Charleston Tourney Recap

Wed, Dec 28
8:45am- Arrive Thiel Gym- pack the cars.
- Rainee, Allison, Casey, Marisa, Becca, Dani super excited, they get to be in my van!!!
- Jennifer Lieber takes "Secret Santa" presents and coolers to save us room.

9:00am- We pull out with Coach Rux the lead car, not sure that is good judgement on my part.

9:02am- My van vetoes listening to the WSCR sports radio, I thought I was in charge.

Pictures from Charleston Tourney

Effingham vs. Galesburg 1968

In 1968 Galesburg defeated #1 rated and undefeated Effingham in the Elite 8 game at the Assembly Hall.

In scouting for Effingham, John Thiel had the luxury of flying to Effingham to scout. Chauncy Kenney (a physics teacher at GHS & my cousin), had a pilots license and flew Thiel after practice to Effingham to scout.

Streaks with Good Win Over Effingham

We jumped out to a 10 point lead in the early second quarter, only to see Effingham take a lead in the late second quarter. We went up 40-37 at half. The first half was a foul fest by both teams. Effingham went to the line just under 20 times in the first half.

In the second half, we cut back on fouls and gradually opened up the lead. Jessica Lieber had 28 points and Sharron Diggins finished with 19. We were able to go into a delay and then hang on for the win.

We will play Charleston in the championship game on Friday at 7:00pm.

Winning Cultures

This past week I had a conversation with a coaching friend who took over a basketball program. The coach is very experienced and has been very successful.

He described his first year at his new school. Initially parents greeted him with how excited their sons were because they were really hungry to win. The parents pointed out how bad the last coach had been- the message being that past failures were certainly not their kids fault, the old coach had screwed things up.

The players told the coach how anxious they were to work and get after things. They told the coach that old coach did not push them hard enough. Again the message- we are willing to do whatever we can to win, the old coach screwed things up.

Jay Hatch- WB6 Coaching

We were fortunate to beat Alleman on Thursday night. Coach Hatch’s teams are always well prepared and know exactly what we are going to do. Last week, Jay coached the 400^th win at Alleman.

In girls basketball in the WB6, in the last 30 years, the average tenure for a coach has been about 4.5 years. Jay has surpassed that by some margin- Coach Hatch is in his 19^th season at Alleman. In the time I have been coaching, he has the longest service of any girls basketball WB6 coach.

Jay Hatch                           Alleman                  19 years*

Rod Leatherman               Rock Island            15 years

Steve Ford                         Moline                  13 years*

Steve Ebner                       Alleman                11 years

Ed Swaggard                     Rock Island          11 years

·              *    Still coaching.

·      No one else has coached over 10 years.

Megan Young- What's College Like?

Megan Young is a freshman at Augustana College. As you might anticipate, Megan seems to enjoy college!

What have you enjoyed most about college?

I love being able to choose my own classes and plan out my day. Also,

since I live by my friends college is pretty much a never ending

sleepover.

Jessica Howard- What's College Like?

Jessica Howard is attending Monmouth College and playing basketball. She has been playing about 10-15 minutes per game. She has a high of 15 points in a game, and is coming off a 2 for 2 three point shooting game at Ripon.

So Jessica, what is college like?

What have you enjoyed most about college?

The freedom. It's nice being able to hang out with friends without needing permission from my parents and not having a curfew. 

Mickey Rodriguez- What's College Like?

Mickey Rodriguez is a freshman at Knox College in Galesburg. She is a classic example of a senior who kept her options open as far as college, and ended up going some place she had not planned to go. Mickey was not sure she wanted to take the “hometown option” but after visiting Knox and after seeing the financial aid package they gave her- Knox became her choice.

Selfishly, it is nice to be able to see Mickey often. When I took my Community Studies class on a tour of Knox for the history of Galesburg and Knox, Mickey saw us and joined the tour. She is a regular at men’s and women’s basketball games. She has a good job with the Admission’s Dept. She is not playing basketball but is obviously very, very busy.

I had a chance to ask Mickey questions about her first year.

Tai Peachey- What's College Like?

Tai Peachey is now a freshmen at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais. She is also a member of the women’s basketball team. ONU plays in the NAIA division, and is probably the most high scoring women’s team in America. They are a “system” team and averaging 101 point per game. They have twice been over 120 point this year, and over 110 in five games. They are presently 10-3.

Tai has been able to get in all 13 games as a point guard. She is presently averaging 6.8 minutes per game which translates to about 8-10 shifts per game- pretty good for a freshmen. Tai is #3 on the team with 23 assists. She also has 13 offensive rebounds, 10 steals, and averages 2.8ppg.

I got to ask Tai some questions about her college experience.

Congratulations to Coach Hatch

The Alleman girls beat Quincy on Thursday night. It was the 400th time that a Jay Hatch coached team has won a game in his twenty years of coaching. Twenty years of coaching is an accomplishment in its self- and adding 400 wins is very impressive.

The first time I met Jay was in Mike Tracey's basement after a boys basketball game. Jay was a young assistant coach at Alleman, and Mike was the AD. That is well over 20 years ago. Wow. 

Jay's teams have always been very well prepared. And he is very much responsible for me deciding to go to the "system." I honestly got tired of us calling out a play and his kids would then show our kids where they were supposed to cut on the play. I have trouble remembering the name of the kid in the third row in my class and he can tell you the difference between when we call 4up and 4down, and then of course with all of the other teams in the conference. 

Congratulations Jay. I am especially happy you won your 400th tonight because if you had waited to win it next week at Galesburg, I would not have been very happy for you!!

Jay Bilas- Toughness

With recent events of Xavier and Cincinnati, it is worth rereading Jay Bilas' essay on "toughness." All serious players at any level should read this. 

“Toughness” – Jay Bilas – ESPN .com

I have heard the word "toughness" thrown around a lot lately. Reporters on television, radio and in print have opined about a team or player's "toughness" or quoted a coach talking about his team having to be "tougher" to win.

Then, in almost coordinated fashion, I would watch games and see player upon player thumping his chest after a routine play, angrily taunting an opponent after a blocked shot, getting into a shouting match with an opposing player, or squaring up nose-to-nose as if a fight might ensue. I see players jawing at each other, trying to "intimidate" other players. What a waste of time. That is nothing more than fake toughness, and it has no real value.

Another National Record for Streaks?

Last year the Streaks set a national record by hitting 397 threes during the season. As impressive as that was, this year's version of the Streaks is much more of a defensive oriented team. As we hit the 1/3 mark of the season, it appears the Streaks are headed for setting another national record- on the defense side this year.

Defense is something that requires lots of hard work and repetition. And to be successful on defense, you have to study game tape over and over. All of this hard work is really paying off.

Tom Loewy- Great Listener

Tom Loewy wrote sports for the Register-Mail when he first came to Galesburg. I didn’t know what to think of him, he was from Peoria. But I realized maybe he could become the opposite of Jane Miller- someone who started in Peoria and finished in Galesburg.

From perspective, Tom is good at what he does because he is a great listener. Some writers have in mind what the story is supposed to be- so they keep asking forms of the same question over and over until they succeed in getting the exact sound bite they want. Often with both players and with coaches after a game, Tom would start by saying one of two things,

A-    “What do you think happened tonight?”

B-    “I don’t know a lot about basketball, but it seems like _______ happened, is that accurate?”

And as a coach, you always had a sense that he just wanted to listen. And after he listened to your answer, there would be a pause, and he would then ask a question that probed your answer. It was obvious he really wanted to make sure he understood the game from your perspective.  It didn’t mean when he was done that he agreed with my analysis, but he understood. In all of the year’s Tom covered girls basketball, he never once misquoted me. Sometimes he might clean up the grammar, and actually made me sound more intelligent- but the bottom line was that I always felt he quoted me accurately.

IBCA Hall of Fame Inductees- Galesburg Flavor

Three people with connections to Galesburg will be inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this spring. Tiffany Sibley (1992 GHS grad), Joe Thompson (Galesburg ref), and Jane Miller (GHS grad who writes for the Journal-Star). All three are very deserving of the honor.

Treasure Hunt- 2011

Last place team getting their last clue!!!

We did it again. We had our 2nd Annual varsity basketball treasure hunt. Our adult drivers were Coach Andie Allison, Coach Jaque Gohlinghorst, and Coach Michelle Wynne. Coach Allison's team was the winner this year. Here were our questions--

1- If you are going deer hunting, you are going to need one of these. I don't have one, but I know where you can find 3 of them.

2- What are those machines that count radiation? We have one at GHS that counts baskets.

3- YHHOUBNGOR

4- In 1988 his fastball smoked, now his whole house smokes.

5- When a car gets old, they put it in this yard.

6- The college is gone but the court is still there.

7- Math problem-- (Old Main built - Streaks wins last year - when Cinderella had to be home)
(Supposed to be knee high by 4th of July + my first initial + first name of an Anderson who played bball)

8- If Ronald Reagan's mother needed a cup of sugar, she might have gone here to get one.

9- If Steve Bartman was in Galesburg, this is where he would sit.

10- Someone really misses you. They are a weeping _______ .

"I Doubted I'd Ever be a Streak"

The old GHS located just off the square.

When we think about segregation and racism in America during the 20^th century, most of us in the North immediately turn out thoughts to the South. The reality is that there were many examples of segregation and racism in the North during the 20^th century.

My mother told a story of when my father was coaching basketball in Savanna, Illinois in the 1940’s. Savanna was located about 40 miles from Wisconsin, so definitely the “North.” My father had an African-American player on his team. If the team was going to stop for a meal after a road game, my father would always go into the local restaurant to see if they would serve an African-American. If they would not, he would go back out and tell the team, “The restaurant is full.” And they would look for another place to eat. Having grown up in the 1960’s, I found this story to be a revelation. I was sure that only happened in the South.

T-Shirt of Day-Celebrating State Record- 2003

This is a real collector's item- 2003 Sweet 16 which was
celebrating our 9th consecutive Sectional championship.
That is still a state record for boys or girls- 9 straight Sectional titles.

1999 T-Shirt

Today's t-shirt is from 1999. It is the shirt printed after we won the Supersectional and were headed to Redbird Arena. It was a great year, we went on to finish 2nd in State.

Experienced Staff

We start practices on Monday. I am VERY fortunate to have an experienced staff at GHS. I would guess there are view programs with more experience in their coaching staff.

Coach Michael Rux has 20+ years as sophomore coach. He has been active not just with the sophomore team but in assisting the varsity team. He has definitely been there and done it.

Coach Jay Barshinger has been freshmen coach for 10+ years. He is the most patient teacher in our school district, and he takes the same approach to basketball.

Woody in Knox HOF

Note his Old Siwash sweathirt.

Dave Wood, Knox class of 1972 was inducted into the Knox College Hall of Fame. Woody was a Streaks great who was a leader on the Streaks '68 second place in State team. Woody transferred to Knox from Western and went on to become a three year starter at Knox (freshmen were not eligible to play varsity in the NCAA at that time). Woody led the Siwash in scoring every year at Knox and led the Midwest Conference in scoring his senior year by putting in 21.7ppg.

Woody was Grinnell basketball before Grinnell.

Jay Bilas- Toughness

This is a famous essay on toughness written by Jay Bilas....

“Toughness” – Jay Bilas – ESPN .com

I have heard the word "toughness" thrown around a lot lately. Reporters on television, radio and in print have opined about a team or player's "toughness" or quoted a coach talking about his team having to be "tougher" to win.

Then, in almost coordinated fashion, I would watch games and see player upon player thumping his chest after a routine play, angrily taunting an opponent after a blocked shot, getting into a shouting match with an opposing player, or squaring up nose-to-nose as if a fight might ensue. I see players jawing at each other, trying to "intimidate" other players. What a waste of time. That is nothing more than fake toughness, and it has no real value.

I often wonder: Do people really understand what coaches and experienced players mean when they emphasize "toughness" in basketball? Or is it just some buzzword that is thrown around haphazardly without clear definition or understanding? I thought it was the latter, and I wrote a short blog item about it a couple of weeks ago.

Putting First Things First

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"It's My Own Fault"

This morning I was observing my student-teacher with his Sociology class. They were going over a test they had taken the previous day. A girl in the class had missed a question, and she asked where the information to answer the question had been covered. The student-teacher explained to her, and finished by saying,"Ok?"

After hearing the explanation, the student's reply,"It's ok, it's my own fault."

My first thought was that her comment is not something you hear everyday, whether in class or just in routine everyday encounters. Refreshing.

The first step toward success is accept responsibility for your actions.

The best part of the story is that the student is a varsity girls basketball player!!

Disease of Failure- Ergophobia & Enissophobia

Many things can prevent athletes from reaching their goals. But often players may not know what is wrong. Some players may not realize it, but they may be victims of ergophobia and/or enissophobia.

Ergophobia is the fear of work. Their are athletes who can find 1001 excuses to miss workouts or practices. And in some cases their individual excuses may be legitimate but when you add it all up, they are not investing the time and effort needed to successful. And other athletes may go to workouts or practices regularly- they may never miss a day, but they are just putting in their time. Instead of lifting 150lbs, they settle for lifting 100lbs. 150lb's would be work. Instead of taking shots at game pace, they go 3/4 speed because it is more comfortable. This athlete is horribly disappointed and frustrated when their season starts. They are the kid who doesn't make the team or the kid who does not play as much as they would like. And they are frustrated with their situation because they just can't understand,"I went all the time, why aren't I playing."

Michigan Team Camp- Great Memories

In the mid-'80's we had struggled to beat Moline, we just could not get by them. So I was looking for anything that might help us get over the top. I heard Moline had been going to team camp in Chicago at Doug Bruno's team camp. So I figured if it was good for them, we would try it. So our first team camp experience occurred in 1988. It certainly was not a recreational experience, it was very intense. So intense that in the middle of a week a girl asked me to mail a post card for her (different era, no texting). Probably not ethical but I could not help but notice, all that was written was- "Get Me Out of Here!!!"

Not being real bright, I had us scheduled to go again in 1989. But in early June I got a letter from the Chicago camp saying they had cancelled our session and moved us to another session a week later. It would not work. I had no idea what to do, but I knew it would not work. Gary Bruington's daughter was playing and I told him my disappointment. I told him the only options I could find in the brochures I had were a couple too far away- one of which was Michigan. He said, "Why don't you look into taking the train?" I did and at the time it would only cost us about $75 per kid to take the train.

Put First Things First

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Michelle Wynne- Great Coach

What should you look for in assistant coaches in a basketball progam? This is a topic that head coaches talk to each other about, and it is a topic that is presented over and over in coaching clinics.

I have been fortunate to have many very good coaches and only a very few bad coaches in our program.

Bad assistant coaches may not only not help the players improve and develop their skills, but in some cases may actually cause the players to lose enthusiasm for basketball in general or for the varsity program and coaches in specifically. I did have one junior high coach who so poisoned the young players against the high school that sadly their players were never able to overcome this negative attitude to reach their full potential.

Good coaches at lower levels develop skills and enthusiasm in the players so they are able to become successful at the next levels. One of the best assistant coaches I have had in 30+ years of coaching was Michelle Wynne. At one point she coached freshmen girls and then later coached junior high girls at Churchill.

What made Michelle such a good coach in our program?

1962 All-Star Game w/ Spahn & Matthews

One of my brushes with the famous was at the 1962 All-Star game. The game was great but our brush came after the game.

In 1962 my family had a chance to go to the All-Star game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was a different era when you did not have to pay big bucks and order way ahead of time. They sold tickets in pairs. So my father was fortunate to get 3 pairs of tickets. So we ventured to Chicago with Dad, Mom, brother Mark, cousins Kenny and David, and I. Six in the family Olds 88. We got there early and parked within sight of Wrigley Field.

John Wooden- Enthusiasm

"Simply put, I mean you must love that which you do.  Your heart must be in it.  Without enthusiasm you cannot work up to your fullest ability and potential; you're just going through the motions.  And just going through the motions won't bring you to the level of competitive greatness we seek whether in basketball, business, or life."- John Wooden

Great website on everything Wooden....

http://www.coachwooden.com/index2.html

Meeting Famous People- Top 10 List & More

After President Obama was here a couple weeks ago, I wondered who some other people can claim they got to meet. I got answers from the following- Andie Allison, Steve Cheesman, Jessica Howard, Michael Rux, Dan Sullivan, Todd Rudolf, Jay Redfern, Aaron Frey, Libby Derry, Curt Allen, Craig Hillier, Jay Barshinger, Thom Sigel, Amanda Gunther, Jaque Gohlinghorst, Jay Hatch, Emily Cline, and Mark Massey

After their replies, I chose to rank the top ten most impressive “meetings.”  Here is my top ten (actually 12) of famous people they met.

Top Ten List of Meeting Famous People

12- Meeting Michael Jordan twice would be higher but people from Quncy cannot be put in top ten.

11- Tweeting with Jenny McCarthy- I think this is start of how politicians get in trouble.

Tie- 10-Being at Pat Summit's house and getting to pet the dog- impressive. And having Pat Summitt give you advice to be patient.

9- Having Ted Kennedy’s nephew stay overnight at your house- more impressive if actually could remember which one it was.

8- Telling Coach K to put his ring away- rudeness drops this.

7- Kick Brooks & Ronnie Dunn- would be higher but I don’t know who they are.

6- Having lunch with Eddie Matthews & Warren Spahn after the 1962 all-star game- this would move up if the senility of the individual had not prevented him from remembering details.

5- Shaking hands with both Obama and Clinton- conversation with both should have moved it up.

4- Lunch with Jerry Mathers- would move up if he was still 12 years old.

3- Meeting John Wooden, Adolf Rupp, Kareem, Bill Walton, Dr. J- if it had been at one time, it would have been easily #2.  It sounds like one of those dream suppers.

2- Interview with John Grisham- it might have made #1 had he not made the rude comment about my hair.

1- Coaching Cindy Crawford- I don’t think anyone can beat that.

Pat Summitt- Advice to Coach Allison

After President Obama came to Galesburg, I decided to work on a Q/A with people about their encounters with the "famous." I am still hoping to get a few more people to respond and then I will put it up on the blog. In the meantime, I thought it was timely to share what Coach Andie Allison returned to me.


Andie said the following:


I would have to say my example for the most famous person I have ever met is appropriate for current news in the sports world. Two summers ago, when heading to team camp in Tennessee, I was lucky enough to meet Pat Summit. 

National Record Banner

The Streaks have something new for the gym to recognize setting the national record for three pointers made in a season. The girls were excited to see the banner. And from a coach's standpoint it is exciting to see the energy level running "the system" has brought to our program. This past weekend I had 7 players text to get into the gym to shoot on the Gun. On Monday night we had 12 players lifting and shooting. So in the last 2 days we had over 1400 threes made. Who knows, maybe we can break our record this year.

Beau Spencer- Great Announcer & Super Tweeter

Beau Spencer did not work long at WAIK but he sure made a positive impression with his work in covering sports. He made all of the high school athletes feel important. Beau was able to cover the games without focusing on the refs or second guessing strategy.

Since I have gotten onto twitter, Beau is definitely one of the top to follow. I enjoy following his observations.

You went to Annawan High School. What sports did you play?

I played baseball all the way up to high school.  We didn't have a high school team, so I "retired" from the game after 8th grade.  Played football and basketball my freshman and sophomore years.

 Great basketball players coming out of Annawan- Tanner Carlson and Val Wancken. Where do you fit into the basketball tradition? 

Actually, Tanner grew up right behind me and he would mix it up with us neighborhood guys.  I can say that I beat him.  He was about 8-years old, and I was in high school, and then he ended up with the better stats, so on paper he may be better...but I proved it on the court, LOL.

(It should be noted that Tanner Carlson is student teaching with me this fall. I think probably it was actually Beau in college and Tanner as a 6 year old if Beau won!)

John Wooden

"Promise to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own."

 

- Coach Wooden

Pat Summitt- My Perspective

I recognized that Pat Summitt was an effective coach. But like many people, I had seen those angry faces that tv caught of her on the sideline. As a result I was never a big Pat Summitt fan. She just seemed too angry, too in your face.

No one is a bigger Tennessee fan or Pat Summitt fan than Brenna Saline. Brenna has more orange stuff than anyone should legally possess. Brenna was upset that we never went to Tennessee camp when she was in high school. I always gave her a hard time about the Lady Vols, and some of it was probably how I really felt.

Jason Shay got a job coaching men's basketball at Tennessee, and instead of going to a fall clinic, I decided I wanted to go down and watch them practice. Jeff Houston, Jaque Gohlinghorst, and I went down to Knoxville one fall to watch the Vols and Lady Vols practice. The first day our timing did not workout to watch the women, just the men. The next day there was a problem and some doubt if we would be able to watch the women practice. That evening, Jason made a couple calls to the women assistants and it didn't sound like it would work out.

Massey Vacation

Growing up, my family always took car vacations. So this summer we went west on a car vacation. Clark Griswald would be proud of us- we put in 3400 miles in 9 days.
- Galesburg
- Fort Collins and Colorado State University (my wife's is an alum)
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Grand Junction, Colorado
- Moab, Utah (Arches National Park and a raft ride down the Colorado)
- Grand Canyon
- Oklahoma City (the memorial is very powerful)
- Lawrence, Kansas (KU)
- Galesburg

With Cam the Ram at CSU. It has to be one of the prettiest campuses
and cities in America. I give it a big thumbs up.

Allen Fieldhouse- Vacation Visit

Our family took a trip west and on the way back stopped at the Kansas University. My last visit to KU was in 7th grade, a few years ago. My mother's college friend was married to a KU professor. They loved their Jayhawks and continued to attend games into their 80's. As a result of that visit, I have always had KU as one of my teams when the Badgers are not playing.

On our visit, we got to see much of Allen Fieldhouse. The one bad thing was that they were sanding the floor so we were not able to go out on the floor. It is an impressive, old building steeped with tradition. As you walk around the building it is like being in a basketball museum. You know you have history when your first coach was the man who invented the sport- James Naismith.

Entrance to Allen Fieldhouse, it certainly looks like it would
have a wild atmosphere. But UW record in Kohl Center might
dispute their clam.

Screaming Mom

The following story was posted on a coaches' email exchange. Read and enjoy....

I have a circumstance worth mentioning:

I was warned about a parent before a season began.  I was told she will be constantly loud yelling at her daughter, coaching her from the stands, and occasionally yelling at the officials.

Stephen Curry Workouts

Stephen Curry is one of the great shooters in the NBA. In college he almost took his team to the Final Four with his shooting. This is an article written about Curry in the SFGate.com by March 11, 2010|By Scott Ostler

Stephen Curry is the Phantom of the Opera. He even brings his own music.

Late at night, 10 or 11 o'clock on non-game nights, Curry lets himself into the Warriors' practice gym in downtown Oakland, and shoots. Typically, he'll go an hour and a half, long enough to reach a goal, like sinking 500 shots.

He'll bring along a buddy to rebound, and an iPod sound dock loaded with rap (Lupe Fiasco is his favorite), R&B and heavy metal.

These sessions are on top of the half hour or so of extra shooting Curry does after team practices, launching from beyond the three-point arc, a robot rebound machine spitting a ball to him every few seconds.

Disease of ME by Alan Stein

The following is part of an essay by Alan Stein on his blog. For the entire story go to---
http://blog.strongerteam.com/

There are 3 symptoms of the ‘disease of me’ – each of which severely stagnates a player’s growth and development. Having worked a ton of camps and events this summer, I have seen each of these symptoms from players of every age and every level:

1.    Too cool

2.    Too good

3.    Too shy

Alan Stein- Don't Say You Can't

As some of you know, I am not averse to peppering in four letter words on occasion. But the absolute worst 4 letter word in the English language is ‘can’t.’

‘Can’t’ is disempowering. ‘Can’t’ slows progress. ‘Can’t’ stunts success.

If you want to be successful, on or off the court, you need to eliminate ‘can’t’ from you vocabulary when referring to things you have 100% control over… such as attitude, effort, and focus.

Don’t tell me you ‘can’t eat breakfast because you’re not hungry.’

Or you ‘can’t make 300 shots a day because you don’t have someone to rebound for you.’ 

Or you ‘can’t do another pull-up because your arms are tired.’

We both know that is BS! You can always do more than you think you can.

Instead, just be honest with yourself, and say ‘won’t.’ 

For the rest of the article, go to--  http://blog.strongerteam.com/