Summer School

Our five new freshmen are settled in to their new homes for the summer, the DORMS, managed to find their classes, and complete orientation. Tomorrow they will catch their breath.

Breakdown of the weekend.

Jackie Elliott-visited her room first. She has her schedule and classes mapped out. I may ask her for directions on campus.

Destini French- It was only 9:00am, but she already had make up on and Katie had already introduced her to the entire community of Bozeman. I will put her in charge of marketing.

Symone Brown-my daughter walked into her room ahead of me and grabbed one of Symone's granola bars. She was stocked up. How many shoes do you need though Symone?

Kalli Durham-First thing I saw was her t.v., and I asked her when she will be watching that? She is a perfectionist when it comes to the classroom as well as the court.

Kayla Dewit-Last room around the corner relaxed as can be until I told her she needed to get a parking pass.

The first week is always overwhelming getting settled, finding where everything is at, but now they are ready to roll. Instead of catching their breath it's really more of a gasp when you have a senior like Katie Bussey.

All I have to say to that is it makes my job pretty easy.

Get after it ladies!

Coach Bin

Smiling Moose

I don't do this often, but I can't help myself. I had lunch today at the Smiling Moose. The Smiling Moose is the newest (and one of the tastiest) deli in Bozeman and if you haven't been there yet...GO!

It's not that often you can find a "healthy" food option that you can pick up at a drive thru. It is right next door to Signs Now on Main Street right next to the mall. It has dine in, dine outside on the patio, or the drive thru for those of us on the run.

You know I love my food and Smiling Moose gives you all kinds of great options, wraps, salads, sandwiches, and even "spicy" combinations for those of us who want to speed up our metabolism.

If I could think of a complaint, it would be my limited vocabulary trying to say some of the items on the menu. I just point instead. Smiling Moose is terrific!

(http://www.facebook.com/SmilingMoose)

Coach Bin

What is a "Vacation?"

For vacation, do you go somewhere tropical or travelling internationally?

For me, a vacation is anywhere I don't have access to my cell phone or the internet. We are now a generation that is attached to our phones, 24/7 accessible, and it makes it difficult to truly take a break or "vacation" from our jobs.

Think of the last vacation you took. How many times did you read your e-mails, follow up with a coworker, or work from your laptop?

My solution, CAMPING

My family this past weekend went to a Bobcat Club Function in Kalispell, Montana. After WINNING the ladies challenge in the golf tournament my family headed to Swan Lake Campground with some friends of ours where there is no cell service.

I will admit, it didn't feel like a true vacation the first 24 hours as it was rainy and cloudy. Waking up to a sore back from tent camping isn't exactly spa refreshing, but camping makes you appreciate the little things.

#1 Just sitting still-I had a span of about 10 minutes where the kids were playing, not fighting. I didn't need to unpack or pack anything, cook or clean anything and said to myself I can actually grab a book! I think I beat Emily Allen's record of sitting still at one time.

#2 Air fresheners-I have seen all kinds of outhouses. You definitely don't want to look around (in case you see an insect not yet discovered), and no way are you looking down to see what kind of waste has already been "unloaded" so to speak, but an air freshener in an outhouse goes a long way! As a parent you worry about everything with your children. Try worrying about them in an outhouse.

#3 Food-I remember when my dad used to take us camping growing up and we lived on Spam. My brother and sister and I liked it so much we asked him to buy it when we were at home. He warned us we wouldn't like it and he was right. There is just something about food and hunger when you're camping, though, that everything tastes like a 5 Star restaurant. Burned pancakes-yummy, oatmeal-I'll have seconds, hotdogs-how would you like it cooked? Grilled, Boiled, or Roasted over the camp fire? Roasted for sure.

#4 Appreciating God's Beautiful Creations-We saw a rabbit (Brooklyn tried to catch), chipmunks, squirrels (Brooklyn tried to catch), a deer, and a bear had gone through our campsite the day we arrived. I am glad we didn't see the bear and Brooklyn didn't try and catch it.

#5-Camp Fires-Yes, your clothes and hair smell horrible afterwards, but you can't tell anyway. You can roast smores, tell stories around the camp fire, worry about your kids falling in the camp fire, tell your kids a million times not to make S O S smoke signals with their sticks, and keep shifting your chair as the smoke continues to follow you. Camp fires are awesome!

#6 Water-What is it about water that just refreshes you? Is it the aqua blue or maybe it was the 51 degree lake that takes your breath away. Kids seem to never get cold. Our kids were all playing off the tube the day it was cloudy and rainy. All of a sudden the clouds broke and it was gorgeous. We went waterskiing, tubing, and wake boarding, and we were the only boat on the lake. Maybe that's because it had been cloudy and the water was so cold, but we didn't care.

We packed up Tuesday, headed home, as soon as we came around the bend to Seeley Lake I had service.

I won't tell you how many messages, texts, or e-mails were waiting.

Coach Bin

It's a Wrap

Either I am shrinking or the campers continue to get taller every year. The highlight for me, however, is when my players like Ashley Albert, Rachel Semansky, and Katie Bussey seem like they have grown an inch or two. Sorry, Ausha, you and I still see eye to eye!

Some of the highlights this week besides growing like trees:

• Champ appearance-He talked this year, although that scared a few of the campers.
• Coach Starr Post Demonstration-Now the campers know why Sarah Balian, Rachel Semansky, and Chelsea Banis have developed like they have.
• Coach Scanson Intensity Station. Every year he increases his caffeine intake. I think he may need to go to counseling for his addiction.
• Coach Close Cross Training Workout-If you were at camp this week you saw how busy our Camp Coordinator was running from gym to gym, making sure everything was running smoothly.
• Multi tasking by our student athletes-I was watching Katie and Rachel officiate, take the whistle out of their mouth and then coach, put the whistle back in and call the foul. It was hilarious.
• Last but certainly not least, great improvement every day by our campers. Not only did we have a record turnout this year but we had some terrific basketball.

Thank you to our parents for financially supporting your daughters to get better at a great game and have a fun week with new teammates.

We hope to see you again next year.

Go Cats!

Coach Bin

Camp Is In Session

What a fun an amazing week already. Our nearly 200 campers are working so hard I feel like I am getting in shape.

Little Dribblers are so fun to watch. I have three nieces in camp this year and my youngest was hilarious after defending another camper. She said "that girl is really tricky." That means our camp coach Carrie Feenstra must have taught her a good move.

I demonstrated to our day and elite campers this afternoon how important it is to move without the ball. So much time is spent working on moves with the ball that we sometimes don't realize how simple we can make this game if we just do all the work before the catch.

Last night I discussed with our elite campers the importance of knowing your role and how to make the most of whatever role that is. Have you heard the word "assume?" Ouch is right.

Our Camp Director Coach Close lost her voice yesterday but got it back today. I am not sure how she pulled that off but tomorrow is Bobcat Dress up Day so it keeps getting better.

Go Cats!
Coach Bin

Why To Choose An Indoor Sport

Yesterday when I was golfing in the "windy" Billings Bobcat Club Tournament I was briefly,(over the next 5 hours), reminded why I chose to play basketball; It's indoor and always 70 degrees inside.

Growing up in Carbondale, Colorado only 30+ miles away from Aspen I learned how to ski almost as soon as I learned to walk. I loved the rush of the speed, hitting the slalom poles with my inside arm, leaning into my turn, and then "playing" on the jumps afterward.

I ski raced competitively until junior high against boys and girls. I was once recognized as "Trash Bader" in the paper instead of Trish Bader which was my first taste of humility. My coach's name was "Bozo" because of his big curly hair. I remember being glued to my chapstick and most importantly never losing a race to any of those boys.

In junior high, however, each sport started to demand more time of competitors and I was forced to make a decision on cutting down some of my commitments. Basketball didn't require as much equipment (snow boots, socks, gloves, goggles, hats, etc). and my feet always stayed warm. I was able to enjoy it WITH my friends as a team sport and could practice it at home every day. Although I loved slalom racing it was a pretty simple decision for me at the time for me to play AND be warm.

Yesterday, I reapplied my chapstick a few times and wore my parka on occasion to warm up in between the holes similar to my days on the Aspen ski slopes.

I had packed every kind of clothing for the day and it payed off. I stayed warm and had a great time with my group from Vision Net. However, when it comes to attending a basketball game, fans can be reassured that the only clothing they need to be concerned about has to be Blue or Gold.

Go Cats!

Coach Bin

CAMP-Make a Commitment

Camp is exactly one week away and we already have a record number signed up.

If you are reading this blog and you are a basketball player (with eligibility left) and are not signed up for an individual camp then I am going to challenge you to GET signed up, and here are the reasons.

1) You get BETTER from individual camps. You can improve your game by playing more games at open gym, or playing with club and high school teams, but you vastly improve your SKILL work at individual camp.

2) You get new tools and drills to practice on your own. It's called repetition. If you go to camp and never pick up a basketball again you probably won't see the improvement you are hoping for. Our camp will give you the necessary drills to practice to improve your ability when you leave.

3) You will improve your skills at your specific position for the "elite" level taking your game on further. How often do you work on speed and agility? How much time is put into passing, one on one defense, boxing out, communication? Have you ever put time into mental training? What's the difference between training as a point guard verses a combo, shooting guard, power forward or center? These are the areas you can focus on in our MSU camp.

Now is the time to get registered (click here: http://msubobcats.com/sports/2011/1/26/WBB_0126115031.aspx?id=85). You can come up with a million excuses not to attend, but I already gave you the three reasons why those million excuses aren't good enough.

See you Monday,

Coach Bin