Wilken vs. Schwarz

I am back in the saddle this season coaching Lutheran North's freshmen girls basketball team, the Freshmen Fillies.  We broke out of the corral a couple of weeks ago preparing for the first basketball battle of the season on November 30.   At this point the Fillies look young and exuberant.  We are learning how to run, gallop and stampede our opponents into oblivion while at the same time avoiding turnovers. 

While the Fillies in the LHN stable change each year, we always feature the same traits: rebounding, defending, running and shooting the triple.  The order may change from game to game, possession to possession but the philosophy remains as “constant as the northern star.”  Julius Caesar may not have played hoops but he understood how to dominate an opponent.  That is until those unruly Romans conspired and then rusty-shanked him between the ribs. 

We will also continue the tradition of naming our plays after confessional Lutherans.  So far we have Luther, Walther and Melanchthon and when we want to crank up the pressure on our opponents we break out Guttenberg, our full-court press.  The Guttenberg Press.  Ha!  Thanks to my colleague Mark Felten for that suggestion.

Another layer of interest this year pits two of our out-of-bounds plays against each other.  We run both plays under our basket for a quick two points.  Wilken takes advantage of our powerful post game.  Schwarz relies on misdirection.  Wilken vs. Schwarz.  This isn’t a title bout in Mixed Martial Arts; it’s better. Through the season I’ll offer updates on which play scores more points.  

Can Wilken’s dominating post presence score more points than Schwarz’ skillfully executed subterfuge? Only the Fillies’ 2012 - 2013 season can answer that.