Found One !

Well, tryouts are over and a team has been selected upon. While it was not her first choice, it appears to be one that will be very beneficial for DS.

You see, where we are from there is an elite league where the top girls from the province will be playing this year. To sum up the elite league, it was developed to keep the competition level even for all high level teams.

To develop as a player there are two main ways to do so. One is by playing against higher competition and the other is to receive high quality coaching. DS is very fortunate in that this year she will be receiving some very high level coaching.

Unfortunately for DS the season doesn’t start for a couple months yet, so her biggest obstacle is going to be not getting lazy in the meantime.

The beginning

I will refer to this young lady as DS. DS has not yet been able to achieve her desired success level in basketball to this point in her career. However despite not being able to play on her high school team due to circumstance not to be mentioned she has managed to maintain a high degree of passion for the game. Her passion has allowed her succeed and continue playing where many players have decided to stop playing or pursue other interests. She has been described by her coaches as a very hard worker with a very intelligent mind for the game. I believe given the proper opportunity she will be able to demonstrate that she is really an elite player who can play with anyone.

Two or Three Seasons ?

The search begins……

When it comes to basketball there is really three seasons not two as per popular belief. Firstly there is regular season, pre-season and try-out season.

Regular season gets all the glory. Pre-season is where players are made. Try-out season for many is the most stressful of them all.

You see for almost every team there is always anywhere from two to six spots that are up for grabs and who gets those spots on the team is determined during the try-out season. Players put it all out on the line here whether it is rookie ball or WNBA try-outs everyone wants to make “THE” team. There are not a lot of smiles during this time unless it is between old teammates who know that they have secured a spot already. In fact it is quite interesting to see players battle it out during try-outs then end becoming good friends after each has made the team.

Of course the stressful part comes after the try-out when all are wondering if they have done enough or caught the right coach’s eye at the right time. “Did he see that great pass?” “Did he see me miss that shot?” the questions go on and on.

Now the waiting game begins where everyone is checking their emails more regular or having the phone lines open.

Only time will tell ……. “Did I make it?”

Coaching observations

I just came back from one of my daughters practices and noticed a few things.


1) It seems everyone is a coach, especially parents. We coach in the car, in the parking lot, at home and on the sidelines. The only difference is that some of us do it more upfront and others are just more vocal.

2) One of the most underrated aspects of coaching a team is the concept of knowing your players. You can coach a bunch of players with quite honestly limited skill sets put together only once a week in the same manner as a provincial team of the most highly skilled players. Yet for some reasons some of coaches fail to realize that.

Physical vs Mental

Still no news on coaching.
I went to watch the provincial u17 girls team work out today and while they were amazing to watch I couldn't help to think how similar they are to the rest of the basketball players who play the game.

During one stretch near the middle of practice they were required to make 8 out of 12 shots as a team and yet they were unable to do so. So naturally the punishment was running and then do it again. This happened three times until the team finally made 11 out of 12 shots. A little later in practice they tried again but once again they were unsuccessful.

The coaches kep stressing the importance of keeping thier routine and not changing anything but watching the girls you could tell they were rushing the shots.

It was not a matter of themn being unable to physically doing it but more a matter of focus, focus , focus and more focus. There comes a time when your mental game has to be just as strong or perhaps even stronger than your physical game.

Shooting fouls shots for the elite player has to become a mental exercise and once they can realize that they will taking a step closer to being a complete player.

Style of Coaching Preference

Teaching vs. Adjusting

I was watching my eldest tryout for a team that gets to travel to the states for a weekend and found myself asking myself, “What is better coaching to teach or coaching to adjust?”

Allow me to explain , as I was witnessing these 17 year old girls doing basic dribbling drills I was amazed that some of them were still unable to perform some fundamental two ball dribbles that I have my 9 year olds completing I began to think that one of the wonders of coaching is being able to make each player better in some way throughout the year.
It also reminded me how much I miss coaching, well that is a whole other subject.

But you see , when I coach beginners I tend to focus on teaching the fundamentals of the game while with the elite team I am applying for it is more a matter of making minor when adjustments to their game and more focus on game strategies. I am wondering if I will miss the teaching aspect of the game …..

I guess only time will tell .

Greatest coach

11 NBA Championships for Phil Jackson !!!

Can we now close the debate as to who the greatest professional coach?

He is one of the coaches I look at when I try to model myself. Especially when dealing with a group of elite athletes and his ability to recognize and utilize his players full potential.