Experienced Staff

We start practices on Monday. I am VERY fortunate to have an experienced staff at GHS. I would guess there are view programs with more experience in their coaching staff.

Coach Michael Rux has 20+ years as sophomore coach. He has been active not just with the sophomore team but in assisting the varsity team. He has definitely been there and done it.

Coach Jay Barshinger has been freshmen coach for 10+ years. He is the most patient teacher in our school district, and he takes the same approach to basketball.

Woody in Knox HOF

Note his Old Siwash sweathirt.

Dave Wood, Knox class of 1972 was inducted into the Knox College Hall of Fame. Woody was a Streaks great who was a leader on the Streaks '68 second place in State team. Woody transferred to Knox from Western and went on to become a three year starter at Knox (freshmen were not eligible to play varsity in the NCAA at that time). Woody led the Siwash in scoring every year at Knox and led the Midwest Conference in scoring his senior year by putting in 21.7ppg.

Woody was Grinnell basketball before Grinnell.

Jay Bilas- Toughness

This is a famous essay on toughness written by Jay Bilas....

“Toughness” – Jay Bilas – ESPN .com

I have heard the word "toughness" thrown around a lot lately. Reporters on television, radio and in print have opined about a team or player's "toughness" or quoted a coach talking about his team having to be "tougher" to win.

Then, in almost coordinated fashion, I would watch games and see player upon player thumping his chest after a routine play, angrily taunting an opponent after a blocked shot, getting into a shouting match with an opposing player, or squaring up nose-to-nose as if a fight might ensue. I see players jawing at each other, trying to "intimidate" other players. What a waste of time. That is nothing more than fake toughness, and it has no real value.

I often wonder: Do people really understand what coaches and experienced players mean when they emphasize "toughness" in basketball? Or is it just some buzzword that is thrown around haphazardly without clear definition or understanding? I thought it was the latter, and I wrote a short blog item about it a couple of weeks ago.

Putting First Things First

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"It's My Own Fault"

This morning I was observing my student-teacher with his Sociology class. They were going over a test they had taken the previous day. A girl in the class had missed a question, and she asked where the information to answer the question had been covered. The student-teacher explained to her, and finished by saying,"Ok?"

After hearing the explanation, the student's reply,"It's ok, it's my own fault."

My first thought was that her comment is not something you hear everyday, whether in class or just in routine everyday encounters. Refreshing.

The first step toward success is accept responsibility for your actions.

The best part of the story is that the student is a varsity girls basketball player!!

Disease of Failure- Ergophobia & Enissophobia

Many things can prevent athletes from reaching their goals. But often players may not know what is wrong. Some players may not realize it, but they may be victims of ergophobia and/or enissophobia.

Ergophobia is the fear of work. Their are athletes who can find 1001 excuses to miss workouts or practices. And in some cases their individual excuses may be legitimate but when you add it all up, they are not investing the time and effort needed to successful. And other athletes may go to workouts or practices regularly- they may never miss a day, but they are just putting in their time. Instead of lifting 150lbs, they settle for lifting 100lbs. 150lb's would be work. Instead of taking shots at game pace, they go 3/4 speed because it is more comfortable. This athlete is horribly disappointed and frustrated when their season starts. They are the kid who doesn't make the team or the kid who does not play as much as they would like. And they are frustrated with their situation because they just can't understand,"I went all the time, why aren't I playing."

Put First Things First

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Michelle Wynne- Great Coach

What should you look for in assistant coaches in a basketball progam? This is a topic that head coaches talk to each other about, and it is a topic that is presented over and over in coaching clinics.

I have been fortunate to have many very good coaches and only a very few bad coaches in our program.

Bad assistant coaches may not only not help the players improve and develop their skills, but in some cases may actually cause the players to lose enthusiasm for basketball in general or for the varsity program and coaches in specifically. I did have one junior high coach who so poisoned the young players against the high school that sadly their players were never able to overcome this negative attitude to reach their full potential.

Good coaches at lower levels develop skills and enthusiasm in the players so they are able to become successful at the next levels. One of the best assistant coaches I have had in 30+ years of coaching was Michelle Wynne. At one point she coached freshmen girls and then later coached junior high girls at Churchill.

What made Michelle such a good coach in our program?

John Wooden- Enthusiasm

"Simply put, I mean you must love that which you do.  Your heart must be in it.  Without enthusiasm you cannot work up to your fullest ability and potential; you're just going through the motions.  And just going through the motions won't bring you to the level of competitive greatness we seek whether in basketball, business, or life."- John Wooden

Great website on everything Wooden....

http://www.coachwooden.com/index2.html

Meeting Famous People- Top 10 List & More

After President Obama was here a couple weeks ago, I wondered who some other people can claim they got to meet. I got answers from the following- Andie Allison, Steve Cheesman, Jessica Howard, Michael Rux, Dan Sullivan, Todd Rudolf, Jay Redfern, Aaron Frey, Libby Derry, Curt Allen, Craig Hillier, Jay Barshinger, Thom Sigel, Amanda Gunther, Jaque Gohlinghorst, Jay Hatch, Emily Cline, and Mark Massey

After their replies, I chose to rank the top ten most impressive “meetings.”  Here is my top ten (actually 12) of famous people they met.

Top Ten List of Meeting Famous People

12- Meeting Michael Jordan twice would be higher but people from Quncy cannot be put in top ten.

11- Tweeting with Jenny McCarthy- I think this is start of how politicians get in trouble.

Tie- 10-Being at Pat Summit's house and getting to pet the dog- impressive. And having Pat Summitt give you advice to be patient.

9- Having Ted Kennedy’s nephew stay overnight at your house- more impressive if actually could remember which one it was.

8- Telling Coach K to put his ring away- rudeness drops this.

7- Kick Brooks & Ronnie Dunn- would be higher but I don’t know who they are.

6- Having lunch with Eddie Matthews & Warren Spahn after the 1962 all-star game- this would move up if the senility of the individual had not prevented him from remembering details.

5- Shaking hands with both Obama and Clinton- conversation with both should have moved it up.

4- Lunch with Jerry Mathers- would move up if he was still 12 years old.

3- Meeting John Wooden, Adolf Rupp, Kareem, Bill Walton, Dr. J- if it had been at one time, it would have been easily #2.  It sounds like one of those dream suppers.

2- Interview with John Grisham- it might have made #1 had he not made the rude comment about my hair.

1- Coaching Cindy Crawford- I don’t think anyone can beat that.

Pat Summitt- Advice to Coach Allison

After President Obama came to Galesburg, I decided to work on a Q/A with people about their encounters with the "famous." I am still hoping to get a few more people to respond and then I will put it up on the blog. In the meantime, I thought it was timely to share what Coach Andie Allison returned to me.


Andie said the following:


I would have to say my example for the most famous person I have ever met is appropriate for current news in the sports world. Two summers ago, when heading to team camp in Tennessee, I was lucky enough to meet Pat Summit. 

National Record Banner

The Streaks have something new for the gym to recognize setting the national record for three pointers made in a season. The girls were excited to see the banner. And from a coach's standpoint it is exciting to see the energy level running "the system" has brought to our program. This past weekend I had 7 players text to get into the gym to shoot on the Gun. On Monday night we had 12 players lifting and shooting. So in the last 2 days we had over 1400 threes made. Who knows, maybe we can break our record this year.

Beau Spencer- Great Announcer & Super Tweeter

Beau Spencer did not work long at WAIK but he sure made a positive impression with his work in covering sports. He made all of the high school athletes feel important. Beau was able to cover the games without focusing on the refs or second guessing strategy.

Since I have gotten onto twitter, Beau is definitely one of the top to follow. I enjoy following his observations.

You went to Annawan High School. What sports did you play?

I played baseball all the way up to high school.  We didn't have a high school team, so I "retired" from the game after 8th grade.  Played football and basketball my freshman and sophomore years.

 Great basketball players coming out of Annawan- Tanner Carlson and Val Wancken. Where do you fit into the basketball tradition? 

Actually, Tanner grew up right behind me and he would mix it up with us neighborhood guys.  I can say that I beat him.  He was about 8-years old, and I was in high school, and then he ended up with the better stats, so on paper he may be better...but I proved it on the court, LOL.

(It should be noted that Tanner Carlson is student teaching with me this fall. I think probably it was actually Beau in college and Tanner as a 6 year old if Beau won!)

John Wooden

"Promise to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own."

 

- Coach Wooden

Pat Summitt- My Perspective

I recognized that Pat Summitt was an effective coach. But like many people, I had seen those angry faces that tv caught of her on the sideline. As a result I was never a big Pat Summitt fan. She just seemed too angry, too in your face.

No one is a bigger Tennessee fan or Pat Summitt fan than Brenna Saline. Brenna has more orange stuff than anyone should legally possess. Brenna was upset that we never went to Tennessee camp when she was in high school. I always gave her a hard time about the Lady Vols, and some of it was probably how I really felt.

Jason Shay got a job coaching men's basketball at Tennessee, and instead of going to a fall clinic, I decided I wanted to go down and watch them practice. Jeff Houston, Jaque Gohlinghorst, and I went down to Knoxville one fall to watch the Vols and Lady Vols practice. The first day our timing did not workout to watch the women, just the men. The next day there was a problem and some doubt if we would be able to watch the women practice. That evening, Jason made a couple calls to the women assistants and it didn't sound like it would work out.