The Putback: A Bucket Getting Story

Every winter, I coach a U8 basketball team. It’s super fun, but also super stressful. Hopes and dreams live and die in these games. This is a story about them.

For ten weeks each winter, I coach a U8 basketball team. It’s super fun but also super stressful. In games when the first team to double-digits almost always wins, hopes and dreams live and die by every carom the little-orange basketball makes off the 8-foot high rims. 

Some Saturdays I leave the gym feeling all Pat Riley. On others, I’m Patrick Duffy.

We finished 5-2 and in first place in our league. This is my second title in 5-seasons. But who’s counting, right?

The kids make coaching special, and this year we had some memorable ones.

First is King. Remember Sam Perkins? The original stretch-four nicknamed the Big Smooth for his relaxed play and stylish, effortless shot?

Imagine Sam Perkins at seven and you have King. The other week, King grabbed a rebound under the basket with no defender near him. He slow-dribbled back near the 3-point line, turned, and casually flicked a shot high in the air. He held his hand up high as the ball swished through the net. King hit the griddy down court.

Next is J. AKA The Glove. AKA Gary Payton 2.0. J’s mouth never stops and his on-ball defense wraps ballhandlers in a cocoon of pressure and hand checks where the only way out is a turnover or a travel.

Last game, after he’d caused his fifth turnover of the first half, J’s teammates all ran to play offense while J instead ran to me. “Coach, Coach,” he said. “I brought the gummies.” “You what?” I replied. “For our team. To celebrate,” he said.

I looked down and for a second thought he meant those gummies. Then, J pointed to the stands where his mom stood smiling and holding a big box of Welch’s fruit snacks. 

Third is B. B is the most natural athlete on the team. Once, she ball-hawked a pass like a free safety and without hesitating took it the length of the court for a left-handed layup where she jumped off her right foot (a remarkable feat in U8 hoops). Unfortunately, in all her excitement B had forgotten to dribble, and they waved off the basket.

B is the best offensive rebounder on the team but has one challenge. Whenever she snags a board, instead of putting the ball back up she does this half-hop, half-spin, occasionally I’ll dribble move until she’s all the way back past the three-point line. Once she told me, “Coach, I’m resetting the offense.” I told her I didn’t know we had one.

Which isn’t exactly true, because besides having fun, being a good teammate, and learning some early skills, U8 basketball is about one thing:

Getting buckets. 

And in five seasons of coaching, I’ve learned heaving the ball directionally toward the basket as many times as possible is the best way to get buckets. A coach once told me: Throw enough mud on the wall, some of its gotta stick. In U8 rec hoops on Cleveland’s Near West Side, we live and die by this motto. 

“Shoot it!

Come to any practice or game, and get ready to hear this over and over.

You’re a step inside the 3-point line…. Shoot it.

You’re kind of near the hoop…. Shoot it. 

You’re dribbling wildly with untied shoelaces trying not to stumble into the basket support….Shoot it!

You catch a pass and your back is to the basket…. Shoot it.

And, most importantly, you get a rebound inside the paint…. Shoot it!

At the start of every game, I call B over. “B,” I say, “if you get a rebound near the basket on offense, what do you do?”

She always smiles this awesome d**n smile. “I shoot it!” she says, and we high five.

A couple weeks ago we played a real nail-biter. One of those colossal back-and-forth affairs where two titans trade blows and neither team backs down. It was like Lakers vs. Celtics or the apex Big East of the 1980s.

About midway through the first half B soared and snagged an offensive rebound. Instead of going up with it, she hop-dribbled-spun-ran-skipped across the key, past the 3-point line, and out of bounds. Running back down the court she turned and looked at me. I said, “Shoot it!” and she just shrugged and smiled, like MJ vs. the Blazers only under different circumstances.

Late in the second half, we held a 1-point lead. J stole the ball and rumbled like a fullback to the opposite baseline corner where he, with his back to everyone and three defenders hanging on him, heaved a backwards pass over his head that landed somehow in King’s hands. King took his time, rocked side-to-side a bit, jab stepped, and flipped a high, swooping jumper that rattled in before popping out.

Sprinting the length of the court, B leapt, stretched her arms, and plucked the rebound. Then, in one glorious motion, she landed, jumped again, and shot the ball. It hit the back of the rim and dropped through the net.

The putback was good, and we led 8 to 5. 

B – certified bucket getter.

She sprinted to me on the sideline wearing the world’s biggest smile. She jumped into my arms saying, “I did it! I did it!” And we swung around like we’d just won the NCAA Championship. 

Friends, this is why we coach. 

We love you, and we’ll see you when we see you.