Scratch my back and I will scratch yours!

Hoyas Michelle Rodriguez and TeamXpress Meighan Simmons in New Orleans.




I got a call from a coach that triggered a trip down memory lane:

• Charlie Harper, Lady Rohawks Head Coach, called and asked me if I knew any power forwards or centers that would like a scholarship to a Division 2 school in New Mexico. I told him I would think about it and put some feelers out. I then checked my email and saw that his wife, Lorraine, had already emailed the coaches' contact info and solicitation of a player to fill its roster. I also noticed that Lorraine had CC'd fellow club coaches in an effort to help kids other than Rohawks.

I then thought back to when the Harpers did the same thing about a month ago

• OLLU was looking for a versatile big to help start its brand new program. The head coach reached out to the Harpers since he had recruited Lady Rohawk players in the past at a different school. Sure enough, the Harpers forwarded the news to Jeff Willems, Administrator of the SA Comets Elite. Willems made sure that Madison High standout, Alicia Crump answered the call and she is now attending OLLU on a basketball ride.

While remembering this scenario, I recalled my first time meeting Jeff Willems. We were at a fall league game and had an extensive conversation about basketball in general. During the convo, he mentioned that he had helped numerous kids financially and to keep him in mind if I knew of kids who needed help in the future. While we conversed he spoke to Jim Noland. Fast forward months later and Jim Noland sent me an email.

• Koby Cantu, Director and Head Coach of the SA Heat asked his general manager, Jim Noland to shoot me an email. Mr. Noland sent an email notifying me that a Division 2 school in Texas was desperately seeking a skilled post player. Mr. Cantu also sent an email about a Kansas JC that was offering full financial assistance to a skilled big for the upcoming season. I could not help but notice that the Heat had sent this email to close to 100 coaches.

As I sat back and thought about this cooperation among rival clubs, I remembered further:

• Mike Heineman helped Camille Washington get a ride to school. That's great right. The interesting thing is that Mike would not know Camile if she came up and introduced herself to him. Mike played ball at Wisconsin back in the 80's. He is from the basketball hotbed of rural Indiana, where basketball is almost as important as water. Long story short, I now coach Mike's daughter. Mike has a friend who is now coaching at Oklahoma Pan Handle State. Coach Rick Dessing called me about a point or combo guard. I immediately recalled that Camille Washington had not yet secured a ride. Washington is a very skilled 2009 guard out of Austin. She played club ball with TeamXpress and hurt her knee during her senior year,leaving her without a school to matriculate to. A few phone calls and video tapes later, Camille is getting ready to move to Oklahoma to play ball and get an education.

This spirit of cooperation was continued at scrimmage recently.

• SA Finest is traveling to Oklahoma for a national event. The SA Finest Coach has called out the best 2013 team in the city, Schertz Jaguars, on numerous occasions. The once balanced rivalry has been dominated by the Jags over the past year. The often heated battle involves parents, players and coaches. In preparation for Oklahoma, The Finest asked if the Jags could come out for a scrimmage. They did! It was beeeaaaauuutiful! Some of the best middle school players in the city engaged in a spirited scrimmage in the hope of helping the Finest represent well against foreign opponents. No sparring between the coaches, no bragging among the parents; just basketball for the sake of helping each other get better. It was a sight to see! To top it off, the Finest coach own daughter played with the Jags. AGAINST HER DAD! And she loved it, even though it made her dad ill to see her rocking the Jags uniform against his squad. Tim Calvert and Pops Lambert of the Jags did not have to go that route. They put SA ahead of any rivalry or he-said she-said.

All these teams recruit against each other for the same players. They all strive to field the best team possible and inevitably step on each others toes. These are just a few examples of when the adults who are directing children, put competition aside for the sake of those we all swear to guide.

Big 12 Matchups with SA Ties

The Big 12 has released its schedule and it features numerous match ups between San Antonio kids. Texas Tech( Ashlee Roberson), Oklahoma(Lyndsey Cloman), Missouri(Breanna Brock and Christine Flores), Kansas( Monica Engleman) will face each other at some point this season. Some key dates follow:

1-17-10 Missouri at Kansas

1-20-10 Kansas at Oklahoma

1-9-10 Texas Tech at Oklahoma

1-17-10 Missouri at Kansas

1-9-10 Texas Tech at Oklahoma

2-10-10- Kansas at Texas Tech

Hoyas Coach Chimes in on Fit

South Texas Hoyas Coach, Theresa Nunn sent this:

I enjoyed your blog on fit! I couldn't agree with you more, and I feel it was much needed! I typically get kids that a lot of people "don't want" or they want after they've developed to their "standards".I'll give a few examples from within my program which have been great success stories,all because they were in the right "FIT":

* A 6'1- 2010 player from a talent-rich high school program who barely was able to see the floor (she had suffered an ACL tear at the beginning of the season) came to my program in the latter part of the season.Now we were the right "FIT" for her, because quite frankly,I don't believe she would have made the "top team" of any other club organizations in San Antonio. She rode the bench most of the year. She comes from a great family and is a very hard worker, what more could a coach ask for? Keep in mind that this young lady had never received any communication in any form from ANY college at any level, so it was a blessing when I received a call from a Division 1 HEAD coach stating that they had seen her play and "fell in love with her" and wanted to schedule an official visit as soon as possible! Now this "bench warmer" is in the position to possibly receive a full scholarship from a D1 school,and it was hopefully aided by the fact that she was in the right "FIT" for her situation, and able to get on the floor!

*A 6'2-2012 player didn't pick up a basketball until a year and a half ago, and was raw as all can be. She came to me with 2 left feet, and her mother stated that "no one wanted her",even the current players on my team were scratching their heads like "coach, what are you doing?" But this young lady had the dedication and HEART to put in many days of individual work with me as well as get in condition for this demanding summer schedule. Now despite having a LONG way to go,she has blossomed into a beautiful,confident player because she was able to see minutes on the HOYAS top team. She has attracted her first ever college coach in which she has received a hand-written letter from (we all know there's a big difference in a letter & a hand-written),and today, I received a call from a D1 coach "very interested" in her,and are extending an OFFER (full scholarship) to play at the Division 1 level! Right Fit?

*A 6'1-2011 player who comes from a program that has her predominantly playing the post is on my "top team" and doing extremely well at the small forward position. It has taken some time because of what she's been accustomed to , however her strides are limitless.She has received over a dozen letters in just one month,and I have already received numerous calls regarding her playing the "3" for their programs. She has been able to showcase that through the right fit within my program, not the wrong fit on the 2nd or 3rd team of a program.

I also have to add,there is nothing more satisfying and rewarding, than to get off the phone with a college coach and immediately call the parents of the student-athlete and relay the contact information and details of the call to the family.To hear their joy of yet another opportunity, makes it all worth it.Knowing I am able to assist them with their recruiting process,even if that means being the messenger,is the equivalent to a National Championship to me!

This summer, we have played in the following NCAA exposure events:

*Cy Fair Spring Classic (Houston in April)
*Big State Flava Jam (Dallas in July)
*Showtime National Championships (Atlanta in July)
*Battle in the Boro (Tennessee in July)
*Basketball on the Bayou (New Orleans in July)
*Cen-Tex Invitational (Georgetown in July)
*Fall Finale (will play in October)

...Now I'm sure we've played the same amount,if not, more events than other clubs in the area. So what seperates us from them? FIT! Wherever the player and their parents feel will benefit their child more is where they're going to end up. Either way, whichever FIT is chosen, I would hope we are ALL serving the same purpose, which is Helping Our Youth Attain Scholarships!!!

Great article from Clay Kallam

Let the Girls Play

‘Timeout!"

The Warriors are down one, ten seconds to go, and just advanced the ball to halfcourt after the Elite hit a jumper.

Scenario One

The young coach pulls out the clipboard, and draws up a play.
"Sophie, you inbound. Jessica, down-screen for Tamika on the weakside block. Meanwhile, Angie, start in the far corner and come down the baseline. Ivory, you set the screen for Angie. So Sophie, you can look for Tamika coming to the top of the key, or Angie in the corner."
He looks around confidently. "Got it?"
Well, no, they don't. They've never practiced this play, and the odds of them running it well are slim and none. The only chance, though, is to go over it again, step-by-step.
But the coach thinks of something else. "Ivory, make sure you're set. Don't let the ref call you for an illegal screen." And then something else. "Sophie, look for the return pass after you inbound it. The defense will forget about you." And another thing. "Tamika, go left on this girl. She's been overplaying your right hand all game."
The outcome here is pretty obvious. The Warriors are not going to run this play. If they're lucky, two of the kids will, hopefully two who are supposed to be screening for each other. Sophie will get the ball inbounds, and if Angie or Tamika are good players, they'll create something and the Warriors might win.
But the Xs and Os will have had little to do with it. Remember that the best players in the world, 30-year-olds making lots of money, consistently fail to execute in pressure situations. Players will be left alone on inbounds plays. Dumb passes will be made. Screens will, or will not, be switched.
And yet, coaches of young girls will try to draw up an unfamiliar play in a 60-second timeout, and then get upset when their players don't do it right.

Scenario Two

The older coach pulls out the clipboard. "OK, we're going to run Illinois. Remember?" Everyone nods, because this is one of the Warriors' sideline out-of-bounds' plays.
"Once we get it in, we'll set up Princeton - that's the pick-and-roll for Tamika. Ivory, you'll set the screen. Here's where everyone else should be."
The players nod again. They have a pretty good idea of what's going on.
And then the other team goes into a 2-3 zone, which it hasn't played this half. The girls look over to the frustrated coach, but there are no more timeouts, and Angie winds up throwing up a prayer of a three at the buzzer.
Teams that rely too much on plays, too much on what the coach says to do, are always going to be vulnerable to the unexpected - and the girls on the team will be better play-runners than basketball players.

Scenario Three

The Elite hits that jumper, and the Warriors' coach doesn't say a word. The ball is inbounded to his point guard, who pushes the ball up the floor. The Elite defenders are fully aware of the situation, and as usual, one or two defenders try to do too much. They overshift to stop the point guard's penetration, and when she makes the pass to Angie on the weakside, she has a wideopen 15-footer.
Maybe it goes in, and maybe it doesn't. Maybe she makes the prayer against the zone, but which is the better shot? What scenario gives the Warriors the best chance to win? What scenario helps young basketball players develop more?
For parents, it's about minutes for their daughter, and winning. (They can excuse their daughter not playing as much as they'd like if the team wins; if it doesn't, then there's no excuse for what passes for the coaching staff.) For many coaches, it's about being a strategic genius, about having young people do what they're told and about accepting congratulations at game's end.
But what about the players? Shouldn't the girls be learning the lessons of sport, learning how to deal with pressure, how to succeed and (more important) how to fail? And what do they learn if they are merely automata, extensions of the coach's will and parental pressure?
To me, at least, the answers are obvious. Basketball is a players' game, and youth sports aren't about winning, but about learning and growing as individuals in a group framework.
Or to put it another way: Just let the girls play.

Interesting article on Lack of Fundamentals

Legendary College Coach, Hugh Durham gives his opinion on why fundamentals are lacking in today's game. The article is taken from the great site, collegeinsider.com


UNFAMILIARITY BREEDS INDIVIDUALISM
By Hugh Durham

I was a division I head coach for over thirty years and I witnessed many changes. One could probably come up with a lengthy list of the changes that have helped to make the game of college basketball, the exciting sport that it is today. But somewhere along the way one thing has become less important.

Have you ever heard of the concept of fundamentals?

Somewhere during the course of my career, fundamentals exited through the turnstiles. There are a number of players that display excellent fundamental play, but there are few “teams” that can boast a roster of these players. It’s an entirely different brand of basketball today. It’s a game fancy dribbling and high wire acts. That is what the kids saw on television, growing up, so it became their fabric.

The Sports Center showcase doesn’t focus on players that take charges, diving on the floor for a lose ball or the post player getting excellent position and then power dribbling to the basket.

Instead it’s about the around-the-back through-the-legs over-the-head pass or that nifty dunk. So many players today are more concerned with creating and “naming” new dunks then they are with executing an in-bounds play.

And how about all of this fancy dribbling? Any halfway decent player can play Houdini with the basketball. In fact a lot of kids can put on a dribbling exhibition, but they don’t know how to pass or shoot the basketball. It’s all about pizzazz today. You won’t find a lot of a crisp, solid passes on YouTube, but you will find plenty of basketball magicians.

Some will disagree with my assessment of today’s game, but it is a fact that fundamentals are lacking in our game today.

So who is to blame?

By no means can we lay this on the AAU coaches, as some have implied over the years. The fact of the matter is that the players are more physically developed and seasoned because of the AAU coaches.

The fact that dunks and a fancy handle are sensationalized on television and the Internet is a factor, but in my opinion it’s the summer structure has greatly contributed to the lack of fundamentals.

It wasn’t that long ago when players spent their summer practicing with their high school teammates. But now kids are playing 40 to 60 games over the summer, often with a new team every week.

Players gain valuable game experience, but it’s difficult to develop any type of chemistry and continuity when you are playing with a number of different players. And unfamiliarity breeds individualism.

It’s all about one-on-one or catch-and-shoot. This environment eliminates the development of fundamentals.

Like any sport, college basketball has evolved into a different game today. The tempo, intensity and excitement level are at a higher level than ever before. But pure athleticism has become the dominant force in the game.

Maybe I am just a throwback to a different era of coaching, but I am sure even the youngest of coaches would agree that something as simplistic as a good-solid pass into the post has become a lost art.

Random Thoughts!

• I was watching a tape of one of my favorite shows this morning when one of the shows characters said, " A police officer is as only as good as his informants". To which I immediately thought, " A coach is as only as good as his/her players".

• While picking the brain of the mother of Marioh Jefferson at this weeks event, I asked her how often she works on her individual game. She looked at me like I was crazy and said " EVERYDAY" with a chuckle. She went on to explain that she works with a personal trainer 3-4 times a week and "gets dropped off" at the gym every other day. In Mrs. Jefferson's words, " I cant keep her out of the gym". No wonder!

• I was speaking with a coach back home about why our top teams were having problems with top teams like DFW and Cy Fair Shock. I expressed that I thought that we were in the ball park in terms of talent. He explained the following." Those teams(Dallas/Houston) Class A players are pushed harder in high school games and club practices by their Class B and Class C players". He continued, " The best players from those cities are challenged by better second tier players than San Antonio has." He went on to suggest that the 10th best player in San Antonio is not nearly as good as the 10th best player in Dallas or Houston, so the best players have to play against inferior competition on a daily basis. This leaves our best players unconditioned for high competition in elite level match ups. I then thought about that. I saw Boo Williams point guard Chloe Wells grow up. I used to take my young daughter to her games to study her ways. I then thought that Chloe is not better than CeCe Harper, Meighan Simmons or LenNique Brown. She is a different player, but not better. I also remembered Chloe won AAU Nationals with her dads' BTR club that featured Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Lauren Engeln, Kelsey Harris, and another 10 future D1 kids. Point taken!

• Two SA players have been recently been offered by two of the best schools in the Big 12. Look out for the commits coming soon.

• Local teams winning national events include: SA Heat(Vorphal), Lady Hoops(Holmes)

• A great point by a reader, "The problem is not that we don't have top notch players, because we do. The problem is we do not have alot of them."

A Depressing End to Summer!

Two All Americans getting abused? No, toughened!

The Elite Summer season is now over and I admit that I am a little depressed. I had hoped that San Antonio was gaining on the nation in terms of basketball and it is apparent that that is not the case. I am not saying that SA is not continually getting better. What I am saying is that, we still have a very long way to go. This reality hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday.

Yesterday I saw the best club team in our area lose to some HS freshmen. I have taken darts for giving too much ink to TeamXpress but the attention has been valid. They have yet to be beaten by a local team over the past few years. That being said, it was TeamXpress Black that lost to the DFW 2012 team at the Cen Tex exposure event in the semifinals. While this is a not a story to some, it was disheartening to me. I have watched the Lady Rohawks and the Hoyas lose to 2012 and 2013 teams respectively this season. I am not sure how the Comets or Heat have fared against younger teams but I would bet that DFW 2012(beat Hoyas too) and US Westside Select 2013(beat Rohawks),both Dallas area teams, will beat them too. A few reasons why I feel that we are not on par with Dallas area teams and other regions in the country follow?

1. Toughness- For what ever reason(s), San Antonio is lacking nasty players. While we do have some players who have a mean streak ( Arielle Roberson is a favorite of mine), the city as a whole is not developing nasty players. When I say nasty, I mean fearless players that back down from no challenge and is mentally and physically ready battle. Players that thrive when the going gets tough and embrace competition. Now I will provide a couple excuses that I have heard as to why we are not producing nasty players.

a. Affluent Players- The story goes that all nasty(tough/fearless) players come from impoverished backgrounds and too many of our kids have it too good to be nasty. Sounds logical except one thing; Cal Swish just won the toughest tournament in the Nation with girls from the very impoverished community of Orange County, California (Sarcasm!!!).

b. High School Coaches- I have heard that it is the high school coaches who spoil and cater to the players. While this may the case in some instances, what does this have to do with the club coaches? Club coaches primary goal should be development(more on that later) and exposure. How can you develop an elite player without instilling a tough mindset that accompanies an elite skill set?

c. Parents- This excuse is probably the most valid. The excuse goes that parents will not allow players to be treated with stern discipline and expectations. Yelling at kids is considered verbal abuse by many parents. I have noticed that most of the tough kids have demanding parents who are not submissive. I could be totally wrong in this case but tough parents seem to raise tough ball players. Show me a child who runs all over and manipulates their parents and I will show you a mentally weak basketball player. If this theory of parental babying of players is valid, the question is, does San Antonio have more "soft" parents than other cities? Probably not.

(a side note: New york Exodus is one of the premier teams in the country. A local coach had a chance to view them at an exposure event this year. This coach said her players were surprised and shocked at how demanding Exodus coach, Apache Paschall was with his players. They said that they would not play for a man that yelled at them and pulled them from the game for turnovers and bad plays. It is no surprise that Apache has no less that 10 Division 1 players on his bench including Jelleah Sidney, Jennifer O'Neill, Bria Hartley.)

Another reason for the disparity continues:

2.Wrong Priorities- Club coaches in our area seem to cherish winning more than developing. I am contradicting myself a bit. My depression about the state of basketball in SA was brought on by local team losses to younger teams from Dallas. Now I am saying that it should not be about wins and losses. But, here is a fact that I heard Kansas coach Bill Self say at a clinic," 90% of the time, the team with the best players win". Following that premise, why are we not DEVELOPING the best players? Here are some reasons why.

a. Playing Down- I have seen coaches play players down in the name of chasing a trophy. I have seen a local coach have a 14 year old girl lie and say she is 12 in order to play in events. I have also seen teams play in divisions other than the top division and brag about winning it. THAT IS TOTALLY FINE IF YOUR GOAL IS WINNING BUT ELITE CLUBS SHOULD BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT FACING THE BEST COMPETITION.

b. Running Scared!- I have witnessed clubs forfeit rather than play teams that will beat them. This is unheard of in other parts of the country. To refuse to play a game because of the competition underscores everything that is wrong with our so called elite basketball. YMCA teams forfeit because of the need to protect the little hearts and feelings of the sweet babies. BUT FORFEIT IN ELITE CLUB BALL. Amazing!! Some clubs and coaches are more concerned about their reputation instead of preparing their kids for the big time. Elite freshmen play against elite seniors in college and high school. Candice Parker had to face Lisa Leslie in practice everyday last year. A rookie against a legend. CP3 was prepared for that because she has been playing up and not running from better players since she was a 7th grader.

c. Signed Seniors- I have seen local clubs play signed seniors in exposure events. This is contrary to the mission of elite basketball. These kids should should not be taking looks away from their teammates for the sake of winning.

And lastly.

3.Flawed Teaching- I have seen some truly flawed teaching this past season. Basketball players are supposed to get better during every club season. The high school coaches that are smart enough to support club ball do not care about club ball wins. They want their players to get better in order to help them win. College coaches can care less about a clubs pursuit of winning when it interferes with a recruits progress. Some disturbing things I have witnessed:

a. 100% Zone Defense- Cal swish just won Nike Nationals with a zone that shut down opponents. A zone can help you win because it exploits ineffective shooters. I am not against a zone defense. It is smart to play zone at times from a winning perspective and developmental one. A zone instills rules to defense and team work is a must. But, to play a zone exclusively is not developing players in a way that they need to be developed. A good portion of college programs play man defense and those that do not usually use a match up zone that entails man defense principles. Zones allow for weak defenders to hide. It also allows for coaches who have not taught defense to hide.

b. Too Many or Not Enough Sets- A good coach is known but his/her ability to adjust. The willingness and ability to adjust is an important ingredient that good coaches have. In order to adjust, a good coach must have the requisite knowledge in their repertoire to put their players in a position to progress and succeed. A good coach at the elite level will ensure that their players have the freedom and more importantly, the ability, to play basketball. Too many sets makes players robotic and renders them ineffective when the script does not go according to plan. At the same time, a coach should do just that; coach. Rolling the ball out and screaming play in not instilling the IQ needed by elite basketball players. Some type of set offense is needed at times since college programs utilize a number of sets. The ability to run a set is important. By not having the ability and flexibility to do both, handicaps players development. As the saying goes, "The same thing that will make you laugh will make you you cry." In other words, a strictly set driven team is predictable and lacks improvisational skills. It also stagnates players offensive ability as they are delegated to set roles at such an important age in their basketball development. On the flip side, teams that run no sets are usually ill prepared for crucial basketball scenarios. A shared basketball rule of thumb is to "ride the hot hand". A coach that does not have sets that will get his/her hot hand easy shots, is an incompetent coach.

c. Hugging Man Defense- We all have seen a team go to a 5-out offense and an ignorant defensive team hug the weakside defenders instead of being in the help position. The flaw with a lot of man defense coaches is they are just as lazy as all zone coaches. They yell to "keep her in front of you" without teaching angles, closeouts, weakside help, communication, and cutting the floor in half. Not many elite defenders can keep a proficient ball handler in front of them if the defender is on an island by themselves. Bruce Bowen is an ineffective defender if you isolate him at the top of the key and Tim Duncan is hugging his man 20 feet away from the basket. With no help, Bruce is in trouble. This type of defense is also susceptible to hard basket cuts as the defense is not in the right position to protect the basket.

In conclusion, I have no conclusion. I am frustrated by my unreasonable expectations. I wanted to see SA shine on a national stage but we are having difficulties beating(producing better players) teams that are a few year younger than our best teams and players. I will share this:

I knew that TeamXpress Black was going to beat DFW 2012. I predicted that they would win by 5 points. Uninformed readers must know this. DFW 2012 features a kid(Moriah Jefferson) that has offers(not letters)from Tennessee, Oklahoma and Baylor to name a few. It also has another kid that has already committed to Oklahoma(Courtney Walker). I would not be exaggerating to say that the entire starting five of DFW 2012 will play for Top 50 programs. They are good! But, I felt that TeamXpress Black zone defense would give them trouble. I was wrong. This young(I wrongly thought undisciplined) team picked the zone apart. They exploited the 3-2 zone where it is most most vulnerable, weakside and the middle. They cut, skipped passed and penetrated gaps until the 3-2 had to be scrapped for a 2-3 zone. When they got a significant lead, they pulled the ball out and went to a delay game and dared Black to come out of the zone. When Black did come out of the zone, in an attempt to intentionally foul , it became a dribbling exhibition by DFW. They hit shots when they needed to, they got loose balls, they were patient when called for. I was hurt. I had expected this "undisciplined" team to fold. They did not. The beat the most disciplined team in the city at their own game. All while playing two years up. They were skilled, smart and tough. Simply put, they were better.

I guess Bill Self was right, the team with the best players win 90% of the time. Until we change our mindsets and our training/coaching methods, we will continue to produce inferior players and lose to superior teams. That sucks!