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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Joey Range- Great Story About A Father Going Into H of F

Joey Range was selected to the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame in Pickneyville, Illinois. As a basketball player, Joey is very, very deserving. I am biased but I would argue he is the most dominant player GHS has ever had, certainly the most dominant of the last 50 years.

I had Joey in class his senior year. While Joey may not have always been "into the classroom" in high school, he was a good student in my classroom. Joey was someone I enjoyed having in class, and someone who was always respectful to me in the classroom and in the hallway.

Joey's son, JJ is the same age as my son Allen. They have played on youth basketball teams together since 4th grade, and were on the freshmen team together this year. I have both JJ and Allen in my advocacy class this year. I have had many opportunities to watch Joey as a father. I wondered how Joey would be as a "basketball parent." The answer is he is a great "basketball parent." For all the times we have stood together during a game, interacted before or after a game-- I have never heard Joey say anything negative about other players, the coaches, or his son.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Bob Belf- Selling Your Program & Making Adjustments

The following was sent to a coach contemplating going to the "System". This is from veteran coach, Bob Belf. I would argue his analysis of "adjustments' that have to made apply to all coaching. It may be his list is unique to the "sytem" but every coach in every style must have the ability to anticipate adjustments and then make adjustments.


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Will Smith- Your Words & Thoughts Have Power

Wow-- watch this. Will Smith describes his motivation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfWGoLj1JCM

Sadee Hamilton & Illinois Win 8th Straight


The last time Geneseo’s Devan Griffin suited up, she finished with a triple-double.
While her stats weren’t quite as illustrious, the Maple Leafs senior once again was the dominant force she had been all year. Griffin was named Most Outstanding Player in Illinois’ 62-39 win in the Iowa-Illinois Senior All-Star Showcase.
Griffin finished with 20 points, five rebounds, five steals, two blocks and an assist. She was the only player for either squad to crack double digits.
“It was a lot of fun,” Griffin said. “I’m glad I got to play with some of the top names in the Quad-City area. I was really honored to play with all of them.”
The win was the eighth in a row for the Illinois girls.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Pat Summitt and Her Staff

The following from the NY Times-

Summitt Retains Her Essence but Lets Go of the Reins

DES MOINES
Pat Summitt’s assistants noticed something different about her last season. At times, she was forgetful, hesitant, confused. Was it stress? Her arthritis medication?
Then came the announcement last summer that Summitt had early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. It brought a shock to college basketball. But it also brought clarity of purpose to her assistants at Tennessee and what would become their new and expanded roles.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Strength Workouts on Your Own

There is no excuse for not getting stronger. Sometimes athletes who are out for 2-3 sports fail to work to get stronger and become a better athlete. If you are out for a sport where you do not get into the weight room, you need to develop your own program.

Successful athletes are focused not just on skill development but on becoming a better stronger, athlete. Your strength as an athlete determines your ceiling as a basketball player.

The following are some things athletes can do on their own to build strength--

Quickness, Strength, Balance

Some of the basics got from yesterdays coaching clinic by 1440:

1- You don't need to be lifting large amounts of weight to get stronger.

2- Emphasis should always be on proper technique- that is how you isolate muscle groups.

3- Body weight can be used to build muscle.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Coach- Why Don't You?

For years our staple was to play half court man to man defense. People, my brother mainly, would say, "Why don't you play a little zone to throw people off." My stock answer was, "Because we can't play zone."

You are what you are as a team. Our teams were man to man teams. Our counter to half court mm defense was to do some run and jump in the half court, and to do a lot of full court pressing. But the bottom line is you can only do so many things in basketball. I found the more defenses we tried to play, the worse our mm defense got.

Coach- Why Didn't You?

Numerous times in my career, I have made a choice in a game which has not turned out well. Often those bad choices you make as a coach in the second quarter are forgotten by most fans, but remembered by you as coach. But the wrong choice made at the end of a game is remembered by the fans and by the coach. 

Why Success?


Barry Alvarez as AD spends a lot of time observing teams and coaches. His perspective on Bo Ryan and the men's basketball team at Wisconsin gives great insight into what makes a team successful. 
“Our program is what college basketball — college athletics — is all about. It’s about the development of players. It’s about building a .
team
“You travel with them, you watch them, those guys know each other, they care about one another and they do what (Ryan) wants, what he expects.”
“People say, ‘When are you going to take it to the next level?’ ” Alvarez said. “Well, I think we’re at that next level.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Great State Championship Finish

In Illinois we tend to think high school basketball is losing interest. Check this Colorado State Championship game. It has a great finish, and look at the crowd-- it looks like it is packed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPiRig6sYJo

Monday, March 12, 2012

Banquet Night

We had a nice night for our banquet. The mothers did a wonderful job organizing the banquet. We are so fortunate to have access to the Pavilion, something Galesburg should certainly be proud of. All of the girls teams and the cheerleaders were recognized for their wonderful seasons.

On the varsity level, the following achievements were recognized--

2011-2 Captains- Paige Klinck, Myra Diggins, Jessica Lieber

2011-12 Seniors- Paige Klinck, Myra Diggins, Sadee Hamilton

Should You Foul To Prevent 3 Point Attempt

All of us have heard the analysts talk about whether when ahead at the end of a game by 3 if you should defend the three or foul and not allow the three to be taken.

On paper it may seem easy to execute. On a high school level it can back fire. I saw tape of two teams in our conference several years ago where a team tried to foul but the player mistimed the foul, and fouled the player as they were heaving up a desparation three. The result three ft's which tied the game and sent it to over time.

The following article looks at stats on whether it is good or not, and comes up with alternative rule to eliminate the issue.

NBA Shooting Analysis

This is an interesting look at where NBA players are likely to score. It looks at each position and what seems to be their preferences, and how their pct goes up or down in certain areas. There are some unusual trends.

Mapping Positions-- Court Vision by Kurt GoldsberryMarch 9, 2012

In the quest to better understand the "average" NBA shooter I have begun making composite shooting charts for each position in the league. My eventual goal is to establish a spatially informed baseline and to map every shooter in the league against an average shooter. These charts are not good for that task, but they're interesting nonetheless. Here are composite shooting charts for each of the 5 conventional basketball positions. I combined the shooting data for every player in positional groups. There are some bizarre trends including some fascinating asymmetries.

Leaving Foot Prints

Tom Izzo of Michigan State regularly talks to his team about "leaving foot prints" in the sand. At Michigan State Magic Johnson left footsteps and Mateen Cleaves left footsteps for future Spartan players. Quite simply they were a model for the future teams. They showed the way.

Thinking Big

Thinking Bigger
By: Tom Flick
 
When organizations and individuals attempt to move forward, it is almost entirely an intellectual exercise.  We’re educated people so we say, “The ROI has been rigorous.”  “The market analysis is exceptional.”  “It’s the right thing to do at this market time.”  We race forward in the brain and leave the heart far behind.  As noted by change-expert, Harvard Professor, Dr. John Kotter, the reality is, analytics don’t move people forward.  People won’t rally behind 43 initiatives.  It’s too sterile.  When it comes to affecting behavior, creating fast moving actions around important issues, trying to achieve our best everyday – feelings are more influential than thought.  
 

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Jason Shay- Going to Nationals

From NWF Newspapter....


Raiders claim state title with win over Central Florida

MARIANNA – Prior to his first official practice as the coach at Northwest Florida State, Steve Forbes laid out three goals for his team for the coming season.
Win the Panhandle Conference, win the Region VIII Tournament and win a national title.
Following a one-sided 85-66 win over Central Florida in Saturday’s Region VIII championship game, Forbes and the Raiders are two-thirds of the way home.
Freshman guard Chris Jones led all scorers with 20 points on his way to being named the tournament’s MVP, and Rod Rucker finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Raiders won their fifth state championship and earned the program’s fifth NJCAA national tournament berth.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

State- "We haven't decided what this one is going to say yet"

Sometimes the coach is the teacher and the players are the students. Sometime the players are the teachers and the coach is the student. I felt like during our 1996 State Tourney run I was definitely the student.

For years girls had played at GHS and looked up at all the banners representing the boys basketball teams successes. But there were no banners for the girls until the 1995 team made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Quite honestly, I was not sure there would be any other banners during my coaching career. With our wins over Freeport and Moline in the Ottawa Sectional, we were headed to another Supersectional. With the Sectional Championship, we were going to put up another banner. It was such a thrill.

Student Fans Banned for USA Chant

Students Banned From Game For 'USA' Chant

San Antonio Express-News, Lorne Chan
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Chant-controversy-creates-media-firestorm-3390067.php
Alamo Heights High School boys basketball coach Andrew Brewer was about to leave for school Wednesday when he got a call at home from a talk-radio station asking for an interview.
That was when he knew the Mules' student section was about to become a national story.
A day earlier, the San Antonio Independent School District had filed an incident report with the University Interscholastic League regarding a “USA, USA” chant by Alamo Heights students after a boys basketball game against Edison High School on Saturday.
The chant lasted for about five seconds before Brewer silenced the students as soon as he heard them.
Heights students who were involved in the chanting will not be allowed to attend the Mules' Class 4A state semifinal game against Dallas Kimball tonight in Austin.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

NBA Analysis- Spacing

Following is from SI.com.....

BOSTON — Twenty-seven NBA teams are represented at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, easily a record and the latest evidence that your team has fallen behind if it isn’t at least tinkering with advanced stats, data plotting, visual tracking, cutting-edge models to deconstruct the impact of fatigue on a player, and much, much more.
Visual tracking is among the most intriguing of such technologies. Ten of the league’s 30 teams have fully invested in a high-tech multicamera system, created by STATS LLC, that allows them to track every movement on the court — of players, ball and officials — in precise ways.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

State #1-"No School Friday"

Part of the fun of going to the State Tourney is it triggers different memories from our trips to State. There are a lot of good memories.

I can remember when I first went to the State tourney, I would take note cards with me. I would write down anything I thought could help me. After all, the teams I was watching must have had something going for them. I would jot down warmup drills, out of bounds plays, etc.

IBCA All-State

Illinois Basketball Coaches Association put together their all-state teams.

Area players & players of interest on the teams---

First Team-
Zahna Medley- Springfield- Sr
Sarah Livingston- Morton- Jr
Shannise Heady- Hillcrest- Sr

Second Team-
Mikayla Fallon- UTHS- Sr
Maggie Cunningham- Richwoods- Sr
Maggie Lyon- New Trier- Sr (We played vs. her for her first three years)
Jacqui Grant- Maine South- Jr (6'4" post we played one year ago)
Samirah Ali- Hillcrest- Sr

Girls State Tourney Notes

Galesburg had a connection in the Three Point Shooting Contest. Former resident, Bob Anderson's daughter, Katherine from Lake Zurich was in the state finals. She missed by 1 make of advancing to the final four. Having seen Bob shoot, I am confident the "shooting gene" must go down the mother's side. Bob is our Chloe's uncle.

Hillcrest had the most heart breaking loss. They were up 14 with 4 minutes to go but lost. Looking at their scores on the season, they were not experienced with many close games. This was only the 9th time they were in a game settled by 20 or fewer points. With the loss, they dropped to 5-4 in these games. On the other hand, they were 22-0 in the plus 20 point games.

Girls State Tourney- What's Happened?

Lower bowl for Edwardsville vs. Loyola. 
I went to the girls IHSA State Tourney again this year. I have been to every tourney since 1979. They started in Champaign and moved to Bloomington. In 1997, Galesburg vs. Taylorville set an attendance record. The crowds were so big, the tickets were reserved seats. For the 1997 game, both schools filled their main floor allotment, and had half the upper deck filled to the ceiling. In 1999, when we defeated Loyola in the quarterfinals, the main floor was filled and the upper deck was about half filled.

The last couple years attendance has gone down and down. This year was at an all time low. My job at church for a couple years was to count attendance, so I thought I would do the same this year.