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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Competing

"Competing is like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired."
Alan Stein

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Summer League- Work & Fun

The "brains" behind summer league having a conference.

I wonder why teams complain about the score not being accurate?

Coach Rux working with frosh-soph age players.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Summer- Do You Spend Time Working On Your Game?

Kids like to "play" games in open gyms. It is harder to get kids to go to the driveway, YMCA, or gym to do skill workouts. Over the last 30 years of coaching, I have found the best players are the ones who are willing to work on their own. Going to open gyms, camps, and summer league is the MINIMUM needed to play. To take one's game to another level, you must invest time in your game.

 Alan Stein 

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Jimmy Butler- "I Want to Be Guy Who Is Coachable"

The following from Jimmy Butler (Bull's draft pick) in the Chicago Tribune--

Butler said he felt his workout for the Bulls went pretty well but that he could've done better. He did say he looked forward to playing for coach Tom Thibodeau.

"I'm going to take what he has to say and put it in effect, no questions asked," Butler said. "Whatever he wants me to do, whatever any of my teammates want me to do, that's what I'll do. I want to be that guy who is coachable and will listen.

"I think I will be able to play (shooting guard) because you don't know how much time I'm going to spend in the gym to stay at this level for a long time. In order to do that, I have to get better at every aspect of my game, not just shooting. I'll be in the gym working on everything because no part of my game is perfect."

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lincoln Quotes

After a trip to Springfield, I need to give some Lincoln quotes.


Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
Abraham Lincoln 


Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Abraham Lincoln 



I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
Abraham Lincoln 


Streaks At U of Illinois- Springfield

Saturday morning we went to Lincoln's Tomb.

Rubbing Lincoln's nose for good luck. Confident the way
Marisa Miller shot that she must have rubbed his nose!

How can a 5'2" player block another player out in a picture?

We went down to Springfield to play at UIS on Friday and Saturday. They had beautiful air conditioned facilities. It was nice to play against teams not from this area, and most teams we will not play during the regular season.


We played six games over the two days (20 minute halves with running clock). We lost our first two games by 5-10 points to Taylorville and Springfield SH. We then went on to win our next three games before losing our last game to Springfield High. 


Monday, June 20, 2011

Weekend Report

The varsity girls had a good weekend of basketball.

Thursday, they came from behind to defeat Geneseo. It was a good game for us because Geneseo has a nice ball club with some outstanding post players.

Friday we travelled to play at Maine West. It is always a good team experience for us to go on the road and go to Chicago. We started out badly with a 15 point loss to Wheeling. Defensively we did not "match up" with them in our pressure- so as a result we spent the game chasing them. We bounced back to get a solid win vs. Maine West.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Great Night- Fun Night

It turned out to beyond our expectations at Buffalo Wild Wings tonight. We had a huge turnout, it was absolutely packed.

We had so many generous fans and businesses support us with items for the silent auction. And then, we had so many fans willing to make huge bids and contributions. Thank you, thank you.

And the highlight tape was absolutely awesome on all the screens at BWW with the sound pumping out. People loved it.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Tough Weekend

We have had 4 days of camp, and then got to play games on Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday during the day. It is always good for us to be able to play games at the end of the first week of camp:

1- Summer games are the "carrot" for players. Unlike many sports, we can play actual games in the summer. By the time our players are varsity age- the games are what they enjoy.

Tennessee Camp- 2010


Friday, June 10, 2011

Summer League- Friday/Saturday

A lot of basketball being played in Wicall and Thiel Friday night and Saturday.

Friday
5:00- Varsity vs. IVC (Thiel N)
5:50- FS vs. Macomb FS (Thiel N)
7:30- FS vs. Washington FS (Thiel N)
8:20- Varsity vs. Springfield (Thiel N)

Saturday
9:00am- Varsity vs. Limestone (Thiel N)
9:50am- FS vs. Prince of Peace (Thiel N)
10:40am- Varsity vs. W.Hancock (Thiel N)
11:30am- FS vs. Moline FS (Thiel S)
1:10pm- Varsity vs. U-High (Thiel N)
1:10pm- FS vs. West Hancock Fs (Thiel S)
1:10pm- Frosh vs. Prince of Peace FS (Wicall)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Ken & Sue Massey

Today- living in Middleton.
This is a story in the Madison paper about my cousin Ken Massey and his family. Ken & Sue were in the center of the farm foreclosures in the 1980's. The picture of them with their baby being taken out of their farmhouse by the county sheriff was in all of the national papers. This is a story of them 25 years later. To say they are inspiring is an understatement.

My Motivation- Andie Allison

We start basketball camp this week. I started the "My Motivation" articles back this spring. My hope was that they would be writings that our players could read, think about, and reflect on their own sources of motivation. I have tried to have about one per week.

Andie Allison- "Coach Allison"- should be a source of motivation for all of our players. She has worked with our Streaks teams every summer since getting out of high school. The combination of her determination, commitment, loyalty, and enthusiasm made her so valuable. After seeing the positive impact the volunteer coaches had in our boys program, I knew Andie would be so valuable for us as an assistant year round on the varsity. Our seniors especially realized Coach Allison's value.

One day last fall I was talking to Coach Reynolds about adding another coach. His comment,"You are coaching girls basketball. Let's see, you are old and male. Andie and Jaque are young and female. Might be a good move." Sometimes Coach Reynolds doesn't sugar coat things (he never does).

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Guide to Galesburg HS

I am finishing my 37th year at Galesburg High School. So I think I have a pretty good idea about how GHS operates. But as my son was looking at classes for his freshmen year, I realized that I had a lot to learn about GHS. So the last several weeks I have talked to lots of the seniors in my classes. And then I decided I wanted more education. So I decided who better to ask questions about GHS than the seven graduating seniors in the basketball program.

All seven were good students and most of them were very active as leaders. So I thought it would be good to get their perspective on GHS. So here are the responses of Mickey Rodriguez, Tai Peachey, Megan Young, Jessica Howard, Lauren Riggs, Sarah Main, and Jamie Johnson. Thanks for the education!

I would highly recommend this for parents of GHS students- especially entering freshmen. And I would recommend it for GHS students.

Where Did They Go?

So Bill Walton wants to know where his socks went? I think this picture gives a clue about who maybe has been taking the sock!

Congratulations to Coach Noble on his appointment to be the head varsity coach at a high school in Indiana!

Kevin Eastman- Handling Pressure

Pressure always hits hardest when you are unprepared. Preparation is pressure's greatest obstacle. Be prepared every time in every way!
  - Kevin Eastman, Boston Celtics

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Kareem Abdul Jabbar's Letter to Scottie Pippen


As you may be aware, Scottie Pippen claimed that LeBron James "may be the greatest player to ever play.". This letter is Kareem's response to Pippen's evaluation.



Dear Scottie,
I have nothing but respect for you my friend as an athlete and knowledgeable basketball mind. But you are way off in your assessment of who is the greatest player of all time and the greatest scorer of all time. 

Off-Season

"The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer." - Henry Clay