Why I still like Girls Basketball - Season Over - Banquet (updated 3/25/11)

SEASON FIVE - "Where others fail, we will succeed, Where others succeed, we will surpass." - qualityg

To read the four previous seasons click on the label to the left on the main page where where it says "Girls Basketball" or click
http://qualityg.blogspot.com/search/label/Girls%20Basketball

JUNE - 2010
This will be the fifth season that I have documented our team pre-season activities and season. Two weeks ago I attended a Point Guard College Camp with two of my players and I attended the sessions as an observing coach.

It was a grueling week for the players and a really nice week for me in more ways than I can write. I was proud of the girls as they showed their skills and capabilities on the floor and handled themselves well with the other camp attendees. In my opinion the camp was well worth the cost (high by camp standards) because the skills taught were exactly what the players needed to get to their next respective level in basketball.

Of course the true test comes down to them practicing their new found knowledge. They both can get much better its just a matter of whether or not they will pay the price for success through hard work and dedication.

Best Shirt Slogan - SAVE THE DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA, JUST PLAY THE GAME!

We have already had a few set backs this summer with two players not returning to the team. They were good players and great young ladies, but if a player no longer has the passion to play then it is best for all they move on to other sports or activities.

We have a talented team this year but like the past two seasons we lack size. Our league is one of the toughest in the state with three teams rated in the top ten in the state. On any given night we can beat them as we proved it last year. In fact, the two teams that played for the Class D state championship last year we beat them both.

One of the joys I have in coaching is working with young adults that have a passion for the game of basketball. I'm talking about the kid who has to be pulled in at night to go to bed because he/she is outside shooting; and I love it when I see a kid shoveling snow in the winter so he/she can shoot. Most of them are gym rats too. They are always wanting to work out to improve their game and do not have to coerced to work on their game. I'm looking for a player like that now but so far I only see it in one of our JV players.

Next Up - Team Camp - July

Wow, three hot days (90 degrees) in the gym and dorms. By the end of the camp we had four players out of thirteen with some sort of injury keeping them from playing at various times.

There were a few surprises in the play from a couple of players and hopeful moments when our best players showed some of their new skills. However, we have a way to go this year. More so than any other year since I can remember.

Players are going to need to be serious in order for us to be successful. Serious in their workouts both at home and at school. Serious about going to another level with their play and that means get to a driveway, backyard, park or gym and play and work on skills.

Next Up - August Four Player Workouts

We had five players show up for our 4 player workouts. Not the ideal turn-out but we were able to see how some of our new offense will look with three of our starters.

There was a lot of conditioning done and hopefully some chemistry being built for this years team.

AAU?? - October 2010

I have written before my displeasure with many AAU run functions and do not like to get involved unless I go watch my players play on a team. This past 6 weeks I helped (little) a team with two of my players on the team.

Fortunately the head coach and other assistant coach are very good and know basketball. More importantly they wanted the girls to learn and have fun. That combination allowed the girls to go undefeated in their league play and to win the season ending tournament. By the way I am not in the picture.

November 8th, 2010

Season Begins!!

Tryouts were different this year because we ran a combined group of 9th - 12th graders. The coach organized it well and it ran better than expected. There were some very hard decisions to make because in order to have three teams some players may not be on the team they feel they deserved but I feel each team will be competitive.

First Game - December 2nd

Updated 12/3/10 - Win 1st game but ...

It was nice to win our season opener last night. It did not come without some drama and heartache especially for one of our starters who was unable to play because of a face mask she was wearing did not meet state rules.

The other team did not have one of their starters either and this player is highly recruited and the team is rated in the top twenty in the state.

We will be playing multiple state rated teams this year and each week will be a challenge. I would not want it any other way.

Updated 12/10/10 - Win 2nd game but ...

It's nice to be 2-0 but I'm still concerned about some player's shooting and too many reaching fouls which means we are not moving feet and trying to steal dribbles when we should be keeping people in front of us.

Monday we play our cross town rivals. We have not played them in three years so I hope the rivalry starts up again with a good game.

Updated 12/22/10 - First Loss

It sure isn't hard to predict the success for this year's team. We have known all along that if our starters get in foul trouble we are more than likely to lose.

That is what happened our last game. Three of our starters got in early foul trouble and did not play but 4 minutes in the second quarter and hardly at all in the third quarter where we were outscored 15 - 3.

We had a 10 point lead in the first quarter and led at half 23 - 17. The final was 50 - 40 with us putting them on the line for the last 2 minutes of the game.

Tough loss but if that game did not wake up our starters to stop creating stupid fouls then nothing will.

Next we play in a Christmas Tournament with three really good teams. Until then have a Merry Christmas.

Updated 12/29/10 - Christmas Tournament

We played in a nice Christmas tournament against two quality teams. We lost our first game that has a very good player who we could not contain the whole game and we lost. We also learned that our press breaker and ball handling need more work. This team won the tournament

We rebounded the next day for a nice win against a well coached team from up north. We have yet to have a good game by all of our starting five. Our most consistent player is not one of our top scorers but her hustle and defense has been very good each game.

We start league play Tuesday against the number two rated team in the state in the Class D. We also have the defending state champion in Class D (rated # 1) in our league. I look forward to playing these teams twice this year.

Updated 1/2/11 - Poster Pics & Shoot
Each year we do a poster of the girls on the team in different situations and themes. This year we had fun in the classroom where the setting took place. The theme "We Have Something to Prove"
Here is a Pic and a Video Link:

Updated - 1/6/11

Our first League game was against a highly rated team that beat us soundly in the 4th quarter. Prior to that we hung around most of the game even though our shot percentage was the worst in recent memory (credit to opponents Defense).

It is still hard for me to comprehend why some of our girls are not playing to potential. The best I can hope for is we peak by season end.

Updated - 1/11/11 - Two Big Wins
We won a good game last Friday night with all the girls getting to play some good minutes. Last night we beat the number 1 rated team in Class D in our state. They are the defending champions that happen to play in our league and now the team that replaces them is also in our league.

I heard many comments on our defense and how hard the girls are working. Defense won the game for us plus some great team scoring by many players between 8 & 11 points.
Next we play a new team to our league that has a 6'4 and 6'2 post players.

Updated - 2/3/11 - Above 500
It has been a few weeks since my last update. Our record now stands at 8 wins 5 losses. We have our last league game Friday night and Catholic League Playoffs start next Tuesday. The last two years we have been eliminated in the first round. Prior to that we won the title two years in a row.

If we are healthy we have a good chance to advance with the proper match ups. Our team leadership and chemistry is still strong and that is a tribute to the coach and our captains.

Updated 2/9/11 - Two Wins

We won our last two games and the 1st game of the Catholic League Playoffs. Injuries and sickness are causing some minor discomfort but we really need everyone to be healthy soon before the state tournament.

School Fight Song has been ringing through the bus rides -

Updated 2/23/11 - Last week of Regular Season

This week we have back to back games because of the snow earlier this week causing a snow day from school. Both games will be physical and the best defensive team will win. Next week start the State Playoff and our first game is on Monday.

Our record now stands at 12 - 6. I am very pleased because we are an undersized team that usually wins when we match up in size but have great difficulties if our opponent has two or three 6' girls.

Updated 2/28/11 - State Tournament starts tonight

We lost one and won one last week. The moral of the week is to not play back to back games. We won our first game but ran out of legs in the 2nd. Our season record is 13 -7.

We should win our first game tonight which sets up a game Wednesday night against our arch rivals. I should not be looking ahead but I am!

Updated 3/5/11 - District Champs!

Its been three years since I was able to print District Champs. We won our first game easily that set up a game against our rivals that did not disappoint a packed crowd in our gym. It was a game that makes March Madness so special. The teams battle hard and we came out on top at the end. I really respect our crosstown rivals. They are well coached and have a lot of class.

Our district championship game was not a fluid display of basketball. But it's like the coach says does not matter at this time of the year how we won, just that we win. I'm so proud for our two senior captains.

Next up Regionals!

Updated 3/10/11

We won Tuesday's game by a good margin and the team we are playing tonight beat the team they played by even a wider margin.

We are definitely the underdog in tonight's game but if we play our defensive game and give effort for 32 minutes we can win.

After an away victory the girls always sing the Moose song (led by Bert).

This is a tradition and most of the girls on this team don't know the story of Fred the Stinky Moose. So here is a write-up from a few years back.
www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=11874839&postID=116023562163391612

Updated 3/12/11

We played hard but the other team was better. Nothing to complain or cry about because it was a total team effort and the girls played well enough to beat most teams, just not this one.

It's time to say goodbye to our two seniors which is always the hardest thing to do as a coach. Developing players for three and four years develops a strong bond that I hope will last a lifetime.

We finished 17 - 8.

Updated 3/25/11

Good Food Good Time Great Team!

Stupid Bonus Questions on Tests for Students

Teachers that won't grade appropriately to what they are trying to teach are doing a huge disservice to their students.

I'm not a big believer in grades and when it comes to the methods by which some teachers grade and assign points is ludicrous.

The main reasons I suppose teachers use grades are to find out what the students have learned and how well teachers have communicated knowledge. In addition, it should be the main reason for self-improvement so that on-going continual improvement can be done.

Bonus points and award points given on a test that has nothing to do with the subject matter is WRONG! It's a cover-up for someone who may know their subject matter but can not teach it to others.

I've seen students pass because they know what was on TV the night before or can name the characters in some movie. This is shameful and must stop.
Heck why should a student learn just wait and answer some bogus question that hides the inadequacies of the teacher. Students won't complain but parents should.

If you want to give additional points for not going to bathroom or being on time then give them for conduct/participation, not for GRADES!


Don't even get me started about grading on the Bell Shaped Curve!!

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-was-walking-my-dogs-yesterday-and.html

2010 Most Searched on Topics

As 2010 comes to a close I would like to thank the 35,000 plus visitors to my Blog this past year (up 12,000+ from last year). I hope the information I have provided has been useful and thought provoking.

As I look over the stats the following are the most searched on topics within my site for 2010:

1) Employee Goals & Objectives - 4th year in a row

2) Education

3) Quality Tools & Techniques (Especially SIPOC Analysis)

4) Leadership

5) Student Mentoring

What I find most interesting is that "Employee Goals and Objectives" is not one of my main labels and the hits are world wide and not just in one area like the United States or India.

Employee Goals & Objective continue to be the most misunderstood of all Management and Employee Tools. They remain a once, twice or four times a year exercise in futility that brings no meaning to employee or boss all the way up the corporate ladder.

One should click on my Label for Dr. Deming to learn from the Master about Employee Goals and Objectives.
http://qualityg.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20W.Edwards%20Deming

How sad that open communication and trust can not be tolerated in the workplace. People with numbers who have no sense of "Predictability" (Number One Skill of a Manager)and continue to Tamper with both human and corporate systems.

Below are some Links to some of my more popular posts on this subject:

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2008/10/evaluating-team-effectiveness.html

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2008/07/team-goals-and-objectives.html

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/2006/02/quality-tooltechnique-systems-thinking.html

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/search/label/SIPOC%20Analysis

http://qualityg.blogspot.com/search/label/Dream%20Mentor

Thank You and Best Wishes for a New Year!

qualityg

QUALITY RESOLUTION – 2011 --> "INNOVATION"

It amazes me the conventional wisdom still found among many managers and companies to the saying

“If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It”

This is so absurd and I can’t begin to tell you how many people believe in this nonsense.

You might as well say

“Innovation Not Welcomed Here”

It’s not like leaders don’t understand this concept; they just won’t do it because it takes time to innovate. It takes time to define an aim for a company; time takes long-term planning and dedication. Those skills are no longer an asset to today’s leaders. They get paid to increase the value of the stock in short-term dollars.

Stockholders really don't care if a company goes out of business. They just want to make quick money and then sell out their shares before the company goes out of business.
This way of thinking is disastrous. Who remembers the buggy whip? There was nothing wrong with the buggy whip, it was a good tool, in fact a perfect tool that did not evolve or get innovated when the automobile was created.

Ask a young car mechanic about carburetors? Huh? However, They do know about fuel injection systems.

With each innovation comes a paradigm shift. The Swiss almost took themselves out of the watch making business when the quartz watch was created.

How about IBM? They almost lost it all when they refused to follow the innovation that led to the personal computer.

I could go on, but how about changing your paradigm this year.

Define an aim for your company, continue to innovate, be bold do something right in 2010.

Remember information is not knowledge.

qg says … "Data + Information + Application = Knowledge"

and
"Knowledge + Listening = Wisdom"

So again if you hear, The question should not be

"Is it wrong, or if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but rather,

is it best, and can it get better"

Leadership - "Be Humble, Be Confident"

One should remain humble until those they are dealing with cross the line of rudeness, ignorance and lack of knowledge in the subject matter they claim to have mastered.

Humility provides an aura of self-confidence and respect that gives others the opportunity to express themselves without fear or "humiliation" from those who claim to have all the answers and make decisions based on hierarchy because they can.

One cannot and should not consider himself/herself a servant-leader without this leadership characteristic. If one sees humility as something less than adequate or a weakness, it is the same person who bullies and drives fear into their social environment because of title and position. How sad.

Being a humble leader allows others to take control of their lives. Leaders who cannot be humble are those that wish to control everything and everybody within their reach.

Being confident does not mean you are "entitled". I dislike that word. I'm entitled to nothing except what I have accomplished and recognized for in the eyes of others. That I humbly accept.

I just received a nice award last week at a state conference. I humbly accepted the award and I'm confident that why I received the award I will continue to do and to do it better each day.