Ricks signs with Rose-Hulman

Steve Ricks of Tri-West High has chosen to play basketball at Rose-Hulman. He helped the Bruins to a 2 year record of 37-9. Congrats, Steve.

Memorial Day

This being Memorial Day, which is set aside to remember those who have paid the price for our freedom, I have uploaded a picture of a barn that is being built down the road from my house that to me sums up Memorial Day for me. It doesn't matter what you're doing, you're doing it because your're free to do it because someone laid down their life for you. Whoever is building this barn is truly indebted to the lives lost so that he can build his barn and live as he/she is and most importantly will live, because of the sacrifices made.

Take a minute and remember and thank those who have served, are serving, and maybe one day will serve in the armed forces.

Whether you like that we are at war in Iraq or not, the fact is that we are, and if you don't want to stand behind our troops, then stand in front of them. I am not leaning one way or the other but the troops are fighting a war that no one is supporting. It would be like playing a basketball game without any fans. No one to celebrate after a big win or no one to cry with after a tough loss. It's like when you see the soccer teams play over in Europe without any fans because they have lost their right to cheer. Well, I don't think we lost our right, we just stopped cheering.

dsd

Stan, Not the Man

Stan Van Gundy withdrew his name from the Indiana Pacers head coaching vacancy yesterday, stating that he didn't want to move his family here from Miami. I mean seriously why would anyone want to move to Indiana from Miami. Which brings me to the point of; If he knew that he didn't want to move his family here in the first place.... interesting? .... Orlando is in Florida...Pacers don't get any first round picks.... no chance at a big name... interesting... seems fishy. Kind of like how he resigned so Pat Riley could just slide in and take the Heat to a NBA Championship.

Names still being mentioned for the job are (courtesy of Indy Star)

Jim Boylan - Bulla Asst.
Chuck Person - Pacers Asst.
Johnny Davis - Pacers Asst.
Brian Shaw - Lakers Asst.

New Pacers Coach? Last 4 Teams. LeBron and the Pass or no Pass.

Early reports are saying the Stan Van Gundy is the new man in Indy. I think it's a very good hire and should suit the classful organization of the Pacers.

I love watching the Final four teams that are in the NBA Playoffs. TV ratings are down and I could care less. These last four teams actually "play" basketball. There is no one-on-one, fancy stuff, just mostly pure basketball. I also love Timmy Duncan. I think he might wine a little bit now and then, but show me another player that can bank any shot the way he does!!

I also stole this from Method to the Madness blog by coach Steve Finamore (that I will link soon.) - How can people complain about the last four teams in the playoffs. They all play good fundamental basketball and then people complain that they don't want to watch it because it is boring. People would rather see high-flying alley-oops, deep threes, and fastbreak dunks then fundamental basketball. I agree to the casual fan it might not be that exciting, but for people who really enjoy basketball this is the best! I also don't think that the people mentioned before, I will call them showboaters for the sake of this blog, can't complain about the USA Basketball program not being able to play team ball. It's ridicoulous. The people that complain now shouldn't be allowed to complain later this summer when Team USA gets together and loses because their favorite players aren't playing fundamental basketball, because I bet that Spurs, Jazz, Pistons, and maybe the Cavs could take on any of the other country teams and win. But that brings up the point that the Spurs and Jazz have many foreign players on them and they should win because they play fundamental basketball. And if that's the case then why aren't people watching?!

Oh, and LeBron did the right thing to pass to Donyell Marshall. Why?... he's a fundamental basketball player.

Till Next Time.
Drop a Note.

New Link

I added a link to Coach P's Blog to the links section.

MensBasketballHoopScoop.blogspot.com

Take a look if you're a coach because he can definitely help you!!

DSD

Brownsburg Names New Girls' Coach

The 1991 graduate of Brownsburg High School, Amy Brauman was named the new Bulldogs head varsity girls coach at her alma mater. She had been an assistant with the Bulldogs from 00-06 and a former IUPUI assistant coach. Last year the Bulldogs went 5-17, but return an Indiana Junior All-star in Lauren Taylor.

Mid-Con to Summit, and Valpo to Horizon

The Mid-Continent Conference has changed its name and has added a few new teams and dropped an in-state university. The conference will now be called The Summit League. The name is to reflect not only reaching the top in athletics, but in academics as well. I think this is a good step in the right direction for schools to use, especially all the rule changes and how graduation rates now figure into how many scholarships a school may be able to give out. The teams that now will make up The Summit League will be IUPUI, Centenary, IPFW, UMKC, North Dakota State, Oakland, Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, Southern Utah, and Western Illinois. I think the biggest hurt will be that Valparaiso will now be leaving and joining the Horizon League, which includes Butler. Valpo and IUPUI seemed to always be a nice in-state rival and the games were always pretty good. But, on the the other hand IPFW now joins and now IUPUI gets another in-state rival. I like the change but hard to understand Valpo changing to the Horizon. We'll see how it pans out.

Lady Cadet Signs with Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

Congrats to Kaiti Nease as she will be furthering her career at Saint Mary of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute. Kaiti and the Cascade Cadets captured a sectional title this year. She is second from the right. She also happens to be one of the Top Ten in her graduating class.

photo courtesty of Hendricks County Flyer

Recap from the IBCA Clinic, and a Sad Loss

First off, I wanted to say thanks to ESPN 950 AM for the link from their site. It is greatly appreciated.

To recap the IBCA Coach's Clinic. - I am only going to highlight the college coaches that I saw in person. I think that every coach that spoke, including all the high school coaches, I can definitely take something from. I appreciated the contributions to the game that these coaches give back every year. To me it says a lot when someone tells everyone else how they are successful.

Steve Ridder, Embry-Riddle University - He had a section focusing on the 6 things you need to do to win close games. He called them the Super 6!

1. With 2-3 minutes to go don't let them score. Take pride in stopping someone when it really counts.
2. Have a Go-To-Play. The opponent probably knows what it is. But you have to have one that your players know they can execute with their eyes closed.
3. Make all Free Throws under 3 minutes.
4. Game Management - The ability to know what to do when to do it in the closing minutes. Like when to call a timeout, who to foul, substitutions to make for special situations
5. No turnovers - pretty simple - but if you don't have the ball, you can't score
6. Offensive rebound put backs on the last second shot - try to take the last second shot with enough time left to be able to crash the offensive glass, get a stick back and win or tie.

I did enjoy Coach Ridder's section. He was very enthusiastic and you could tell he really enjoyed sharing how he is successful.

Don Meyer, Northern State University - This was the first time that I have heard Coach Meyer speak before. I have been to his site, coachmeyer.com and I can not recommend it more to anyone. The things that he gives out are amazing and are not just about basketball. You can tell that he really cares about his players, and definitely other players because of his own clinics. I think that he would rather develop them as people more than basketball players. To me that speaks a ton. He had brought a ton of handouts to pass out to all the coaches. What surprised me more than anything was the fact that the things that he handed out had more to do with life, having good attitudes, being a team player, and quotes, than they did with basketball. I think that it great and I hope that I have the opportunity to hear him speak again.

Kevin McKenna, Indiana State U. - Coach McKenna filled in coach Rick Majerus. Majerus took the St. Louis job on teh same night that he was going to speak. I was really looking forward to hearing Majerus talk about his 4-out-1-in motion offense. Mainly because I am familiar with the 4 out 1 in and wanted to hear some new wrinkles to the system. Enough about that, I really enjoyed hearing Coach McKenna talk about his motion offense that he is bringing then tweaking from Creighton. I think this offense would definitely be suited for the team without a big towering center. I think that it fits right in in the Missouri Valley Conf. The one thing that I did notice was that it has the same two man game as the Triangle Offense, (see below). I am glad that he was able to fill in, but it just enhanced my knowledge of the game of basketball because he brought something that I had never seen before.

Shoot me an email or drop a note. Definitely check out the Coach Meyer site and the Free Handouts and all the corners.

I just found out tonight that a really good friend and coach will probably be hanging up his whistle this year. His new job is not allowing for him to continue in teaching players what it takes to be great, on and off the court. I have never been around someone like him who could get across to the players what he wanted to say so that they would understand it in one sentence. The players always looked up to him (I know I did) and I feel proud to have been coached by and coached alongside him. I definitely look up to him and I find it hard that I won't see him on the sidelines anymore. Like I said, I think of him more of a friend than a coach. He will sorely be missed. But I am sure that his family will definitely reap the benefits of having a husband and dad back at home. Thank You, Coach.