Progress Report

I believe it is about time to give a little update on my coaching journey since that is the name of the blog. I haven't talked about my coaching situation in awhile so I probably should address it.

Right now, I'm not actively doing any coaching. I have been going to high school games especially sectional games. I try to analyze the players I see like a college coach would. What I like about a player and what I dislike...how much potential he has for the next level and if his game could translate to the college game. Obviously, it is hard since I'm not looking for a certain type of player like a college would be i.e. they need a small forward or a big man or a shooter. So, I might say yes that player could play D-1 in the right spot...finding that spot is the key though because I think a lot of Indiana players could play D-1 in the smaller conferences but a lot of the time those conferences aren't coming to Indiana to recruit due to budget problems and what not. That player might end up being a D-2 player in reality.

I've been trying to keep up with my contacts I have met through camps and other venues. I try to help them out with players if possible but usually they are on top of things and have already made a judgment about the player. I'm not doing it to "suck up" or try to prove I know what I'm talking about although those could be pluses in the long run. I do it just to be nice because coaching is a rough business sometimes.

I'm starting to try to plan out my camp schedule. It is basically just for June for me since I have AAU tournaments in July. I believe that rules out working Five-Star Basketball camp in Pittsburgh. I really want to work that camp since I went there as a player and the coaches that have worked that camp are legendary. I tentatively plan on working Brad Stevens' camp for the third year and the Xavier camp for the first time. I'll try to work Purdue and Indiana University camps also but those are always tough since a lot of people want to and I don't have any really strong tie to either program. I was supposed to work Purdue's camp one week last year, but I had already committed to working another camp.

AAU is starting up. Parents meeting Sunday. I am planning on being an assistant for the Spiece Select 2011 team. I haven't been a true assistant in like 4 years and that was only part-time assistant and part-time head coach of the 2nd team. I'm applying for assistant jobs so I figure I should have some solid assistant experience if I expect to get an assistant job. I might help out a different team because they had a head coach have to back out of the position at the last second. I would rather be an assistant this summer but I will help a brotha out if he needs me to.

I emailed about 200 junior colleges last spring about potential openings they might have. I heard back from approximately half of them and had correspondence with about 15 I would say. I was a finalist for an assistant spot with Coffeyville CC in Kansas. I was on a short list for about 3 or 4 others. I will admit that my resume wasn't put together very well last year. I definitely have improved the aesthetics of it while also adding some experience. Hopefully that will lead to more opportunities this year. We will see.

I think that is it for now. Probably will be hitting up the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow since it is just down the street. Prices seem ridiculous especially since I always remember it being half full. I guess there must be some demand if they think they are going to get takers for those prices. I will probably just try to scalp some cheap seats. Scalping is legal in Indiana although I think legally the sellers can't ask for more than the face value but I'm not sure about that. I might have made that up in my head.

They Never Pass

The old playground calling cry "they never pass me the ball." You hear it on every level. Someone always wants the ball more. Someone wants to shoot more. Someone wants to score more points. So, they think they need to get more "touches" during possessions. They want plays run for them. They want everyone screening for them so that they can get open and score more points. I mean girls love the star and the star is the leading scorer (sarcasm here) of course.

Most players don't realize that they can be the leading scorer and shoot a ridiculously high percentage if they do certain things. One example is setting screens. Most defenses focus on stopping the cutter and often times forget about the screener who will be open a lot if the player understands how to make a "second cut" to either the basket or to an open area for a jumper. Plus, if you are constantly screening for guys...your teammates are going to like you and it will probably take them awhile to figure out you are scoring a lot of points because you are doing the screening. It makes the team run very well.

Second way to get a lot of high percentage shots is to offensive rebound like crazy. I learned this important necessity at the prestigious "Five-Star Basketball Camp" in the summer before my junior year of high school. It is basically a college exposure camp with a lot of good teaching going on. Well during camps like that players want to score and more importantly shoot a lot. They want to get recognized. I, of course, would try to get open on the perimeter as I was a guard but then when a player took a shot I hit the boards hard and every time. I basically ended up dominating through offensive rebounding and made the camp all-star team (hidden brag). Colleges put me on their lists either through seeing my name on the all-star team at the camp or seeing my effort during the week. Either way I accomplished what every player wanted to do without needing screens or needing touches. I forced touches by outworking the other guys.

Find a way to get the job done without being selfish. I helped the team win by screening and offensive rebounding. I then got to shoot because generally I was near the basket after an offensive rebound. Find a way to help yourself by helping the team. Do not expect the team to help you become a star.

First Time

Tonight I saw something that I don't think I have ever seen in my life. Justin Martin of Lawrence North, who is verballed committed to Louisville, missed a dunk and his teammate Dominique Ferguson, who is verballed committed to Kentucky, tip dunked the miss. I think that is the first time I have ever seen that. The play was definitely interesting to see mainly because Ferguson pounded the dunk too.

Always something new to see in the game of basketball.

Sectional Time

Sectional time in Indiana is March Madness plus more insanity. It is the first round of playoff basketball and every team makes it no matter how bad their record is during the season. It was tainted a little bit by the move to class basketball about a decade ago, but it is still bedlam.

I will be making Arlington my hang out spot. They have some great teams including Lawrence North(home of Greg Oden and Eric Montross), North Central (home of Eric Gordon and Jason Gardner), Cathedral and Lawrence Central.

The first game in sectional 10 play was North Central Vs. Cathedral. The bad thing about a random draw sectional and overall tournament is that you have teams that could dominate other sectionals playing each other in the first game. It was a packed house with standing room only available by the tip. Both teams played with great intensity and it was a nail bitter until in the 4th quarter North Central created some separation.

Lawrence North has four players already committed to Louisville (one senior, one junior, and two sophomores)...that is something interesting. Coach Pitino is banking on one school an awful lot. A definite pipeline has been formed between the two schools though. Lawrence North hasn't made a deep run since Greg Oden was a senior when they were crowded the mythical national champs.

As they say in "Hoosiers", welcome to Indiana high school basketball.

Michigan Game

I had the pleasure of going to the Michigan/Purdue game last night in Ann Arbor. We had great seats thanks to Zack Novak who hooked us up with some tickets. The game was very good. Purdue's big man JaJuan Johnson got in foul trouble and it hurt Purdue a lot. DeShawn Simms dominated the inside and had a career high.

After the game, my friends and I were waiting for Novak to get out of the locker. I saw Bill Raftery finishing gathering his equipment from announcing the game. So, I decided to go shake his hand because I am a fan. He was very nice and even introduced himself when he saw I was waiting to talk to him. That is why there is a picture of him above.

I also shook hands with Manny Harris and DeShawn Simms while we were standing around talking to Zack. We did not stay too long though because it took a little bit over 4 hours to get up there and then a little bit under 4 hours to get back. Overall, it was a good trip.

Stanley Robinson

Some players are better in the pros than they are in college. One player that stands out in my mind is Brad Miller. He had a mediocre college career at Purdue, but he has had a solid NBA career even making the all-star team. Robbie Hummel is excelling more at Purdue than he did in high school. Players occasionally excel at a higher level when they didn't necessarily dominate at a lower level. Usually it is a player that has a growth spurt and is getting used to his size or something along those lines.

Stanley Robinson has a chance to be a good NBA player I believe. He is so athletic at 6'8. If he can play the perimeter or at least guard the wing players in the NBA he will find a spot on a roster for many years. He might be the most athletic player in the Big East and that would be saying something with players like Terrence Williams in the league.

Robinson is a great story about taking time away from basketball to get his life together. He went and worked at a sheet metal factory. That will open your eyes pretty quickly. Maturity in a player is an underrated characteristic that is important to winning teams...championship quality teams.

I hope he continues to do well and maybe he will make it in the NBA one day.

Zebra Time

I'm going to follow in the footsteps of Ed Hightower and Steve Welmer. I plan on working some basketball games as a referee. I just hope I can make the two legends proud. I plan on doing outrageous charge calls by running the length of the court then making the call as Hightower would do. Mr. Hightower makes every game more fun to watch just by his antics.

Seriously though, I just hope I am decent. I should be because I will put a good effort for getting into position and that's why most refs are bad...they don't get in position to see the play. I never get on a ref if he is working and trying. It also helps if they understand the rules well.

I'll report back after I do a few games.