Kiwi goes up-tempo with a Legend

The 2009-2010 season for the Oregon University Womens Basketball team has been boosted by the arrival of new Head Coach and Up-tempo Legend, Paul Westhead. Coach Westhead comes from a three-year tenure with 2009 WNBA champions, Phoenix Mercury, and looks to give back to the sport by running his unique brand of basketball at the green and gold.

At the forefront of this change is Senior Power Guard, Micaela Cocks, who is a Tall Fern and a product of the New Zealand High Performance program. Hailing from North Shore, Auckland, Micaela enters her last year at Oregon under Coach Westhead and is excited to play the up-tempo style. Click the link below to hear Micaela talk about it! (Please wait for the arrow to appear, there will be pause between action)

Ugly gets it done

"Ugly" is a subjective term. Subjective in the sense that its meaning is matter of personal opinion. For example, most males I know, myself included, have one piece of clothing which maybe well past it prime but because of its sentimental value, we hold on to it as reminder of better times. It maybe an old rugby jersey or that first rep singlet or some beaten up pair of sneakers; in our eyes these things are beautiful. The Japanese have a term for finding beauty in "ugly" things - Wabi-Sabi.

And so it comes as no surprise that even in sports, we can see wabi-sabi at work. Look at all those sports movies, Rocky, Bad News Bears, Rudy, Hoosiers where the main character(s) are underdogs, not expected to amount to much, dont fit in and are not like the 'mainstream' yet in all cases, they go through hell, pull together and get it done. Their wabi-sabi comes from the ugliness they must endure to achieve victory and it is in victory that beauty is attained.

Case in point, the New Zealand Soccer team qualifying for the World cup tonight is a classic example of wabi-sabi for me. I'm not a huge soccer fan and to be honest, the All-Whites are not a team I follow. But they came into the game as the underdogs with a chip on one shoulder and history on the other. The game wasn't textbook by any means as it was anyones for the taking even after the Fallon header. However the All-Whites persisted and got it done achieving their wabi-sabi moment when that final whistle went. A well-deserved win that was 'ugly' in process but 'beautiful' in result and something I'll not forget for a long time to come.

Why Run and Gun?

We are having a very interested conversation why teams should switch to the Grinnell system (40 minutes of Fast break and full court pressure defense with 1 minute platooning). Although the answers have varied, all of them are passionate for the system.

1. I want the best chance at playing everyone I keep on the team.
2. I like the philosophy that sells the idea to the kids that they can shoot - they are part of the equation - let's see what happens if you play harder then you have at any time in your life and then when you come out, you get to go back in a minute or so. Let's take the fear of coming out for a mistake out of the game.
-Coach Evan Massey of Galesberg HS

I had always been a press and run team and took a fair number of threes, but I was only playing 8 girls and we often wore down before they did. The genius of the system, I think, is the subbing. It's so simple that I kick myself sometimes for not seeing it myself earlier, but it's what makes this work, at least for me. Our intensity level never drops, and so the other team doesn't make hay against our press later in the game. I love playing a team that hasn't seen us, and sometimes even one that has, and seeing the look on their face when they win the jump ball in the back court and we immediately spring into a press. It's fun to coach and play, which helps. I don't see myself ever going back.
-Coach Mike Schutt, Newman Catholic HS, Mason City, IA

And so the praise continues but before I sign off, I will balance this with a comment from Coach Ron Rohn, who was an early adapter of the Grinnell System for Women but no longer plays the style:

I do think that the coach who asked to be taken off the (Run and Gun Coaches) list hit on a very key point however. It is not for eveyone and even many who think they can handle it can't. If your personality (or that of your team) is not one who can take the highs and lows, the lack of control, the criticism of others, you best not go down that path. I've seen many go down that path, and learn more about themselves than they could have imagined.
-Coach Ron Rohn of Muhlenberg College

New respect for Kobe Bryant

He may not be my favourite player in the NBA (right now its LBJ) and the Lakers are, far and away, not my favourite team ... but like LeBron, the more I read about Bryant the more I respect and understand why his game has improved so much.

If anyone knows anything about martial arts and Bruce Lee, then you'll know what Jeet Kune Do is. Who would have guessed Bryant was a student of JKD master, Jerry Poteet. Knowing the theory behind JKD, one could understand that if Kobe could apply those lessons on the court, he would be one formidable opponent. Check out this video and enjoy!

You know I could get to like the guy ...

From Hero to Zero: Why jumping ahead is not always the best option

Coaches are always on the lookout for talent especially those in the younger ranks who can make the step up to senior ball. I am no exception. However not every prospect can make that transition and it shouldn't be made without guidance, patience and some desire on the part of the player. Some players can take that step up however its not something Ive always encouraged because there are so many factors beside ball skills that needs to be considered like that players maturity, work ethic, moral and mental fortitude; these things happen over time and should not be rushed.

Now we know what can happen if all the right things comes together - LeBron James is a living example and was one of the first players to jump from high school to the NBA. But what about the others? The ones we don't hear about ... click the link below to read the story of Jeremy Tyler, a top NBA prospect out of San Diego, who through bad advice is all but squandering his chance at greatness.

From Hero to Zero - Jeremy Tyler : the story so far

I do hope it works out for him. It's a work in progress so I'll be keeping a watch to see how it turns out.

Learning so much

The moment you stop wanting to learn is the moment you know it's time to leave!

I'm glad I’ve had the experience that I’ve had this year. It helped me understand my shortcomings as a teacher, leader and role model. It helped me realise that there is more to coaching than teaching Players X's and O's. After our season finished, I went looking for answers why, a team of our quality could not deliver on the court. Going through the feedback from the players, I am starting to see why. As I’ve stated in previous articles, most of it has to do with discipline, commitment and providing a positive environment to grow in.

I've also started reading about gender differences in terms of motivation, praise and giving feedback. I must admit it was a bit of a wake up call but having read it, I now have a different outlook on what is required for next season. In fact, I’ve created a separate motivational plan to build team pride, raise morale and inject competition while staying focused on our main objectives.

I am also involved with a Coaches group where we openly discuss issues we face both in and outside of basketball such as players/parents with separate agendas, handling "practice" players, turning coal into diamonds, what it means to be a Captain etc. There are a lot of real life issues on the table but there is also a lot of inspiration and support as well. The advice and feedback is golden. Especially now, as I get to experience the pre-season/season with them, as they go through it.

In another group, I’m learning all about run and gun basketball. I believe based on our current team, and the projected team for next year, that this will be the best style for us. The Coaches in this group have been very helpful and I’ve made quite a few contacts in the US and Europe. The one thing that hits me is how willing coaches overseas are willing to help. Over here, its pretty much closed shop; secret squirrel stuff. Over there, I’ve had one US coach, not only offer me his playbook, but his first 15 practice plans from last season as a building block for our season next year. That’s awesome.

To close, as you can see, I’m still learning and planning and learning some more. I can’t wait until the rubber meets the road in February. I’ve gotta feeling, it’s going to be awesome.

Keep Moving Foward

BYE MADDIE ... SORRY TO HERE YOU'RE LEAVING US
Got some news that our PG of three years is transferring to another school next year. Although it sad and we will definitely miss her, we wish her all the best in her journey beyond St Mary's.

ATTACK BASKETBALL IS COMING!
In other news, ordered Attack Basketball from Coach Doug Porter of Olivet Nazarene University today. Coach Porter runs a modified version of the Grinnell System which has been designed for Girls. He is also active on the Yahoo Run and Gun Coaches Group which has been a huge help in answering many of the questions I had about it.

I believe Attack Basketball is a viable system for our girls given there skill and level of fitness. But making sure I can sell it to the right people may prove to be a challenge. Lets see how that pans out in Feb 2010.

ON GENDER AND COMPETITION
As you can tell, I've been away from the blog for a while but this doesn't mean my pursuit for awesome ended with the East game back in August! Part of what I been looking at is where I failed as Coach this year. I know I delivered the X and O's but on review, I fell over at the basic level - Not preparing the team mentally and not taking gender issues in to consideration.

I have been reading Kathie DeBoer and Anson Dorrance regarding the competitive nature of the female student athlete and it pretty much confirms that everything that you shouldn't do when coaching girls, I did! I assumed what works for boys would work for girls, how wrong I was! So I have created a seperate motivation plan and checklist to ensure that we will do our best to foster a positive team environment next year!