Alabama- System Shot Selection

 Alabama is using he model of System basketball when it comes to shot selection. 

1- Don’t take mid-range threes.

2- Shoot only threes and layups.

Dr. Megan Young

 Megan Young was one of the hardest workers to ever play for the Streaks. She was always focused, committed, and locked into anything she did. So as impressive as this is- it is not surprising. Congrats Dr. Megan Young!!

High Goals? Then Get To Work!

 

1997 Undefeated Regular Season- Handling Success

In 1997, the Streaks went 28 in the regular season. It was quite the season. Of the 28 regular season games, the Streaks only had five games where the other team came within 10 points. 

Nov 23- 81-74 over Carthage (Home)

Dec 5-  51-44 over Alleman (Awa)

Dec 19-  50-42 over Quincy (Away)

Feb 8-  61-52 over Quincy (Home)

Feb 13- 53-46 over Rock Island (Away)

And only three other times did teams come within 20 points. So 20 of the 28 regular season games were won by 20+ points. The Streaks were dominant. 

The poll I have included, was the next to the last poll of the regular season. It was the first time that any Streaks girls basketball team was ranked #1 in the State. Until the mid-90’s, the AP did not run a girls basketball poll. The AP poll for girls basketball was started and was run by Mike Trueblood, the sports editor of the Galesburg Register-Mail. (That was when local towns still had local papers and had local sports coverage. The poll was something that helped begin to shine some light on high school girls basketball. 

Seven players played regular on this team. Molly Watson (5’4” Sr- 19.5ppg, 5.3 apg), Melanie Pendergast (5’9” Jr- 11.0ppg), Angie Galyean (5’8” Sr, 7.0ppg), Jessica Thompson (5’11” Sr- 7.5ppg), Sarah Larson (5’11” So- 9.4ppg), Meg Sherwood (5’9” Sr- 3.8ppg), Megan Pacheco (5’9” Fr- 6.3ppg). 

College Women’s Basketball Exploding- Celebrate It

This was a post by Terry Pettit, former Nebraska women’s volleyball coach. Coach Pettit is the John Wooden of college volleyball. In addition to his personal facebook page, he has a page devoted to coaching topics. When one reads his posts, it is very easy to see why he is a coaching legend- his wisdom is off the charts.

Right now women’s college basketball has exploded in popularity. TV numbers are surpassing the TV numbers of men’s basketball. Arenas are selling out in Stanford, Iowa, and UConn. ESPN during the week actually does analysis of women’s basketball. And men’s basketball experts are spending part of their shows talking about women’s basketball and women’s players.

Travel Ball- Yes or No?

 There are many opportunities for players of all ages to play on travel basketball teams. There are programs geared for grade school players, junior high players, and high school players. So when we talk about whether being involved on a travel team is important or not, it may well depend on what age player we are talking about. 

Those of us who are older may remember when travel ball was certainly not a requirement. In my local community (Galesburg), the YMCA had as many as 12 teams of different age levels playing right in Galesburg. There was huge local participation and it was very convenient. One effect of travel teams in all sports is that participation numbers are way down from where they were 20-30 years ago. But we have to realize, we are not going to go back to those days. And that doesn’t mean travel basketball is bad, it is clearly different than what many of us grew up seeing.

The question many parents asked me as a high school coach,”Does my daughter need to play travel basketball if they are going to be successful eventually on the varsity level?” To accurately answer this question, you have to start by looking at what does a player need to do in order to grow or improve their game. The basic ways for a player to improve their game:

Secret to Shooting- REPETITION (The Gun)

DOES SHOOTING ON THE SHOOTING GUN REALLY WORK? Yes, absolutely positively!

SHOOTERS SHOOT- The entire point of this particular blog is to explain why shooting on the Gun can turn an average shooter into a good shooter, and turn a good shooter into a great shooter. There have been some shooters who have been called "natural shooters." The reality is that there is no such thing as a "natural shooter." Coaches and players who believe in the concept of "natural shooters," usually are coaches and players who tend to lose. Over the last 100 years of basketball, successful coaches and successful players has recognized that the best way to become a great shooter is to..... SHOOT. Shoot a lot of shots. 

1974 NCAA Regional in Tucson

This week, I got a wonderful and thoughtful surprise from the 2023-4 Silver Streaks. With a sneaky lie, the players in collaboration with Coach Demott tricked me into going to the GHS lockeroom "to help with some boxes." When I got there, the entire squad was in the lockeroom, and they presented me with tickets for Amy and I to go to the NCAA Regional in Indianapolis. The thoughtfulness of the team and the surprise made it an afternoon that I will always smile when I think about it. 

In retirement, you have a lot of time to reflect. My present this week, made me reflect on the first time that I ever went to an NCAA Regional. Believe it or not, my first NCAA Regional was on March 14 & 16, 1974. Yep, my first NCAA Regional was exactly 50 years ago. My brother, Mark was attending grad school and student teaching in Tucson, Arizona at the University of Arizona. We were on spring break, and four of loaded up in my 1973 Mercury Capri and drove to Arizona. All I remember about the trip was that at 6'1", I was the smallest passenger. When I was not driving, I was put in the back seat. It was a long drive.

The Player Who Surprises The Coach

 In the Spring, coaches are formulating plans for summer basketball and for what they think will make the team successful in November. During this process, coaches are thinking about possible starting lineups, and possible substitution rotations. Usually the coaches planning is based on where the players were in terms of ability at the end of the season. Every June when we start camp, there is a player who is clearly a better player- it jumps out to the coaches and to the team. At that point, as a coach you excitedly rethink the possibilities. You realize, "This player is going to be a real factor, and they are going to make us a lot better than I anticipated we would be."

While there were many players who "surprised" me in June, Sara Wood and Antonia Kisler. Sara Wood had started as a sophomore but was not a very good shooter. Molly Watson was a year behind her, and I projected Molly to take Sara's place in the starting lineup. When we started camp in June, Sara had not only improved her shot, she was automatic- she never missed. 

After Antonia Kisler's sophomore year, I figured she would be able to play on the varsity as a junior, but I figured she would be a "role player". I envisioned Antonia playing maybe 8-10 minutes per game. She had committed to the weight room and had not only gotten stronger, but her weight room work improved her vertical jump significantly and improved her quickness. Her improved ability and her high energy the very first day of camp, changed my thinking completely. As coaches, we excitedly began to change our plans.