A great article on what is expected in the summer...
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
By Terry Douglassterry.douglass@theindependent.com
Published: Sunday, April 19, 2009 6:53 PM CDT
LINCOLN— The end of the spring practice season is actually only the beginning, according to Nebraska star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.The Cornhuskers capped their 15-practice spring season Saturday with the Red’s 31-17 victory over the White in the annual Spring Game before a crowd of 77,670 at Memorial Stadium. While head coach Bo Pelini and Suh agreed that Nebraska got a lot accomplished in the past few weeks, the senior-to-be insists that the period between now and the start of fall camp is arguably the most critical of all.“That time is the hugest time,” Suh said. “I think that’s where we made our biggest gains last year out of spring ball just because everybody knew what they had to do.”Coming off a 5-7 season in 2007, Suh said Nebraska’s players were determined to do better. With NCAA rules limiting players’ contact with the coaching staff, offseason improvement was up to the Huskers and their work ethic in a program designed by NU strength coach James Dobson.Whether it was in seven-on-seven drills or lifting and conditioning, Suh said he and his teammates made their biggest gains by pushing each other. The result: a 9-4 season that was capped with a Gator Bowl victory over Clemson.“Everybody was picking it up and it was intense,” Suh said. “There was tremendous intensity and that’s where I think we make our biggest growth because we were pushing ourselves.”Pelini expects a similar effort from the Huskers again this summer.“They know what’s expected of them and we’ve already been through that,” Pelini said. “They’re with Coach Dobson and he helps guide them with what they have to do.“They’ll be doing all the things down here in the weight room and conditioning-wise, but they kind of organize some things on their own and there’s enough experience there, enough guys that know exactly what’s being asked of them to do to get prepared for camp.”For players who are trying to establish themselves in leadership roles— like quarterback Zac Lee — summer workouts offer the ideal setting.“During conditioning, I just feel like I have to work as hard as I can every time out there and set an example in that way,” said Lee, who was 15-of-18 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the Spring Game. “Guys see me out there, working hard and hopefully they’ll be inspired by it and work hard, too.”Now the clear front-runner to win the starting quarterback job, Lee said he thinks it’s vital for players like he and Suh to show teammates that they’re willing to push themselves to the max every day.“As you’ve seen in the past here, the best teams— the great teams— are run by the team and that allows the coaches to just coach and manage,” Lee said. “All the little stuff that happens within a team, within a group of 130 college guys is managed by that internal central group, so I definitely think that’s a role we’ll look to take.”Summer workouts are also a prime time to build team chemistry, Suh said.With the 2008 senior class now departed, Suh said team chemistry has to be redefined. That process was started in the spring, but is apparently still developing.“It’s starting to grow and we were starting to get it toward the end of these last couple of practices when we were going live and everybody was understanding what they have to do, but it’s still not there 100 percent,” Suh said. “That’s how teams win championships: They have great chemistry, and that’s the thing we’ve got to work on.”
Copyright © 2009 - The Independent
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
POINT GUARD PLAY
“With point guards, it’s not their numbers,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It’s how the team plays and our team has played very well."
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
FINAL 4 BOUND
Off to the best 4 days of the year - the Final 4. Maybe the worst possible location to ever hold it but we will make it work. Will be missing Miller and Timmy but will represent for them.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A PRE-GAME LETTER
Thanks again to Coach Miller...
Montrose Christian pregame letter
Coach Alan Stein, Stronger Team, is also the strength and conditioning coach for Montrose Christian, one of the nation's premier high school teams. Tonight, they play #2 nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy on ESPN2. Coach Stein gave each player on the team the note below.
While I am sure on a superficial level you are somewhat aware of how “big” our game against Oak Hill is on Friday, I want to point out a few important things that you may or may not have thought about.
First of all, win or lose, you will remember this game for the rest of your life. I’m not joking. You will remember every detail, good or bad, until you are old and gray (or old and bald). Wouldn’t it be so much better to reminisce over a win?!
This game is all about opportunity. And golden opportunities don’t come around very often. Some people go their entire lifetime without a real life changing opportunity to take advantage of. And you have one Friday night. Don’t take it for granted and don’t take it lightly. I don’t tell you this to make you nervous or scared, but to get you excited because you very much deserve this opportunity and you are more than prepared for it. Within this golden opportunity, there are several things to think about:
1) You have an opportunity to play (and beat) the 2nd ranked team in the nation, a team that is 36-0.
2) You have an opportunity to have the best record in Montrose history (21-1).
3) You have an opportunity to play close to home, in front of thousands of fans, family, friends, media, and basketball lovers.
4) You have an opportunity to play on national TV. As far as basketball games, ESPN2 is watched just as much as ESPN. People all over the world will get to see you and to see Montrose.
5) You have an opportunity to avenge a loss. In my 6 years at Montrose we have never had the chance to play a team that we had lost to that year. It still makes me sick to my stomach we lost to Oak Hill in Hawaii, and you are fortunate enough to have an opportunity to erase that feeling.
6) You have an opportunity to prove all of the doubters wrong. People don’t think you are an All-American? Prove them wrong. People don’t think you are good enough to play in college? Show them you are. People doubt whether you are a top rated player in your class? Show them you are. People don’t think we are the best team in the nation? Show them we are.
7) You have an opportunity so stay in the hunt for a national championship. In other words, making the most of this opportunity will lead to even bigger opportunity in early April!
The Montrose basketball family, and each of you, is very, very important to me. This program has played a major role in my life for the past 6 years and I am so thankful to be a part of it.
I have never asked you guys for very much, but I am going to ask you for this:
I want you to promise me, promise Coach Vetter, promise Coach Devlin, Prete, Jenifer, Graves, promise your teammates, and most importantly promise yourself… that on Friday night you will give every ounce of heart, soul, effort, blood, sweat, and tears you have in fulfilling your role on this team and doing everything humanly possible to help us win. If you get the opportunity to play, make the most of it. Take charges, dive for loose balls, box out, make the extra pass, execute our offense, and leave it all on the floor. If you don’t get the opportunity to actually play, when the game is over your voice better be hoarse from screaming and your hands raw from clapping.
The feeling in the locker room after our dramatic win over Oak Hill 3 years ago was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever experienced and was, without a doubt, one of the top moments of my life. And I didn’t even play! I want each of you to experience that same feeling Friday night because you deserve it.
Each time you are done reading this, I want you to sit in complete silence and visualize a few things:
Visualize a time in your life when you played the best you have ever played. You may have been younger or it may have been this season. Visualize, every detail, of a time when every pass you made was on point, you had the ball on a string, and every shot you took was money. You were in the zone.
Visualize yourself on Friday night doing something spectacular. As if you were watching yourself in a movie, imagine yourself making a Sportscenter Top 10 play… maybe a sick dunk, a no look pass, or breaking someone’s ankles. Picture how the crowd responds and how your teammates react. Picture how good you feel after you make that play.
Visualize how you will feel after we win. Picture how it will feel when the crowd rushes the court to celebrate. Imagine how great it will be to be in our locker room afterwards.
If each of you will take the time to picture these things in high definition, then I know for a fact you have the physical tools to make them come true.
I can’t wait. I will be there beside you with Gummi Bears in hand.
I love you guys ,
Coach Stein
Montrose Christian pregame letter
Coach Alan Stein, Stronger Team, is also the strength and conditioning coach for Montrose Christian, one of the nation's premier high school teams. Tonight, they play #2 nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy on ESPN2. Coach Stein gave each player on the team the note below.
While I am sure on a superficial level you are somewhat aware of how “big” our game against Oak Hill is on Friday, I want to point out a few important things that you may or may not have thought about.
First of all, win or lose, you will remember this game for the rest of your life. I’m not joking. You will remember every detail, good or bad, until you are old and gray (or old and bald). Wouldn’t it be so much better to reminisce over a win?!
This game is all about opportunity. And golden opportunities don’t come around very often. Some people go their entire lifetime without a real life changing opportunity to take advantage of. And you have one Friday night. Don’t take it for granted and don’t take it lightly. I don’t tell you this to make you nervous or scared, but to get you excited because you very much deserve this opportunity and you are more than prepared for it. Within this golden opportunity, there are several things to think about:
1) You have an opportunity to play (and beat) the 2nd ranked team in the nation, a team that is 36-0.
2) You have an opportunity to have the best record in Montrose history (21-1).
3) You have an opportunity to play close to home, in front of thousands of fans, family, friends, media, and basketball lovers.
4) You have an opportunity to play on national TV. As far as basketball games, ESPN2 is watched just as much as ESPN. People all over the world will get to see you and to see Montrose.
5) You have an opportunity to avenge a loss. In my 6 years at Montrose we have never had the chance to play a team that we had lost to that year. It still makes me sick to my stomach we lost to Oak Hill in Hawaii, and you are fortunate enough to have an opportunity to erase that feeling.
6) You have an opportunity to prove all of the doubters wrong. People don’t think you are an All-American? Prove them wrong. People don’t think you are good enough to play in college? Show them you are. People doubt whether you are a top rated player in your class? Show them you are. People don’t think we are the best team in the nation? Show them we are.
7) You have an opportunity so stay in the hunt for a national championship. In other words, making the most of this opportunity will lead to even bigger opportunity in early April!
The Montrose basketball family, and each of you, is very, very important to me. This program has played a major role in my life for the past 6 years and I am so thankful to be a part of it.
I have never asked you guys for very much, but I am going to ask you for this:
I want you to promise me, promise Coach Vetter, promise Coach Devlin, Prete, Jenifer, Graves, promise your teammates, and most importantly promise yourself… that on Friday night you will give every ounce of heart, soul, effort, blood, sweat, and tears you have in fulfilling your role on this team and doing everything humanly possible to help us win. If you get the opportunity to play, make the most of it. Take charges, dive for loose balls, box out, make the extra pass, execute our offense, and leave it all on the floor. If you don’t get the opportunity to actually play, when the game is over your voice better be hoarse from screaming and your hands raw from clapping.
The feeling in the locker room after our dramatic win over Oak Hill 3 years ago was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever experienced and was, without a doubt, one of the top moments of my life. And I didn’t even play! I want each of you to experience that same feeling Friday night because you deserve it.
Each time you are done reading this, I want you to sit in complete silence and visualize a few things:
Visualize a time in your life when you played the best you have ever played. You may have been younger or it may have been this season. Visualize, every detail, of a time when every pass you made was on point, you had the ball on a string, and every shot you took was money. You were in the zone.
Visualize yourself on Friday night doing something spectacular. As if you were watching yourself in a movie, imagine yourself making a Sportscenter Top 10 play… maybe a sick dunk, a no look pass, or breaking someone’s ankles. Picture how the crowd responds and how your teammates react. Picture how good you feel after you make that play.
Visualize how you will feel after we win. Picture how it will feel when the crowd rushes the court to celebrate. Imagine how great it will be to be in our locker room afterwards.
If each of you will take the time to picture these things in high definition, then I know for a fact you have the physical tools to make them come true.
I can’t wait. I will be there beside you with Gummi Bears in hand.
I love you guys ,
Coach Stein
DON'T WORK OUT - BLACK OUT
From Lee Miller's Blog at elitehoopsbasketball.com...GO TO HIS CAMPS!
Entitlement vs. Investment from Kevin Eastman
As I travel around the country and work out with the best of the best from the High School, College, and NBA levels, I am continually reminded of what these players have in common that makes them great:
they want to get better
they want to know everything they can that will help them become a better basketball player
they are committed to improvement of their bodies and their game
they are very serious about the game every time they hit the floor
they want to be coached
The best example I can give you is Kobe Bryant. He once told me that he does not work out any more……he now blacks out. He said that a workout just isn’t enough anymore if he’s going to stay on top of his game and take on all the players he knows are going to challenge him. He said he has to go beyond what all other players doing. He took his to a higher level. He took his to black out status!
What Kobe also was saying is what all players need to hear and need to know. He is willing to invest in his improvement and not stay the same. He was willing to invest in his future and not stay the same. He is willing to invest in his game and not feel that he is entitled to be great, entitled to take every shot, entitled to have everything given to him. He was, and is, going to earn it.
The lesson here is one that I tell every one of the great players I work with: it’s not about entitlement if you want to be the best. It’s about investment.
I ask that each coach who reads this share this with his players. They need to know that being the best is not easy. They need to know that they need to invest in their futures (both on the court and off the court for that matter). Entitlement will lead to ultimate failure; investment will lead to future success.
Kevin Eastman, Assistant Coach, Boston Celtics
Entitlement vs. Investment from Kevin Eastman
As I travel around the country and work out with the best of the best from the High School, College, and NBA levels, I am continually reminded of what these players have in common that makes them great:
they want to get better
they want to know everything they can that will help them become a better basketball player
they are committed to improvement of their bodies and their game
they are very serious about the game every time they hit the floor
they want to be coached
The best example I can give you is Kobe Bryant. He once told me that he does not work out any more……he now blacks out. He said that a workout just isn’t enough anymore if he’s going to stay on top of his game and take on all the players he knows are going to challenge him. He said he has to go beyond what all other players doing. He took his to a higher level. He took his to black out status!
What Kobe also was saying is what all players need to hear and need to know. He is willing to invest in his improvement and not stay the same. He was willing to invest in his future and not stay the same. He is willing to invest in his game and not feel that he is entitled to be great, entitled to take every shot, entitled to have everything given to him. He was, and is, going to earn it.
The lesson here is one that I tell every one of the great players I work with: it’s not about entitlement if you want to be the best. It’s about investment.
I ask that each coach who reads this share this with his players. They need to know that being the best is not easy. They need to know that they need to invest in their futures (both on the court and off the court for that matter). Entitlement will lead to ultimate failure; investment will lead to future success.
Kevin Eastman, Assistant Coach, Boston Celtics
Monday, March 16, 2009
BASKETBALL EFFICIENCY
A great article in the Basketball Prospectus on the teams in the NCAA Tournament and their "Basketball Efficiency". Deals with possessions per game, points per possession and opponent's points per possession. Is a great stat and something i have always wanted to calculate and have no idea how.
http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=596
http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=596
YOU EITHER WIN OR LOSE
In the book "The Dandy Dons," which comes out this June, former USF star Bill Russell talks about how his attitude changed after he'd been overlooked for player of the year honors in the California Basketball Association (now the WCC).
"It was then and there that I determined, 'If my team wins a championship every year, there's no quarrel anyone can come up with to deny me that. Winning is the only thing I really cared about because I found that when I left the cocoon of my childhood I came into the world and found the individual awards were mostly political.
But winning and losing, there are no politics, only numbers. It's the most democratic thing in the world. You either win or lose, so I decided early in my career that the only really important thing was to try to win every game. The only thing that really mattered was who won -- and there is nothing subjective about that."
"It was then and there that I determined, 'If my team wins a championship every year, there's no quarrel anyone can come up with to deny me that. Winning is the only thing I really cared about because I found that when I left the cocoon of my childhood I came into the world and found the individual awards were mostly political.
But winning and losing, there are no politics, only numbers. It's the most democratic thing in the world. You either win or lose, so I decided early in my career that the only really important thing was to try to win every game. The only thing that really mattered was who won -- and there is nothing subjective about that."
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