BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK

When you typically hear of Player of the Week or Most Valuable Player you anticipate someone shooting the ball well and putting a lot of points on the board. This week, however, was just the opposite.

Nubia Garcia was honored as last week's Big Sky Player of the Week. The coolest part about her being picked however, is that her performances were all about putting her TEAM first rather than her TEAM getting her the ball.

Here's what I mean. Typically players get nominated by their point statistics and then other stats to go along. Nubia's biggest stat, however, was her REBOUNDING. She only took four shots in our game against ISU.

Nubia has been our leading scorer and dominating presence down low, but in our game Saturday our guard play was scoring so well that we didn't really need to do anything different. Therefore, Nubia figured the best way to help her teammates out was to get THEM the ball and grab us extra possessions. She finished with five assists and 16 boards in that one game.

The best part about it, she was excited for her teammates to be playing well. That's the sign of a team that puts each other before themselves, SACRIFICE.

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Defense Wins Games

You have heard every coach talk about defense winning championships, but for a team that is also known to be a transition team, it's a necessity.

This past week, we talked about getting back to the little details and it payed off with a two win home sweep. Our team got stops on the defensive end in both halves for the first time all year and it propelled our transition game.

Erica Perry is difficult enough to defend in the half court but try keeping her in front when she's at full throttle. Then you add our little freshman Katie Bussey into the lineup who is just starting to get going and you need a rugby charge to keep them both in front!

Last but not least, I want to congratulate some career highlights over the weekend. Nubia Garcia who has been a force down low, is on the January COVER of Champion Magazine for her photography she has done here at MSU. To top that highlight off she ripped down a career high 16 rebounds against ISU as well. See, you can be a lady off the court and a baller on!

Sarah Strand has also shown why having lift in your shot actually does make the rim bigger draining 5 3's against ISU. She keeps the dust off the rafters. The biggest highlight though was our team holding ISU to 52 points, the lowest we have held anyone all season long.

One game at a time, UNC Thursday!

Contagious

We have all heard how colds are contagious, energy is contagious, but our team has found that confidence is contagious.

Interestingly we began the season very strong on the offensive end. However, with the play of our defense being exposed time and time again, our confidence and energy began to suffer. Without energy, defense is non existent.

Then came the ultimate low, it finally trickled over to our confidence offensively. The good news is that we forced our energy to find a light last night and our defense came through for the first time all season long. Now it's time to get that offense back.

Just make sure to wash your hands, and your teammate's hands!

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SIMPLIFY

Shooter's Slump-We have all been through it. Some of you have been in it longer than others, like my mom. You are called NON SHOOTERS. Your strengths are elsewhere. However, those that are great shooters still have their moments when their shot isn't falling.

Coaches talk about shooting out of your shooting slump, but the real problem is typically shooters trying to "correct" their shot. As a shooter long ago, the best thing I ever did for myself when that would occur is to go back to simplifying my form. The more added, the more room for error.

Well, as a team, we have been in what you would say a team performance slump. I will admit as the head coach that I made the first mistake of trying to add new things to help my team over the hump. I threw in a new defense, tried to change some things in our offense when all along we all forgot the little details of what we had always done in the past.

Example-Sprinting the floor. The last three years our team has been known as a transition oriented team. Teams would struggle to keep up with us, yet last week we couldn't beat our point guard up the floor. That is about to change. We have gone back to the little things in practice of 3 on O transition drills.

The same has been for the defensive end. All along I have had these two amazing defensive specialists, but we have all shifted focus to what they were doing for us on the offensive end. Well, you tell me if we get this back tomorrow night at 7:00!

Keep it simple. The best thing my WNBA coach did for me in Cleveland was make the game simple. It's time for my team just to go out and compete. Oh yeah, and have a lot of FUN!

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Good To Be Home

Well, I will say it. That was a ROUGH road trip. We have played 7 of the last 8 games on the road. It has not been easy. With that being said, our team had a good conversation about a season being a journey with highs and lows. This will really test our character.

The good news is that we are FINALLY home this week in front of our fans. We got home Sunday afternoon after 4 hours of sleep and my son went straight upstairs to play with his Thomas Trains. My husband took a four hour nap. My five month daughter and I? Well, she got to watch some game film with mom on the couch. She will either love basketball or hate it.

It's a new day, and one where we will get better or worse. Today, we decided to get better. Please come out and get behind your Bobcats. We won't let you down.

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ADAPTABILITY

I think one of the most important qualities in coaching is being able to make changes and adapt to the situations at the forefront. There is obviously a certain comfort level for your team and players to have a consistency in their routines. However, you also have to pay attention to the time for change.

Here are a few examples:

1) You have a player that is used to playing four minutes at a time, but has hit 5 3's in a row. You could sub them out OR you may run one more play for them.

2) You are used to a 2-3 hour practice but your team is banged up and don't necessarily have enough "bodies" to go. Change your schedule. Last season we cut our practices down to an hour or less at the end of the year, and we won 10 of our last 13 games. We kept them motivated, fresh, and found a way to finish well.

3) Base your decisions on effort and results. This is a tough one. Every coach has a player on their team that is the hardest worker yet may not perform as well as another. That's why it's important you establish a standard from the ones that are your best players. If you don't your team chemistry will struggle.

4) When it's not working and you've tried all the duck tape in the world, MAKE A CHANGE!
I love man defense for it's accountability and team pride it takes to play. However, our team is moving outside the box this week because we are falling below our defensive goals for the season. A few tweaks here and there, a renewed team commitment to keeping teams in check, and JUST maybe we can start moving up in this category. The key is that you and your team MAKE IT WORK! We'll find out Thursday at 7:00.

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