state of mind. You don’t have to be a good basketball player to be a good rebounder. Sure, it helps if you can jump and catch, but rebounding is just as much about knowing where the ball is going and wanting it more than your opponent.”
For the first drill, we formed a single line at midcourt. The first person threw the ball up in the air. The next person caught it.
That was it. That was the whole drill. We practiced catching the basketball.
It went pretty well, except when Alex’s throw hit a ceiling light, and for a minute the light swung back and forth like a pendulum and looked like it might come crashing down.
The second drill required a little more skill. It was called Taps. I’d done this drill before. So had Red and Keith.
We formed two lines facing the basket just inside the key. The first person in each line threw the ball against the backboard. The next person in each line caught the ball while jumping in the air, and then while still in the air, threw it against the backboard for the next person. The next person did the same—caught the ball in air and threw it against the backboard.
Coach Acevedo wanted us to make it through the line once.
Yeah, right.
Mehdi, the second person in my line, threw the ball over the backboard. Emily, the third person in the other line, threw the ball out the side door of the gym.
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“Let’s switch things up,” Coach Acevedo said. “Instead of jumping for the ball, just catch it and throw it against the backboard. No more jumping. We’ll work our way up to catching the ball in air.”
We never did work our way up, but the drill went a lot better this way.
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The next rebounding drill was a boxing-out drill. But first, Coach Acevedo had to explain what boxing-out was.
“When a shot goes up,” he said, “find your man.”
“Or woman,” Maya said.
“Or woman.” Coach Acevedo nodded. “When a shot goes up, don’t go after the ball. Find your person and block your person’s path to the ball. You do this by pivoting around and feeling for the person.” He demonstrated the move. “It’s like you’re sitting in a chair again.”
“The same chairs as on defense?” Khalil asked.
“The exact same chairs,” Coach Acevedo said.
I checked Red. He was pinky-thumbing both legs and swaying.
“Real teams play defense and rebound,” Coach Acevedo said. “It’s all connected. Now this next drill is called the circle drill. Let’s get poppin’.”
I sidestepped to Red. “I think you may want to sit this one out.”
Red hunched his shoulders and squinted his eyes. “I don’t know, Mason Irving. I don’t know.”
I grabbed the back of my neck and glanced at Coach Acevedo. He wasn’t looking our way, but some of the others were.
“Sit this one out,” I said. I touched his arm.
Red flinched. His pinky-thumbing quickened. His elbows pressed his sides. “I don’t know, Mason Irving. I’ve done every drill.”
“Watch it a few times and then decide.”
I checked the corner. Coach Acevedo was looking right at us.
“Watch it a few times and then decide,” I said again.
Slowly, Red relaxed his shoulders. Then he began to nod. “I think I’ll watch it a few times and then decide.”
I gave him a pound.