National Team 2013 - Phase 1 - Day 3

Day 3 in the books.

Started off with an 8AM breakfast and then headed to the gym for 9:30. We hit the court ready to roll with lots of new faces and lots of nervous looking ones too.
Our practice was scheduled for 2.5 hours and we used all of it. We put in some new offensive system stuff and taught some new skills which had everybody on their toes. We did some defensive work, some offensive decision making and played a little bit of 5 on 5 to see where we were. Not anywhere special is how I would describe it. Chaotic at best but that is expected on Day 1.

We finished up practice and headed to lunch. Standard mix, nothing special.

We came back to our residence and had a short coaches meeting to work on practice #2. Once completed we had about an hour to be back at the gym for a 4:15 meeting with our representative from Own the Podium which is our major funding sponsor. It was an interesting meeting and the girls, especially the vets, asked a few questions. What I loved was after they finished getting their answers, Bev Smith spoke up about how it was back in the old days and how we now have a great system in place and how we can get to the podium. It was awesome. She brings so much credibility and respect to the position. When you have a regular joe shmoe telling you about basketball or one of the all time greats you recognize the difference. Bev is an olympian as a player and a coach. She is a member of the Canadian Basketball and World Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. When she speaks, people listen, and I love listening to her stories and knowledge.

After this meeting we had practice number 2.  Signs of improvement already and we played more defense and played 5 on 5 full court. It will get better and better but not bad for a first day. After practice we headed back for supper and it was quite good. The best part was mango chicken and I enjoy a good mango LOL.

But save the best part of the entire day for last. We got back to residence and we had to meet with Phil Handy. Phil spent the past year as the player development coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. He trained Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, etc. He is working with us for the next 4 days and he is all ours as they say. He will talk all we want and share things. For a guy who has been obsessed with learning about this game his whole life, this is where I get goose bumps and my eye starts to twitch. I already have a list of questions I will be asking. I cannot wait to see him work on the court with our girls and I also can't wait to pick his brain. As Kramer used to say on Seinfeld...GIDDDYYUPPP

We had a coaches meeting for over an hour after that meeting to finalize tomorrows plan. So now it is late as I type away. An early morning tomorrow. 8am breakfast. 9am video presentation and a 9:45 practice. Another one in the evening. The basketball never stops.

Until tomorrow.....