How can you not like coach Buzz? Absolutely one of my favorites in the business.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Dedication
Found this piece by one of the most postive, real, and energetic motivators out there today, Alan Stein. He speaks the TRUTH. Check him out on Twitter @AlanStein
My goal has always been to create an extraordinary environment for elite level basketball players to improve their basketball specific athleticism. An environment for dedicated players to work hard, yet have fun as well. I work hard to stay on the cutting edge of basketball specific training methodology, techniques, and equipment to make sure I fulfill my goal.
Dedication and commitment are essential for success in any endeavor, but especially in basketball. The game is so unbelievable competitive right now, if you aren’t dedicated, you won’t make it. That goes for everyone; from high school players to the NBA. Most novices take for granted how incredibly dedicated NBA players are. Many of these guys are up early in the morning for individual skill work, come in mid-day for their strength & conditioning work, then off to another individual skill session and then play pick-up at night. They do that 5-6 days a week. That is dedication!
On the topic of dedication, a powerful quote comes to mind (which was shared to me by the legendary Coach Don Meyer):
“There are two kinds of pains in life. The pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Take your pick.”
Everything in life, whether shopping for a new a TV or chasing your dream of playing in the NBA comes down to three simple questions:
1) What exactly do you want? (play college/pro basketball)
2) What does it cost? (time, effort, consistency)
3) Are you willing to pay the price? (make sacrifices, be focused and dedicated)
While listening to one of Coach Meyer’s stories he mentioned he heard that in his prime, Tiger Woods used to make 100 9-ft putts in a row to end every practice. That is 100 consecutive putts. If he missed his 92nd putt, he started over! That is dedication. I figure an appropriate equivalent for basketball players are free throws. Are you dedicated enough to end every workout with 5 or 10 or 20 consecutive free throws? Tiger went on to say, “If people knew how hard I worked they wouldn’t think this came so easy to me.” I guess it is true; champions are made when no one is watching!
Another example of dedication is what’s known as the NBA “early bus.” There are two buses that head to the arena before every NBA road game. One heads over 3 hours early and one heads over an hour and half early. The guys that head over on the early bus are usually rookies, guys fighting for playing time, guys on 10 day contracts, etc. Guys that need to put in the extra work as often as possible. They head over early to get up shots, work on their ball handling, and sometimes even lift weights. These guys are dedicated to getting better every day. Legend has it NBA superstar Tim Duncan continued to take the early bus every game, even after his legacy and superstardom where solidified. In fact, the Spurs organization took notice and said “if our best player can take the early bus, then everyone can take the early bus.” Needless to say the Spurs only have one bus to games now!
The truly dedicated players understand dedication isn’t a sometimes thing, it is an all the time thing. There is no such thing as being “kind of dedicated.” You are either dedicated or you’re not; there is no in between.
Now the question is… are you dedicated?
My goal has always been to create an extraordinary environment for elite level basketball players to improve their basketball specific athleticism. An environment for dedicated players to work hard, yet have fun as well. I work hard to stay on the cutting edge of basketball specific training methodology, techniques, and equipment to make sure I fulfill my goal.
Dedication and commitment are essential for success in any endeavor, but especially in basketball. The game is so unbelievable competitive right now, if you aren’t dedicated, you won’t make it. That goes for everyone; from high school players to the NBA. Most novices take for granted how incredibly dedicated NBA players are. Many of these guys are up early in the morning for individual skill work, come in mid-day for their strength & conditioning work, then off to another individual skill session and then play pick-up at night. They do that 5-6 days a week. That is dedication!
On the topic of dedication, a powerful quote comes to mind (which was shared to me by the legendary Coach Don Meyer):
“There are two kinds of pains in life. The pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Take your pick.”
Everything in life, whether shopping for a new a TV or chasing your dream of playing in the NBA comes down to three simple questions:
1) What exactly do you want? (play college/pro basketball)
2) What does it cost? (time, effort, consistency)
3) Are you willing to pay the price? (make sacrifices, be focused and dedicated)
While listening to one of Coach Meyer’s stories he mentioned he heard that in his prime, Tiger Woods used to make 100 9-ft putts in a row to end every practice. That is 100 consecutive putts. If he missed his 92nd putt, he started over! That is dedication. I figure an appropriate equivalent for basketball players are free throws. Are you dedicated enough to end every workout with 5 or 10 or 20 consecutive free throws? Tiger went on to say, “If people knew how hard I worked they wouldn’t think this came so easy to me.” I guess it is true; champions are made when no one is watching!
Another example of dedication is what’s known as the NBA “early bus.” There are two buses that head to the arena before every NBA road game. One heads over 3 hours early and one heads over an hour and half early. The guys that head over on the early bus are usually rookies, guys fighting for playing time, guys on 10 day contracts, etc. Guys that need to put in the extra work as often as possible. They head over early to get up shots, work on their ball handling, and sometimes even lift weights. These guys are dedicated to getting better every day. Legend has it NBA superstar Tim Duncan continued to take the early bus every game, even after his legacy and superstardom where solidified. In fact, the Spurs organization took notice and said “if our best player can take the early bus, then everyone can take the early bus.” Needless to say the Spurs only have one bus to games now!
The truly dedicated players understand dedication isn’t a sometimes thing, it is an all the time thing. There is no such thing as being “kind of dedicated.” You are either dedicated or you’re not; there is no in between.
Now the question is… are you dedicated?
Monday, March 12, 2012
NCAA Tournament
Many things have been said and written about the NCAA tournament, but the following sums it up rather nicely. It was written by Harlen Coben, an American novelist, for Parade Magazine.
"The Super Bowl may be our biggest party night, and the World Series may be the pinnacle of our national pastime. But our hearts and souls somehow belong to March Madness, Old and young, rich and poor, Republican and Democrat, in workplaces, in Rotary Clubs, in bars, in houses of worship —there is something about this amateur spectacle that brings us together."
Some random facts about the teams and tournament.
• More regular season championship teams (9 of 12) have reached the Final Four than conference tournament winners (8 of 12).
• Since 1989, a #5 has beaten a #12 in every year (except for two).
• Only three teams in the past 26 years have finished the regular season ranked #1 and have gone on to win the championship.
• Since 1979, the championship game has matched two #1 seeds only six times.
• Missouri is the first 30-win team from a power conference NOT to receive a #1 seed.
• Washington is the first team from a "power conference" to win its regular season title and not get an NCAA bid.
• With its win on Sunday, Vanderbilt won its first SEC men's basketball championship since 1951.
• No team has won the NCAA championship after losing its first game in the conference tournament. • Illinois, who started the season at 10-0, completed its collapse by not even getting a bid to the NIT.
• Nashville and Cincinnati are the only two cities with a pair of NCAA tournament teams (Nashville has Belmont and Vanderbilt; Cincy has Xavier and the University of Cincinnati).
• 2011 marked the first time in five years a #1 seed didn't win the national championship. Overall, nine of the past 13 national champions have been #1 seeds.
• In the last 12 years, NCAA titles have been distributed as follows: ACC-5, Big East-3, SEC-2, Big Ten-1, Big 12-1
• Drexel, who failed to get an NCAA bid, had won 19-straight games heading into their conference championship game.
• No school beginning with the letters (B, E, J, P, Q, R, X, Y, or Z) has ever won an NCAA D-I basketball title. • Northwestern, which hosted the first NCAA final in 1939, is the only school from one of the "power conferences" never to play in the NCAA tournament.
• Harvard, who plays Vanderbilt in a battle of academic powerhouses, is playing in its first NCAA tournament. • Of the 33 national champions since seeding began, 29 of them were #1, #2 or #3 seeds.
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