Players with a Purpose!

Here is a brief email about a great foundation started by a young San Antonio basketball player. It encourages community involvement and charity among young athletes. Please take a look and get involved in some manner!

Just wanted to share an exciting new adventure and opportunity for our basketball players! Avery Queen, with San Antonio Finest, has started a non-profit organization that encourages kids to do community service called Players with a Purpose. You can check out her website at www.playerswithapurpose.org. She also has a blip on you tube - www.youtube.com/missqueen33

Players with a Purpose is structured to provide ideas and to encourage kids to do community service projects. We recognize their efforts by posting their accomplishments on the website, providing an official certificate that documents their community service activities, and once they receive Team Leader status, they also receive a tshirt. She wants all kids to get involved and participate in community service!

Right now, Schriener College and Trinity are competing against each other in a shoe drive to collect gently used athletic shoes from the athletes before they go home for the summer....we will donate them to kids in schools that do not have the luxury of purchasing these items to play their sport!

Avery or one of our Council Leaders would love to come and visit with your players - or if you have one particular player that this project seems to be a fit for, we can designate a team spokesperson to encourage team mates to get involved.

If you are interested, you can visit the following site and send an email and we will get back in touch with you!

Rae Queen
www.playerswithapurpose.org

Finally Getting Love!

LenNique Brown is well known and regarded in SA. What has been missing is the National respect. Not anymore! Hoopgurlz wrote the following about the Wagner High school point guard:

Good things can come in small packages, especially if you covet speed and quickness. Len'nique Brown of San Antonio, Texas is bursting at the seams with speed and quicks. She is shifty with the ball and accelerates from stop to full speed as well as anyone. She has a knack for slipping into the smallest seems in the defense and rarely loses her balance, allowing her to keep her eyes on the action and ready to make a play. She has figured out that attacking the defenders' hips allows her to open the defense up on her first move. As a break-down point guard, she is fantastic and her aggressive, feisty play on defense negates a lot of the size issue.

The TeamXpress back court received more than it's share of ink from Hoopgurlz with the following assessment Nationally Top 10 Ranked, Meaghan Simmons:

Meighan Simmons can flat out play. The Cibolo, Texas native is a fierce defender and has no problem carrying her team to the finish line. She plays with an intensity that you can read on her face with her trademark scowl. She does a great job threatening the defense with jab-steps to create space and she elevates high and releases quick on a shot that is good to 20-feet or more. The TeamXpress star may not have prototypical size for a shooting guard at 5-8, but that's not stopping all the big dogs from recruiting her.

Everyone knows how strong the 2010 class is in San Antonio and Hoopgurlz has taken notice. This gives the total of 4 San Antonio kids featured on the site. Brown, Simmons, Jessica Kuster and Stephanie Whitman. Whitman,ranked as the 11th best guard in the Nation by Hoopgurlz, is rehabbing from a knee injury and should be returning to TeamXpress before the summer evaluation period.

HEATing up!

Congrats to the SA Heat for winning the Sponsored Division of the prestigious Deep South Classic. The Heat played and won the equivalent of the Bronze Division last year and moved up to the Silver Division this year. Team sources say that they will play in the Top Division in July and try to make it 3 for 3.

More exciting, is the love that Jessica Kuster is getting. The following is from ESPN Hoopgurlz:

At 6-2, Jessica Kuster has height and wingspan but a slim build, which means she's got to be in motion to make an impact on offense. In fact, Kuster comes alive around the ball, going to the floor to retrieve it, using her elastic arms to keep it in play off the glass. The forward out of San Antonio, Texas, has decent body control and lift in the lane, if not outright explosiveness. That helps her influence the game mostly at the defensive end, blocking and altering shots. Once in a while she intrigues with nice-looking, eight- to 10-foot jumpers from the baseline and elbow regions. When her offense catches up with her defense, Kuster will have a shot at being wooed by Duke, what her father and coach describes as her dream school. Coming from a military family, she is not afraid to travel.

It is always good to see SA kids getting national attention. Kuster was recently named to the SA Superteam and recently led her Reagan Rattlers to their best season ever. I must brag that I received some flak by some for ranking her so high last preseason. Now that Hoopgurlz has certified her official, now maybe she can get the respect she deserves.

Thanks to the Heat and Jessica making sure San Antonio continues to make noise on the National Stage.

American Recession

HBO Real Sports aired a pointed criticism about the quality of basketball that America is producing. The special went on to discuss the reason(s) that Europe and other countries are surpassing America in terms of developing our young basketball players. Many critics have voiced their opinion on this subject and now it is my turn.

Like most lessons in life, I learned mine the hard way. Like a baby learning to walk by constantly falling down, I fell on my bottom and it hurt. Like a child learning to ride a bike, I crashed to the pavement without knee pads and a helmet. My head hurts! Or at least, that is what it feels like with the whipping that I took Friday night. The chastiser was not a school principle's paddle(for those of you old enough to remember school discipline) or my father's belt. This whipping came at the hands of some teenage Japanese girls and it hurt my feelings more than any corporal punishment could have.

BJ League, Palo Verde Holdings, and Sports Vault in cooperation with TeamXpress brought a Japanese National team of 13-15 year old girls to Austin last week. The Japanese team won a National tournament among 750 teams for the right to play in this event. To my dismay, the event was shown live via the Internet on StarVisionTv.com. I will never be the same.

I arrived at the gym at 5pm for the 7:30 game. To my surprise, the Japanese team was already at the gym and was warming up. When I say warming up, I mean WARMING UP! These young ladies were doing intensive defensive slides, dynamic stretches, full court sprints, box out drills, unique flexibility exercises and rapid fire shooting for 2 hours strait. BEFORE THE GAME! I yelled at my wide eye 12-13 year olds to not watch what the opposition was doing and ignore their constant cohesive chants in their native tongue. I told them to concentrate on our warm up and show no fear. Yeah right! I was admiring the discipline, focus and energy these little girls were displaying 2 hours BEFORE tip off.

My scouting report was on point if I may say so. I viewed the game they played the day before against an All-Star collection of girls from Houston. Houston is a hotbed of talent on the girls basketball scene. The Houston coaches brought a few 6'0 plus 15 year old to show the Japanese kids how to play. Yeah, it sounded good! The Houston team gave up 90 plus points to this team. One of the Japanese players hit 12 three pointers and had 40 points against them. Their best player went for 25 and constantly penetrated into the paint. With this knowledge, I stayed up all night making sure my scouting report was to the T. "Do not let the three point shooter touch the ball", I said. "Forget sound defensive help position and face guard her." "DO NOT HELP AND STAY WITH HER!" My report said that we should get the ball out of the the net and inbound it fast. Their press was impressive. "Lets inbound the ball before they set up", I preached. We work on this all the time in practice so I was confident; for about the first 3 minutes of the game that is. That pressure was so intense it was ridiculous. Never mind that I prepared my girls by playing 6 games against boys last month. Long story short, a 40 point thrashing was the result. I'm still embarrassed!

Some interesting things that I observed and learned from that game include:

• These kids practice 4-6 hours a day, six days a week. They were not more individually talented than my girls but were so much more skilled. All that practice allowed for them to move as one single unit. It is torture getting American players to show up for 2-3 practices a week.Their mental toughness was evident as I was informed that their marathon practice sessions are conducted in gyms with no luxuries like air conditioning and heat. Their press really made me feel like one of the coaches that had to face UNLV's Amoeba defense in the early 90's. Helpless!

• Their coach did not even sit on the bench with them. He sat a few roles above them and gave commands like a military leader. His commands were immediately implemented. These players showed a deferential respect for their coach. No parents were coaching from the sideline. His voice was the only voice. More amazing was the fact that he did not supervise his team the 2 hours that they warmed up. He was on the other side of the gym watching another game. These teenage girls policed themselves and made sure that they were ready to play.

• The players were relentless! Besides the 2 hour pregame routine, I found out that they had already practiced for a few hours that morning! These players swarmed my players with active hands. They obviously are allowed to hand check and grab a lot in their country and this allowed them to be the aggressor. They are Hitters! I heard Michigan St. Coach Tom Izzo say that there are two types of players, hitters and avoiders. These players hit. They crashed the boards like Little Dennis Rodmans. They embraced contact.

• They are smart! All the repetition makes the game easy for them.If you sag on defense, they all can shoot the NBA range jumper. When you take the jumper away, they dribble in straight lines and get to the rim. If you deny passes and over play, they backdoor like a Pete Carril team. They move without the ball using a 5-Out open post offense. They use flare screens, wing exchanges, down screens, double screens and misdirections. Their man defense was almost rhythmic. They moved as one. They will allow you to shoot the three(as one of my players went 5 for 10 for three point range) but realize that long shots equate to long rebounds. They double down on the post players like killer bees. A great coach once said that "a good man defense looks like a zone defenseand a good zone defense looks like a man defense". They took that philosophy to heart with the way they helped off of the ball. They run like crazy since they play with a shot clock.

As you can see, I was thoroughly impressed. I will admit that my team is young and is finding it's identity since losing my best player but we are a good team. We immediately drove from the thrashing to an event in Houston and lost in the championship game to girls two years older. A few girls that we played in Houston already made their varsity teams as freshmen. This Japanese team was just that good.

I think the dedication and attention to fundamentals that other countries are undertaking will continue to expose American players. Here is a few examples.

• Why is a kid that finished her High School season in March, already playing club ball in April? I am as guilty as any since I am a club ball coach and this is our system in America but this makes no sense. What happened to getting better in the off season through resting your battered body, lifting weights and working on your individual skill set. If Micheal Jordan rested, strength trained and added things to his games in the off season, why are our girls not following the same pattern. It worked for him.

• Where is little miss Larry Bird that shoots thousands of shots a day? Where is the Lady Magic that dribbles a basketball everywhere? The answer she is texting her friend or monitoring her Facebook or something.The fact of the matter is that if she wanted to shoot for hours, would her high school coach make her gym available? What happened to great players having keys to the gym and shooting all night.

• Why so many games? Does a piano player perform in more recitals than she practices. No, she practices until her fingers ache and hones her craft. She then goes out and displays to the world that she has practiced until she was ready to showcase her hard work.

• We don't develop bigs like other countries. Detlef Schrempf, Dirk Nowitzki, Hedo Turkoglu and Yao Ming are just a few of the bigs that have been able to play away from the basket and shoot with consistency. American coaches pigeonhole our young bigs by dumping them into the paint and restricting their development.

In the following video from HBO REAL SPORTS, Coaching great John Thompson speaks about the European Players being the new Black players. He is referring to the historic transition of the game of basketball going from predominately white players to black players. He goes on to say that the European players are displacing the Black players because of their dedication to the sport. I am reminded of an interesting thing that I read in Pete Carril's book, 'The Smart Take from the Strong'. Coach Carril goes on to state that poor Jewish ball players were dominating the game in the early 40' and 50's in his neighborhood. It was not the fact that they were Jewish that made them good ball players but the fact that they used basketball as a means to an end. Just like Black players have used basketball to better their position in life and get educations, the Jewish players of old did the same thing. The European players are hungry. They work constantly on improving their games and as a result, they have closed the gap on America. Race has nothing to do with success in basketball. In my ignorance, I failed to educate myself on how advanced the Japanese basketball scene was. Whether you are White, European, Jew, Black or Japanese, the fact remains that the nothing substitutes for passion, hard work and education. Americans have to learn to work hard and smart if we are to remain in our place as the best basketball players in the world. After seeing what I saw on Friday and understanding how hard others work, I think we may never be able to hold that crown again. Share it, yes. Own it, probably not. Not when others are working while we are resting. Indeed, THE SMART TAKE FROM THE STRONG!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2ztwdtwNnI

SA making noise in Houston!

San Antonio basketball clubs represented the city well this past weekend in Houston at the CY-Fair Shock event.

• TeamXpress went 14-4 as an organization. The Gold Team 14u played up one grade and lost in the Championship to the Houston Insiders. They came back with a record of 3-2. TeamXpress White 15u team finished 3-0 and won the championship! The average margin of victory over 20 points. The TeamXpress Blue 16u team went 3-1 and lost to #7 ranked team in the nation, Cy-Fair Nike Shock. TeamXpress Black went 5-1 in the top bracket. Their only lost came in a forfeit due to injuries. LenNique Brown put on a show. She made a case of being the best point guard in the event and arguably the best player.

• SA Comets Elite won the Bronze Division! The Comets lost their first two games and was moved to the bronze division where they ran the table. The Comets have a very formidable front line of Sune Agbuke(6'4), Kathryn Galindo(6'2) and Victoria Willems(6'2). They should make noise the rest of the summer while playing on the Mike T. White circuit.

• South Texas Hoyas went 2-1 and represented well. The Hoyas won their first game by 50 points and their second game by 6 points to a good Houston Cobra team. The Hoyas were eliminated in the Gold Division bracket play by TeamXpress Blue. The Hoyas got a strong showing from guard Shana Holmes and forward Serena Reyes. Reyes averaged 7 blocks in three games.

• Lady Roadrunners went 0-3. The Lady Roadrunners were placed in a tough pool and was eliminated in the first round of the Bronze division by the SA Comets elite. Its unfortunate that they had to play another SA team while in Houston. The Roadrunners got strong play from Katie Korioth. The high scoring guard from Canyon held more than her own.

It was good to see that San Antonio's clubs are taking their talent to other parts of the country to showcase it's talents and improve the quality of play in San Antonio.

San Antonio teams will be well represented in Houston on April 16-19 during the NCAA exposure period. The CyFair Classic will have:

Lady Rohawks, South Texas Hoyas, Comets Elite, Schertz Jaguars, SA Finest, Lady Mustangs

The TeamXpress organization will be in Vegas at the Adidas Spring Classic West.

The SA Heat will be in the Mike T. White North Carolina event.

TeamXpress Gold plays in International Event

San Antonio based TeamXpress Gold is playing an international event in Austin on Friday, April 3rd. TeamXpress gold will face a team of Japanese players at Austin Bowie High school at 7:30pm. The event is sponsored by adidas and BJL Professional Basketball League. The game will be carried live online at StarVisionTV.

UTSA almost shocks the world!

The UTSA Women's Basketball team almost made history. No #15 seed has ever beaten a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the Lady Roadrunners came extremely close. The eventual loss in overtime was a great showing on the national stage and should do wonders for recruiting. The main topic of discussion by the announcers was the play of UTSA guards, Monica Gibbs and Amber Gregg.

Gregg finished with 23 points and Gibbs ended up with 16. Coach Fran Franshilla spent a considerable amount of time talking about how strong the two guards were with dribble penetration. The UTSA backcourt wreaked havoc on the Baylor defense by constantly attacking. Franschilla mentioned a very obvious strategy in guarding Southland Conference Player of the Year, Gibbs. He repeatedly encouraged the Bears defense to force Gibbs to her right hand. Any UTSA basketball fan or observer will know that Gibbs favors her left hand. Franschilla continuously praised Gibbs and her ability,but questioned the Baylor strategy of not forcing Gibbs to her right . Here are a few thoughts on that:

-Gibbs Can Play- Monica Gibbs can play. Every Division 1 coaching staff in the country has numerous assistant coaches on its staff. These coaches are responsible for providing scouting reports of future and potential opponents. Video, TIVO, Internet Streamlining, and many technological advances ensure that there are no secrets at that level. You can be sure that the Baylor coaching staff had thoroughly scouted the Lady Roadrunners and their strategy included forcing Gibbs to her right hand. The problem with that plan is that, Gibbs has spent more time working on her left hand than the Bears defense has spent on forcing her right. To say Gibbs is athletic is an understatement. At 5'10, she jumps center and wins tips on a frequent basis. She reportedly runs in the 50 second range in the 400 meters and has been rumored to dunk on occasions. I do not know if that is true but I saw how the easily she blew by the Baylor guards and imposed her will. Admittedly, she did not have the best shooting night but if a few more of her forays to the basket were finished, the Bears season would have been over. Every NBA team during the late 80's and early 90's knew that Michael Jordan favored his right hand when driving. They also knew that he loved to get to the elbows and elevate for his jumper. This so-called knowledge did little to help them stop Jordan. Great players impose their will and Gibbs showed the basketball world that she is a great college basketball player.

-Rae Rippetoe-Blair can coach- For those of you who do not know, Leon Barmore (assistant Women's Basketball Coach at Baylor) is a coaching legend. He still holds the NCAA record for best winning percentage and is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Baylor Coach, Kim Mulkey was unfortunately hospitalized for the game against UTSA and Barmore took over. Mulkey, also a member of the Womens' Basketball Hall of Fame, left her team in the hands of a legend. Coach Rippetoe-Blair had her team ready for the upset. Coach Blair ran her usual sets of high pick and roles to help free Gibbs but also ran the Dribble Drive Motion. The DDM, made famous by the Memphis Men's Basketball team, was originated by Vance Walberg and capitalizes off of players that can put the ball on the floor and create. Coach Blair incorporated this offense to use the strengths of Gibbs and Greggs to get to the basket. One of the philosophies of the offense is , 3's or dunks. The offense is designed to open up the driving lanes for finishes at the rim or wide open 3 pointers. UTSA sophomore sharpshooter, Jordan Starks, excelled in this game because of her ability to hit from deep and Coach Blair putting her in a position to succeed. The ironic thing is that Commentator/Coach Franschilla has a version of the DDM himself and yet I barely heard a mention of how well UTSA ran this offense to almost upset Baylor. Coach Blair, Southland Conference Coach of the Year, and her staff did a great job in preparing her kids. On that night, she matched wits with a legend and more than held her own. Blair did a wonderful job of adjusting her system to fit her players. She does not have a dominant post, no disrespect to Onika Anderson, she adopted a system that suited her players. Some may say, what is the big deal about that? Some coaches refuse to tweak their system to highlight the strengths of the players that they have. They are system coaches. Coach Blair's name will probably be on the lips of more than a few AD's this April.

-The dribble is a great equalizer- Dribble penetration allows good players to compete with great ones. No one can claim that Steve Nash is athletic or physically gifted in regards to basketball. Of course he is big, strong and fast when compared to the average man but in NBA terms, he is quite the opposite. His hand eye coordination and basketball IQ is among the best but, it is his mastery of dribbling that allows him to shine. Nash can see plays develop before they actually happen partly because of his ability to anticipate. His anticipation skills are a direct result of him being able to dribble effectively. Nash is a master of multi-tasking. Great ball handlers can concentrate on other things around them because the dribbling of the basketball has become second nature to them . Dribbling is almost an afterthought to Nash and this allows him to focus on player movement, defensive strategy and other important facets of the game. Good ball handlers are like running backs in football. They get from point A to point B by using the dribble. They attack, advance, and dictate the game with their ability to put pressure on the defense through the dribble. The UTSA guards and coaching system showed the nation that effective dribbling can help Davids slay Goliaths. Unfortunately, the Lady Roadrunners needed a few more stones.