During the timeout, the coach yelled at the child.
“Why did you take that shot in that situation?”
“…Because I thought it would go in.”
“You! It only turned out fine because it went in. What if that shot had missed?”
“…I don’t know what would have happened. I thought it would go in, and it did.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!”
“…I’m sorry.”
The referee’s whistle blew, and the game resumed.
The coach briefly considered pulling the child back to the bench for instructional reasons, but decided against it.
He was not satisfied. But winning mattered to him too.