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Monday, July 23, 2012

CJ Watson Video

CJ Watson played at Tennessee and then went to Europe, and eventually made it into the NBA. The following is a good documentory looking at his work to make it in the NBA.

http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/072312aac.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Stretching Ourselves

I believe sports can allow an athlete to realize they are capable of more than they have imagined. An athlete can on the athletic field do something individually or as part of a team which shocks them. Obviously such an achievement is exciting. But the real value of doing something like this in athletics is if it provides a lesson to use in other, more important areas of life. Maybe these kinds of experiences allow an athlete who is planning on college to set a higher and more challenging goal in their studies. Maybe they realize they can set higher career goals.

The following short essay by author Jon Gordon, deals with this topic--

Great Summer

We had a great summer of basketball. We had over 40 high girls involved in our summer basketball programs. We had a lot of girls improve their skills and get better this summer.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Ally Auriemma Tribute to Pat Summit

You are aware of the conflict between Tennessee and UConn in women's basketball. This is an wonderful tribute to Pat Summit written by the Ally Auriemma, the daughter of Coach Auriemma.


A Tribute to Pat Summitt. (Yes. Seriously.)

Note: I have never told this story outside of my family.  It seems appropriate, given that Coach Summitt received the Arthur Ashe award for Courage at this past weeks' ESPY awards.  It's also appropriate because this year is the 40th anniversary of Title IX, something I will be discussing in another post.

When I was eleven years old, Pat Summitt called me.
I don't mean she called my house looking for Dad, or called home by mistake in search of an office phone.  No.  This was a deliberate phone call, by Pat Summitt, looking for me. "Hello, Alysa, this is Pat Summitt from Tennessee."  Verbatim.

I was eleven.  We had just started our rivalry with Tennessee.  To say I was terrified of Pat Summitt is understating the point.  She is an icon of the sport.  She's naturally terrifying because of her intensity, her drive, her winning history...it's PAT SUMMITT.  I mean, cripes!

Changing the Culture


MIKE DUNLAP INSTILLS NEW COMMUNICATION

Here are some excerpts from an article in the Charlotte Observer written by Rick Bonnell on the approach of the Bobcats new coach Mike Dunlap:

This looked and sounded military:

A single water break in two hours of strenuous exercise. Speak only when spoken to. Eye contact with the instructor isn’t optional. Expect to be critiqued, and always be ready with an answer for why you did what you did.

This wasn’t Marine boot camp. It was the first day of summer league practice in Mike Dunlap’s tenure as Charlotte Bobcats coach. You knew something was different from former Bobcats coach Paul Silas’ laid-back approach when Dunlap called a dozen players into a circle, yelling “eyes up!” to demand rapt attention. 

It’s easy to intimidate the eight or so free agents just hoping for an invitation to training camp in October. But Dunlap had the same attention from the four Bobcats under contract. They see a guy intent on helping them get better. The criticism is balanced with encouragement.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Streaks Ball Handling Routine

Great self-improvement ball handling routine Coach Reynolds has put together for his Streaks players to use in the off-season. Good stuff!! All the player needs is a ball and a desire to improve their ball handling skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vd39L2oJbA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Friday, July 13, 2012

Kevin Garnett's Demand

Kevin Eastman, Boston Celtic assistant coach told an interesting story about Kevin Garnett. 

When a player is traded in the NBA, when he first meets with his new head coach, there are some horror stories of players who immediately issue selfish demands to their new head coach. "I expect you to get me 15 shots per game." "I need to play 35 minutes per game but don't play me over 40 minutes per game." You get it, selfish demands.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Varsity During Summer


On the varsity level, we had 13 girls start out playing on the varsity and finished with 14 playing on the varsity. We chose not to have any girls sit out games, so all 14 rotated in and played with the varsity. We had 6 seniors- Jessica Lieber, Sharron Diggins, Allison Mangieri, Rainee Sibley, Dani Teel, and Chloe Anderson. There were 4 juniors- Micayla Eisele, Katee Lingafelter, Hannah Smith, and Carley Weigand. 2 sophs were involved- Sabrina Clay and Casey Williams. And 2 frosh played with us- Sami Thompson and Lexi Daniels. 

They have been a very committed group. Only 2 players missed any camps, practices or games during the entire summer, and that involved a total of 3 practices and 3 games. At the foundation of team chemistry is a sense of trust. This tremendous commitment to each other has built a strong level of trust, loyalty, and positive chemistry. 

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

4th of July

One has been to most of the Massey
4th of July's- other should have been.
Growing up in the 1950's & 1960's, the 4th of July meant one thing- the Massey's getting together. Today it is the "Massey Reunion", back then it was just the Massey brother's getting together.

My grandfather (Cornelius) and my grandmother (Roberta) had five sons. The sons in order of birth were Glenn, Wendell, Wright, Oswald, and Dwayne. Two times a year, the brothers always got together- the Fourth of July and Christmas Eve. As long as they were alive, I don't remember any of them ever missing. It did not matter if the Fourth was on the middle of the week or a weekend, at noon the Massey brothers & families got together.