The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

How To Tell A Winner From A Loser

How to Tell a Winner from a Loser


1. When a winner makes a mistake, he says "my fault"; when a loser makes a mistake, he throws the blame on someone else.


2. A winner credits his "good luck" for winning on being fundamentally prepared; a loser blames his "bad luck" for losing on bad breaks even though he is not fundamentally prepared.

Mental Discipline

15 Steps To Mental Discipline

1. Communicate with teammates vs. talk at opponent


2. Taking the Charge vs. backing away from the contact

3. Calling assignments out vs. missing a key mental assignment

4. Taking the Charge or blocking a shot to help a teammate vs. wild leaping past a shooter to give up an open three or goal tending a shot

Words of Wisdom For Point Guards By Steve Nash

Words of wisdom for point guards (presented by Steve Nash at the Nike Point Guard Academy

“You should always want your coach to be critical. It gives you an opportunity to learn and to overcome adversity.”

“You maximize your potential by being humble develop a work ethic, strive to be a good person, and to be the best teammate you can be.”

“Use your scoring ability to be a better passer, and your passing skills to become a better scorer.”

“You can’t be a point guard who gets into the lane and always passes. Capitalize on the real estate you have gained.”

“Point Guard must be able to pass with both hands equally off the dribble.”
‘”I am always thinking how can I get myself better.”

“On the fast break, after 2 or 3 hard dribbles you should see the whole floor and know where all your teammates are.”

Jay Bilas on "Toughness"

I have heard the word “toughness” thrown around a lot lately. Reporters on television, radio and in print have opined about a team or player’s “toughness” or quoted a coach talking about his team having to be “tougher” to win.




Then, in almost coordinated fashion, I would watch games and see player upon player thumping his chest after a routine play, angrily taunting an opponent after a blocked shot, getting into a shouting match with an opposing player, or squaring up nose-to-nose as if a fight might ensue. I see players jawing at each other, trying to “intimidate” other players. What a waste of time. That is nothing more than fake toughness, and it has no real value.

Great Players

The nice thing about this list, is that everything on it is controllable, in other words they are all in the hands of the player and up to him to bring about.

Enjoy!

1.Great players… go after every rebound on both ends of the floor – they are crafty and aggressive.


2.Great players… run the floor as fast as possible on fast breaks AND defensive transition.

3.Great players… are defensive stoppers – they stop their man as well as help teammates. They do the things offensive players HATE!

4.Great players… contest all shots. They don’t go for ball fakes or shot fakes. They deflect passes, bump cutters, and take charges.

5.Great players… don’t gamble on offensive or defensive. They aim to make the RIGHT play; not the HIGHLIGHT play.

The Most Valuable Thing in the World

THE MOST VALUABLE THING IN THE WORLD


I am the most desirable thing in life. Without me no one can be healthy, happy, or useful … without me, the hidden wealth and vast resources of this earth would have no value.

Men and women who try to get along without me are characterless, selfish, undeveloped, useless, and unprofitable members of society.

Shaka Smart on His Players Leading

Coach Smart says his team does not elect captains -- they simply have leaders




1. Take care of yourself (be one time, go to class, etc)

2. Lead vocally (positivity, communicate, talk)

3. Lead by being the hardest worker on the team

4. Can you call out your teammates and saw what needs to be said? (Be unpopular)

5. Be an extension of the coaching staff

.....Team first at all times


.....You are the team, the team is you

End of Season

Although things didn't quite work out the way we wanted them to, the season finale with Hurley sure provided us with a strong finish. The 2010-11 season ended with a great effort as the team nearly pulled off the upset of the season. Going into the Hurley game, in the first round of the regionals, we knew that we needed to keep the score under 50 in order to get the pace we wanted. The kids executed the game plan to perfection and with some excellent hustle and determination we led by four with 3:21 to go in the game. For the first time this season, I actually think that the team needed to win. When losing no longer becomes acceptable, the fear of losing takes over and that can be a good thing. I believe our kids realized that the other night at Hurley.

During the course of this season we have had our ups and downs, but the team always wanted to win. As a matter of a fact, I have never questioned the desire of this bunch to win games. However, during the Hurley game, we demonstrated the intensity and effort of a team that not only wanted to win, but one that needed to win. Throughout the season, the coaches and myself constantly reminded the kids that if we would continue to work hard and believe, that something good was going to happen this season. In a bittersweet moment, that something good may have been the season ending loss to Hurley.

I suppose that only time will tell, but the expectation level for next years squad will be much higher than it was for this season. Hopefully, with an aggressive off-season and a renewed commitment to excellence, we could find ourselves back in contention for the BDD title. Only time will tell........

I would like to say congratulations to Cody Hubbard for finishing up a fine career here at Twin Valley. Cody will be missed something terribly by the coaches and his presence on the court will be sorely missed by his teammates. Without a doubt, Cody assumes his spot among the top three ball handlers ever at Twin Valley, although the season didn't end the way he would have liked, his contributions will not be forgotten.

We wish him the best of luck in the future and hope to see him around this coming season.

Until next time, take care and God bless.

Region D and BDD Thoughts

The BDD Tournament is over and Hurley managed to make it a clean sweep, taking the regular season crown as well. It appears that most of the boys are over the flu bug that has hampered us for the better part of two weeks and we are hoping to make a strong showing in the first round of the Region D Tournament this week. We will play Hurley in the first round on Wednesday at 7:00 pm

Interestingly enough, our goal of finishing third or better in the regular season worked out well. The only problem is we finished tied for third with Haysi. The entire season our goal has been to avoid the play-in game and guarantee us a spot in the BDD Tournament. Unfortunately, the fact that we tied with Haysi forced a coin toss during the annual coaches meeting and once again we lost the toss, forcing us to play Council in the play-in game. This is the third consecutive coin toss that we have lost to Haysi in the past 8 years, rumor has it that Roger Rife also lost the last two coin tosses to Haysi before the consolidation, if so that would make it Haysi 5, Twin Valley(Garden/Whitewood) 0 in coin tosses.

The Council loss was a tough one for the team and it had a huge impact on our regional standings. A win would have possibly sent us to St. Paul for a first round game, instead we will be traveling to Hurley as the 8th seed and Council will travel to St. Paul. I predict that the Cobras will pick up a first round win against St. Paul and advance to the semi-finals, they are playing pretty good right now.

In the past couple of weeks the team has experienced a lot of different emotions. Four big wins against Richlands, Haysi, Honaker and Northwood showed just what this team is capable of when they are clicking on all cylinders. On the other hand, losses to Council and Grundy demonstrated the youth and inexperience that we still need to overcome. Hopefully, Wednesday night we can return to form and give the BDD Champs a run for their money.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the Varsity Girls on winning the BDD Tournament. The girls did so in convincing fashion and hopefully they can keep this momentum with them as they venture into Regional play this week!

God Bless,