Al Carter
Al Carter
Albert Houston Carter Jr.is a former reporter and sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News and other major daily newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma. His writing career spanned three decades. He was the recipient of numerous national and regional writing awards, including Oklahoma Sportswriter of the Year and Texas Sportswriter of the Year. He has made frequent appearances on TV and radio sports shows and has had numerous articles published in sports magazines and books...
effort kids losses promise proud providence state stay suffered
This is going to be as frustrating as all the other losses we've suffered in the state (tournament) before. This loss. Providence two years ago. They're going to stay with me forever. But I promise you we'll be back. I'm proud of the effort our kids gave.
coach jim martin providence scout seen sound
Providence is a fundamentally sound team. Coach Jim Martin was here to scout us. He probably didn't see anything different than what he's seen of us before. And we know what they do. It's just going to come down to execution.
against everybody full game glad played sure test tried
Everybody was there. I was so glad to see them all. I wasn't sure how we'd do against them at full strength. They played man-to-man most of the game and tried to test our conditioning.
boring small
I wouldn't have it any other way. They play in a small gym. I don't want to go to a boring place. I want that atmosphere.
good shots underneath
But we got a lot of good shots underneath the basket.
couple few missed ourselves ran
We ran ourselves out of a couple of innings. It was a combination of things. There were a few missed signs.
bottom decide felt force good job pitch trying walk whether
I was trying to decide whether or not to walk them so we could get a force. I felt like we could pitch to the bottom of the order. Luckily, we were able to do it. He did a good job working out of some jams.
beat execute matter win
I think when we execute the way we did (Friday), we can beat anyone. It doesn't matter who. You've got to execute to win games.
defense felt good played test
I felt like we played good defense out there. We just have to take this and make us better. I thought this would be a good test for us and it was.
job
He was a little rusty, but he got the job done and made some plays.
easy eight guys missed needed second seven talked
I talked to the guys about maximizing their opportunities. We missed seven or eight easy baskets in the first half, and I thought we needed to do much better in the second half.
good hit
He was doing a good job. We never really hit it real good all day.
choice good kids unhappy
We don't have a choice. If we play them really good early, we've got a good shot. If we lose, we have nothing to be unhappy about, as long as the kids play hard.
bit county good last physical pressure pushed scary union
Union County is a physical team. They put a lot of pressure on our guards. They're a scary team. They pushed us around a little bit last time, so we need to get off to a good start. That's going to be key.