Galesburg in 1960's

Author, Jim Wyman

Jim Wyman gave a tremendous introduction for Roger Coleman into the GHS Athletic Hall of Fame. I don't think I have heard a more impressive HOF speech than Jim's. The speech gives a great description of Roger but it is a sociology lesson on the role of radio, small towns and sports in the 1960's. It is MUST READING----

Roger Coleman Hall of Fame Speech

            It is an honor for me to represent the former employees of WGIL Radio who worked for Roger Coleman between 1954 and 1976 and to induct Roger Coleman into the Galesburg High School Hall of Fame as a “Friend GHS Athletics.”  This is a happy day for all of us who worked with Roger when he was general manager of WGIL.

Roger Coleman

            Roger Coleman is all Galesburg all the time.  He was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Galesburg on November 27^th, 1930.  His father, Haven Coleman, was the first basketball coach at Corpus Christi High School in Galesburg.  Haven Coleman was also an athletic director, who had worked at Wheaton College,Western Illinois University and at Hedding College in Abingdon until becoming sick with encepalitis and becoming an invalid.  Haven Coleman died in 1939.

            Roger loved two things in life:  sports and radio.  Although not a gifted athlete, he did run track for Galesburg High School and spent a lot of time watching the great football and basketball teams of C. C. Van Dyke and Gerald Phillips. 

Spurs Locker Room

ACL Prevention Exercises

The following jump program is based on the Cincinnati Jump Program that was initiated to reduce ACL risk.

Jump Training for ACL

Purpose:

Help athletes develop proper balance and landing techniques in an effort to reduce ACL injuries.

Emphasis:

1. Don’t emphasize speed and height at the expense of form and technique.

2. Emphaize soft landings with knees flexed and on their toes.

3. Landing in line, knees over toes.

4. Landing where you jump from.

Exercises:

1. Stationary Jumps- 30 seconds each

Two foot jump & two foot landing.

-       Stationary

-       Side to Side

-       Front to Back

2. 180 Degree Jumps- 30 seconds

Two footed jump

Rotate 180 degrees- land soft

Hold landing for 2 second

Reverse the direction

3.Long Jump- Go to half-court and back

2 Footed Long Jump

Length of jump is not the priority- land soft.

Land soft, stick landing, hold landing for 2 seconds

Jump Again

4- Hop, Hop, Land- Go to half-court and back

Two footed hopping.

Hop and do not stick it but immediately go into another hop, and

Stick the landing on the third hop

5- One Foot Hop- Go to half-court and back

Stick the third hop.

Use left foot coming back

Strength and Balance Exercises

The following are strength training exercises used to reduce ACL risk:

1- Squats- keep the knees in alignment with hips, don't allow them to bow inward. Eventually you can work on one leg squats with the other leg resting on bench behind you. 

2- Jump Squats- squat, jump, then land softly. Keep knees in alignment, don't allow them to bow inward.

3. Hip Bridges- keep knees aligned. Eventually you can do one leg hip bridges.

4- One Leg Balance- stand on one foot with knee flexed slightly, raise other knee up high in front of you, then move leg back as far behind you as you can. Repeat these- you are making the one leg have to work on balance.

5- Hamstring Curls- Kneel on all fours. Raise one leg back straight. Try to curl the leg to have your heel touch your butt. Then extend your leg again, touch your toe to the ground, then curl again. 

Most of the exercises are shown in these videos: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW8e1sPLwg8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=803MwCDtRTg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sBSRe3melM&feature=youtu.be&a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajsDsTrn0GI&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9wx2iktSs&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Y6KQ2ipbE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWBSf4BfKRk

Memorial Day

William Allen with younger brother, Ben.

On Memorial Day, we need to remember all of the soldiers gave up their dreams for us. William Allen was a Knox grad, Galesburg HS English teacher, and my wife, Amy's uncle. William Allen was killed in WW2. He wrote this in a letter to his family, after finding a friend killed in action in April of 1945:

“I shall never forget late one afternoon when I discovered dead near his gun position the man whom I respected above all others as a soldier. I calmly reported the fact and got a good night’s sleep. It was not until several days later that his body slouched in his hole began to haunt me and I realized that I had lost my friend. He was every muscle a hero, and he should have died a hero’s death as he stormed an enemy emplacement.”

“He had displayed his ability and his guts often enough before. But he was far behind the lines when the artillery shell with his number on it landed in his hole. That’s another shocking thing about this war- a hero, contrary to fiction and Hollywood, seldom dies a hero’s death. It’s just an unlucky hit which gets him when he doesn’t even have a chance to fight back.”

William Allen was killed a little over a month later when his jeep ran over an Allied land mine designed to protect U.S. troops. It was just weeks before the end of WWII.

Five Ways to Improve

This is from Mano Watsa from PGC Basketball...

Like most people, a lot of basketball players are looking for that one thing that will create an immediate impact for themselves and their team. Let’s take a look at five things any player can do to gain immediate improvement:

1. Take Higher Percentage Shots
All basketball coaches love having a good shooter on their team. The way to instantly improve your shooting percentage is to eliminate shots that are difficult to make. If that seems simple, it is. It’s amazing how an athlete can appear to be a good (or better) shooter when they stop taking shots they don’t make very often.
To evaluate your shot, ask yourself these three key questions:
1. Was your shot on balance?
2. Was your shot within range?
3. Was your shot in rhythm?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, you have attempted a shot that will make you a less efficient shooter. In addition, the shots you are taking will cause your teammates and coach to lose confidence in you. Earn your coach and teammate’s trust through your shot selection.
It’s been said that it doesn’t matter how beautiful a swing a baseball player has. If he always swing at bad pitches, his batting average will be embarrassingly low. The same applies in basketball. It doesn’t matter how sweet your stroke looks if you constantly shoot poor shots. Eliminating poor shots during a game can increase your shooting percentage significantly. Good coaches love that.

Shooting Math

Luke Yaklich started out as a girls varsity basketball coach at LaSalle-Peru. Today he is an assistant men's basketball coach at Illinois State. 

Luke Yaklich, posted the following tweet--

Shooter's Math...
200 makes x 5 days per week x 4 weeks in month x next 7 months = 28,000 makes by November! 

Small improvements over time...


The good news for us is that we have 12 players coming back from last year's team. The great news is that many of them are very committed to working and improving. Coach Yaklich-- (1) challenges us to work even harder, (2) shows consistent work adds up to something impressive!

Just Keep Working

What do you do when it appears you are not going to reach your goals? Just keep working!!

Frank Kaminsky is the star of Wisconsin's Final Four team. It would be easy to look at him, and think he is good because he is 7'0".  But he is a great story about the value of perseverance

Frank entered Lisle Benet closer to six foot than seven foot. He started out playing some point guard. According to Bo Ryan, Frank had trouble even getting on the court for his AAU team between his sophomore and junior year. 

In this day of McDonald's All-Americans, ESPN Top 100 recruits, and Rivals,com evaluations. Frank did not show up on their lists after his junior year. He received offers from Bradley, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. He chose to sign with Wisconsin. (Note he was not offered by Illinois.)

Accountability

Often coaches walk a fine line between trying to make their players accountable for their actions and performance, and of making them "over-accountable" for their actions and performance.

Bob Knight always said the greatest motivator was the bench. And coaches often use the bench to get a point across to their players. When a player makes a mistake or error in a game, a coach can make a point by taking them out. Sometimes the player is brought over and is given a chance to "reflect" on their play. Other times, the coach may bring them out to give them quick instruction and send them back into the game.

Dick Bennett- Defensive Philosophy

Dick Bennett was next to Bob Knight, the most sought out teacher of man to man defense principles and techniques in the 1980's. Anyone who coached man to man defense used the Dick Bennett, "On the line, up the line," mantra if they taught man to man.

As a man to man coach, I was excited when he was hired at U of Wisconsin, and even more excited to go to a practice in his first fall in the early 1990's. I was shocked when he was not teaching his aggressive, denial man to man defense.

When an assistant was asked what was going on, he said that Bennett felt they did not have the athletes to do the aggressive man to man, and compete in the Big Ten. "We are just trying to keep the ball in front of us and make them shoot from outside.

That was combined with Bennett's "sureness" offensive drills where they worked 3 on 0, 5 on 0, 3 on 3 and 5 on 5 with the entire emphasis to not make any pass that was not a sure pass. It was clear Bennett's philosophy was to simply not make mistakes. Today you see this same philosophy in his son and in Bo Ryan.

Here is a description from Sports Illustrated about the change in Dick Bennett's philosophy...

The Bennett's- Foundation for Success

Tony Bennett is having great success at Virginia, he is using the same five concepts that his father used for the foundation of his program. When Virginia beat Syracuse during the regular season, after the game the reporter asked, "What is your team's greatest strength?" With a tear going down his cheek, Tony said, "Humility." It is no accident he chose humility, it is part of his and his father's basic philosophy!

“I concluded some time ago that a major part of success of a team, or of an individual, has a great deal to do with the intangible qualities possessed. The real key is in how a person see himself (humility), how he feels about what he does (passion), how he works with others (unity), how he makes others better (servanthood), and how he deals with frustration and success, truly learning from each situations (thankfulness). I believe those concepts are the essence of a good player, team, coach, or individual in any capacity in life.” Coach Dick Bennett

Don Meyers- Drive vs Dribble

Dribbling Ideas / Live Ball Moves / Penetration Ideas

from Don Meyer

• Dribble vs. Drive. We want our players to drive, but we don’t want them to dribble for no particular reason.
• We always ask our ball-handlers: “If the ball had eyes, would it be able to see when you had it?”
• On all dribbling drills (and as a general rule of thumb): Start slow, get a rhythm, go fast enough to make a mistake.
• Versus pressure in the full court, we teach our players to attack the defense at a 45 degree angle–very hard to guard.
• A good player needs no more than 1 or 2 dribbles to get from the wing to the rim. In all our breakdown drills, we don’t allow our players to use more than 2 dribbles to get to the rim, unless they are using a hesitation move, back dribble, etc. 

To Do List for Leaders

12 SIMPLE YET SIGNIFICANT DAILY TO DO’S FOR LEADERS

1. Be the hardest worker at practice today. Without fail, one of the quickest ways to impact a team is with your own work ethic. Choose to be one of the hardest workers on your team today. Not only does it set the tone for the work ethic of your program, it is also one of the best and quickest ways to enhance your leadership credibility with your teammates and coaches.

2. Be a spark of energy and enthusiasm today. Let your passion for the sport shine through today. Spread a contagious energy and enthusiasm amongst your teammates. Think about how lucky you are to be able to play and compete. Remember back to when you were a young child and reconnect with the joy you played with back then. Make your sport fun again for yourself and your teammates.

3. Model mental toughness today. Because your teammates will look to you under pressure, adversity, and stress, be sure to model mental toughness today. Bounce back quickly after errors to show your teammates how to respond to negative situations. Maintain your poise and optimism despite any mistakes you might make so that your teammates can trust and rely on you to get them through the tough times.

4. Connect with a teammate today. Leadership is all about relationships. Invest the time to build and strengthen the relationships you have with each of your teammates. Inquire about their day, challenges, and goals. Make a special and ongoing effort to get to know every athlete on your team, not just your friends and classmates. The relationship building you do each day will pay off immeasurably down the road.

Team Glue

Often in sports we get caught up looking at stats. Alan Stein in this essay looks at the "glue" of a team....

Glue Guy or Girl

by Alan Stein

Glue is an adhesive, and according to Webster’s Dictionary, the physics definition of adhesive is “a force that exists in the area of contact between unlike bodies and that acts to unite them.”

That’s a tad too scientific for me. Let’s just say that glue holds stuff together!

Who is the glue on your team? Who holds your team together? Who keeps your team focused? Who does all of the little things in practice and in games to make your team successful?

That person is a Glue Guy (or Glue Girl)!

How do you spot a Glue Guy? They are often seen:

• Taking charges
• Diving for loose balls
• Hitting crucial free throws
• Playing tough defense
• Setting solid screens
• Boxing out on every shot
• Cheering for their teammates

A Glue Guy doesn’t care about how many points they score or how many minutes they play. All they care about is theteam winning and knowing they did everything within their role to contribute to the team’s success (regardless of how large or small that role is).

Every team needs a Glue Guy. Every team needs a player who will make all of the sacrifices necessary to hold the teamtogether. Glue Guys are even more important during the playoffs.

If your Glue Guy is also your most talented player… I am willing to bet your team will maximize their potential.

If you want your team to make a serious run at a conference or league or state championship; I suggest you either say a sincere thank you to your team’s Glue Guy; or you become one yourself.

And for those of you who have already completed your season… Glue Guys are equally important in the off-season. After all, who else will hold your team together before the first practice of next season?

Play hard. Have fun. Enjoy the jouney.

Alan Stein
Hardwood Hustle Blog
http://www.About.me/AlanStein

Building Complete Player by Alan Stein

Great essay on building your game in off-season by Alan Stein...  

Must reading for players.

Building the Complete Player

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Alan Stein • 1 Comment

I realize that a small percentage of high school programs across the country are fortunate enough to still be playing… and in the hunt for a conference, district or state championship.  For those that are, I wish you a healthy and successful end to your season. I hope you can get that ring and hang that banner!

For those of you whose season has ended, it’s time for you to begin thinking about the spring and summer.

While most of you will scoff at the notion, I highly recommend you begin your ‘off-season’ by taking a full week or two off to rest, recover and recharge. Trust me, this recovery period is essential to your long-term success.

Once your battery is fully charged, it’s time for you to start re-building yourself as the complete basketball player.

And that starts by laying a solid foundation.

You see, your athleticism is the foundation of your entire game. That is why the best players in the world are in the best shape.

IBCA All-State

Congratulations to Sabrina Clay (Jr), and Shayli Florine (Soph) on receiving Special Mention All-State from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

Shayli averaged 8.2 rpg and 9.7ppg, while Sabrina averaged 8.1 rpg and 11.7ppg. It will be exciting to have both of them back next year.

"Got To Be Looking Forward"

The great thing about coaching high school is you always see young players coming up with potential. When you watch junior high players, they are always enthusiastic, play with passion, and have so much potential.

I always joke that whenever I go to a Churchill- Lombard game, somebody always says to me, "Coach, you have got to be excited about this group coming up." This year was no exception, I had three people say the exact version of this statement.

And I don't ever hesitate, "Yes, I am excited this group." That is why I am still coaching. It is easy to see the potential of the young players coming up.

Losing Human Interaction

The seeding for the Geneseo Regional were posted on the IHSA website yesterday. The results were:
1- Geneseo
2- Galesburg
3- Alleman
4- Dunlap
5- IVC

Before I begin to give my thoughts, let me make one thing clear-- based on IHSA seeding guidelines, Geneseo should have been the #1 seed, so that is not the issue of my thoughts.

Back in the old days, each coach attended the seeding meeting and you had to sit across a table and give your seeds. So if you were going to seed a team low, you had to say in front of that schools coach. In the years this method was used, there would be some times when one coach would raise a question about another coach's seeds. And then a coach had to defend their seeding. At one particular seeding meeting, a Peoria coach verbally attacked a coach from the Mid-Illini for the coach's seeding. It was heated and it had some profanity in it.

Jay Hatch- IBCA HOF

Congratulations to Coach Jay Hatch of Alleman on his selection to the IBCA Hall of Fame. Jay is most deserving of recognition. His teams have always been competitive. The highlight of his career was winning the Illinois State Title.

With 20+ years of service to Alleman, Jay is getting into the range of the Alleman legend, Don Morris who coached 30 years. Congratulations!!

Fulton High School

My brother sent this picture from the gym at Fulton High School, in Fulton Illinois. The banner at the ceiling is honoring my father's selection to the IBCA Basketball Hall of Fame. He coached in Fulton in the 1920's and '30's before moving to coach in Savanna in the '40's and '50's. It really appreciated that Fulton has chosen to recognize my father and to honor his memory!!