The three scariest words in the PCC...

LADY LION DEFENSE

Even though we've averaged 55 points per game over the past four seasons, when teams think of Covenant, they think of suffocating defense.

This season will be no different. Offense wins games... defense wins championships.

4:13

THE CELTICS SEASON GOAL

Some quotes from the Boston Celtics on their goals and thoughts about working to be the best defensive team in the NBA.

"The secret is that we came in with no egos, no agendas. One goal and we stick to that.” Said Garnett.

But coach Doc Rivers challenged this year's team to be remembered like the 1985 Bears: one of the greatest defenses of all time.

"It's one thing to talk about it and another thing to actually do it, we're striving to [be the best defense], but we've got work to do. That's the mindset we have to have day in and day out. We're stressing defense every single play, ever single minute."

Asked what he prefers, shutting the opposition down or shining on the offensive end, Garnett didn't hesitate.

"Shutting people down.”

(thanks coach Starkey)

ON PREPARATION

“Most battles are won or lost before they are ever fought.”

- Sun Tsu, the Art of War

13 DAYS AND COUNTING...

Only six practices left before our first game of the season.

4:13

How Significant Are Rebounds?

The top 20 rebounding teams in the Nation win over 80% of their games.

3 Important Principles of Rebounding:

#1 Assume that every shot will miss.

No matter what, box out your opponent on every single shot as if the shot will miss. Doing so will put you in a better position to rebound if the shot does miss.

#2 Use Two & Two

Rebound with two feet and two hands. Don’t just stand and wait on the ball, or even stand and reach for the ball. Instead, you need to jump up to the ball and snatch it out of the air.

#3 Understand Rebound Angles & Distance.

70% of the time, a missed shot from the wing or corner will come off the rim opposite the shooter (opposite side of the court).

A shot taken from 20 feet away, will usually be rebounded 10 feet from the glass. The rule is half the distance of the shot.

Check out previous post about “Dead Time”

SHINE BRIGHTLY

Although we know it’s true, it’s often easy for us to forget that we are a reflection of Christ’s light in a world of darkness. When we allow the dirt of worldly influences to build up in our lives, that light used to guide not only ourselves, but those that are lost, is severly diminished.

We are not the light, we are merely reflectors of that light. Stay clean and show others the way.

4:13

THOUGHTS FROM ROY WILLIAMS

On Recruiting Character:

“I recruit character as much as I recruit ability,” UNC coach Roy Williams says. “And if you’ve built a team of character, they can handle moments that others cannot and they accept coaching without complaining."

On Elite Players:

"Most elite teams have elite players,” he says. “And when the guy others look up to also happens to be dedicated to constant development, that’s a dream situation.”

On Season Expectations:

Williams used his preseason time with players to reinforce his message and offer this prescription. “I reminded each player that the way you deal with expectations is to focus only on today,” he says. “Yes we have a plan for the entire year, but it all begins with what we are going to do today. If you work to be the best you can be today, you’re preparing yourself to be the best you can be tomorrow. It sounds simple, but it’s not."

DEMANDING COMMITMENT

We don't always run the best stuff, we don't always have the most talent, we don't always play as smart as we should, we don't execute nearly as well as we'd like, but one thing is for sure... we always play harder than our opponent.

4:13

FAIR vs EQUAL

"Weak leaders treat everyone equally. Strong leaders treat everyone fairly."

- Roy Williams

Coaches sometimes get an unfair reputation because a particular player complains to others that they aren’t being treated the same way another player is… they feel the coach should treat all players equally, when what they actually mean is that all players should be treated fairly.

Equal does not necessarily translate to fair.

After all, I wouldn't expect two people of different capabilities, say a 7th grader and a 12th grader, to perform the same task identically. For instance, if I were to provide both students with a College Algebra book, the 12th grader might understand what they are reading, but the average 7th grade student probably wouldn't.

Similarly, a basketball player that has been playing for only one or two seasons probably wouldn't be able to accomplish many of the things that a player in their fourth or fifth year of playing could do.

Why do I encourage a younger, less-experienced player after they miss a wide-open uncontested lay up? ... and then get aggravated with a veteran player for missing the exact same shot? Should I even have to explain it?

A coach should treat all players fairly, according to their different capabilities, but not necessarily equally.

4:13

THE TWO UNKNOWNS EACH SEASON

For most coaches, the two unknowns at the beginning of each season are:

#1, when will the personalities within the group gel and come together as a team?

And #2, at what point will last seasons underclassmen realize they are now the veteran players and assume ownership of their team?

I saw us move one step closer to answering those questions during last nights practice.

4:13

FOCUS & FOLLOW-THROUGH

“Successful people are the few who focus and follow through.”

- Stew Leonard

PLAY SMARTER... NOT HARDER

"Superior thinking has always overwhelmed superior force."

- poster in the office of a Marine recruiter

ARE YOU A TRUE COMPETITOR?

You can learn a lot about a player by simply watching them run sprints.

What can you learn from watching players run sprints?

Are they simply trying not to be last?

Are they just trying to finish?

Are they mad because of having to run sprints?

Are they trying to win every single sprint?

True competitors are rare… and they're often called champions.

4:13

(thanks coach Brown)

Don’t mistake movement for achievement.

It’s easy to get faked out by looking busy at practice. Ask yourself this question: What is it that I’m busy doing?

It’s real easy to watch the clock countdown and just go through the motions until your coach blows the whistle. For example, if you are doing a drill designed to improve your defensive footwork, then go into the drill with the mindset of working to actually improve your defensive footwork.

Don’t mistake movement for achievement.

When the drill ends, walk away knowing that you made some type of improvement on your defensive footwork, not because you participated in the drill, but because you used the drill to improve and sharpen your skills.

4:13

3 KEYS TO SUCCESS ON OFFENSE

#1 - Protect the ball.

Bad passes and low-percentage shots are the trademarks of a poor team. Make every pass and every shot count for something, don't just give the ball away.

#2 - Understand the importance of a lay-up.

More games are won on lay-up shots than on any other, and more games are lost because of poor lay-up shots than by any other shot.

#3 - Proper spacing and movement.

Always work (move) to be open when you do not have the ball. Don't just stand and hope the ball comes to you, you have to move and get into the open spots between defenders where you are a threat to score.

4:13

UNDERSTANDING OUR FULL COURT PRESSURE

New or younger players sometimes have a difficult time understanding what we are trying accomplish with our full court man-to-man pressure. We try and break it down into two main parts:

Part I

The opposing team has only five (5) seconds to inbound the ball. We use that five seconds against the inbounder. We play "off" the inbounder and use that defender as a rover to help pressure the ball if it does get inbounded.

The goal is to deny your man the ability to catch the ball - period! That means aggressively denying your man a chance to catch the ball for a five full seconds.

Part II

In the event the ball does get inbounded, our second goal is to pressure the ball and prevent it from crossing half court. Again, we play aggressive defense for the full 10 seconds.

By applying that type of pressure, we are not looking for steals, but rather looking to accomplish several other things:

We hope to frustrate the inbounder into making risky passes (where easy steals come from). We hope to make the ball handler nervous and force her into situations that make her uncomfortable. We hope to force our opponents into taking rushed shots (that will usually miss) and hurried and risky passes.

We want to completely shake our opponents confidence and make them want to avoid handling the ball. The only way to do that is through playing solid in-your-face defense.

We want them to feel pressure.

4:13

GIVE YOUR BEST OR GET OUT

“I think the manager's [coach's] number one responsibility is getting the most out of his players. If a fan goes to the park and sees that a player isn’t hustling, he should boo the manager. If a guy refuses to give his best on the field, then it’s the manager’s responsibility to get him out of there.”

- Tony LaRusa

INTENSITY & ENTHUSIASM MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Every early season practice, especially those with a handful of new faces on a team, can be expected to be filled with whistle-blowing "teaching moments" as well as plenty of early season sloppy play... and some of our recent practices have certainly proved that to be true.

Every player loves to be able to just cut loose and play without having to do things the "right way"... to play and just have fun. But that's NOT how championship teams are built and NOT how championships won.

The thing that sets championship caliber teams apart from average teams, is the level of focus and intensity they bring to practice and their level of enthusiasm during practices.

4:13

NEVER JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

"He loved sharpness. If Coach Wooden didn't see it in practice, that intensity of attention and execution -- the effort -- he might say very coldly, 'OK, we're through today. You didn't come here to work.' Marques Johnson or one of us would say, 'No, no, no. We'll get it going. C'mon, we'll get it going.' Almost pleading with him to give us another chance to work harder.

Maybe his Midwestern upbringing, that lifestyle, put a love of hard work into him. Coach Wooden loved hard work. He wanted to see it from the players. If not, no yelling or screaming, he'd just threaten to end practice. And he wasn't afraid to follow through on the threat."

Dave Meyers (UCLA 1973-75)

(thanks coach Starkey)

THE REAL VALUE OF TIME

Pretend for a moment... There is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do?

Draw out ALL OF IT, of course!!!!

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the plane.

To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the

Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!!!

(unknown)

ALWAYS WORK TO IMPROVE

At Michigan State, Magic Johnson shot 62% from the free throw line. His rookie year with the Lakers, Magic shot 66%. For his entire career in the NBA? Magic shot 87%. The great ones always work on their game... do you?

(thanks coach Starkey)

Which is tougher to develop: Confidence, Commitment, or Competitiveness?

Came across an article today with some statistics that I found interesting.

While discussing the topic of ‘How to Create Relentless Competitors’ in a workshop with the University of Michigan coaching staff, a question came up about which intangible is hardest to develop: confidence, commitment, or competitiveness?

All three are obviously critical to a team's success, but which of the three takes the most time and effort by a coach to build and enhance?

The Michigan coaches reported the following based on their experience:

49% said CONFIDENCE was the toughest to develop

47% said COMPETITIVENESS was the toughest to develop

4% said COMMITMENT was the toughest to develop

While confidence is very fleeting and fragile, I've found it can be built in a relatively short amount of time for a new player. However, in my experience, I've found that commitment and competitiveness are the hardest to initially instill into a new player.

4:13

AMAZING DISCIPLINE & TEAMWORK

The level of disciplined practice and teamwork necessary to pull off the show in the following video is truly impressive. After watching this video, if you are a player, you should never again complain about how hard it is to execute a play with proper timing.

4:13

WHERE TO START

"The most important thing to do is to set goals. Training is a waste of time if you don't have goals."

- Samantha Riley

PRACTICE UPDATE - NOV 12

Decided that I'm going to give-in and only have a light shoot around on Thursday Nov 12th so the team can go to the Superchick/Barlow Girl show that night.

With our first three games of the season being the following day (Friday & Saturday in Pensacola) we'll need plenty of rest... So go ahead and "rock what ya got" but please get to bed early on Thursday! ;)

The Barlow Girl and Superchick Live Tour from Whizbang on Vimeo.

2009-10 ROSTER

THERE MUST BE BLOOD IN THE WATER...

Over the past few seasons, we have actively sought out games against all of the public schools in the PC area, all but Rutherford (5A), Wewa (2A), Freeport (2A) and Bethlehem (1A) have dodged us without shame. And maybe for good reason. Our little school of 52 students (boys included) beat Rutherford by 29 and 39 points respectively, Wewa by 51 points and beat Freeport by 19 points. Bethlehem remains the hurdle we struggle to get over.

This season, the local schools must smell blood in the water knowing that Haley, Chelsea and Jess have graduated, because they are coming out of the woodwork asking us for games.

In addition to playing Top 10 ranked Alabama schools Pike (3A) and Providence (1A) this season, we have agreed to play a 1/1 with Freeport (2A), Wewa (2A), Bozeman (2A), Rutherford (5A) and Arnold (4A) this season. And I just got an email this morning that Bay (3A) now wants to try and get them some too.

Embrace adversity. For it is through adversity that triumph tastes the sweetest.

4:13

LEARNING THE HARD WAY

I am often amazed at why a player would make a choice not to listen to instruction or guidance, but instead try to reinvent the wheel.

When words of instruction fall upon deaf ears, the “school of hard knocks” becomes the teacher of choice.

4:13

PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Successful teams all have one common characteristic. Every one of these teams has a person or people who hold themselves personally accountable.

These are the special people who only need a coach to teach them what and how to do something; then they take that and run with it. They understand that a major part of their job is to be self sufficient and personally accountable for their improvement and productivity, as well as making sure their actions impact their teammates in a positive, not negative way.

These players:

1. Don't blame others first; instead, they look first for what they contributed (or did not contribute) to the situation.

2. Don't complain; instead, they look for ways to correct things that aren't working, they don't procrastinate; instead, get things done now.

3. Always give more than they ask of others.

4. Always look to take on as much as they can handle, rather than look to pass things on to others all the time.

5. Are constantly trying to improve their game so they can bring more to the team and consistently fulfill their role.

6. Are self starters and study the game (and themselves) enough to know what needs to be done; then go about doing it.

7. Do the unrequired work, knowing that it simply needs to get done -- extra shots, extra ball handling, extra studying, etc. - without constantly needing a coach to tell them to do it.

8. Hold others accountable for their jobs and roles because they know the importance of accountability as it relates to winning; this creates a collective responsibility.

9. Always be among of the most trusted players on the team, by coaches and players alike.

(thanks coach Starkey)

TEAMWORK

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

- Ryunosuke Satoro

MY BIGGEST REGRET

“Not a day goes by that I don’t have some sense of regret regarding my basketball or sports career in general. Though I was given a great father who pushed me in every sense of the word and one who put me in every league he could afford I still feel like I fell short and that haunts me. I was one of those kids who worked very hard at the game of basketball and I gave it a lot but i could’ve given it more. I regret not being the leader I should’ve been. I regret not getting to a state championship game. I regret not working harder on my defensive abilities because I never truly learned to play the game hard the entire time. I was good enough to coast a lot of the time and then when I wasn’t good enough to coast anymore I realized that I never trained myself to play the game hard all the time.

When I watch high division I college basketball players I am reminded of what might have been for myself and really what should have been. I still envision myself on the court and being able to play the game at a high level. I used to tell my father that I had the ability to turn on and off aggressiveness but I never did. The things that you can get by with when you are younger are not always going to be there. I wish I had a coach who had the guts to sit me down and not play me until I went hard every play but instead I could score points so I was on the floor and rarely taking the challenge of guarding the opposing teams’ best player.

My point is that any players who read this and has hopes of playing college ball needs to learn truly what it takes to get there. You have to be willing to sacrifice time with friends to practice. You have to be willing to give up your summers to be seen by coaches. You have to be willing to learn from other players and never accept the fact that you are good enough. Nobody is good enough and it is that feeling that still drives Kobe Bryant and Lebron James today. My downfall was believing that I was good enough to offset any weaknesses I had and I was lying to myself all along. That is my biggest regret of all.”

(writer from Hoop Skills)

#1 RULE OF GREAT DEFENSE: STOP THE BALL

The player with the ball is ALWAYS more important than a player who doesn’t have it.

Now that doesn’t mean I want every player on the court attacking the ball, but a player must understand that if a man is driving to the basket they need to let their man go and try to stop the ball.

Great defense isn’t “me against my man”… but instead is an “us against them” mindset. The man driving to the basket isn't just somebody else's man, she is everybody’s man.

4:13

THE PERFECT EXAMPLE...

Earlier today I posted an entry on the difference between "involvement" vs "commitment" and it just so happened that Rachel didn't have a chance to read it, but she was the perfect example of what the entry meant.

She was up at 5:30 AM this morning to travel to a softball tournament where she played three games today. Then traveled back to PC with just enough time to run by her house and grab her shorts & shoes and get to the gym where she worked out with a handful of us from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

“Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”

- Roger Staubach

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

It seems that it's going to be a much shorter season than originally expected. In addition to Marantha and Victory cancelling their seasons, we got word yesterday that Eagle's Nest has cancelled their season as well.

DEFINING OUR UPCOMING SEASON

Wikipedia defines a sports dynasty as a team that dominates their sport or league for multiple seasons or years.

Such dominance is often only realized in retrospect. Whether a team has achieved “dynasty” status is often subjective, and can be a frequent topic of debate among sports fans.

Some argue that a dynasty requires consecutive championships over a period of time, as in the case of UCLA Bruins men's basketball from 1964 to 1975. Others suggest that non-consecutive championships are sufficient, as in the case of the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and some feel that a team must simply dominate its league but need not win championships, as in the case of the Buffalo Bills of the early 1990s who lost four consecutive Super Bowls.

But what if the team both dominates and wins championships?

4:13

INVOLVEMENT vs COMMITMENT

The difference between "involvement" and "commitment" is like bacon and eggs for breakfast... the chicken was involved, but the pig was committed.

4:13

REACH OUT

Don't judge yourself by the number of friends you have at the end of the day, but instead, by the seeds of friendship you were able to plant.

4:13

BEING CREATIVE

Another good workout tonight. More fun than work. A few of the girls decided to take our ladder drills to the "next level."

"Your attitude today determines your success tomorrow."

- Keith Harrell

LEARNING NOT TO FORCE THE BALL

One of the things good players sometimes loose sight of, is their ability to influence the play of their teammates.

Good players sometimes look at their teammates and think "I'm the best scoring option of the five on the court, therefore I'm taking the shots." Although that may be true, it hurts your team in three ways:

#1 it kills the movement of your teams offense. When you look for your shots first, pretty soon your teammates begin to think you won't pass the ball and they stop working hard to get open.

#2 when a good player takes the majority of the shots, they obviously draw defensive attention, sometimes double or triple teams. But while it may feel good to know that a player can beat double teams, players that do that aren't very smart, nor are they 'team players.' When a player is being double-teamed, their four remaining teammates are being covered by only three defenders. That means one teammate is wide-open. Don't keep forcing the ball into defensive pressure or mismatches... pass to the open teammate.

#3 Lastly, when a player takes the majority of the shots on a team, and refuses to pass to other teammates and get them involved in the offense, they should expect their teammates to look at them with some anger and frustration. They should expect to hear the word "ball hog" whispered among the rest of the team. And for good reason.

The way to avoid these problems is to learn to recognize "when" you are being double-teamed and know your teammates strengths & weaknesses and work to get them the ball in situations that play to their strengths.

4:13

HOW TO RUIN A GOOD LOOKING SHOE

The Dada Spinner “technology” returns. Seriously? You're joking right?

Seriously. For Spring of 2010, though no official date has been given, Dada is dropping an updated Spinner in the Spinner III.

Again… Seriously.

As the collective world of hoops shoe freaks groan and internet Gangster’s get to their keyboards as fast as possible, responsible un-biased professionalism says I should find the positive in these also. Well, they do inspire me. They inspire to be just like Latrell Sprewell himself, and choke whoever is bringing these back.

Worst idea ever.

- ALEX KROVIAK, Nicekicks.com

TWO CHOICES

Far too often, players try to avoid adversity. We had an incident in our practice yesterday that was the perfect example of that.

When a player comes face to face with a limitation, something that’s just “too hard”… they have two choices: they can either give-up and say “I can’t” (which is the wrong choice) or they can embrace that test of adversity before them and use it as an opportunity to get creative and find a way to get past it.

When a player runs from adversity, two things happen. The first is that they wear themselves out trying to run from it. They spend more time trying to avoid letting those around them see that they are struggling, than actually trying to overcome that adversity. In a nutshell, they avoid placing themselves into a position that challenges them.

Secondly, the player’s skills that in particular area will never improve if they run from the adversity. They’ll never get over the hump and get better.

However, if a player will embrace that adversity, and challenge themselves to find a way to get past it, not only will their skills grow... but they will grow as a person.

4:13

GETTING OVER YOURSELF

"If there is no humor, there is no ability to take criticism or handle embarrassment. We really are big believers in getting over yourself. If you're taking away from the group, you don't need to be here. It's that simple."

- Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs

YOUR HABITS MAKE IT HAPPEN

"The things that you do when you're practicing, you don't know how it's going to benefit you," Reynolds says. "But if you create those habits all the time, then when it's time to make the play or make the shot, your habits are going to make it happen."

- Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

PROUD OF OUR WORK ETHIC

One of the things I am most proud of when I think of our team, is our work ethic. I am blessed to have a group that is not afraid to push themselves beyond what most would call "hard."

We take great pride in the fact that what we do, from core strengthening drills, to our County Fair conditioning drills is physically tough. It requires mental strength to push through it and we do. Reminds me of this article I read today.

Pictured here is a hill that 49ers head coach Mike Singletary had installed this summer at their training facility. What had been a gentle slope is now padded with 2,500 tons of dirt. It takes a run of about 45 feet to get to the top.

Coach Singletary calls his creation, "Pain"

Singletary said that athletes who trained that way “were a cut above some of the other competition around the league and had a long playing career.”

“It’s something you can’t get in the weight room. Something you can’t really get on the track,’’ he said. “It builds something that’s kind of a mystery.”

"We set the bar high, and these guys worked their tails off,” Singletary said. “You do that, and something develops inside a team. You can’t buy it. You can’t talk through it. You have to do it. We paid the price.”

(thanks coach Cooley)

Pat Riley on Excellence

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”

- Pat Riley

Happy 99th Birthday Coach Wooden!

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

- John Wooden

I HATE TO HEAR THIS

As if Maranatha's coach Smith resigning wasn't bad enough, got more bad news last night from Tallahassee. Maranatha has cancelled it's upcoming basketball season.

I will miss seeing All-Conference selections Mamie Rubottom, Jackie Davis and Meagan Manos in action. Mamie & Amanda both attended our Ready For The Game Camp this past summer.

4:13

What are we trying to accomplish on Defense?

Sounds like a simple enough question, right? As simple as it seems, I think few teams really understand what successful defense is all about.

Most players would probably answer “to keep the other team from scoring.“ Unless you’re playing against your little sister, it’s unlikely that you’ll keep the other team from scoring.

If that’s really what you’re trying to accomplish, your team will be a defensive failure every single time you step onto the floor. It’s an unattainable goal. While it’s nice to have high standards, it is also equally important to set goals that you can reach.

A more focused answer, and one that has more teeth is, “to limit high percentage shots.“ This approach focuses heavily on good transition defense (limiting layups off of the break), pressuring the ball, preventing passes into the paint area, and preventing penetration.

In a nutshell, your goal should be to control the tempo and force your opponent into taking low percentage shots. Shots that are outside of the shooter’s normal range, shots that are off-balance and contested, and shots that are rushed.

We want to make our opponent afraid to bring the ball up the floor because they know we’ll be right there, forcing the ball to the weak hand, disrupting their vision and forcing them to focus on protecting the ball every single trip up the floor. We’re going to create the tempo that we love, and that makes them uncomfortable.

(thanks coach Stinson)

SECOND PRACTICE

Felt like we were starting to get back into the Lady Lion groove by the end of our second practice. The scrimmage was a little sloppy, but all in all I liked what I was seeing. LOVED the positive vibe!!!

4:13