Happy Valley @ Elizabethton

[GLee]

Well anyway, 11-4 isn't bad, but don't let the ladies "cry baby" in practice or in a game.

Teach them a basketball work ethic.

[coaches_corner]

I agree with much of what you posted GLee. However, I am not a coach of this or any other team, although I play one on TV!!!

I'm just a fan like you.

Edited January 5, 2005 by coaches_corner

[Mrs.B]

WOW, Mrs.B; I'm glad you made the 421 - 321 trek (Or that's the way I remember from the Camp Lejeune days of a few hundred years ago). But often we would, being Creekers, stay the 421 to 91 route.

 

421 is a much nicer road these days or so I hear. Speed limit is actually 65 for part of the trip.

 

But what's wrong with a Defense that holds a team - any team - to 33 points? Sounds like you had most of the bases covered, 17. I think Mrs.B is ready to hit the floor running and whistling!

 

The team only scored 33 points because they missed opportunities. We will face better teams that will take advantage of those opportunities

 

And any NEWS on the Little One, Mrs.B?

 

They tried to get Katrina off the venitilator twice last week and couldn't. Monday they took a look at her throat and discovered that her trachea collapses. They need to get her weaned off some of her meds before they can decide how severe the problem is and how to treat it. This will probably take a couple of weeks. We are praying that when they re-evaluate it will not be as bad as it looks.

[GLee]

Corner, I think 17 is on the bench..... that wasn't for you.

 

All of this is really silly when you take a look at real life. Like Ms. B and Katrina.......

God Bless you and your family. Ms. B, I'll try and lighten up a bit on the ladies (if I can). It's hard to sit and watch talent wasted. I'll grow out of it or maybe even grow up .

 

Ms. B, there is nothing like your own children.

 

And then they grow up.

[Mrs.B]

GLee - Don't lighten up. Just remember to love them through their imperfections. If we lighten up we won't be asking enough of them and we don't want to sell them short or let them sell themselves short. Expect perfection (even though we know it is impossible)

[GLee]

Well said. thumb I think I got a bit soft thinking of you and your child.

 

Alright girls, give me 100 laps and then we'll run some steps (that was the routine in the '70s, but I don't think that kind of conditioning is tolerated by the players and parents anymore???). When you get done with that, we'll do some suicides and then call it a day after walking 5 laps! We'll do it all over again tommorrow! Then, maybe, when I say run the floor, you will know how???

[WriteStuff]

For what it's worth.........

 

I am firm believer that conditioning doesn't have to be a horrible experience. I disagree that "suicides" or "death valleys" are the answer in conditioning. The idea is to get kids in a position where they can go full speed for as many minutes as the coach wants them on the floor.

Therefore, kids who play 28-32 minutes need to be in better shape than the ones who are only going to play three or four minutes. But the ideal would be having all 12 to 15 players in good enough shape to play 28-32 minutes.

I subscribe to the Joe Gibbs theory of practice, which is -- at least in the Redskins' hey-days back in the 1980s -- to simulate game conditions during practice. To apply this to basketball conditioning, put the players in a situation of constant movement for a period of time each practice. The period of time should be enough to cover the "motion minutes" of one half of basketball.

When I coached the 7th grade girls at T.A. Dugger, we did 10-15 minutes of full-court game-simulation running on most practice days. It was the equivalent of two quarters of a middle school game. They were not allowed to stop at any point, forced to get the ball out of the basket when it went in, and forced to push the ball up the court. It developed good fast-break skills for such young kids, kept them in shape AND, perhaps most importantly, they didn't seem to dread it. They had a ball in their hands the whole time, which is the way conditioning should be (I got this nugget of knowledge from George Pitts and Greg Goulds). And when the games came along, they were able to sustain fullcourt pressure defense for four quarters -- because games were easier than the practices.

Take that 7th-grade conditioning approach and increase it a little for the high school kids and you might keep the kids in shape without the dreaded "death valleys."

Plus, I never believed in making a kid run for "punishment." The whole idea of making kids accept conditioning is to get them to understand it will help them be a better player in the fourth quarter. If you also use running for punishment, it sends a mixed signal: "I'm going to punish you by getting you in better shape. I'm not making the other kids run, so I'm also punishing them because they will be in worse shape." It just makes kids hate to run that much more when it is used as a punishment. And the whole idea is to make them LOVE the game. How can a kid love basketball if they hate to run?

Running shouldn't be hated by a basketball player, but desired as much as learning to handle the ball better, shoot better, pass better, etc....

Now if I was coaching a chess team, I might make the kids run if they moved their pawn out of the way instead of protecting the queen.

There are other ways to "punish" or "motivate" kids, such as loss of playing time, loss of practice time, sitting out a quarter, not starting, etc....

Oh well, my soap box is get a little creaky and shaky, so I better step down.

[coaches_corner]

NO, stay on your soapbox W-S. I will be interested to see how your bud coachh17 replies to this. One of the things Ive been saying about the Lady Cyclones these past two weeks is that it appears that they are not having fun. And I don't think the JV was having fun either. This is not a job for these kids. It should be, no, must be fun or they shouldnt be doing it. The answers are definitely harder to come by than the questions though.

[coachh17]

We are now delving into areas where assistant coaches are professionally bound not to tread, and have a limited amount of control. I'm sitting this one out.

[coaches_corner]

Exactly the tactful response expected out of coachh17. And given the situation the correct one too.

[GLee]

Well said. thumb I think I got a bit soft thinking of you and your child.

 

Alright girls, give me 100 laps and then we'll run some steps (that was the routine in the '70s, but I don't think that kind of conditioning is tolerated by the players and parents anymore???). When you get done with that, we'll do some suicides and then call it a day after walking 5 laps! We'll do it all over again tommorrow! Then, maybe, when I say run the floor, you will know how???

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WRITESTUFF.... I played at a little class A school in Ky and we ended every practice running.... laps, steps & suicides (I wasn't exagerating). We only played 8 deep and we could all go the entire game if needed. We were successful but not a state championship team. Back in the '70's there were a lot of teams that were slow and didn't want a running game. We were all about runnning and gunning scoring in the 100's a few times. We didn't run at the end of practice for punishment, but for the ability to play the game the way we were coached. We loved a running game and so did our fans. A game that is implemented by most teams today except locally (Betsy for one). It is trully hard for me to watch a team walk (maybe trot) up and down the floor. If we scored, we pressed full court and if we didn't score we would not be beat back down the floor by a fast break. Sooooooo, yes I totally believe that running to end practices creates a more resourceful player. A player who can withstand much more than other "weaker" players. Just the thought by the players that they work for what they achieve should be motivation enough to get off their rears and want to be in the best shape possible. Surely you've seen players holding up 4 fingers going into the fourth quarter. They feel they should "own" that quarter because they are in better shape to get the job done than their competition. Every player needs to be in the best shape that person can be in, not just good enough for a few minutes here and there.

 

RUN....... not for punishment but because there is somewhere you want to get! Hang that carrot out there and see who really wants to reach it. And thanks Ken Condra and Doc Gray, my high school basketball coaches. You guys were old school and new school combined. What memories....

 

Hope you had a great career at TAD. There has been a tremendous amount of talent going thru there the last few years.

 

By the way....... GO CYCLONES!!

[WriteStuff]

GLee....

 

I could be wrong here, but I think you may have missed my point. I never said, "Don't condition hard." You have to get in shape to be able to play the fullcourt game -- which, you are correct, is played by almost all of the state-championship level teams. What I did say is to make conditioning part of preparation and make it something the kids can sink their teeth into and not feel like they are just getting through it. The old Bear Bryant way of doing things ("Junction Boys") is long gone and should be. Besides how many times does a kid do a "Death Valley" in the course of a game? Unless there are massive turnovers, kids never run 15 feet, stop, go the other way, run 47 feet, stop, go the other way. Better "game" conditioning is to run 94 feet, stop, go the other way, run 94 feet, stop, go the other way, over and over -- with a ball in their hands and the opportunity to score a basket used as the carrot. Because scoring is the still the only way to win a game.

I honestly believe that if kids love every part of the basketball season -- practices, games AND conditioning -- they will put forth far more effort than any other way. This probably more true of boys than girls. I have never coached boys, so I only have my own experience in sports to go on there. But I do know a little something about girls