BUILD YOUR CULTURE

It's been a fantastic week hanging out in San Antonio with the San Antonio Stars and Head Coach, Dan Hughes, the two time WNBA Coach of the year. Dan coached me in Cleveland when the Rockers won the Eastern Conference Championship and continues to mold champions every single day here in Texas. It's important for all coaches to continue to learn, tweak, invest, and grow their programs in every way, and the off season is a terrific time to do this. I am so blessed to have mentors who are so open. June Daughtery, the Head Coach at WSU, is another great mentor of mine who ironically I've been on the phone with for the last half hour. What impressed me so much with the Stars program was the transparancy from the coaches, support staff, throughout the players themselves. They were all so friendly, engaging, complimentary of one another, while being able to nearly kill each other on the court. What a skill that is to be a team first, pursue the highest bar, while not allowing anyone else around you to lower it. Dan has built an exceptional program where its culture is sustained by the people involved. I am so thankful that we have these same quality people here at Montana State. I've come away with simple pieces that can help us improve our efficiency as a program. I think Dan is a master at teaching the game from so many angles to cover all learners & we will carry these into our program. He is so gifted in putting each athlete in their strengths & communicating what's desired out of their performance. A big thank you to the San Antonio Stars, Head Coach Dan Hughes, his fantastic assistant coaches, trainer, strength coach, and players. I am rooting for you tomorrow against the Mercury, and as a former teammate will also being cheering for Penny Taylor. So good luck Penny, but Go Stars! Coach Bin

INFLUENCE

The off season is one of our most valuable opportunities to grow individually. What an opportunity to look around and grab ahold of all the factors that can be a great influence on our personal development. Take advantage of your location. Growing up in Colorado was one of the best things that could have happened to me as a kid since Carbondale was over 6,000 feet in elevation. My game was based on speed and endurance and I think that impacted my sustainability in my playing career. Look at Katie Bussey, former Bobcat, who plays like the Energizer Bunny but grew up in Alamosa, Colorado which is even higher at over 7500 feet. Coaches watch prospects for what they CAN do. Just think if you could make your best move, crash the glass, sprint the floo, defend at your highest intestity EVERY possession. Wow, that would be fun! Take advantage of your support, find someone better to compete against. Being the youngest of three I would say I took advantage of playing against my brother ALL the time. Some of the greatest improvements are based upon the toughest competition. I ran the 400 in high school and my fastest split is when I ran it in a relay because I had to "catch" the opponent in front of me. Jasmine Hommes had a break out year for the CATS and she also competed against Rachel Semansky the last two years. Take advantage of your resources. One of my favorite sports movies is "Rocky" especially when the theme song "Eye of the Tiger" comes on and you know Rocky is now going to get to work. I think it's Rocky IV when he goes to Russia and doesn't have a gym to train in so he uses everything in the barn out to the foothills and snow. If you are an opportunist, a competitor, you will find what's around you and make it work for you to get better. This past spring we took our team to the climbing wall to strengthen our bodies in a totally different way. Sometimes changing it up can be a great motivator. Take some time this week and make a list of people you know that can provide great wisdom as well as the resources you have at your fingertips that you can utilize to get better. Today is an opportunity and one we all should take advantage of to move forward. Coach Bin