Aloha from Hawaii

I realize we've physically been back from Hawaii for five days but my mind is still reaping the affects of the Aloha State. I can feel the rays of the sun flowing over my body; the smell of the ocean as the waves were rolling upon the sand; and the sound of the seagulls squawking from the azure sky. While the folks in West Virgina were getting hounded by snowflakes, we were on the beach allowing our bodies to feel the heat from a sun which did not know a cloud in the sky.

Yes, we went there to play basketball and I'll not say we were successful on the court. It would be a lie. I am disappointed in our season thus far. We are blatantly underachieving. Our playing continued to be below average as we lost our first contest by a single point and then won our second game by 13.

The success of the trip was not on the court, but it was in the bonding of teammates as they shared memorable moments together. Sometimes a trip can change the outcome of a season. It can create a team chemistry that practice or games cannot. In a place where there are no other friends or boyfriends or other distractions, the players had to rely upon one another for comfort, for laughter and for entertainment.

I did feel a change come over the team. It was subtle like a slight breeze gently blowing through my hair, but I could feel it. There was less tension and struggle between players. There was a feeling of family, of togetherness, of holding one another gently as if this was a moment to be held and kept forever in our memories.

Perhaps I am making this up, wanting us to change, to become the team I believe us to be, yet I feel strangely comforted by the idea of us as champions. I have never lost faith in this group, never believed they weren't good enough, never thought for a moment we couldn't reach our goals, so perhaps I sensed something which wasn't there. Perhaps I just wanted it to be so much that my mind created it, but I don't think so.

I think the trip was special, an entry point into a different season, a starting place for us to come together and begin playing like the team we are. I know I spent more time laughing at the players (I mean with the players) than I have in the past 3 1/2 months. I talked to them differently, heard more about their personal lives and let them more into mine. They became more real to me.

We did spend a memorable breakfast together before our second game. I knew after the loss from the night before when we made exactly the same mistakes as our recent loss to Concord, and I reacted with anger and distance that we had to come back together. At breakfast the day of the game, we had statements where the players had to fill in the blanks. One of the statements was: "If I could be anybody, I would be ____________ because she ___________." The player who received the compliment would then forward it on to another player.

After spending several minutes with this idea we switched the topic to: "If I could change anything about ____________, I would change _____________." We allowed the players the freedom to openly say these ideas without reactions or discussion.

After a few minutes, we switched topics again to say: "I respect _______________ because ____________." We finally ended the breakfast with three rounds of teammates sharing what we needed to do to win. No repeats of a previous statement were allowed.

It was a great breakfast and the open communication was welcome and wonderful. The players left feeling good about themselves and the past game had been forgotten. We won that afternoon not because we played but because we felt more of a unit.

I hope the time apart does not create forgetfulness, and I pray when we come back to practice on the 27th the players will remember Hawaii and how they loved one another there.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

A Little Listening Goes A Long Way

I believe this team could be really good. I dream it. I think about it and I feel it. Until last Saturday night, I hadn't seen the real team, the one I think exists. What I had seen was players struggling with their abilities, thinking too much and not allowing the game to flow through them.

As I watch the athleticism of Tarenna Dixon, Moneka Slaughter and Tianni Kelley, I know they could be amazing players. They are fast, strong, quick, and have the leap of a mountain cat. It is not their abilities which hold them back; it is their belief system. Some where along their journey, they heard they weren't good. The coaching staff has been trying to change that belief system for years.

Saturday night they showed their talents. It was beautiful. Amazing. Inspiring. I wanted to freeze the moments when they played with complete confidence so they could see the ease with which they performed. I wanted to bottle it up and give it back to them as a Christmas present. They are so good. If they could just keep that awareness close to their consciousness, then they would be able to do almost anything.

Others played well too. Chrissy Keir, the little package of dynamite, who can see the next pass five plays before it occurs. She hadn't been showing her true skills either. Sometimes she thinks at 5'1" she is too small. I don't think that at all because her height is in her vision and her passing skills. She played like she was 6'0'' tall on Saturday. I loved watching her no-look passes as they zipped through defenders to her teammates.

Tiana Beatty started to look like her old self again. Driving and dishing, weaving through defenders like they were Swiss cheese. Then there was Ali Tobias stealing passes and playing defense as if she was reading the opponents' minds.

How did this all occur? What was the event which created the change? It was the simple act of listening to the players. They wanted me to change the way I organized practices. They asked and I listened. Simple.

I hope they hold this place of confidence and play with their full abilities. I believe we can create an incredible season if they do. I hope I continue to listen.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Dumb or Blind??

No, I'm not talking about the officials. It would be natural to think that but I am not against officials nor do I think they intentionally make poor calls. The next assumption might be I am talking about my players. Some coaches do this--blame their players for not being good enough, for not handling pressure, for not running the offense or defense correctly. It can be an "us" versus "them" mentality.

I'm the sort of coach who thinks in terms of unity, of a group of people coming together rather than a separation of coaches and players. So who I am talking about being dumb or blind? It is a little bit of a description of me, of what I missed and of my moments of not being present.

On Wednesdays, I meet with our two team leaders, Lindsey Kentner and Tarenna Dixon to discuss the team and to study a leadership manual together. Usually, I start the discussion asking them if there are any team issues which should concern me. They are good about being frank and honest, telling me what they see and what needs to change.

On this particular Wednesday, they brought up the issue of playing more 5-on-5 during practice. I must say I am a fundamentalist coach, one who loves doing drills. This stems from my experience as a player when I was RARELY coached and all we did was scrimmage. I want to teach. I want my players to have the opportunity to get better which I think comes from breakdown drills.

Yet, when I listened to them I heard them. They are, after all, two excellent players who understand the game and who love the game. They are on the court, not me. They are going through practices, not me. They are the ones who have a better feel for the game.

Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to change our practice before the next game against West Liberty. I didn't want to fatigue the team on the day before a game.

During the West Liberty game, I was frustrated and disappointed at how we played. I knew we were so much better but we simply weren't performing at a very good level.

I watched the game film the next day and again I thought we looked shackled, chained, unable to play freely. When I planned Friday's practice, I thought about all we needed to do in terms of breaking down our skills to get better at passing to the post. I dreamt up a hundred breakdown drills and put none of them on paper. I heard the voices of Tarenna and Lindsey and I made up a short practice with 15 minutes of breakdown drills and thirty minutes of 5-on-5.

I swallowed my needs and allowed the team to play simply utilizing the rule the post had to touch the ball before the guards could shoot. WOW! I watched them play with skills I didn't know they possessed. I was thrilled at their "new moves" and athleticism, and I knew I had been dumb and blind.

The good news is I can hear. I wasn't deaf. I heard them. Now, if I can keep my hands out of it and teach while allowing them to play, I think we can be really good. I mean exceptionally good.

Lindsey asked me after practice if we were going to continue to practice like this. I smiled. She said, "Thanks for listening."

No, Lindsey and Tarenna. Thank you for sharing.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.