Visiting Miramonte, playing some hoops and coming home with a Don victory, 51-33
Yeaaaaaa!
The Freshman Matadors have not won a game this season. So, we are not going to talk that or about how Kaleo Feinberg came out guns a blazing defensively in the first 5 minutes of the game like a Tasmanian Devil or how Coco Gannon was having a ‘groundhog’s day’ with stealing the ball over and over and over and over and over again from the Mats or Jack Bayless scoring a truckload of baskets (as usual) or Colin Norstad rebounding like a mad dog or Nathan Kim putting the pressure on the Mats. Everyone played, together we won. Dons beat Miramonte, 51-33.
What we want to talk about is Evren Rose sitting on the bench at the start of the game. When Landon, Miller and Bennett were making the Matadors crumble in the first quarter, Evren was belting out a “Yeaaaaaa!” with a strong clap. Jack and Justin diving on the floor after a loose ball, Evren celebrates their hustle with another Yeaaaaaa! He does this consistently at every game. Yeaaaaaa! It’s the entire the reserve of rockstars clapping, watching, and cheering their teammates. The hardest, mentally and emotionally grueling and most underrated position to play on any team is that of the reserve.
What most people don’t understand is bench players do influence the outcome of the game greatly. Heck ya! At the Campo game a few weeks back, the Dons bench was alive, rowdy and into the game. Glance over to the Cougar bench ‘just watching’ the game. The Dons bench was a big contributor to that win! Yeaaaaaa!
Not being in the starting line-up takes tons more character, determination, guts, discipline, and passion. Anyone can handle being in the starting line-up. The real test, the true test of what you are really made of comes when need to jump in and keep the mojo going.
By starting on the Dons bench, our Dons take the opportunity to quickly scout out their opponents. We saw this today when the starters took a seat on the bench, the bench took over the court. Zubin, Colin, Nathan, Dom and Evren knew what to do instantly.
These players don’t stare at their phones on the bench, they stare intensely at the game. No TikTok! No Snapchat! These Dons use their best ‘app’, their brains! Evren as a guard is zooming in on which players on the Mats team have slow feet? Nathan is zeroing in on who he can easily beat off the dribble? Zubin targeting their holes in their defense to get in his threes. Dom memorizes the defense to outplay them. Yeaaaaaa!
They are NOT benchwarmers, no way! Never stay that! They are the unsung heroes. While the Dons success is often judged by what happens “between the lines” with the clock running, so much of what leads to the Dons success happens outside the lines. But what a good basketball player brings to the game and their team goes beyond stats.
Yeaaaaaa!
Scoring Summary: Jack Bayless (27), Miller Smith (13), Landon Best-Santos (5), Coco Gannon (4), Bennett Dodge (3), Colin Norstad(2), Nathan Kim (2), Kaleo Feinberg (1)
Overall 20-2 League 7-0
Yeaaaaaa!
Next game at Acalanes on Friday, January 31 at 4pm against Clayton Valley.