Questions From Parents to Athletes

"Three things you should ask your son/daughter after a game: 1. Are you hurt? 2. Did you have fun? 3. What do you want to eat?"
 Doug Weber

Picture from http://www.fencing.net

The Best Drill

In basketball there is a myth that you can't make a player competitive, but I beg to differ. If you make every drill in practice competitive and show the drills necessity it will take. I truly believe competitive spirit is learned by and not born to people.

The best basketball drill for system basketball is five-on-five-on-five. It drills offensive and defensive rebounding, it drills trapping, it drills passing skills, and most importantly it teaches players how to compete.

In the perfect world here is how it works ;(You may have to change it for your situation) You take three coaches and pick teams. When I choose, I always take the most competitive players. Not the best shooters, if you are lucky they might be, but that is not what is important. You want people that are going to go to the board with no hesitation,. You want people that are physical and will dive on the floor for every loose ball. You want people that will run through a wall rather then loose.

The scoring goes like this (Each coach keeps score for their team)
2 points for a steal
2 points for an offensive rebound
2 points for a three pointer made
1 point for a defensive rebound
1 point for a shot attempt
1 point for a two point shot made

My rules are the following (you can change them to fit your situation)

You give the ball to one team going to the other basket out of bounds. The second team guards them up to the time line. The third team picks them up there. Game is on, if a basket is made the team that scores takes it out of bounds and goes the other way. If a team steals it they attack the opposing basket.

We go two eight minute quarters. No foul shots, jump balls go to the defense. Make sure everybody know the score.

Make sure all coaches are involved and vociferous so the players know how important competing is.

News From The Bee

Here is a great article from the Sacramento Bee about the the Sacramento State Hornets women's basketball team. Click here to read about the fast and furious start the Hornets are off to.

Free Throws

The final score yesterday at Simpson was Grinnell 156 Simpson 150. 306 total points, incredible, but perhaps the big number was 118 total free throws shot. Scores around the nation are up because refs have been calling hand checks.

From North Carolina to UCLA, Grinnell to Simpson, coaches are telling their players to turn the corner and go to the basket. The game has become fun to watch again.
Click here  to see the Grinnell vs. Simpson box score.

At Sacramento State yesterday the Division I Hornets women team set a NCAA DI record for three point attempts. They shot 55 making 21 of them.

Yes, "The System" is working in DI basketball as Sacramento State moved to 7-1. Click here to read more. Look at the pictures included in the article, what fun they are having in California.

Benefits

Mike Curta in the boys' basketball coach at Eisenhower High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He uses the system there. To make his life even more enjoyable he has a son that is a freshman at Grinnell College and plays for coach Arseneault there. In a recent email that I received from him, he talked about Grinnell basketball and what basketball in any system should be. 

 

Here is a portion of that email; 

 

"I also can't say enough how great it has been to watch Grinnell this season with more of an "insider view" having my son Nick on the team as a freshman. Over the past three-plus seasons of running this at Eisenhower, trying to get better, using the numbers and data, clinics, etc. I really think that the buy-in and type of kids you have is what puts your team over the top. There are great kids on the team at Grinnell who really enjoy playing the game and being around their teammates and coaches. Watching the bench during their games that I attend and then watching the kids interact after the game gives me a lift every time. They have fun, care about each other, look out for the needs of each other and the coaches, greet all of the families and friends at the game, and it is obvious that it is as much a family as it is a basketball program. My son absolutely loves everything about the school, program, and coaches which makes life for us as parents about as good as it can get. The upperclassmen on the team have taken him under their wing and made him feel like much more than a freshman. It is such a good situation that the kids on the team have made my high school junior son Vinny feel like he is a part of the family every time we visit. My goal at Eisenhower is to try and get some of that behavior, attitude, and camaraderie with our team and hopefully make up for some of the ideas that our kids have yet to grasp. "

 

Thanks Mike for letting me share this.

You Do What To Who?

I was listening to Flogging Molly sing " If I Ever Leave This World Alive", and I started missing my friends in Ireland, and those that have traveled there with me.

At that point I had to post the song, click here to listen and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Photo from wallpoper.com

Pictures

Photo from hurherald.com

The System is fun, fun for the players, fun for the coaches, fun for the fans. Click here and you will see the fun they are having out at Sacramento State. After Saturdays 103-99 victory over San Jose State the Hornets have run their record to 6-1. The System has become part of the west coast basketball culture, with five high school teams in the San Francisco area alone running The System.

But the big talk in the basketball world, is The System having success in Division I. The basketball purest do not know how to act or know what to say.

I know what to say, welcome to the future of round ball. My spies out west tell me Bunky Harkleroad is all in at Sacramento State, and as the pictures show, so are the players and fans. Sacramento State hosts its final non-conference home game next Saturday when it faces UC Irvine in The Nest at 2 p.m.

The West

The Hornets of Sacramento State Women's basketball has run their record to 5-1, with an exciting 94-92 victory over St. Mary's last night in the Nest. St. Mary's was 7-0 coming into the game.

The Hornets battled back from a 16 point deficit to win. Read more here.

Click here for some pictures of the fun the kids are having.

Photo from hornetsports,com

Lead Story

 Last night the Grinnell Men basketball team downed Monmouth College 122-92. The lead scorer for Grinnell was Jack Taylor, scoring 41 points in only 16 minutes of play. Taylor leads all college divisions in points per game. Yes only 16 minutes of play.

Yesterday was the same day as The Des Moines Register did a front page of the sports article on him, talking about his role in The System at Grinnell. Read the article here. Make sure you also watch the videos that accompany it. For those of you that are not familiar with, or do not understand the system, it may give you more insight.


Photo from Grinnell.edu

A True Fan

This letter is from Kaitlin Goins. She goes to the University of Alabama. She wrote it to Alabama field goal kicker Cade Foster on her blog kaitlingoins.

Read here.

She is one of the reasons I know our country is in good hands with our young people.

Although as an Iowan it hurts me to say it, Roll Tide.

See The Chronicals

 Painting from dailypainters.com

 

Long Time women's head coach at Olivet Nazerene Doug Porter is now an assistant at North Central College. He writes a System blog, and along with Gary Smith who I mentioned in a recent post, wrote the most detailed book on the System there is out there.

Click here to read what he believes about days off from practice.

Thanksgiving Pledge

I pledge to be a positive person and positive influence on my family, friends, co-workers and community.

I promise to be positively contagious and share more smiles, laughter, encouragement and joy with those around me.

I vow to stay positive in the face of negativity.

When I am surrounded by pessimism I will choose optimism.

When I feel fear I will choose faith.

When I want to hate I will choose love.

When I want to be bitter I will choose to get better.

When I experience a challenge I will look for opportunity to learn and grow.

When faced with adversity I will find strength.

When I experience a set-back I will be resilient.

When I meet failure I will fail forward towards future success.

With vision, hope, and faith, I will never give up and will always move forward towards my destiny.

I believe my best days are ahead of me, not behind me.

I believe I'm here for a reason and my purpose is greater than my challenges.

I believe that being positive not only makes me better, it makes everyone around me better.

So today and every day I will be positive and strive to make a positive impact on the world.

It's Just A Game

Picture from guycodeblog.mtv.com

My mother was the most competitive human I have ever been around. Well into her 60's I watched her and her brothers and sister argue about rules in a card game in which they were playing for dimes. Yet, after we would lose a particularly tough basketball game, she would say to me, "It was just a game."

Now the truth can be known. I have retired from coaching basketball after being involved as a player and coach for over forty years, I can tell you the real truth, "It is more than a game."

No brag just fact, I went for five summers in a row without having a weekend off. Yes, "It is more than a game." During the season I would get up at five and go to bed at midnight and feel guilty that I was cheating my players. "It is more than a game."

Ask Nick Sabon today after the Iron Bowl, "It is more than a game."

Ask the boys and girls that have wrecked their knees over the last 100 years playing basketball. "It is more than a game." Ask the coaches that have lost their wives or husbands to divorce, or their family to alcoholism. "It is more than a game."

Ask Brady Hoke after his game with Ohio State yesterday. "It is more than a game."

Ask the parents that have driven their children all over the country, so they can become better athletes, "It is more than a game." Ask the parents that invested thousands of dollars so their children can improve. "It is more than a game."

Ask the Soviet Hockey Team from the 1980 Olympics when the U.S. beat them 4-3, they will tell you "It is more than a game." Ask the 1972 U.S. Olympic men' basketball team that lost in the gold medal game to the Soviets, in a game where the Soviets had three chances at the end. They will tell you, "It is more than a game."

Mom knew, she had won and lost a lot in her life, but she wanted me to feel better. "It is more than a game."