Vancouver Basketball last left off with Jacob and the Terry Fox Ravens in 2017, fresh off a fourth place finish at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational. For Jacob and the young Ravens team, this was a big accomplishment to start the season. We had the chance to catch up with Jacob last week and he shared how their season has progressed since December.
-Vancouver Basketball
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The basketball season is no doubt physically draining as the grind takes its toll on your body, yet you may dismiss how mentally draining it can be as well. As a young high school basketball player I have had to learn how to overcome the highs and lows of the season and stay level headed. As student-athletes, we have to maintain a constant high level of play despite the fatigue from school, previous games, and prior practices etc. However, those are just the physical aspects of the game which are very different from the mental side of the game. Coming off a bad shooting night can take a toll on the mind, but coming off of a bad shooting month, can leave you second guessing yourself and abilities. You began to lose more and more confidence with every shot you miss and eventually it comes to a point where you are passing up your open shots because you have lost trust and faith in yourself to shoot the ball. This is what January looked like for me.
My Coach, Brad Petersen, had noticed a pattern in my last bulk of games that I had not noticed in myself. He pointed out that I had been shooting a significantly less amount of shots per game then during the start of our season. Coming off of a rough loss to Coquitlam’s Pinetree Timberwolves, my coach approached me saying that I had only taken six shots. That statistic had shocked my system. In response I said, “No way. I must have shot at least 12 shots.” I refused to believe I had only taken six shots. He had heard about my shooting in the Fall in the Vancouver Metro League, where I shot anything and everything, making a good percentage of shots. He questioned me as to why I am was not shooting like that anymore.
I was completely lost as to why I hadn’t been shooting that way as well. I began to reflect back on Metro League, comparing it to my shooting during the season as of late, and I found the big difference was in my composure while shooting the ball. In Metro League I had shot the ball as if I was practicing(which I was), with no weight on my shoulders, no pressure, just very relaxed. In our most recent games I have been shooting as if my life had depended on every single shot, but after missing a shot I had felt as if I lost the game. I was putting this imaginary pressure upon myself just by overthinking the game and letting the mental side of the game conquer me. That was the answer I had been searching for. I had been shooting as if I wasn’t confident and didn’t trust the hours of work I had put in.
Right before the prestigious Vancouver College Emerald Tournament, in late January, was when this miracle answer had come to me. Playing against some of the top teams in the province, this was the time for me and my team to really focus on what we needed to work on before heading into the most important part of the season. We lost a tough game to a good McMath Wildcats team and found ourselves in the consolation bracket (with not a bad team in it) and matched up with the Pinetree Timberwolves, yet again for our second game. Looking for revenge, our whole team came ready for a war. Determined, focused, and hungry we came out on top with a 76-60 victory. This specific win spoke volumes to me and my team about how we won’t back down to anyone, even a team we lost to just a week ago This win lead us into another game against the Belmont Bulldogs which had been another team who got the best of us back in December. Being a 10:00am game, most teams come out flat with not much enthusiasm, but we were ready to do whatever it takes to get this win too. We did just that and got a 86-69 win. Our last game of the tournament came that same day and we were matched up against #4 “AAAA” Walnut Grove Gators who have defeated us twice this season. That game slipped away from us, and they took the win by eight points 74-66.
Despite our 2-2 record, I found our team came out of the tournament much better than how we entered. As well, I found the exact same outcome for myself myself. I left my slump behind and played the games with a the same level of composure and confidence as I played with in Metro League, which ultimately lead to me being selected for a Second Team All-Star award alongside many other very talented players.
This season, I’ve learned that the mental side of the game makes just as big of an impact on your play as the physical side. If there is something that can be taken away from this, it’s that you have to stay confident in your abilities and continue to water the bamboo, no matter how questionable the current results might seem.
Thanks for reading!
Jacob
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Thanks to Jacob for sharing his struggles and insight with Vancouver Basketball. We wish you the best in the rest of your season and the hunt for a provincial title.
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