A different kind of Hoops..

I am elated to be given a 2nd chance of basketball life, by having an opportunity to coach a Girl's basketball team and it's 18 and under! talking about lucky and privileged! It reminds me of my becoming a fan for uConn College Girls basketball team including their player - Rebecca lobo.

I was privileged to be part of mentoring program under Coach A who has taken extra effort to take us under his wing and give us pointer as a coach.  His teachings are much more valuable in game time than the subjects taught in classroom.

The team is also unique.
Last week, we started with 7 players and we are able to beat a taller opponent with having only 4 players at the last minutes,  with all other players having to fouled out of the game.   The remaining players are able to play smart and make some decisive plays until the last second.

Today it's a different ball game.   With our 2nd unit providing support, the players were able to show their true colors of great hustle and steals that put us a big margin over opponents [around 40+ points gap] through our transition game.

I do hope to extend my service on which I can offer to Coach A and the team so I can be with them until championships.

it's an answered prayer to a simple wish.  And it was a big favor to my basketball soul as I needed this kind of support and healing as a person as a whole.

Wish us luck and we will keep you updated.

I'm Back!
 

years of hiatus and finally I'm crawling my way in.

Life is never easy, yet it is beautiful to learn.

Passion never stops, and yearning is always endless.
2 rings this year and more is coming.
There is more rain to expect, yet more rainbows to see unnoticed.

Life goes on!

Champions - Big and Small, Short and Tall

My 2nd team are minor league Champs!

and my other players teams are major league Champs!

Double Champs - my friends, my boys, my players!

It's great to see your success double up with the people you play with and the friends you share your passion.

This is a great weekend for me.

The FEU tamaraws recently visited our small island nation and it feels like dejavu again for those NCAA-UAAP days a decade ago.

It's great to see this young players take on the torch of leadership with great power and responsibility. I would bet a thousand dollars that a lot of them would be future PBA pros in the next years ahead.

Also, it was a good moment for me since this is my 2nd championship experience with a very young team. As the saying goes, basketball is played by five people, not one. Our victory only shows that thru hard work and determination, added with a grain of luck and a lot of a heart, small people can be made into Winners.

We have fought back in the last 2 games, with very convincing wins on a come from behind story.

Our championship was a picture of David vs Goliath, with our players fighting on the ropes trying to put the score on an evenly match game. At one point in the 2nd quarter, bad luck struck us again when our star Player-A landed on the wrong foot and suffered a terrible sprain.

Nevertheless, our other players played with pride and heart and didn't give up fighting every score to match the game until the 4th quarter. My strategy was to delay Player-A's return until the crucial 4th quarter, but he hobbled off the pain and the other players took the leadership slack and combined great plays and scoring load. Players added dagger after dagger of great shots when it trickled down into the crucial minutes. It was a good win combined with a lot of drama and intensity.

Now this championship is worth savoring.

Congrats to Dallas Mavericks 2011 NBA champs

Congrats to Dallas Maverics 2011 NBA champs!

This may be late and I am routing for Lebron, Wade and the Heat, but understandably and convincingly Dallas deserve to be Champions.

I always liked Kidd and Nowitzki, and much more Mark Cuban who is the coolest-bad-ass Team owner in US of A.

They deserved to be champions and their win is unexpected, imagine elminating the defending champions Lakers to a 4-0 sweep and further winning the Larry O' Brien trophy.

Their championship is a result of dedication, hardwork and I would say a lot of PATIENCE.

Mark Cuban has matured not using his loud-mouth starting playoffs until the finals series.

It must be inner pain for him not to let his emotions take over, but only releasing it all not until the final seconds. It took him a lot of years to put a championship team, even gambling on acquiring Jason Kidd and maintaining franchise player Dirk Nowitzki. This championship story is a result of good team management and critical decision over the last five years.

Hats off to this great players and team owners!

coming from http://www.americancoachingacademy.com/mvn/

Here's a list of 23 *new* ways to say "Good Job"to your team.
1) You're on the right track now!

2) You've got it made.

3) You're really working hard today.

4) You are very good at that.

5) I'm proud of the way you worked today.

6) That's the best you've ever done.

7) I knew you could do it.

8) You are learning fast.

9) Couldn't have done it better myself.

10) You did it that time!

11) Nothing can stop you now.

12) That's the way to do it.

13) You've got your brain in gear today.

14) That was first class work.

15) That's better than ever.

16) You must have been practicing.

17) Good job, (person's name)

18) You outdid yourself today!

19) Good going.

20) Now you have the hang of it.

21) Sensational!

22) That's the way!

23) Aren't you proud of yourself?

notes: Coaches should be motivators and not dictators.

Coach Phil Jackson is a good example where people regard him as a Zen Master, rather than a literal coach figure.

This is a good principle where the objective was to emphasize positive perspective rather than highlight the negative action. I believe this theory improves the player's brain to imprint the positive aspect and replace the negative action previously committed. This provides better output as well as complementing the 'flushing' effect of players to recover from sports pressure especially in crucial moments of the game.

Lessons Learned Tips

Although it's always hard to accept your fate when you are in the losing end, there are always golden nuggets to learn so you can rectify this mistakes the second time and finally grab the 'W'.

Golden Nuggets:
#1. Have a last-second Defensive Play.
this I learned last game that last-second Defensive Play is much important with the last-second Offensive Inbounds play which is very crucial in WINNING. We are up by 3-pts and we didn't hustle very well and didn't defend the 3-pts area totally.

#2. Have your good defenders inside the court during the last-second Defensive Play.
as much as you want your good shooters during the last-second offensive play, you may think about putting your best defenders in the court for the last seconds to defend those high-percentage shooters from your opponents. Most normally, put bigger guys on the right position and quicker guys to be flexible enough to make the steal or tap the ball for a few seconds delay.

#3. For last-second plays, always put on your best shooters and quick-hitters.
Last game, we got 1.2 secs left after the game was tied with a hail mary shot from a good shooter of the opponent. I have the mental lapse of not putting in my best shooters in the field as I am confident enough that I have 5 good players who stayed in the last crucial minutes. But bringing in your best shooters and quick-hitters might provide a lot more luck and higher percentage of making the shot just as like winning the lotto is much possible if you have a lot more tickets in your hands.

#4. For last-second plays, AIM FOR THE WINNING SHOT not the tie-breaker.
As I noticed, if two good teams play in the same level and it goes to the last crucial moments - it's usually the one who is hungry to win that gets to WIN the game. Good Intensity+Determination+Heart is what makes a great and perfect play.
Last-second plays should be on this principle - don't just get that shot up but PUT ON A WINNING SHOT! A Winning attitude provides players with confidence and good morale for the team brings it over to Overtime regulation time. if players encounter setback because of a good shot from the other team, sometimes all it takes is a little prayer and faith on your on players to bounce back...

A Sad Day to Lose..

We lost 2 crucial games in the eliminations and the QFinals to a heavy-favorite team with good players...

One thing to learn, when you lose a good game, it is your BEST vs their BETTER...

no excuses, the Better Team always wins no matter how good both teams play.

there will always be someone on the losing end, and that's the worst part to accept.

The good part when you lose, is to learn from your mistakes and from your Opponents. The only way for a team to mature is when you play Better teams and you adjust accordingly to good players that beats you.

I learned that in Tennis, where the principle is - It's better to lose to a better team with your best, than to lose a game and not giving all yourbest.

I maybe sad for our loss, but I am happy how we played our game..
We lost fair and square, no ifs no buts, no regrets, no frustrations no disappointments.
you just yearn for the big "W".

maybe time will tell.. there are more battles to fight and more victories to earn.
One Step at a time.