Little Justin fits in both storage units.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
WNBA
This is always an exciting time of year for me as the NBA Playoffs begin to wrap up. The reason, the WNBA season is starting.
The overlap of the seasons was pretty sweet when I began my WNBA career with the Utah Starzz as I was in the Delta Center to witness the push off, fade away, last second, buzzer beater shot by Michael Jordan against Byron Russell. The crowd was devestated.
Two years later I felt like I was Russell during my second season with the Cleveland Rockers when I took a charge on Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets. I was stationary for so long that the cement trucks had come and gone and plastered my shoes to the ground. However, that wasn't how the officials saw that call either. I will admit she was VERY good.
This time of year always gets me pumped. I am just glad I don't have to sit in the ice baths getting through those two a days.
Coach Bin
Thursday, May 28, 2009
TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Become a Better Ball Handler
Whether you are a point guard, forward, center, 10 years old, 30 years old, this skill will improve your game at any position and every age.
Here are a few easy and FUN tips:
1) Everything you eat from now on must be with your weak hand. The skill is more important than the image. Tell that to your date before he takes you out to Chinese.
2) Go rock climbing. Strong forearms improve your ball handling, passing, and rebounding. Just please make sure to have someone hold the rope. When I was in college on a ropes course I jumped off a 30 foot pole when my teammate wasn't holding the rope. That's why I ended up 5'4 instead of 6'4.
3) Find a racquetball court, bring a basketball, and shut yourself in for an hour. Practice any and every ball handling and passing drill you've ever learned and OVER EXAGGERATE it. Bounce or throw that ball as hard as you can. If you make a mistake you have four walls to bring that ball right back. Tell your mom to bring the video camera and you might make $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos.
4) HAVE FUN. To take it to the next level you have to put in more time than others are willing, so you might as well enjoy it. Be creative, innovative, and challenge yourself in ways you haven't imagined before.
My five year old can climb our fridge in under 5 seconds. He is destined for greatness.
Coach Bin
Whether you are a point guard, forward, center, 10 years old, 30 years old, this skill will improve your game at any position and every age.
Here are a few easy and FUN tips:
1) Everything you eat from now on must be with your weak hand. The skill is more important than the image. Tell that to your date before he takes you out to Chinese.
2) Go rock climbing. Strong forearms improve your ball handling, passing, and rebounding. Just please make sure to have someone hold the rope. When I was in college on a ropes course I jumped off a 30 foot pole when my teammate wasn't holding the rope. That's why I ended up 5'4 instead of 6'4.
3) Find a racquetball court, bring a basketball, and shut yourself in for an hour. Practice any and every ball handling and passing drill you've ever learned and OVER EXAGGERATE it. Bounce or throw that ball as hard as you can. If you make a mistake you have four walls to bring that ball right back. Tell your mom to bring the video camera and you might make $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos.
4) HAVE FUN. To take it to the next level you have to put in more time than others are willing, so you might as well enjoy it. Be creative, innovative, and challenge yourself in ways you haven't imagined before.
My five year old can climb our fridge in under 5 seconds. He is destined for greatness.
Coach Bin
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
VACATION
"Vacation" is defined by dictionary.com as a period of suspension of work, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel.
The definition didn't include, however, 10 hour drives both ways, two kids, three cousins, and preparation for a wedding and rehearsal dinner. Therefore, the rest has been suspended until the vacation is over!
Here are the highlights.
1) Recreation- Golfing with my dad and husband. Todd and I can hit hard but inaccurately. Dad, on the other hand, is calm and consistent. I describe that to my team as the spectacular move to only miss the layup (100 dollar move, 10 cent finish). I'd rather a good move and a great finish like my dad.
Horseback riding- We took my son Justin out to ride my mom's horse called Brody. He was quite the cowboy but I think may have had as much fun playing in the dirt. And yes, this dirt probably had horse poop in it.
Volleyball- To finish off the week I jumped in on the "Binford" vs "McDonald's" volleyball match. This has been an ongoing battle since the beginning of time. Unfortunately we didn't have Big Sky officials so we got homered on the score.
2) Eating- I think this should have been a category under vacation as that seems to be all I do with my extra time and I quite enjoy it! Starting off with my dad's home cooking, salmon, halibut, barbeque ribs, chicken, and yes I am still eating. Todd sees the similarities as my dad and I can multi task very well. You just won't be able to find the counter top after ward.
Eating at Todd's parents. Let's just move forward to the PIG at the rehearsal dinner. When I heard they would be roasting a pig I imagined it being cooked over a grill without a head. This, however, was not the case as the pig was already cooked for 17 hours, and came positioned like superman.
The pig also had a skirt and sunglasses to match. There were more pictures taken of the pig than there were of the bride and groom to be. I will also admit that my son and all of the other kids had to touch it just because they had to touch it. As we got ready to eat, Justin asked if he could get some "pig" rather than "pork."
3) Family and Friends- I can't write enough how fun it was to see my friends from Boise, and both of our families. To finish off an amazing week Mike (Todd's little brother) and his beautiful bride Marie (sister-in-law) had a great wedding day. Justin walked his cousin Kendall down the isle arm in arm like a perfect gentleman and Todd gave a roasting toast to his little brother.
The newlyweds flew off to Cancun and I thought it ironic that is where the "PIG" or should I say "Swine" flew in from as well.
Coach Bin
The definition didn't include, however, 10 hour drives both ways, two kids, three cousins, and preparation for a wedding and rehearsal dinner. Therefore, the rest has been suspended until the vacation is over!
Here are the highlights.
1) Recreation- Golfing with my dad and husband. Todd and I can hit hard but inaccurately. Dad, on the other hand, is calm and consistent. I describe that to my team as the spectacular move to only miss the layup (100 dollar move, 10 cent finish). I'd rather a good move and a great finish like my dad.
Horseback riding- We took my son Justin out to ride my mom's horse called Brody. He was quite the cowboy but I think may have had as much fun playing in the dirt. And yes, this dirt probably had horse poop in it.
Volleyball- To finish off the week I jumped in on the "Binford" vs "McDonald's" volleyball match. This has been an ongoing battle since the beginning of time. Unfortunately we didn't have Big Sky officials so we got homered on the score.
2) Eating- I think this should have been a category under vacation as that seems to be all I do with my extra time and I quite enjoy it! Starting off with my dad's home cooking, salmon, halibut, barbeque ribs, chicken, and yes I am still eating. Todd sees the similarities as my dad and I can multi task very well. You just won't be able to find the counter top after ward.
Eating at Todd's parents. Let's just move forward to the PIG at the rehearsal dinner. When I heard they would be roasting a pig I imagined it being cooked over a grill without a head. This, however, was not the case as the pig was already cooked for 17 hours, and came positioned like superman.
The pig also had a skirt and sunglasses to match. There were more pictures taken of the pig than there were of the bride and groom to be. I will also admit that my son and all of the other kids had to touch it just because they had to touch it. As we got ready to eat, Justin asked if he could get some "pig" rather than "pork."
3) Family and Friends- I can't write enough how fun it was to see my friends from Boise, and both of our families. To finish off an amazing week Mike (Todd's little brother) and his beautiful bride Marie (sister-in-law) had a great wedding day. Justin walked his cousin Kendall down the isle arm in arm like a perfect gentleman and Todd gave a roasting toast to his little brother.
The newlyweds flew off to Cancun and I thought it ironic that is where the "PIG" or should I say "Swine" flew in from as well.
Coach Bin
Friday, May 22, 2009
TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Today I am going to skip ahead and talk about something I added to my game when I went from college to the pros.
What was interesting about playing my first professional season in Australia was their style of basketball. The athletes looked like track stars and they ALL loved the bank shot. As the "import" I also learned you are expected to score a certain amount of points every game.
One element that I noticed which I immediately drilled into my game was the bank shot. I am not just talking about the 5-10 foot pull up on a 2 on 1 fast break. Australian basketball players could bank from the center of the key and any angle in between out to nearly the 3 point line.
If you think about it, the bank shot is the highest percentage shot because the ball typically falls at a higher angle increasing the size of the cylinder. Why wouldn't someone want to perfect this shot. You can not only use it in transition, any jump shot, put back, lob, but getting fouled in the process still allows the ball to have a chance.
So go out and start a game of PIG with all angles using the bank. You won't regret it, will increase your percentages, and take your game to the next level.
I just hope for the rest of you, that a unitard is not the team uniform.
Coach Bin
What was interesting about playing my first professional season in Australia was their style of basketball. The athletes looked like track stars and they ALL loved the bank shot. As the "import" I also learned you are expected to score a certain amount of points every game.
One element that I noticed which I immediately drilled into my game was the bank shot. I am not just talking about the 5-10 foot pull up on a 2 on 1 fast break. Australian basketball players could bank from the center of the key and any angle in between out to nearly the 3 point line.
If you think about it, the bank shot is the highest percentage shot because the ball typically falls at a higher angle increasing the size of the cylinder. Why wouldn't someone want to perfect this shot. You can not only use it in transition, any jump shot, put back, lob, but getting fouled in the process still allows the ball to have a chance.
So go out and start a game of PIG with all angles using the bank. You won't regret it, will increase your percentages, and take your game to the next level.
I just hope for the rest of you, that a unitard is not the team uniform.
Coach Bin
Thursday, May 21, 2009
RECRUITING
You have probably heard that 80% of coaching is recruiting the best athletes into your program. I am not just talking about skill, but work ethic, coachability, etc. It all will affect performance, team cohesion, and overall success of the program.
Well, as an assistant coach at Boise State back in the day under the leadership of Head Coach Trish Stevens I learned how to recruit the best. This is how....
Trish Stevens was on a home visit with a local student athlete out of Greenleaf, Idaho. The next day Trish comes by my office and tells me that she has the perfect man for me. Following my bosses instruction I tell her "alright." Ten months later I marry Todd Binford, older brother of Boise State Bronco Jenny Binford.
Yesterday my mom and I were pulling into her driveway. As the garage door was opening and I saw a pair of calves in the garage, I said, "I think that is Jenny." Sure enough Jenny was at the house visiting. My mom asked how I could tell it was Jenny by only seeing her legs.
"That's my job. Remember Jenny's jump shot?"
Coach Bin
Well, as an assistant coach at Boise State back in the day under the leadership of Head Coach Trish Stevens I learned how to recruit the best. This is how....
Trish Stevens was on a home visit with a local student athlete out of Greenleaf, Idaho. The next day Trish comes by my office and tells me that she has the perfect man for me. Following my bosses instruction I tell her "alright." Ten months later I marry Todd Binford, older brother of Boise State Bronco Jenny Binford.
Yesterday my mom and I were pulling into her driveway. As the garage door was opening and I saw a pair of calves in the garage, I said, "I think that is Jenny." Sure enough Jenny was at the house visiting. My mom asked how I could tell it was Jenny by only seeing her legs.
"That's my job. Remember Jenny's jump shot?"
Coach Bin
Monday, May 18, 2009
ROAD TRIP
Road trips probably account for 50% or more of the college memories and experience. Whether it's playing hacky sack in the airport during a 3 hour delay or playing cards in the back of the bus on the way to Missoula, road trips have been some of my favorite experiences as a player and as a coach.
With that being said, traveling with a 5 year old and 9 month old has made preparation a little more challenging. This weekend my family is headed out on a trip to Idaho for my brother-in-law's upcoming wedding. Rather than fly we decided to drive in order to save money. You would think the smallest of the group, my 9 month old, would require the least but if you are a parent, you know, it seems to be the opposite. By the time my husband had packed the baby bath, stroller, pack and play, and week long supply of diapers, we had a small corner to fit the rest of the family gear!
So... we were on our way. It started off a little scary when my son Justin asked within the first 30 minutes "How much further?!?" we had to go. But soon the trip fell in sink when Brooklyn nodded off and Justin plugged in "Bolt" on the dvd player.
I still don't know how my parents handled these trips when I was a child driving from Colorado to California for spring break. My older brother would constantly torment me in the back and draw imaginary lines for my sister and I to stay clear from. Of course that was only until he would put a finger over to just egg me on. I still don't know why I was such a smart alec to my dad. He would say, "Stop spitting spit wads!" and I would reply, "They're dry wads daaaad!"
After our second stop for potty breaks, diaper changing, and stretching, Todd and I decided to switch and I got behind the wheel. As I entered the freeway, my son says "Thank you mommy. Now we will get there quicker."
Coach Bin
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