A little background: these boys(core group) have been together since 5th Grade after playing on two different squads as 4th Graders. In 5th Grade, they had a regular season record of 6-10 (that included a forfeit). We then went into the playoffs as a 5th seed for a play-in, then ran the table, beating the #1 seed in the semis and the #2 seed for the championship. As 6th Graders, the boys played in two leagues, finished the regular seasons with acombined record of 25-5. Went 1-2 in championships.
As 7th Graders I have told them it will be tough sledding. Boys start to get big growth spurts, everybody knows how good we can be and are gunning for us. So besides our regular league, we joined a higher end weekend-only league. Bigger towns, lots of boys that play AAU, etc. As a comparison, I really only have what you would call one AAU-type player. Most of my boys are baseball, football and soccer players looking for some competitive hoops. In this weekend-only league we are at a disadvantage, and this weekend we got steam-rolled twice. Then we played in regular league on Monday night vs. the aforementioned #2 seed from 5th grade. I think in 5 games over the last two season we are 2-3 vs. these guys. Pretty evenly matched. So we go in last night and fall a little short, 60-50. They hit some key free throws with less than a minute left to ice us.
My point? We can't stop playing. But we have boys that don't seem to be progressing, and may actually be regressing. So it's time to shake it up. And FYI - we have another tough weekend ahead of us, so it may get worse before it gets better.
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