FSS basketball team goes back to basics

  • Published
  • By Jose T. Garza
  • Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The 802nd Force Support Squadron intramural basketball team is ready to put the past behind them and focus on the future.

After being ousted in the first round as a No. 1 seed in the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland intramural playoffs last season, it is back to basics for the FSS.

With a mix of new and established players, Plummer's job is to approach the season with the same philosophy that earned FSS the best regular season record with last year - "team ball."

Team ball means no individual can win a game on their own on offense or defense.

"There is no 'I' in team," he said. "It's an old philosophy, but it is what works."

The squadron earned the best overall record in intramural basketball last season, defeating the 543rd Support Squadron, 52-48, in the regular season finale.

With a 10-1 record, the FSS seemed destined to make it far in the base playoffs as a No. 1 seed.

The team's championship destiny was cut short when the 37th Training Support Squadron eliminated FSS in the first round, 62-49 last March.

Plummer attributes his team's downfall to a long break between the end of the regular season and start of the playoffs. The FSS had roughly two weeks off while the 37th TRSS played the week before to qualify for a berth in the postseason.

The coach called having the top seed "a gift and a curse."

"The 37th TRSS had its groove going, and we were sitting at home waiting," Plummer said. "When we played them in the tournament, we came out slow and they took advantage of it."

Not adhering to the team ball philosophy contributed to the team's first round ouster, Plummer said.

He said individual players veered off the team philosophy by trying to win the playoff game on their own.

"We got away from what got us to the playoffs-team ball," Plummer said. "With our shooting being cold and having a layoff, we came into the playoffs with a big head and took it for granted.

"Being overconfident hurt us."

To ensure the same result doesn't happen for the second consecutive year, Plummer said FSS has to take the season one game at a time.

The challenge will be to implement a plan to not lose early in the playoffs, he said.

"We have to make a plan once we find out where we are seeded in the playoffs so we don't fall into the same problem we fell into before," Plummer said. "If that means holding more practices if we have a bye so the team can stay in shape then that will be fine."

FSS guard-forward Maurice Jenkins-Day believes the team has to have better cohesion in order to bring the squadron a base trophy.

"We've got to make sure we have great camaraderie and communication," Jenkins-Day said. "Everybody has to do their part so we can bring home a
championship.