"Neglecting to surround yourself with winners is like kryptonite to your determination."

- Avery Johnson 

It may not be basketball season...

But the rims are getting plenty of use these days. Liz joined Haley for some serious conditioning and shooting work tonight as Haley began her off-season workouts.  And with our scrimmage against Webb (Knoxville, TN) right around the corner, Olivia is already preparing for battle.  She spent a couple of hours working on her outside shot tonight (with Parker providing some game-like defense to help her prepare).  

“The longer you wait to decide what  you want to do, the more time  you’re wasting.  It’s up to you to want something so badly that your passion shows through.  Your actions, not your words, will do the shouting for you.”

- Derek Jeter

BE A TIGER

Laser-like focus is term that is tossed around loosely by athletes and coaches on a regular basis.  However, few can argue with the focus and intensity that Tiger Woods displays. 

Check out this example of his of concentration: Once Woods tried out four drivers that Nike was experimenting with and told the lab guys that he preferred the heavier one.  The researchers thought the clubs were the same weight, but they measured and Woods was right.  The club he’d selected was heavier... by the equivalent of two cotton balls.

“Tiger Woods concentration often seems to be made of the same stuff as the liquid-metal cyborg in Terminator 2: If you break it, it reforms,” David Owen wrote in Men’s Vogue.

Woods is the symbol of pure mental willpower.  He is, in addition, competitive, ruthless, unsatisfied by success and honest about his own failings.  (Twice, he risked his multi-million dollar career to retool his swing.)

During a broadcast of a playoff round, Nike ran an ad that had the voice of Tiger’s late father, Earl Woods running over images of his son: “I’d say, ‘Tiger, I promise you that you’ll never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life.’  And he hasn’t.  And he never will.”

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ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN

"The greatest help is self-help; there is no other help but self-help -- doing one's best, dedicating oneself wholeheartedly to a given task, which happens to have no end but is an ongoing process."

- Bruce Lee

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OWNERSHIP OF YOUR GAME

Ultimately, your performance must be yours and yours alone.  You cannot assume or expect that others are responsible for your performance.  You must take ownership and accept the responsibility for those things you are capable of doing... and more importantly, for those things which you are not yet capable of doing.

“It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers.”

~Warren Bennis

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The days were long, but the years were short...

Losing players is never easy for any coach, but it is an inevitable part of coaching.  The sting from the loss hurts far more for some, than for others.  

In my first season as the head coach of the girls program, I had nine players expected to return from a team that had not only won back-to-back conference championships the previous seasons, but also finished 3rd & 4th at Nationals.  The major pieces would already be in-place for another great season.  However, by the first day school, six of those nine under-classmen, including a talented basketball-phenom who had set every school record, all transferred to public schools.  

When that first season finally started, there were nine new faces on the team, and from that young team, three sophomores were called upon to step-up to lead and help shape the future of the girls program at Covenant.  And what a legacy they helped create.  

A 66-20 record.  Won two conference championships, two East Region championships and made two NACA National Final Four appearances.  All three were named to the NACA National Final Four All-Tournament Team.  Two were three-time All-Conference Players and all three have their names etched in the Top 10 All-Time lists for the girls program and one signed a scholarship offer to play in college.  

On Friday night, those three will leave the campus as graduates, and by doing so, they pass the torch into the waiting hands of the next group of young leaders with the heavy responsibility of ensuring that the legacy continues.

Chelsea, Jess & Haley... we're going to miss you!

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HOORA!

THE DISEASE OF ME

Pat Riley the former head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers wrote a book entitled "The Winner Within."  In his book, Riley warns of the dangers of The Disease of Me.  He writes how his former team allowed their egos to cause one of the quickest falls of a talent-laden team in the history of the NBA.

The Lakers had won the championship the previous season and were the heavy preseason favorite to win it all again for a second time, but resentment, competitiveness, and discord set in among the players.  They bickered over who was getting the most touches, over who was getting the most attention and recognition they each individually felt they deserved. The players allowed petty irritations to grow into gigantic obstacles that split and divided the team.

As a result, the Lakers shifted their attention from the teamwork of winning to the self-centeredness of whining.  They lost in the first round of the playoffs.  Riley summed it up by saying "The Disease of Me leads to the Defeat of Us."

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FOCUSED, DEDICATED, DISCIPLINED

 No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed.

 No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined.

 No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled.

No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.

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SIX RULES FOR POST PLAY

Here are Six Rules for scoring in the post:

1. Be strong near the basket.  Focus on the finish… not on the contact.

2. Get a piece of the paint.  If you have at least one foot in the paint, you can get to the rack without a dribble.  

3. Get closer.  Shoot the ball closer to the basket than where you received the ball. 

4. Only one dribble.  If you receive the ball outside of the paint, get to the rack with only one power dribble. 

5. Use the glass.  Always take advantage of the backboard on all shots near the basket.

6. Be an excellent free throw shooter.  One third of post player points should come from the foul line.

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FOUR TYPES OF ATHLETES

When it comes to commitment, there are really only four types of people.

COP-OUTS: People who have no goals and do not commit.

HOLDOUTS: People who don’t know if they can reach their goals, so they’re afraid to commit.

DROPOUTS: People who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets tough.

ALL-OUTS: People who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them.

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Nike is starting to drop a few new colorways on the upcoming Hyperdunk 2.0 (a.k.a. Hyperize) and I couldn't help but drool over a few of them.

Don't Fall into the Habit of Settling for Average

Average is the norm for a reason.  Because being exceptional demands extra effort, sustained inspiration, and uncommon discipline... and very few athletes are willing to go that extra mile. 

When we attempt to give flight to our dream of being a better shooter or better ball handler, we have to overcome the weight of opposition. 

We have to be mentally strong… mentally committed.  Like gravity, life's circumstances constantly pull on our dreams, tugging us down to mediocrity.  Remember, being average means you are just as close to the bottom as you are to the top.

Most of us don't pay the price to overcome the opposition to our dreams.  We may start out inspired, but through time we fatigue (mentally).  Although never intending to abandon our dreams, we begin to make concessions here and there.  Watching TV or doing something else that takes our focus off of our goal.  Through time, our lives become mundane, and our dreams begin to slip away.

Write down your goal for the upcoming season.  Do you want to be a better shooter?  Then write it down.  Tape that goal to your door and look at it and act on it daily.  Take action daily, if only five or 10 minutes per day, to get you closer to achieving that goal.  You’ll soon find that after just a couple of days, that goal doesn’t look that difficult to reach after all.  

It’s the start that stops most of us.

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ONLY YOU CAN MAKE YOU BETTER

There will be a time in the not too distant future when the first pre-season workout will show everyone what you've spent your Summer working on.  What you've done to develop and improve your game. 

If you want to be a great player or even settle for being a good player... there is one question you should be asking yourself every single day.  Every single morning when you wake up and every single night when you go to sleep.  And that question is:  Am I practicing according to my aspirations?

The achievement of excellence in anything requires a lot of investment.  A lot of effort.  A lot of patience.  A lot of preparation.  A lot of time.  

Will your first pre-season workout show how you've spent your Summer?

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Tara Signs With Alabama Southern

Tara Thompson (pictured far right)

It's always good to see a deserving athlete sign a scholly to play at the next level... especially a die-hard baller like Bethlehem's Tara Thompson.  Nice article in the NH about her.

Haley, Hannah, Liz & I spent enough time with her during the Freedom Classic workouts to not only appreciate her game, but her sense of humor as well (although she NEVER showed us that side in the three seasons we faced her).

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IS GUERILLA WARFARE.... WELL...FAIR?

Came across a GREAT article this morning discussing how a team of small skinny white girls made it all the way to Nationals by beating much bigger teams using the full-court press (sound vaguely familiar???).

Definitely a good read.

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"THE SHOT" THAT LAUNCHED A LEGEND

It was 20 years ago today that in this defining moment Michael Jordan pulled off the unimaginable.  

With the best-of-five first round series tied 2-2, Michael Jordan took charge of the Bulls in the final seconds of Game 5 when Chicago trailed the Cleveland Cavaliers by a point.  Michael Jordan hit a jumper with 0:06 left to put his team in good position to win the series.  On the Cav’s next possession, Craig Ehlo scored a go ahead bucket with only three ticks left on the game clock which looked to be their ticket to the next round.

With 0:03 left on the clock, Michael Jordan caught an inbound pass and put up “The Shot.”  With time expiring while the ball was in the air, the shot came down through the hoop and took the Bulls to the next round.

KEYS TO LEADING YOURSELF

Learn Fellowship

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen remarked, “Civilization is always in danger when those who have never learned to obey are given the right to command.”  Only a leader who has followed well knows how to lead others well.

Develop Self-Discipline

In “Decision of Character,” British essayist John Foster writes, “A man without decision of character can never be said to belong to himself. He belongs to whatever can make a captive of him.” When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves.

Practice Patience

Few worthwhile things in life come quickly.

--Microwave leaders don’t have any staying power.  Leadership is more of a Crock-Pot proposition. It takes time, but the end product is worth the wait.

--Leaders need to remember that the point of leading is not to cross the finish line first.  It’s to take people across the finish line with you.

Seek Accountability

People who lead themselves well know a secret: they can’t trust themselves.

--Lack of accountability in our personal life will certainly lead to problems in our public life.

--"When you see a good man, think of emulating him; when you see a bad man, examine your heart.” –Chinese proverb

--Leadership is a trust, not a right.

--“Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others, as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” –Thomas J. Watson

--When the leader doesn’t inspect himself, the people don’t respect him.

--Thomas J. Watson, the former chairman of IBM, said, “Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others, as what he does from day to day to lead himself.”  The smallest crowd you will ever lead is you—but it’s the most important one.

- John Maxwell

Author of “Leadership Gold”

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT....

Candice Wiggins #11 of the Stanford Cardinal celebrates their 82-73 against the UCONN Huskies during their National Semifinal Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 6, 2008 in Tampa.

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Came across one of those offbeat stories that few people probably know...

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President’s outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwards country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.

“We want to see the president,” the man said softly.  “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.  “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.  They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told him.  He sighed in exasperation and nodded.  Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them, but he detested faded gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.  The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year.  He loved Harvard.  He was happy here.  But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed.  My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t very touched… He was shocked.  “Madam,” he said gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died.  If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly.  “We don’t want to erect a statue.  We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes.  He glanced at the gingham dress and the homespun suit, then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs?  We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent.  The president was pleased.  Maybe he could get rid of them now.

The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a university?  Why don’t we just start our own?”

Her husband nodded.

The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where thy established the university that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those they think can do nothing for them or to them."

-Malcolm Forbes

SON OF HYPERDUNK .....NIKE HYPERIZE

This is sure to be the hottest set of kicks on the court this season.  Nike's second generation of Hyperdunk... the Hyperize.

GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF BEST

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically - to say 'no' to other things.  And the way to do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside.  The enemy of the 'best' is often the 'good.' " 

~Stephen Covey

I JUST COULDN'T RESIST...

How to clean the inside of your computer screen.

5 TRAITS OF A GOOD LEADER

"Some people always classify you as a leader because you're the best player on the team.  That's not always the case."

- LeBron James

1. Be the hardest worker at practice.

Without fail, one of the quickest ways to impact a team is with your own work ethic.  Choose to be one of the hardest workers on your team.  Not only does it set the tone for the work ethic of your program, it is also one of the best and quickest ways to enhance your leadership credibility with your teammates and coaches.

2. Be a spark of energy and enthusiasm.  

Let your passion for the sport shine through.  Spread a contagious energy and enthusiasm amongst your teammates.  Think about how lucky you are to be able to play and compete. 

3. Be the model of mental toughness.

Who do your teammates look to under pressure, adversity, and stress?  Be sure to model mental toughness.  Bounce back quickly after errors to show your teammates how to respond to negative situations.  Maintain your poise and optimism despite any mistakes you might make so that your teammates can trust and rely on you to get them through the tough times.

4. Connect with every teammate.

Leadership is all about relationships.  Invest the time to build and strengthen the relationships you have with each of your teammates.  Inquire about their day, challenges, and goals.  Make a special and ongoing effort to get to know every athlete on your team, not just your friends and classmates.  The relationship building you do each day will pay off immeasurably down the road.

5. Compliment a teammate.

Be on the lookout for teammates who are contributing to your team.  Call out a teammate for making a hustle play, pushing through and recovering quickly from a mistake, getting an A on an exam, etc.  Praise the actions and attitudes you want to see repeated.  As Mother Teresa once said, "Kind words are short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless."

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HOW DO YOU THINK?

I fully believe that the way you think determines how you practice... and how you practice determines how you are going to play.  The bottom line is that you will play like you practice, whether you believe it or not.  

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WARRIORS & FRIENDS

One of the great things about athletics is the ability to go head-to-head against each other on the field of battle and then walk off the field together to strengthen the bond of friendship afterward.  

Following Friday’s East Regional softball tournament, Emma Heard (Grace) invited a handful of the Covenant girls to go hang out with her at the beach.  Liz, Rebecca and Emma kept the competitive spirit alive by challenging each other in 36 holes of putt-putt golf until almost midnight.  Then on Saturday the girls grabbed their boards and hung together all day under a blistering sun to see who could get the worst sunburn.  We’re still not sure who won that one…

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34 DAYS

From the sound of things, our scrimmage against Webb (Knoxville, TN) won't be a battle against a handful of streetballers, but instead, a handful of pretty smart athletes.

The Webb School honored four senior varsity basketball players at the final home basketball game of the 08-09 season against University School of Nashville.  James Tian and Olly Wang, both from Dalian, Liaoning, China, and Will Murphy and Zola Chihombori-Quao of Murfreesboro were awarded for their hard work and dedication to Webb athletics.  Tian will be attending Georgetown University and plans to study international relations, while Wang will be attending Cornell University with hopes to study applied economics and management.  Murphy was accepted and will be attending Wake Forest.  Chihombori-Quao is keeping her options open and is looking at both Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Mi Jung Kim and So Young Choi, both from Seoul, South Korea, were, also, recognized for their service to Webb athletics.  Choi has attended Webb for five years, while Kim has been here for three.  Kim hopes to attend either John Hopkins University or the University of Michigan.  Choi is considering either Brown University or UCLA for her undergraduate pursuits.

I know that with the end of school right around the corner things have been crazy and a basketball scrimmage is the last thing some of you want to think about right now.  But I had to confirm with Webb whether or not we would be participating... and since only four of you showed any interest (after two email requests), I went ahead and asked a couple of girls from other local schools if they would like to participate to help us fill the remaining roster spots and they readily accepted.

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