SOCCER SEASON

I think all outside sports should only be offered during the months June, July, August, and September unless the sport requires a certain element of weather, for example SKIING. Soccer practices began which means crummy weather. Last night I witnessed both soccer goals crash during the course of the hour session due to the strong winds. Good news was that our kids were not near the goals. It was so stormy that our puppy Cole was shaking in fear, however. In Montana, any game or practice will be held unless there is a safety risk. I think a soccer goal tipping over might qualify for that. Since I am biased I can say that we do have the best soccer coach in the valley. Our kids are getting trained from all aspects of the sport whether it's the corner kick, throw in, pass, it was covered. Next week he is bringing in Mia Hamm for a session, joking of course. The most impressive moment was when I saw the uniforms. WOW! I think I might play soccer just to get the uniform. On a serious note, I do love spring in Bozeman because you never know what you're going to get. We have had 70's, 50's, maybe snow & shine in the same day but it's great to be outside. Except for our student athletes of course because it's finals week. Good luck to all of our EXCELLENT students. Finish strong! Coach Bin

It's a Boy

Last weekend my family adopted an 8 week puppy named Cole. Let me tell you how this happened. It began a long, long, time ago in a galaxy far away; Wait! I am getting off track. It started when our oldest child, Justin wanted a dog when he was about 3 years old. Todd and I were able to hold him off for a few years with the saying "we travel too much," or "it just wouldn't be fair to the dog," or "our yard isn't big enough. Then our second child comes along which bought us about another year, yet Brooklyn then began to talk and feed off her brother. "I want a dog too." So we started with a hamster and named him Opie Indiana Binford. That should solve it right? One month ago our neighbors down the street had a litter of bunnies and happened to be in our driveway with one when we were leaving the house. Justin then decided what he wanted for his birthday, a bunny! Todd and I with our careful consideration and thorough parenting abilities decided that bunnies were still easier to handle than dogs so we agreed he could get the bunny for his present. However, 2 weeks later before we got the bunny He went missing. No present in hand for our son's 9th Birthday party sent my fingers to the internet. Any other bunnies in Bozeman to buy? Then I clicked for some reason over to the Hearts of the Valley webpage and saw a gorgeous dog. I wasn't really serious at the time but showed Todd and said he had been thinking about getting a dog. Who do you call at that point? You call Nana because she knows the good and bad to every kind of dog breed there is. You don't call Papa because he will take all of them! She suggests checking the newspaper and boy did we. Todd went through the paper and saw a Yorki Smorki puppy for sale, we still liked the dog at Hearts of the Valley and were planning on visiting with a family of puppy labs later that afternoon. We met with Nana and Papa at McDonalds before visiting the first home when my dad said "You know what you are getting into right?" I said, "what do you mean?" "You aren't leaving there without that dog." I laughed and said "sure we will. We want to go to Hearts of the Valley and check out the labs too as that's what Justin said he wanted." As we pulled up to meet with the folks who had the Yorki I saw "Cole" sitting in the gentleman's arms and I said "oh no." I was sold as he was SO CUTE! Justin and Brooklyn got out of the car, knelt to the ground and Cole ran right up to them. Justin yelled "the is the one I want!" So we took him home, tried to think of some names and then I asked Justin who the Lego Ninja was that work black. "Cole!" A week later I feel like we have had another baby as Cole is going through potty training, yet I don't recall Justin and Brooklyn stealing my shoes as babies or biting my clothes. It's been a blessed week and my favorite line so far has been by Brooklyn. "Mom, Cole should listen!" Coach Bin

Love to Work

There is a sense of satisfaction when you complete a challenge, a task, & especially an early morning workout. This morning our athletes rose to a chilly but refreshing morning to tackle the prowlers on the football field. Our strength coach threw in some additional medicine ball & situp activities throughout their circuit. My job was to make sure their arms didn't didn't go completely numb. I walked around with my husbands enormously big gloves, patted down the limbs, gave them the Rocky "fake" slap to their bellys as they were in and out of situps, and gave the 2 second shoulder massage. To walk away stronger both mentally & physically is exhilerating, although I think our players would also say a bit exhausting. After the workout I decided to stick around and see how steep the new stadium bleachers are compared to the old ones. I can tell you this. The view from the top of the Gallatin Valley was magnificent but you don't want me behind the wheel of a car because I might not be able to lift my legs up for the brake. They are still shaking! Coach Bin

Season in Review

Start to Finish was the theme for this year's team. The 2012-13 Team got off to a good start even with seven newcomers in the program. Our goal was to define ourselves as a dictating defensive unit which catapulted our uptempo offense. This offense would be inside out oriented with great strengths in our post play and balance on our perimeter. The previous year we averaged 20 three point attempts per game rather than this year's team utilizing our strong post play led by Rachel Semansky and Ashley Brumwell. As a result our team had early wins on the road at CSU and Denver. We played in the championship game vs host SMU, eventual Conference USA Champ, with a ten point lead with two minutes to go. SMU, however, made a remarkable comeback at the hands of a couple of critical errors and lessons for our squad. We walked away from that one with a devastating one point loss. We finished the preseason 6-3 learning that we could beat anyone on our schedule on a given night when we played together and dictated defensively as well as lose to anyone if our defensive intensity was't there. Conference started before Christmas this year which was extremely unusual but it was time to make it count. Quickly we found that success came when Tish Adams mad timely scores and steals. Led by inside outside Rachel, Ashley, and Kalli Durham the fourth offensive key was Tish. Close victories on the road at Portland State, Southern Utah, Eastern Washington and rival Montana proved that. Another ingredient pulled the pieces together as well, our contributions and impact of our bench. We were deep. Midway we were in first before we went to Idaho Sate, our first loss after seven straight wins. Then another close loss verses Eastern at home. This was the game the Cats started to play a little tighter. Decisions became less crisp, offense became more stagnant, and the energy on defense seemed drained. Stopping the slide didn't come easy but our Cats got back in the winning column hosting Weber State. A roller coaster finish to the Big Sky Tournament we battled back and forth with Eastern Washington until a couple of turnovers and quick threes gave Eastern enough breathing room to advance to the semi finals. The Cats, we found ourselves Abruptly short of our mission. Expectations and not reaching them are hard to swallow but this I do know. We had two fantastic seniors finish incredible careers representing the Cats in Blue and Gold. We finished a successful season making the Big Sky Tournament for the sixth year in a row. We finished the season with a winning record for the fifth year in a row. We have fourteen talented Bobcats returning! As far as the Big Sky Conference goes this is one of our most successful seasons in that we have one team representing us in the Big Sky Tournament, and three invited to the WNIT. Our RPI's nationally this year were much more competitive and I know that is going to make the Bobcats even tougher next year. Cat fans, thank you for your tremendous support because we are not finished yet!

Senior Night

To all of you freshmen out there, it DOES go fast.

Latisha Adams and Rachel Semansky will play their final basketball game in the Fieldhouse tonight at 7:00pm so come out and support these two incredible women and their careers at Montana State.

I want to thank Kyle from the Chronicle on giving the readers a glimpse of who Tish and Rachel are in real life. As their coach, I'd like to add how proud I am of who they are as people and representatives of our program.

Tish and Rachel have totally different personalities yet have impacted this team in so many ways.

Rachel is a leader that raises the bar for others as she competes and gives her best effort in everything she does. As a Two Time Big Sky Conference Player and a Two Time All American Academic Award winner, she has an expectation for herself to work as hard as she can in everything she does.  Our team has seen first hand the results of exceptional habits and work ethic in place. She challenges herself and her teammates daily.

Tish, or as her teammates call her, "T Time," has developed into the quiet leader of this team. Tish's career started out quiet and has sky rocketed the last two years through her perseverance and steadfast commitment. For me, she has become my "rock", our team's "steady," the one that doesn't get too high or too low, but can resond to any circumstance. She brings individuals along, grabs them on the sideline and encourages, teaches, and lifts them up.

Together these two complement each other in their way of play, in their way of communicating, in their way of impacting and leading this team. This may be our last home game of the year, but it's not our last game of the season.

Behind these two, I believe we have an exciting post season ahead, yet so much more than that. Their impact in our program will continue on, and in Tish's words she will come back to Bozeman when someone gets married. I am still hoping that crab legs work as well and maybe Bozeman can wrap Rachel right up and keep her here as one of the finest future teachers in this generation.

I love these kids, yet they are not kids anymore!

Coach Bin

DETAILS, CONSISTENCY

You are probably hearing coaches use the words "details" and "consistency" alot at this stage of the season.

One of my favorite challenges as a head coach is to get my players to buy in to the importance of having GREAT habits as they are the catalyst to consistent performance. The other challenge is helping our student athletes figure out what habits they need in order to clear off the unnecessary stressors in their lives as they already have enough stress to begin with. Understanding your stressors are your own internal obstacles can sometimes be easily recognized but not easily overcome.

Let me tell you the major internal road blocks that coaches see daily.

1. Fatigue-The organized athlete who has their "routines" down is able to get around 8-9 hours a sleep at night. Sleep does affect performance & your ability to focus. Stress is also an energy drainer whether it's the stress of your schedule, studies, or even practice. 
2. Conditioning-Think about your number 1 strength. How many times in a row can you do it? The elite athletes are in premier shape which allows them to repeatedly attack over & over again.
3.  Mental Toughness-Some have it naturally, others develop this skill over the course of their careers. When you don't have it, you focus on how tough the drill is, how stressful the environment, the call that didn't go your way. When you have this skill you turn every obstacle into your advantage, "bring it on," "I want the ball in my hands," "what call?". The great have short term memories to begin with, block out the outside, and focus on the only things that allow them to get from point A to point B. Work on this daily, your inner voice. Put yourself in these situations to work through how you WANT to handle the situation. Visualize the way you should and want to respond. 

Our team has been in the middle of the mental challenge as we went through the storm of 7 straight wins to 6 straight losses. We were able to survive the run by Weber State last Saturday to get off that "streak" but that was the problem. We were focusing on the "streak" rather than the details.

Dan Hughes, my former Head Coach for the Cleveland Rockers, used to always say "play hard, play smart." I have used that line so many times with my team as it really is as simple as that. If you are able to compete consistently & you're able to focus on the details of execution at both ends, then you aren't losing focus mentally, you aren't losing composure with the play, and you aren't stressing about the situation.

Our team has seen both sides. We have seen what happens when we keep it simple & focus on the details, and we have been in the storm of unnessary burdens. All I can say is that I'd rather keep the umbrella at home & put on some sunscreen.

Coach Bin

Round Two

Can you believe it's already the second round of the Big Sky Conference race? It's as competitive season as ever. For coaches, it's a great way to keep your athlete's attention as every day matters. Here are a few tidbits for Round Two: More shooting. Yes I know that one's easy since we aren't the best perimeter shooting team YET. Fundamentals make a huge impact in the second round. More carbs! If you have athletes like ours you have to do what you can to keep the weight on. We got described as "wiry" once. I took that as a complement. More ice tea. That just sounded good. Less reps in the weight room. Less is more certainly pays off when you still maintain the strength while lifting a strong percentage of your max. The motivated, the focused, the hungry, & those that don't get bored with the process will finish on top. Habits of Excellence shine in round two! Coach Bin