The interpersonal skills of a team are so vital to being successful.  The cell phone, PDA, texting world is robbing our team’s of the learned skill of simply being able to talk to your teammate.  As simple as that may seem, if players don’t hang out and talk, they don’t get to know each other as well.  Knowing each other builds trust, care and concern for each other.  If they don’t know each other as well, they don’t communicate as well.  We all know if they don’t trust & communicate as well, we don’t play together as well.  Care and concern means… “I got your back.”  That is priceless on a team, any team, any sport.

I’ll take it one step further… with all of this, the communication, the getting to know each other, the trust.  There’s a greater lesson than basketball in all of this.  If all those things are missing, or under developed,  from a young person’s life – they won’t fully develop the “people skills” needed later in life to be successful after basketball is over.

I’m not just some UFO* coach that is clueless to this.  I am guilty… I text, email, IM, blog, twitter, surf the web on my iPhone WAY too much.  We can’t just give the reason, oh I have to it’s recruiting or networking.  Everything has a “reason,” don’t allow “reasons” to become “excuses.”

I applaud and respect the decision of the Georgia Tech PLAYERS to take this approach themselves.  Note the approach of coach Paul Hewitt, “suggestion.”

Today’s student-athlete’s, the millennials, rarely can have anything forced on them.  (The millennials… That’s a topic for another post…)  But Hewitt has their minds in the right place and helping them make a mature decision for the betterment of the team.  Teaching them some selfLESSness and making them choose it themselves.

Outstanding!

It paid off in a first round upset of Oklahoma State.  Let’s hope it continues.

from Associated Press

Georgia Tech players plan to give up their cell phones once again — this time before the NCAA tournament.

The Yellow Jackets have already reaped the benefits of muting distractions this postseason.

Georgia Tech players relinquished their phones before last week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and then made a run to the championship game.

But some of the players were skeptical when they first heard coach Paul Hewitt’s suggestion. However, success has made believers out of them.

So the Yellow Jackets (22-12) are adopting the self-imposed ban again.

Senior D’Andre Bell says the move helped the Yellow Jackets become closer as a team. The players talked more with each other instead of texting with friends and family members.

“I felt as if we were a family for the first time,” Bell said, adding there were tangible benefits on the court. “Trust. More selfless moments out there on the floor.”

Some players had to be won over by the idea that they needed to spend time away from their cell phones.

“I don’t want to say we never talked,” said guard Iman Shumpert. “Not having your cell phone, though we didn’t anticipate it having that much of an effect, I think it did have a really big effect.

“Guys are hanging out or getting sleep. It definitely makes you hang around each other, because we’re the only people we can talk to.”

Bell said he expected the strategy would be successful.

“I wasn’t surprised at all because anytime we were at the dinner table all you could hear was texting, buttons being pushed, looking down at the phone,” Bell said. “Now it’s fun arguments or insightful discussions about who we think is better in sports or where we came from or why we think a certain way. We really got a chance to learn about each other.”

Bell and other players say that led to better communication on the court and may have been a factor in freshman Derrick Favors emerging as a more vocal and confident player in the ACC tournament.

“He’s an introvert,” said Bell of Favors. “He normally walks with his head down and walks slow. He was walking with his head up. He is exuding a whole different persona, even off the court.”

Bell shook his head in disbelief when he said Favors “was actually talking” on the court.

“He was involved in these conversations. He actually started some of these conversations,” Bell said.

“This is the most he has ever talked. In the game he was like ‘Hey I was open. Give me the ball. When I do this, this is what that means.”

The 6-foot-10 Favors, the ACC’s rookie of the year, had a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds in Tech’s 65-61 ACC championship game loss to Duke.

Hewitt said he only suggested the ban and then left the room when players voted.

Bell said the vote was not unanimous but all players turned in their cell phones.

Hewitt said his idea for the cell phone ban was just his latest attempt to bring the players together.

“I just didn’t think that we were connecting as much as I wanted to see and I’d been trying to find ways to get that all year,” Hewitt said.

The result took Hewitt back to his playing days.

“That was the most chatter I had heard at the back of the bus all year,” Hewitt said. “It was like the old days when I was playing. We played cards, we talked, we slept. That was it.”

Added Hewitt, holding his hands together as if texting, “It was none of this.”

Georgia Tech, the Midwest Regional’s No. 10 seed, will play No. 7 seed Oklahoma State (22-10) in Milwaukee. The Georgia Tech-Oklahoma State winner will play Sunday against the winner of No. 2 seed Ohio State’s game against UC-Santa Barbara.

It wasn’t easy for some of the players to spend most of the week without their phones. Even Bell, an enthusiastic supporter of the move, had to make peace with some of his friends when he returned to Atlanta.

“I had 87 text messages and I had about 10 voice mails,” Bell said. “When my phone is off, it doesn’t give me missed calls, but I had a lot of angry people on text messages.”

Those “angry people” will have to brace for another period of mobile detachment from the Georgia Tech players. Hewitt is not one to mess with a winning strategy.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

Beth Mowins & Debbie Antonelli’s “Shootaround with Beth & Debbie” has become a mainstay in my listening library!

Their weekly podcast throughout the Women’s NCAA Basketball season is a fantastic source of all the inside scoop, analysis and insight into women’s college basketball.

Debbie Antonelli & Beth Mowins on the set for "Shootaround with Beth & Debbie"

This Shootaround Selection Show is the WBCA’s first VIDEO podcast of Shootaround with Beth & Debbie.  The show includes a breakdown of the NCAA DI Bracket, NotreDamus Predictions, Coach Interviews, and the Shooter of the Year finalists.

If you want all the insight into the Women’s NCAA Tournament don’t miss this opportunity to see the Shootaround Show in living color on your computer!

You can also subscribe to the weekly podcast by clicking HERE.

Download the Selection Show VIDEO podcast HERE:

]]> http://www.allbasketballreview.com/shootaround-with-beth-debbie-video-style/feed 0 http://www.allbasketballreview.com/womens-ncaa-teams-grad-numbers-outperform-men http://www.allbasketballreview.com/womens-ncaa-teams-grad-numbers-outperform-men#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:23:43 +0000 Jeff http://www.allbasketballreview.com/?p=2713 From Associated Press

Players on teams headed to the NCAA women’s tournament are graduating at a higher rate than those in the men’s field, a study released Tuesday showed.

An annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida also found that the graduation gap between white and black players is smaller among women than men.

There were 19 women’s teams that had a 100 percent graduation rate compared to six men’s teams. And 51 women’s teams graduated at least 70 percent of their players compared to 29 men’s teams.

Richard Lapchick, director of the institute, said overall graduation rates for men and women have continued to increase at a similar pace, so the disparity is not that alarming.

“For me, it’s not as worrying as the gap between black and white,” Lapchick said. “The gap between black and white, for me, is a continuation of a historical pattern that dates back to segregation when everybody was not afforded the same opportunities. In this case, women have turned the tables on past inequality and are getting recognized.”

NCAA spokesman Chuck Wynne said the collegiate sports governing body was “extremely proud” of the increasing graduation rates for women but did not address specifics about the gender or racial gaps.

“From baseline to baseline, our game continues to get better even as our student-athletes continue to excel academically,” Wynne said in a statement. “It’s a tribute to our student-athletes and coaches who work so hard to make it happen.”

Looking at just the women’s tournament, the report found that 50 teams graduated at least 70 percent of their white players, but only 40 teams graduated that same percentage of African American players. That makes for a 14 percent gap; the men had a 48 percent disparity in the same category.

Lapchick said the pull of the NBA and international men’s basketball leagues have put the emphasis on playing professionally and have taken the focus away from education.

“There’s that belief that so many men have had since they were boys that they would play in the NBA, Europe or somewhere else professionally,” he said. “There is a culture in men’s sports that focuses on playing professionally. The women’s game has historically had more emphasis on education” because going pro was less of an option.

Jarrod Chin, director of violence prevention and diversity at Northeastern University’s Sport in Society, said the gender gap is a social issue that goes beyond athletics.

“The educational gender gap has been increasing not only in sports, but overall,” Chin said. “We tend to think of women as more book smart, so we value education more with them. Men, unfortunately, we value athleticism more. So we don’t place as much emphasis on education.”

The report measures six-year graduation rates for the freshman classes that entered college from the 1999-2000 through the 2002-03 school years. The report relies on information provided by the NCAA and not federal graduation rates, which don’t account for transfer students.

Unlike the NCAA Women’s Tournament, the WNIT has more trouble with TV coverage. Therefore, local channels are likely to broadcast the games.

View the first round schedule.

Try watching the WNIT online with a satellite tv program on your computer. Using free websites are ok, but they are slow, sluggish and not exactly worth the time.

For March Madness you can get discounts, there’s a $20/off the normal price of $49.99 offered now. You can not only watch the WNIT but also, NIT, NCAA Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournament Online

You Can Download the Software by Clicking Right Here

Kelly Miller had almost given up on the idea of ever again playing on the same basketball team as her twin sister, Coco.

Not since 2001 had the twins played together at the University of Georgia and sisterly reunions almost never play out in professional sports.

But that all changed for Kelly Miller on Wednesday when the Atlanta Dream signed her to a two-year free-agent contract and re-signed Coco to a two-year deal.

“I’m so excited to be playing for Atlanta,” Kelly said. “Coco and I have dreamed about playing on the same team again and are so grateful for this opportunity.”

Coco said she’s thankful that the Dream decided to hold a reunion.

“We haven’t played together since our days at UGA, so I’m really looking forward to it,” Coco said. “It’s like a dream come true.”

Kelly, a 5-foot-10 guard, started 25 of 34 games for the Minnesota Lynx last year and averaged 4.4 points and two assists. She has averaged 7.6 points and 2.6 assists during her nine-year career.

“I think Atlanta is the perfect fit for me,” Kelly said. “They love to get up and down the floor and they have some of the fastest players in the league. They have a great mix of veterans and young talent, so it’s going to be an exciting season.”

Kelly & Coco Miller

Coco, a 5-9 guard, averaged 3.9 points and 1.5 rebounds for the Dream last year. She thinks Kelly will add a lot to the team.

“I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season,” Coco said. “With the new roster additions and talented returning players, it’s going to be a very exciting year for the Dream.”

But the biggest winners from having Kelly and Coco on the same team will be their mother and father or, more specifically, their wallets.

The parents shuttled between Atlanta and Minnesota watching the twins play last year.

“This will definitely make it easier on my parents,” Kelly said. “They won’t have to split their time between two cities and now they can cheer for one team.”

The WBI is here!

I had no idea… I inadvertently slipped up and left out information on the Inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational.  My apologies… as I was told, “Post Season is Post Season.”

So True.  I can’t agree more.  Especially for young teams, any teams.  No better way to set yourself up for a future run in the Big Dance than to make sure you are still playing in late March.  No matter what the tournament.  I never agreed with the critics that said, “I wouldn’t play in the NIT, WNIT, CBI or now the WBI.”

Why not?  Kids want to play games!  It’s post season.  There’s practice, preparation, competition.  Another group of student-athletes get to cut the nets down, still another learn lessons from losing in the championship.  All things that we are trying to teach and simulate in practice, but can’t.  No matter the tournament, this is valuable stuff.

If your school does not want to participate because it is going to provide extra expense to the athletic department budget, that’s understandable in these economic times.  It also should make you look at the overall commitment to women’s basketball, your team, your program.  It’s part of March Madness… Let them play!

The 16-team field is headlined by #1 seeds Memphis in the West and Appalachian State in the East. All eight first round games will be played on campus sites either March 17 or 18 with the winners advancing to the second round on March 20 or 21. The WBI semifinals are March 24 or 25 on campus sites with the championship game slated for March 28 or 29 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

Here you go… WBI Central!  Enjoy and good luck to all!

WBI BRACKET

WBI WEBSITE

In the West bracket:

#1 Memphis

#2 A&M-Corpus Christi

#3 Washington

#4 Wichita State

#5 Akron

#6 Portland Pilots

#7 Cal-State Bakersfield

#8 UMKC

In the East bracket:

#1 Appalachian State

#2 College of Charleston

#3 Louisville

#4 Towson

#5 Fairfield

#6 Bradley

#7 Morehead State

#8 Charleston Southern

I missed those things during the year and I am anxious to return to coaching next year, but the traveling I did was something everyone in coaching should get an opportunity to do.

For those “grinding it out,”  Good Luck!

The 2010 WNBA Mock Draft got a lot of you going!  Fantastic comments and debates going back and forth the last 4 days.  ABR has had over 3,500 visits in the last 3+ days!  Thank You!

NCAA Tournament Links:

MEN’S BRACKET

MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT  at a Glance

MEN’S NIT – DAY ONE PAGE TWO PAGE THREE (WITH CBI info)

WOMEN’S BRACKET

WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT at a Glance

*Not interactive or a “Tournament Challenge”, just a nice printable bracker for each.

KATIE SMITH TO MYSTICS

Congratulations to all!

AUTO BIDS

BigEast Championship Recap:

BIG EAST

ALL Conference Tournament Results:

ALL RESULTS

Top 25 Results:

TOP 25

AUTO BIDS

ALL Conference Tournament Results:

ALL RESULTS