Let's face it, 36.7% shooting (11 of 30) from the field and 16 turnovers is not going to get you a win, but even with those stats, the Arizona Wildcat men's basketball team kept coming back.  Even though it seemed that only the UCLA players were getting rebounds (I know now this isn't true, but it seemed like it from the stand), the Arizona Wildcat players came back.  And when you would, yourself, want to walk off the court after the 3rd defensive block call which was called on your team when the UCLA offense most definitely and obviously purposely elbow your chest so you go flying backwards under the basket, yes, the Wildcats kept coming back.

As a Wildcat fan, I felt the other Arizona fans represented well.  Here we were, sitting in a big stadium where we expected to be one of 20 or so fans attending the game, and actually 1/3 of the seats were full of Wildcat fans, blue and red everywhere.  It was obvious we were there when some guys to the left of me started the U OF A chant, and we were loud!  You would think that would help the team..and I think it gave them a reason to continue coming back, but they just couldn't muster up enough desire it seemed to win the game.  

Another quick observation: Most of the UCLA and Arizona players were from Southern California, with UCLA having at least 4 players from Orange County where the game was being played.    Seemed like it was a game between California natives.

I have watched a whole lot of basketball in my time, I have coached it and been a commissioner of a rec league, and it is very obvious when the referee wants to be the 6th player and wants to affect the outcome of the game.  This game was no different.  The Bruins seemed to be beating up the Wildcats with actual hits (once there was a karate chop to the neck, and twice there were purposeful elbows to the chest).  This game was hyped up with all the Wooden video's and I am sure locker room speeches (I am a huge Wooden fan, don't get me wrong) and all the respect the refs had for Wooden, how could the Bruins lose?  How could Howland go home a loser in this beautiful stadium where lots of West LA folks drove for over an hour (lots of traffic) to get to Anaheim on a Thursday night for the game.

Don't misunderstand, I will tell you I think UCLA did a fine job on offense and defense, I was impressed, I just didn't like the dirty pool.  I looked to me like with their center out, the team seemed to step up.  Their point guard was on fire, so were the twins, it seemed the first half, they couldn't miss the basket.  In this game, maybe size did matter (LOL).  UCLA clearly has a taller team, and Arizona's freshman 

Upshot: Solomon Hill will be shooting 100's of free throws today and tomorrow, Sean Miller will be rethinking his starters for the next game, Nick Johnson has to find his love for the game and desire to win (I know he is only a Freshman), Lavender will be teaching the rest of the team how to shoot, and us fans will be spending Saturday praying for a win against USC on Sunday.   GO CATS!
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We are in full swing with the MLS Playoffs, the 2011 World Series was won last night by the St. Louis Cardinals, College basketball is in "exhibition" mode, NFL in full swing, NASCAR is off and running, it is College and High School Volleyball season, wow, a lot to take in!

This is my favorite time of the year for sports, just one HUGE SPORT IS MISSING, yes, the NBA.

I am flabbergasted at how this country seems to be in a state of extreme positions..what happened to the middle of the road?  If the players agreed to 50/50, then owners have to give them something they can feel good about...COMPROMISE PEOPLE!  

What happened to thinking about and supporting the fans?  The fans they always say are part of their team?  The fans don't seem to matter...when people are out of jobs, losing their homes, etc.  They look to their favorite sport for some escape from their troubles, and where is the NBA when you need them?

I am starting to really have a bad taste in my mouth, if the NBA and NBA players association cannot agree, then how do we expect our politicians to agree?

I wish we could vote as fans on what we think is fair and let the fans decide who gets what...that, will never happen.  And until then...we are stuck hearing about and tweeting any little tidbit we can get our hands on for any glimmer of hope of an NBA season, that is really pathetic...COME ON PEOPLE! Where are the adults?
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I am so upset I can't even talk about it.

This is a year of no compromise...

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Happy July 4th everyone, what a great day where we can celebrate our countries independence and enjoy a great game of soccer.

My family has figured out the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and we have successfully managed it for 4 consecutive years now, each year we get a little smarter.

This year, we went to an online website and bought season tickets from a season ticket holder who found something better to do that night.  With the season ticket, you can get into the restaurant if you make reservations (which we did last minute) and we were so pleasantly surprised!  What a great buffet and you get hyped for the upcoming game as well.  The staff was so gracious and the food was plentiful and tasty..okay, enough about the food...

So I read up on the game ahead of time and it seems that the Galaxy's 1st string Goal Keeper was injured, which left them a 2nd string GK and a 3rd string GK. The 2nd string GK had received a red card in a previous game (I am assuming you understand the game of Soccer), which left the green 22 year old 3rd string GK to start and play the entire game, Brian Perk @perk89.   The Galaxy was playing Seattle who was and still is in second place to Los Angeles, so this was a big game!

You could sense the nervousness of the fans in the air; how was Perk going to play?  His first challenge was a penalty kick if you could believe that!  Couldn't have scripted this better if I was writing a movie...anyway, as you know with defending a goal kick, the GK has to make their best guess at where the ball is going to be kicked.  The ball was kicked, Perk chose to defend right, the kick was to the right, HE SAVED THE GOAL!  The first one of his professional career.........really, not making this up. 

The rest of the game was more of the same, save after save, until ultimately the game ended in a 0-0 draw adding to the winning streak of 10 to make the total 11 straight wins!  But this did not come without a price, after a shot to the head, AJ DeLaGarza eventually had to be carried off the field in a stretcher, then Gonzalez, late in the game had issues with his back and he was taken out of the game.

With 22 minutes left, David Beckham came in, the crowd gets so excited when he plays, but not much there besides adjusting his headband throughout the remainder of the game (reminded me of Sasha V!)...he helps mainly with the referee's who gave him a gift at one point, but the Galaxy could not benefit from it, so a tie it is, I will take it!

Here is the full story: http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2011/07/recap-perk-shines-debut-galaxy-draw-sounders 

Fireworks capped off the night, and the ride home was about an hour (not too bad).  The husband can't understand why the Home Depot Center can't figure out how to direct traffic so people can get to the darn freeway faster, have to agree with him...

Honestly one of the best bargains in Los Angeles, if you haven't yet, you must go to a Galaxy game, if only to listed to the ACB cheer squad compete with the Galaxians with their chants, dances and songs. My favorite: Na na na na, na na na na na, Elllaaaayyyy (LA) Galaxy (accent on the "X").

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Got busy with life...sorry it has been awhile..


Well, my favorite NBA team was swept out of the playoffs a couple weeks ago...the saddest thing I have witnessed in decades.  The Lakers went out with a bang, didn't they?  Although I do not condone violence on the court, and I agree it was a horrible display of bad sportsmanship, somewhere inside I felt a ping of joy when Bynum clocked Barea of Dallas as he went up for a layup.  The coffin was closed and almost completely shut, and that little dude taking it to giant Andrew when he was obviously down and out, he just had had enough, probably didn't foresee the giant impact of his block..but there is no excuse.  I have to admit, I cannot defend Andrew, he did intend to take him out..fortunately for Dallas, Barea got back up and continued to play in the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsMprVOQToM&feature=related



This wasn't the first time Bynum has done this, watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p1tQiSA2Ok&feature=related



Now don't get me wrong, I have really never gotten over Pau and Andrew replacing Shaq, I was a huge Shaq fan, and almost gave up on the Lakers when they made that move, but then Jordan Farmar and Sasha V. and Luke Walton made up for the missing Shaq.  This 2011 Laker team was not the 2010 Laker team, the chemistry was not there all season, anyone could tell, you tear apart a championship team, and this is what happens, I blame the Buss's and Mitch K. and whomever had a part in breaking up the team from 2010...reminds me of when the Dodger won the world series mostly because of the chemistry on the team and not the talent, and the next season, the Dodgers were not the same team, literally.


Here is Lamar's foul of Dirk in this same playoff game, again not right, but Dirk didn't even fall down...overdone reaction IMO.  I was expecting some frustration, one of the most embarrassing games and the Lakers were down by 30 or so points for the entire 4th quarter.  I also heard from a reporter that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Dirk were taunting Lamar during and after his missed free throws.  Cheap shot, huh?  Your team is down and the owner is rubbing it in.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi2lTn8s6sk



Also, earlier in another game, wasn't this almost as bad?  Jason Terry pushing Blake into the photographers?  No one was blasting Jason, the announcers hardly announce on what happened, they were soooo focused on the Laker's behavior!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_uEWkycTcY&feature=related



What can I say....I am semi interested in the playoffs now.  I am hoping that Oklahoma steps up as well as Chicago, and those two team are in the championship!


Have a great day!

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By now, most of you know the Lakers were beat last night heading into the all star break by the worst team in the league...Kobe couldn't shoot very well and he seldom drove to the basket.  Now most people would think that they aren't as good as they are touted to be, but you have to know the team...they could care less about being beat or beating this team, they still have their eye on the prize, but isn't it more important to get home and focus on the All-stars? God forbid Kobe is injured before he plays in the big game, right?  Isn't it all about Kobe? I hate that it is, but it is! Ask anyone on any basketball team that isn't the "star", and they will tell you that the star even overrides the coach, you have to think in the Pro's this is definitely the case.

So,if Kobe hogs the ball, then the Lakers could win, but most probably not.  If he doesn't and he shares it, the chances are much higher, but what I CANNOT STAND is when he hogs the ball, his shooting percentage is in the toilet for the game, the coach leaves him in, and he still thinks he and he alone can pull out a win...Kobe, what about the rest of your team?  The Lakers do best when Kobe wants to play with his team, if he doesn't, then the Lakers fail, and if he wants to win again, he has to bring his team into the game and not be scared to make mistakes for fear of being punished by not getting the ball even if you are wide open and left hanging, or getting the cold shoulder or being yelled at in front of the world....The old adage comes to mind "There is no I in TEAM", it is repeated so often it is tiring, but it is so true that it will never go away, Kobe, There is no I in TEAM!
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Were you able to catch the Clippers Pacers game on MLK Day?  I felt like I was seeing something for the first time watching Blake Griffin jump in the air with the ball in his hands, tilt his head back to see the basket behind him about 3 feet, then toss the ball back over his face into the basket..UNBELIEVABLE!!!

One play after another.  I was watching it with my good friends 11 year old son (who loves to play and watch basketball), and he just turned to me and said "Blake Griffin really is a BEAST!", which is Griffin's nickname.  This 11 year old went from telling me he was only a die hard Laker fan to now wanting me to get tickets so we can go see Blake Griffin play on Wednesday night!  It really doesn't take that long to "get it".  This rookie score 47 points in a game that could have gone either way...unbelievable, that is the word that keeps getting into my head, that and "BEAST".
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As you know, I have 10 years experience coaching girls in basketball, from the age of Kindergarten to High School.  I have learned a lot during those 10 years what makes these girls tick, what motivates them, but that would only be the girls who live in our little pricey community by the beach, so it may not apply to all girls.  Some of what I have learned is because of what I went through growing up, some from being a parent, some from trial and error, and other influences.  I most often had an assistant coach who was a dad, so we would have a good balance, and the dad's were so great, they followed my lead, and they were frankly shocked that my approach worked. To this day, one of my assistant coaches quotes me to his friends, and credits me and reminds me that I taught him how girls tick, he had changed his mind about how to coach girls.

What I have learned is that what works is to figure out how each team member ticks, how each player gets motivated, what matters to each player, how they play with their parents watching, how they get along with their teammates, how they take direction, how they learn (show them, tell them, practice it or all of the above).  After I figure that out, I make sure they spend non-basketball time together, that they hang out and get to know each other.  At practice, I would let them spend 5-10 minutes gabbing and shooting to get it out of their system, then I had to keep practice interesting and fun.  I found the girls learn a lot from just playing, skills and drills are important, but correcting their play while they are playing, that made the most difference.  I made it a rule for not player or coach to ever put down a player, I made it a rule for coaches to not yell at the players, I made sure the girls knew they could make mistakes and I would not get mad, but they would get some instruction to improve.

I learned to hone in on what each player was good at, maybe they were fast, maybe they were great at defense, as I subbed them in, i would make sure that they had at least one thing they needed to do for focusing.   Parents were happy most of the time, the parents that weren't usually were the ones used to their daughters playing 90% of each game, but their daughters actually played better when they got to watch the game dynamics, it motivated them to watch for awhile.

I always believed in my teams, even if we were missing our "best" player, I told them they could win if they wanted to win, they knew I had confidence in them, and they wanted to win for themselves, not from fear of getting yelled at, they wanted to improve because their teammates counted on them and they wanted to play more.  The girls enjoyed the game of basketball.   Oh, one more thing, I always played all the girls, as equally as possible, this way the whole team got better, not just a few players, if they all put in the work, then there should be equal play, now if we had to come from behind in the 4th quarter or it was a close game, then we had to play the stronger players, but the other players totally understood that and were very supportive of their teammates.  Of course this was Recreation basketball...

In High School, the entire focus for parents and players is "How do I get more play time", no matter if you are on the Frosh, JV or Varsity team.  The coaches are the sole decider who gets to play or not for each game, the parents beg their bosses to be able to get off of work mid afternoon to go see their daughter play, the daughter wants all the practice and workouts to use, the whole thing is very frustrating.  If I volunteer, maybe my kid will get play time, if I pay the coach for lessons, maybe they will get closer to the coach and get more play time.  There are 32 minutes in a game, you can't get 12 players into a 32 minute game somehow? On a FROSH Team? 

I also find it very interesting that some of these high school players learned things in rec ball and Jr. High school basketball that they aren't even utilizing in High School.  I am talking offensive plays, press, double teaming, man-to-man defense, etc.  Shocking really that in rec ball all these facets of basketball were taught and learned, but in High School the girls are told "you won't be able to learn the plays", frankly shocking.

All in all, I have been through this will my oldest child, and it is better this time around, she is enjoying herself, the Varsity coach is inclusive and the girls feel important, but there is a ton of drama with the boosters and the parents.  Again, expected all this...what makes me feel better is that the game my child was able to play the most in was the one we won, and the 2 games I was allowed to coach with a fellow rec coach dad, we won both games, games were supposed to lose, so that is the saving grace for me.

God help me through this season, and let there be offensive plays, and various defensive strategies, and more substitutions, and more positive encouraging coaching...AMEN!
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First thought, why is this game played on a Monday night?  Hardest day to get done early at work, starts early, even worse, all the hype of the holidays is over, people are focusing now on NFL playoffs, I just think this is the wrong day/time to hold this championship game!

I think it needs to be accessible to everyone, thus hold it on a Sunday mid day, makes it easier for people to attend the game, watch the game, make plans around the game, not have to rush home from work (for those of us who work M-F), I just don't think this was good timing...

Next thought; was it just me? Or do the other conferences teams just play dirtier than the PAC 10 teams?  First I watched the Alamo Bowl, where Oklahoma State defense make a dirty illegal tackle on the University of Arizona's Running back, taking one of their best players out of the game.  That just struck me as a "planned event".  Then, last night, there was a time in the second half where every play there was an injured duck on the field...I know there were injuries on both sides, but I am thinking that the PAC 10 needs to start planning on playing dirty if they want to win a bowl game.

Next to last thought: With the world watching, the fashionista clothing the Oregon Duck football team, abandoned their traditional school colors, and did not put any green on the uniform, in addition, the yellow they chose, although kind of cool, was florescent yellow.  The team did not match the fans!  I think the school could have made a ton of money if they sold apparel to match the team for the game, just the business woman in me thinking out loud.  So, what are the colors of the school now? Hmmmm

Last thoughts; what a game!  Couldn't have been any closer, Auburn took the ducks out of their regular 2nd half game plan that worked on almost every PAC 10 team, how was that possible?  And I was second guessing the Oregon offensive play calling, why they heck would you run it up the middle when I don't think that worked once during the game? 

I like that there is a championship game, what I don't like is when it is played...but, wow, what a game it was! Congrats to both teams!

Thanks for keeping up with me...I am trying to get going here in 2011!

Anyone else interested in bloggin on my site?  Please fill out the form or email me at smlhoops1@hotmail.com
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I GOT SIDE TRACKED!  It has been a year since I posted my first blog...

Coached my daughters High School basketball team today in a tournament, these girls had been beaten by a really good team the day before and they were all bummed out with no confidence and they were missing a strong player...well that didn't stop me!  I fed these 14-16 year olds with confidence, told them they should step up and show themselves and their teammates what they are made of.  They need to play for themselves, not any one coach, they need to find their strength within individually, but also they need to find it as a team.

Isn't this what life is about?  I have decided it does take a village, more than one perspective is healthy.  In war as in sports, there is a battle to win, two sides fighting against each other even if just for the length of the game...in football, it seems this is where we witness our warriors!  When they do something great, we feel great, but somewhere we feel a little twinge (or maybe this is because I am a girl) of angst or sympathy for the other team, winning is fun, but sometimes just looking at the other team makes it just a little less great, but when we are by ourselves with common fans, we feel nothing but bliss...sheer bliss, and that is what I felt today coaching with a close friend who I have coached against for many years, sheer bliss because our daughters rose to the occasion, found "it" inside of them and the team figured out how to win as a team.  BLISSFUL WIN!!!!

Until then cheer loudly, stay positive, and take care of your team whether it be your family or your work buddies or actually your team, and the world will be a better place!

Happy Holidays Everyone, I promise to blog more in the coming year!
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