ROAD TRIP

MSU Women's Basketball last week's adventure.

Pulled into Pocatello, ID around 6:00p.m. to have dinner at the Texas Road House. I walked in and said hi to Robin Selvig and the other University of Montana assistant coaches. My husband later tells me, "our bus is bigger than theirs."

Still at Texas Road House, I hear a scream by starting center Rachel Semansky and look back to see Coach Saneholtz giving her an "I'm Sorry" hug. I guess Coach Saneholtz threw a roll at her but had better aim than she anticipated and hit her in the eye. Our first black eye of the trip, jk.

Red Lion Hotel, Coach Scanson and his wife Shannon invite my kids over for a minature birthday party for their daughter Camryn. She opens 5 or 6 toys with some enjoyment and then unwraps clothes and yells out, "YES!"


ISU Game Time: The players and coaches run up and down the stairs as the bathrooms are in a separate room than the pregame room with the white boards. Whoever set it up this way must not understand the anxiety that goes on before games. "Next time, Beata Bak, knock before you enter."

WSU Shootaround: Instead of taking our full hour on the court we decide it's better to get ice baths and fresh legs for the game. I walk into the training room and see half our team in one ice bath. That must be a Guinness Book of Records.

We finish up our weekend with a much needed road sweep and get on the bus to finish the "Friday Night Lights" first season. My son tells me there isn't enough football in the show as I have to cover his eyes for the rest of the soap opera series.

At least the kids got to watch Finding Nemo and Imagination Movers in the morning when our players were asleep.

Coach Bin

The Night of Surprises

Saturday's Game vs UNC

1) Janette Jackson gets her first collegiate start and jumps for the tip. She immediately runs over to me holding her hand. I yell at her "why aren't you guarding anyone?" as Coach Close nearly throws up witnessing Janette's finger pointing sideways. Janette, however, reinserts the dislocated finger and plays the rest of the game with it taped. I suppose the humor isthat I told Janette she had an excuse for not winning the tip.

2) First media timeout the officials see a leak in the Fieldhouse roof. Both teams head to their benches as 20 minutes produce 3 more leaks and no way of stopping them.

3) Teams head over to Shroyer Gym, home to volleyball where bleachers are pulled out, fans, football players, administration, and facilities crews reinvent the gymnasium for a basketball game.

4) Our game begins 1 hour and 15 minutes later with a few additional lines, and an atmosphere nearly as loud as a Hoosier's game.

5) I look at the scorer's table as Bay slides underneathe it before checkin. It's not quite as spacious for a basketball game.

6) Erica forces a turnover in the back court and celebrates with her teammates before patting an official on the bottom. I asked Coach Scanson, "Will we get a technical for that?"

Coach Bin

Don't Underestimate Experience

We will be halfway through our conference season after this weekend's games. Our team is in a 4 team clump trying to claw our way back into the Big Sky race.

The only team right now that has set itself apart is Eastern Washington, currently 7-0. I am not surpised at their early success, having all 5 starters back and a team that dominated on the boards last season. I think the media is more surprised, but you can't underestimate experience and balance.

My championship experiences have been when I was on great TEAMS rather than teams with a few great individual players. Teams that didn't care who got the shot, as long as it was the right shot, teams that had players who took great pride in setting the screen, taking the charge, diving for the possession that matters. Aspects of the game that you DON'T see in the stat sheet.

We haven't had early conference success because of lack of consistency in ceratin areas, but don't count us out! We are known for finishing strong. We have a team that is figuring out how to bring the best of individual talent to the table for our team to thrive.

This team has great character and fight in them. Our veteran point guard Erica Perry took us to the Big Sky Championship game in 2008 and the best is yet to come for her. I believe in our back court and our front court and can't wait to see the two come together.

Go Cats!

Coach Bin

Back to Back Games

Quite a bit of uproar has surfaced on this year's back to back games. Fans and coaches all want an equitable playing field. However, other concerns such as injury prevention, quality of the game, and stamina have surfaced with this format.

During my WNBA playing career we managed to get in 4 to 5 games in one week's time. When I played on an exhibition team during my professional off season, I played in 11games in 13 days.

Conference tournaments are typically played back to back, potentially having to go three in a row if your team continues to win.

If you have seen the movie A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, Jean Cione (who is a Fast Break booster for our program) was a professional baseball player on one of the teams represented in that movie, the Rockford Peaches.

I think the answer is explained best by Jean when she said that we used to be concerned about women's fitness when they were only allowed to play half court basketball. "Now we are playing full court AND back to back."

Just think of what women will be doing in ten more years. Watch out!

Coach Bin

PRE GAME

Every road trip, the home team is reponsible for providing a locker room for the visiting team.

What to expect?

1) Small

2) A white board or a chalk board. Whether the marker or chalk are there is 50/50.

3) No Coca Cola products! Back before budgets tightened, we were very spoiled.

Last weekend's game at Portland State was more than the unexpected when we were escorted down the stairs to the pool where 15+ chairs were lined up in front of a whiteboard on the pool deck.

I should have told my son to bring his swimming suit!

Go Cats

OPPORTUNITY

I asked my team yesterday how many opportunities they think they get. The answer is simple. We don't know. Make the most of the opportunity when it presents itself.

The toughest shoes are the players on the bench who aren't in a consistent rotation. Maybe they get 30 seconds at the end of the game. Maybe they are called upon when a teammate gets in foul trouble. They are also the most crucial players to a championship team.

The team that will be successful at the end of the season is the one that has the bench come in at the end of the game and compete as hard as they can, dive for a loose ball, and crash the glass when the game has already been decided.

Why will that team be successful? Because that team has players competing at every position, making each other better every day, and doesn't have a player on the roster that has given up.

That Team Has FIGHT!

My job is to make sure my team takes that path as an opportunity is only as good as what you do with it.

Coach Bin

Deer Crossing

Only in Bozeman do you have to be concerned about more than pedestrians crossing the sidewalk. We have your typical deer and elk signs, but did you ever think the pedestrians themselves would have to watch out for them?

I found out this past weekend that, yes you do! One of our men's basketball coaches was walking to the donut shop when a deer ran right in front of him. Then he looked and saw a herd before sprinting inside the store.

So, my advice for the week is to stay away from the donut shop. Surely deer and elk won't want a bagel.

Coach Bin