SLAM!!!

The mind is capable of crippling the body. One morning, you might wake up feeling like Superman has NOTHING on you! That newfound bravado could result in your crippled body sprawled on the pavement in front of your house. Reality says you aren't a bird, or a plane. You aren't faster than a speeding bullet either. In this case, your mind would have literally turned you into an invalid or a dead man because you lost sight of your limitations.

Before our third home game this year, I was informed by my Assistant Coach that we picked up a technical foul because a player attempted to dunk the ball during pre-game warm-ups. It's considered taunting to dunk before the game. Initially, I thought a certain hard-headed individual on my team was the violator, but it turned out to be somebody else much to my surprise. Right before tip-off I asked the referee who did it and he pointed to Lebraun. I was furious.

Beyond the fact that we were giving this very competitive team a point to start the game because a player decided to ignore a widely known rule, I was angry because Lebraun can't even dunk. I couldn't wrap my mind around how a guy who clearly has no hops at 6'4 would do something so stupid before a game. In response to the technical foul, I decided to bench him for the game (not that he would've played anyway).

After the game, a 69-62 loss, he texted me some of his frustrations.

Lebraun: I feel like you don't trust me.
Me: What?
Lebraun: You don't think I could get the job done out there. Gimme a chance, coach.
Me: We need to talk tomorrow about the stupid technical foul you picked up before the game.
Lebraun: I ain't get a tech. What you mean?
Me: The ref told me you were trying to dunk before the game even after he warned you. You can't even dunk!
Lebaun: What? Yeh I can. Just cuz you ain't seen me dunk yet don't mean I can't dunk.
Me: Oh yeh? I'll talk to you tomorrow

I gave Lebraun the ball after practice the next day and told him to show me he could dunk, or he would have to run around the entire campus. He missed all three attempts. As a matter of fact, he wasn't even close. I thought this was an open and shut case.

A month later, while we were working on a last second alley-oop play from out-of-bounds during practice, guess who asked if he could be considered an option to catch a dunk at the rim? Just to prove a point, I decided to experiment with him. Two passes were thrown his way right at the mouth of the rim, and as expected, he caught more of the net than he did the rim.