Year Round Basketball

The seasons have changed since I played the game. Legislation allows college coaches to train our athletes 8 weeks during the summer. Practices start the beginning of October rather than the traditional October 15th back in the day. College teams play at minimum, 30 games a year so when is the off season? For those of us who love basketball this seems like a dream come true but when it drizzles down to our youth programs, I am not so sure. Junior high is now playing travel ball, and the challenge now kids face is when they HAVE to start playing to keep up. As a kid, I grew up in the mountains of Swiss Village 20 or so miles out of the town of Carbondale, Colorado. I recall having a ball in my hands most of the day, or tree jumping, navigating the forest and doing plenty of tick checks with my older brother. Whether it was winter where we went 20+ miles down the hills on tubes until we ran home with bloody faces, or the summer where we played capture the flag and ran home when I lost to my brother, the last thing on my mind was playing travel ball every weekend because it didn't exist. Later on when we put a hoop in our driveway my time shifted to 1 on 1 games, shooting, and evenings spent working on my shot. My choices were my choices and I thank my parents for that. I feel like our generation today is in a catch 22. Starting travel ball so young seems to put athletes at risk for chronic injuries or burnout. However, kids who don't start competing with these teams may not have the confidence to play when they get a littler older. Perspective and knowledge are key so I choose the perspective that it's a great opportunity that kids now have with the knowledge that I don't want my kids to burn out or over train their bodies. So, my answer is go tubing and wait until Justin and Brooklyn ask me to go shoot at the park! That's what my family did this weekend anyway. Coach Bin

Official Visits-What to Look For

Prospects and parents will be visiting campuses in the next few weeks if they haven't visited already. Here are a few things to look for and ask as you have only 48 hours to determine the best fit for your next four years. 1) Would I like this university and community if I wasn't playing basketball? 2)What does the community say about the program? 3)What do the players & staff say was the hardest situation they went through? 4)Do you have my number? 5) Where is the gym? 6) How long does it take to walk from one end of campus to the next? 7) How many hours a week do you average on the court as a team? 8) What's your APR? Coaches will explain what this is-your retention and eligibility standards. 9) What are your former players doing now? 10) What is the coach's pet pieves? Ask both the coach and players. 11) What's the best day and worst day you have had at your school? Ask both coaches and the players. Bottom line is that there are probably 100 questions to ask. The challenge is to get through the "red carpet" and see the program as you will see it when you are LIVING it! Official visits can be so much fun and they can give you a very clear description if you know what to look for. Coach Bin

DEFENSE

What I love about our game is that you can play it so many different ways to still be successful. The options on the defensive end are limitless. 1) Where do you pick up? Half court, 3/4 court, full court. Many teams will change this choice depending on a made basket, dead ball situation, end of game situation, end of half situation. Plenty of stragic options to consider. 2) What is your go to defense? Are you conservative and stay in the play and force contested shots where you have great rebounding position? Conservative defenses run correctly have been very effective. However, my personality hasn't always matched this mind set having played aggressively in the back court, taking chances on steals, forcing quicker decisions of my opponent, with the motivation of dictating from the defensive end. I have always believed that the biggest rewards come with the greatest risk. Hard to win in my perspective if you don't put yourself out there. 3) What is your strategic plan defensively? Do you like to switch, plan man, zone, trap? Part of this choice also matches the kind of recruit you select to represent your program. I remember a few years back another coach describing our team as "wiry" as we were athletic, fast, and aggressive. Regardless of choice of defense the successful teams have two things in common. They dictate shot selection & limit second opportunities. Coaches have the responsibility of practicing these situations daily, having consistent points of emphasis, and making sure their players LOVE this end of the floor as much as they do. GO CATS!

Mental Training

We are on our 5th week of mental training as a team and today our junior class will lead the session on TRUST. These 30 minute sessions once a week are one of my favorite times with our team as we grow stronger as a unit. Next week our final session of the summer will be led by former Bobcat and doctoral intern, Scotta Morton. Scotta will be in town to host the annual Sid & Frosty Camp as well. If you are an athlete and want to take your game (any sport) to the next level you need to check out Scotta's camp. It runs August 5-8th in the MSU Rec Center and covers the mental parts of performance including visualization, relaxation, goal setting, self talk, and focus to name just a few of the main points. If you think about the elite athletes in sport they are exceptional when it comes to mental toughness. I believe and Scotta believes this is a skill & can be developed & strengthened over the course of time. Case in point-Katie Bussey. Katie came in as a freshmen, took the mental skill development to heart, and left Montana State at an entirely new level. Now she is competing professionally because of her mental toughness & ability to focus on what's important. We can all continue improving on the mental part of the game as we continue to develop on the physical aspects. I remember my high school coach tell me you are either getting better or you are getting worse. I think this would apply to the mental side of things as well. Go Cats! Coach Bin

July Recruiting

Round One Done! Legislation has slightly changed this year allowing 7 days to evaluate prospects, 10 days off where we allowed to make phone calls, and then 7 more days to evaluate prospects again. This year I racked up my miles this first round covering Oregon, Washington, and finishing on a red eye to Boston MA. As anyone can attest changing timezones takes some time for the body to get back on track. My advice is to get a day on the lake and you'll be fully recovered. Activity & Results: 1) swimming-recuperating 2) cliff jumping-Exhilarating 3) boating-wind, scenary, and water together-relaxing 4) tubing/waterskiing-intense & at times hilarious (laughter is best form of medicine) 5) unknown-anticipation (when seeing a snake swim in the water twice your length certainly makes you swim faster) Next round is still unknown, but I do know for certain that I will be completing July with another day on the lake with hopefully a few less amphibians joining us. Good luck to all of the talented recruits in July! Coach Bin

Cooking Tutorial

I am not necessarily the one to give cooking advice as my father is the chef in my family, but I do know how to create some healthy dishes in 20 minutes or less. With the schedules student athletes have it's also necessary for them to know how to make some good meals quickly. So that's what we decided to do. Since we are in our first 6 week session of summer school the staff came up with 3 different meals (under 20 minutes), divided the players into three different groups and had the team cook the meals. The first meal was the "Bader Delight" named by my dad which had sausage (can subsitute a turkey sausage), cabbage, onion, and potato. I think our athletes were intimated by the cabbage as they selected a few leaves rather than the whole ball to put in. I must say, it was a DELIGHT. The second meal was Coach Starr's dish that was a Tai Chicken noodle dish that turned out to be yummy with a nice spicy kick to it. This dish forced my son to run to our neighbors for a bigger pot, but that's the advantage of having great neighbors. The last meal Coach Barney oversaw which included salmon, salad, and rice. Our newest member to the squad Mekayla Carew pretty much too over like Rachel Rae from the cooking network and seasoned the salmon and created an incredible dressing for the salad. After that I encouraged the team just to have Mekayla cook the rest of the meals. After it was all said and done, I decided it was time for a bigger kitchen, more pots and pans, and Ausha decided this should not be considered an "occassional" meal since they made it. Good work ladies. Three dishes down, and the next 4 weeks they will rotate between their houses giving their teammates their favorite meals as well. I can't wait to see what Kalli Durham comes up with! Coach Bin

Bin Tid Bits

School is out for most of us, camps begin next week, so what better time to give some off season tid bits to those who are getting after it on the court this summer. Less is More-Many people make the mistake of doing more and getting good rather than focusing on less and becoming great. This could be certain sacrifices you cut out of your day or even concentrating on a few moves to perfect them over multiple moves. What weak hand? How to fix this? Eat with your weak hand, write with your weak hand, rep your weak hand twice as many times as your strong one, make your defender shade your strong hand. "The Better Me is a Better We" quoted from US Army General Becky Halstead who spoke at the Center for Coaching Excellence last week. We can all be leaders and to begin, start with leading yourself. She was incredible and even 2 inches shorter than me. Go Rock Climbing-I say this every year to basketball players, but strong fore arms will make you a stronger dribbler & passer. Plus, cross training is good for the body and mind. Put your feet up-Literally, straight up against the wall for ten minutes at the end of camp or in between games and let the circulation flow back through your legs Read-I have about a dozen books on my list for this summer either by recommendations, gifts, or borrows but this is a habit that needs to overcome our social media. Smile-It's amazing what a smile will do for your attitude and how much a smile will influence your day. Yes, I will want you to smile at 7:45pm next Wednesday after the 3rd day of camp when you are exhausted, sore, and it will help you enjoy every minute of it! All I have for now. There will be plenty more at 9:00am Monday morning for our 170+ screaming campers!!! Go Cats, Coach Bin