Battle for the North State 04/26/09

This picture was taken after playing the Championship

game. We came in second after losing to a solid team with

good defense. Hopefully we can get another crack at them

in the Chico event during Mothers Day weekend event.

Battle for the North State

This pic taken after winning our second game. We went to event with 7 players. At the end we were down to only 5 players, one twisting her ankle and the other fouling. The girls won the game on the free throw line in the last 6 seconds.

Humbolts 09'

The look of Humbolts Girls Basketball will change for the 2009 season. We will be a Junior varsity level team as most the players are Freshman.
Another change that will take place will be all the players will be from Eureka. In the past we have had players from different school districts.
The reason for the change is other programs have developed within the players area. It makes some sense to do this. It is illegal for school coaches to determine where someone plays during extra curricular activities. I'm not saying that is going happen. But I have witnessed it. I don't believe a player at this young age should experience the emotion of having to make this choice.
Mack has had an AAU program running for a few years. Dusty at Arcata has some good ideas to create a good program. My good friend Scott Meredith is now in Fortuna and he will continue with a solid group. South Fork looks interested. Crescent City I'm not sure, they go in and out. It's fun to go up there and scrimmage.
I'm looking forward to coaching this new team. We will participate in a local league and enter five tournaments.
It has been 5 years since having a 14u & 15u squad. The Humbolts were successful at this age group then and will be again.

The "D" is on the court

Down By Twenty

There are always feelings when a coach or a fan realizes their team are down by 20 at the half.
That's the way it was for College of the Redwoods women last night against Feather River. Wish I was there but read about it in the Times-Standard.
C R turned the game around and won 76-71. WOW!!!
Coach Newman had to come up with some kind of adjustment and inspiration. I think it shows a lot of Character and Courage by the players to not give up and play hard.
The half time discussion had to go beyond the Vince Lombardi quote book.
Congratulations to C R on a wonderful win.

Harness The Power

I visited Humboldt State Women's basketball game against Monterey Bay a couple weeks ago.
There I saw the beautiful new gym along with the always excited fans. I arrived early, I like to watch them warm-up. I know a couple players from watching them play and sometimes get a wave and a hello. That night I got a nod and a half smile. It seemed they didn't want to break a feeling they had deep inside them. I looked around at the rest of the ladies and they all displayed an emotion of power.
When they came on the floor at tip off the power was unleashed. The shots were all precise and the defense was incredible. Every player performed with excellence. When substitution was needed another breath of power came in the way storms attack the shore.
Of course, solid shooting makes for a good win but the defense created and set up every effort.
I don't think any team could have beat HSU that evening. I was overwhelmed with the POWER they had within themselves. I'm certain coaches Jodie and Skip were proud of the extreme effort.
It involves preparation, tons of it. You can come back the following week with the same preparation but not always get the same results in a game. Trying to get everyone to have that feel at the same time is a hard feat to accomplish.
Humboldt State had it that night. I hope to witness it again. I know power doesn't come in a can.
I'm sure every coach would like to harness it.

Pictures From Mack Event

Summer of 08 we played in the McKinleyville Tournament. This event featured JV & Varsity school teams from all over the area. We entered as a JV AAU team and played well as all the girls on the Humbolts had just graduated from the eighth grade.
Ralph McCarthy a local photographer was kind enough to take pictures of the event. Ralph is known as The Title 9 Guy. He has a great website dedicated to women sports. He posted the photos on his website. Check it out.
http://www.title9guy.com/ Click Ralph's photo gallery, then go to AAU basketball.

Coach R.B. -- Challenge

A couple posts earlier I wrote about a challenge from a coach on what your three most important things in basketball are. It was Coach Randy Brown. He has a wonderful website for youth coaches and especially handy for parents of players. He always keeps the site fresh with new concepts and ideas on the game. Check it out:
www.EzineArticles.com/randybrown

Inspiration

Inspiration is often all you need to get things going. Having a goal to motivate or some gimmick to get the mind going, setting the mood. A speech isn't always needed or a butt chewing or a
motivational genius coming in to inspire the team. Sometimes you just need a little something, a
tiny something like a word.
I came up with a word a game. I wrote about this in an earlier blog so I will just print the words we used for each game.
PREPARATION FEAR TRUTH CONFIDENCE
DESIRE SHARE HONOR TRUST CHARACTER
COMMITMENT SPIRIT ACCOUNTABLE
FAITH FORGIVENESS RESPECT HOPE
COURAGE FAMILY LOVE PASSION
These were the words for the Humbolts of 2008. I will use them again some day.
Now for our first word of 2009:
"SUCCEED"

The Challenge

A coach e-mailed a challenge to a few thousand fellow coaches earlier in the year. He asked if
you could have only three most important things on your coaching agenda, what would they be?
Wow, that would be easy and then I thought about it. It got kinda hard. I gave the idea some hard thought, slept on it and came up with my personal three.
REBOUNDS---DEFENSE---TEAMWORK
Those were my choices. To make a solid team work as a unit these meant the most to me.
Our defense was satisfactory and better than that at times during most of the season. Our
teamwork was excellent after only a few games. Only once in awhile an opponent would fluster our players into poor decisions causing turnovers. I was more than pleased with the effort.
Rebounds did not come as often as the opportunity presented itself. I did not introduce very aggressive rebound drills until later in the year. I can take part of the blame for that.
Rebounding is much more than just, bump, box-out and arms up. The position and foot work
involves athleticism and heart. Ya gotta really want the ball. We will turn our drills up another level in the spring.
I don't remember who sent this challenge. It helps focus on certain aspects of the game that needs to be addressed. Like the old saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" it would be nice
to fully demonstrate three things well and then perfect them. If we could accomplish that, move
on to other aspects of the game. I'm not saying don't teach the fundamentals of the other parts
of the game while learning the big three, I'm saying try to focus on a few things at a time.

Accused of Teamwork

I have been accused many times of putting together and traveling with All-stars. This has not always been the case. There have always been role players on the team and some who were in the developmental stage in the game.

Sure, I've tried to travel with solid players but I have also worked hard to develop the girls with the desire to play and learn the game.

In the past we have always done well against teams from towns with under the hundred thousand population. Sometimes winning against big city opponents.

No one looks back at the mix of players who came to play for the Humbolts who were once sitting on the bench and became the 6th man, becoming starters later on their school teams.

I've trained stars to rely and depend on others to stimulate solid teamwork. Teamwork creates loyalty. Loyalty creates support for each other on the floor. Letting everyone be creative on the court brings the best out of everyone therefore having a team that's not only fun to coach but to watch as well.

Instead of plays that are designed for the star, we utilize an offense that involves everyone. I also require everyone to shoot whenever open.

We have rules on both offense and defense. We even have a few rules on our behavior on and off the court. The players and myself are all held accountable for our actions.

In Spring we work mostly on offense and defense. Now that it is Summer we focus on strength and ball-handling skills.

I remember a few years ago I held try-outs. I advertised in the local paper two weeks in advance and put fliers out at many of the local middle schools. I think only 6 kids showed up. I was crushed. I went out and scouted some rec league teams and eventually put together a team with mixed ages. I used the older player for leadership. She took the challenge well. The rest fell into place playing on a developmental level. 6 of them are still playing basketball. One of them a senior, two are juniors, one is a sophomore and two are incoming freshman at their high schools.

10 or 11 years ago I was sitting with a friend at a game. He mentioned a coach who always told his players what not to do. He claimed that if he ever became a coach he would rather tell the players what to do instead. That statement is with me at all times. I bring it to myself whenever I get frustrated.
I work with the players building on their strengths and introducing new skills. My main goal is to make them better players for school competition, hopefully keeping interest as a student athlete. Whether they play at the next level is up to them, but by playing on an AAU team with a full teamwork atmosphere will definitely open up many doors.
Yes, I admit to teamwork.