National Team 2013 - Phase 3 - Day 4 in Brazil

Well Day 4 has come and gone. A long but successful day.

Breakfast was pretty much the same with no changes. I figure it will be the same tomorrow before we leave LOL.

After breakfast we had a short break and I read some more clinic notes. At 10AM we had a film session and showed the girls what Brazil liked to do and talked about their players. After the session we had about an hour to get ready.

I laid down for about 2 minutes and almost fell asleep so I got up and surfed the net for a bit to stay awake. I then got ready to go for the game and headed to the bus for 11:45. Our game was at 1pm and we arrived with a few minutes left in the Argentina-Puerto Rico game which Argentina won. I had a feeling it was going to be a good game for us but had no idea how it would actually turn out. It was 40 minutes of incredibly intense basketball. Perhaps the most physical game I have been involved in. It was back and forth and certainly not a well executed, "pretty to watch" kind of game for the regular fan. For me on the bench though it was a court side seat to a chess match. Both coaches making moves and countering moves. It was awesome. The lead changed hands a lot and then down the stretch we held on for the 56-53 win to finish 3-0 and claim the tournament. The defense was outstanding but the offense was not so sharp. Just a great, great battle to watch. Brazil is a team that they need to beat to win the Tournament of the Americas in September which will qualify them for the world championships next year in Turkey.

After the game we came back and lunch was waiting on us. WE had beef, potatoes, broccoli, rice and veal parmigiana. Very nice.

Following lunch we had nothing planned. I spent about 3 hours doing work and getting some video clips from our video coordinator. It was nice to just sit back and relax. Time to reflect. I watched a NASTY thunder and lightning storm roll in. It hammered us with rain for a about 25 minutes and then died out. It was cool because I heard a clap of thunder, went to the window and literally watched the storm roll over the hill and down into the little valley we are in. At around 7 we started to have some quick meetings with players. We wanted to get some done tonight so we have less for tomorrow. At 8pm we headed down for a late supper. On the menu was fish, beef, potatoes and more rice. However for dessert we had an awesome coconut dish. Kind of tasted like coconut cream filling but it was much more firm. Very very tasty.

I cam back to my room for a few minutes and then the entire staff met in Lisa's room for a few drinks and lots of stories and laughs. A good time for sure.

Now I sit here getting ready to finish my last blog of the summer perhaps. I have been asked to go to the qualifier in Mexico in September however I don't think I will be able to go. We have breakfast on or own and then we start meetings at 9. We have a light lunch at 11 before we leave at 11:30AM. We will take the 3-4 hour ride back to Sao Paulo and then our flight leaves at 8PM. We land in Toronto at 5:35AM on Tuesday and I connect to Sydney at 8AM arriving in Sydney at 11:25.

So reflections on the whole summer. This has been the busiest ever for me with Canada Basketball. Not complaining and it is nice to be wanted. I did miss home and family a lot but as I have often said, basketball didn't choose me, I chose it. It has rewarded me incredibly and this summer has been rewarding in a lot of ways and not so in others.

If I had to rank my favorite place of the summer I would have to say the Czech Republic. It was so pretty and I would love to go back. Seeing the Eiffel tower in Paris was another highlight. There were positives of each place so I really can't complain that much.

As far as food goes, I really can't complain about any of the places but I would have to rank France as the best with Russia the best in variety because of all of the different stuff set up for the games.

On the floor I learned a tremendous amount. Shawnee and Lisa are phenomenal here with senior and I learned a bunch from my staff in Russia. While the experience with one staff member was the shits in Russia I did enjoy the others and learned from them. I cannot put into words how much different the highest level is and I feel challenged every day as a coach when I am here. However, I did learn that I can probably hold my own at most levels. I don't want that to sound arrogant but the investments I have made seem to have paid off.

One thing I can say about my time with the national team is that the communication has not been the best within the program so I really have no idea if they will want me back next year and on the other side of the coin I am not sure where I will be then and whether or not I will want to be back.

I couldn't help but think of my own team during this trip and can honestly say that I am a little excited which I haven't felt in a number of years. I feel that is tied directly to the changes I have made with regard to the players. I was sick of dealing with shit heads and have cleaned them out. In the future if anyone wants to act as a bonehead they will be shown the door. I think I will enjoy this new group. I don't feel we will win a lot but we will work harder and be easier to teach. They are all good young ladies. I also have numerous ideas about how I want to get involved in the community and how I want to help basketball in Cape Breton. I think I have so much more to give back. I just hope some of my ideas come to fruition. My biggest challenge now in the next 10-12 days is to get as much rest as I can. I need to recharge my batteries and get ready for the grind of the season.

So to tie it all together, I remember being in grade 7. An announcement was made to the class that there would be an instructional recreation league for basketball and I signed up. I remember the patience of Mr. Richards who taught us. Something caught me that year. A bug, an obsession, something. I remember reading every basketball magazine I could find, studying the information, watching on TV and trying to emulate my favorite players. I remember reading Basketball Digest and memorizing the rosters. I think if you asked me about any player in the 80's and what school he went to, I could still tell you. I remember the excitement of getting new Boston Celtics gear that Mom would order from the States. I was hooked. I would play and shoot for hours and hours. While my buddies were drinking in high school, I was playing basketball. Running from things I didn't want to associate myself with I suppose. Did I become a bit of a social outcast? Yep. Still am. LOL I wasn't the popular kid and kind of shy. Often didn't know how to speak around people but I always had the ball. She would anger me, frustrate me and often I wanted to quit but the next day I would look over and there she would be. Waiting patiently and never questioning me so off I went again chasing my dreams that never came to be. At least not the way I saw them at that point.

Then my focus changed. I taught somebody something and could see them improve. I thought playing had me but this was worse. It became an obsession. From a childhood activity to a life changer. How did I know what would happen next. I embarked on a career that would take me on so many twists and turns and meet so many different people and see so many different places. I would learn one thing and then want to learn another and the obsession drove me. I had to learn everything I could and then learn more. This is why I have over 700 coaching DVD's.  Looking back, I volunteered to help with a team when I was in Grade 12. That makes 23 years. That is a lot of roads travelled, bus trips, air miles, tears, cheers and stories. I don't think I will ever shake this bug so hopefully a lot more of these to come.

At this point of my career I am beginning to think of the legacy I want to leave behind. It is an interesting thought process. What I would like people to say when I am all done is that I loved the game and helped people get better on and off the court. As I said earlier this summer, I went from Sterling Road, a little kid with big dreams, to the streets of China, Japan, Montenegro, Spain, Belgium, France, Serbia, Czech Republic, Russia, Brazil, Cuba and most of the Canada and the United States. When I sit back and look at it I sometimes get overwhelmed. As a young coach I was told that I would never make it and would never be as good as I want to be. I guess that is the Cape Breton mentality but hopefully I have proven a lot of people wrong.  I wouldn't trade it for the world and I can say I love the game....on most days :)   It has given me almost everything in my life and I could never repay it.

PHEW...that was a rant but I guess reflection brings that upon me. So now I will finish all of this as it is just about midnight. It wasn't as long or as colorful as other trips but thanks for tagging along Mom. This has been a wild ride over the years and I am glad that you have shared it with me. You are my strength on those tough days and my number 1 fan. To any others, if you are not asleep yet, you may go now.

Until next time.....................

National Team 2013 - Phase 3 - Day 3 in Brazil

Day 3 in Brazil is over.

Today started with an early wake up after a long night watching film. Wake up was at 6:50AM for a 7:30 breakfast. 

Breakfast was the exact same as yesterday except they added some bacon which was quite a bit smaller than what we get in Canada and it was way more salty.

After breakfast we hopped on the bus to head to our shoot around. It was mostly shooting and then we showed them a few things that Puerto Rico likes to do on offense. To tell you how comfortable it was in the gym, I could see my breath the whole time. Not good.

On the drive over and back I was looking at the living arrangements here and how close people live to each other. They seem to take great pride in keeping their yard clean regardless of how small it is. I also noticed the streets. There is almost no garbage anywhere on the streets. The streets seem dirty with dirt but not litter. However, I noticed a bunch of people trying to clean the road/sidewalk in front of their place.

The streets seem less crowded in the day here and today that may have been due to the fact it is the weekend. Last night we had a taxi arranged to take the coaches back to the hotel after the game. Along the way, the city showed its’ life. There were a lot of cars on the streets and a lot of people around. There was one public park/square that had a PILE of people milling about. We even saw two young female entrepreneurs “peddling their wares” on a street corner.

Overall the city seems to be nice or at least the parts we have seen. It seems to sit in a bit of a valley and there is lots of green vegetation even though the temperatures are cooler. On the way to the gym this morning I noted the different birds and trees that lined the streets. There even looked to be a pomegranate tree in someone’s yard which was neat.

After we returned from the practice we had about an hour off and then had a video session. The girls had an assignment to do with the video and then we showed them the info for Puerto Rico. We discussed the fact that we have to be better and more precise on offense tonight. Hopefully we get a better effort.

Lunch was immediately following the session. We had rice and beans to start and then some tortellini, chicken and beef. The beef is much better than the chicken so I lean more towards that for the meals. Finished it all off with a nice crème brulee and dinner was over.

We had about an hour off this afternoon before leaving so I relaxed here and got some work done. Sent some emails and did some reading. I have used a lot of down time these phases to read clinic notes and try to get new ideas. I enjoy that a lot but never seem to make time for myself when I am at home. Something I have to change. Need to manage my time better.

We headed off to the gym at 2:45 with a nice breeze blowing but it was a lot warmer than this morning. I had a good feeling in the warm up. Thought we may smash them. What came next though was possibly the most physical game of basketball I have ever been involved in. Players getting injured all over the place and bodies flying everywhere. One of our girls even got taken to the hospital after the game as a precaution. It was like a UFC bout. I was told about how physical the south American game is but never thought I would see some of the stuff I have seen in just a few games.

Back to the game though. We were much better offensively but playing soft defensively at first and they were hitting EVERY shot. Other than the first few minutes, we led the whole way but it was tight at a few points. Down the stretch our conditioning took over and we won 69-54. We did a lot of things better but must be really sharp to beat Brazil tomorrow. They have always been a world power and they are the team we have to get by to qualify for world championships and Olympics. I can't wait to play them.

One neat thing from the game was the lead referee. He reffed 2 of our games in Russia a month ago and here he was reffing us in Brazil. I thought that was neat. The small world of basketball.

After the game, the coaches stayed again to watch the first half of the next game and then we headed for home. Supper was ready when we arrived. nice soup, beef, fish and pasta. I decided to try the fish and I was not disappointed. Very tasty. Had some more creme brulee for dessert and we were done.

Afterwards, we waited a bit for our video guy to get back with the film of Brazil. The coaches had a meeting for about an hour and discussed a number of things and then I came back to watch film. Got everything ready from my end and now it is almost time for bed. 

One more game in Brazil and one more night here. We head home on Monday. 

Tomorrow will be my last blog of the summer so I will try to run down some of the highs and lows, likes and dislikes and lessons learned along the way. It has been a different ride full of learning opportunities. So I am sure you will pace back and forth tomorrow waiting for these words of enlightenment....or have an ordinary day and use this to fall asleep. Either way, we will "see" you again tomorrow.

Until then.............

National Team 2013 - Phase 3 - Day 2 in Brazil

Talking about day 2 on day 3.........

Day started with an early wake up. Earlier than I wanted. Woke up before 7 after having a bad dream. Got up and read some email and the newspapers online.



I went down to breakfast just before 8. We are in the small restaurant in the hotel. Nice little place. Lots of selections including lots of meats and cheeses. Typical selections. There were some nice, creamy scrambled eggs and some cooked meat. It tasted kind of like bacon but looked like pepperoni.

There are different kinds of breads and cereal including these warmed buns that at first seemed doughy but actually had melted cheese in them.  Quite nice.
There were different juices but we stayed away from them as we are not sure about the water that is in them. I had not 1, Not 2 but 3 cups of coffee. They were yummy. Not a mild roast but a great coffee.



After breakfast we had a shoot around to get ready for practice. On the way I got to see more of the city in daylight. Last night we saw some guys playing soccer on a small field made of sand. That would be tough but it probably is what makes them better. There are soccer fields all over the place. Hard to see why they are an international power.



Shoot around went very well. Lots of energy and good execution. Still cold in the gym though.

After shoot around we had a meeting and showed the players film. This lasted about 20 minutes and we then went to lunch.



Lunch was fantastic. Nice chicken soup, beans , rice, different salads, shepherds pie and fish. Quite tasty. Throw in a passion fruit custard (which was phenomenal) and that was a solid meal.



After lunch I came back to my room and had basically 4 hours to myself. I spent the better part of it planning for the coming season and then I grabbed a shower before game time. Bus departure was 4:45 for our 6 pm game.


We got to our game and the gym was actually warmer. Still cool but warmer than the night before. There wasn't much crowd for our game which was good for them because we played sloppy. We got a very ugly win. Argentina battled hard but we were just better than they were. We didn't do things well though which gives us something to work on for today. We won 65-55 but it could have been 80-55 if we played well. Turned the ball over too many times and took some interesting shots. In my new stats package on my ipad i calculated that 34% of our offensive possessions were turnovers. Not good. Today we play Puerto Rico who play very similarly to Argentina. It will be an interesting game.

After the game last night we came back and had our coaches meeting while we ate. We are all frustrated with the performance but have picked areas to focus on today. Our dinner was quite good. I tried the broccoli soup which was tasty but different. Then had some scalloped potatoes,black beans ( a staple at almost every meal), some chicken and what the server told us was a kind of beef. Tasty but interesting. Finished it up with a chocolate tart for dessert which was very good. 

Following dinner I had to wait for the film of Puerto Rico. I got it around 11:30 and had to watch it all before this morning so that is why I didn't update last night. I pulled an old fashioned late night video session and crashed in bed around 2AM. Almost 7:30 AM now and I have to get moving to breakfast. I will update more later today.

Until then ......

National Team 2013 - Phase 3 - Day 1 in Brazil

Greetings from São Paulo



Prior to leaving last night we went out for a nice staff dinner. Tidied up a few last minute details and we were off to the airport to get ready for a 10 hour flight. Before the flight I stopped in one of the stores me bought Shawnee and Lisa a couple of books on success as a way to say thanks for letting me join this ride this summer. It has been a great learning experience to say the least.



The flight was at 11:40 pm so my goal was to sleep most of the way. Once we got airborne they served us a pretty bad meal and then I heard something I had only heard on TV before. The flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board. Luckily including our team doctor and another, the two took care of a situation quickly. Apparently a woman was having a serious asthma attack. After this, everything went smooth. I slept for about 7 hours. Woke up as they were serving a light breakfast.

 

The approach into São Paulo was a cloudy and wet one. Rain and fog as we came in so I didn't get to see much on the flight in. After we got our bags we had to wait a little bit before we could head out. What we thought would be a 2 hour bus ride to São Carlos is really 4. Our team leader had to track down a few cases of water to have for the drive. 



So I type this as we drive. So far the city looks like an industrial city and we were greeted shortly after we left the airport with a familiar face....Walmart. They're everywhere. 
Lots of palm trees around and so far have seen almost a dozen Volkswagen vans. Something you don't see much of at home. 

The bus ride will continue for a few more hours until São Carlos and then we have practice at 7. I will update later tonight

So here I am in Sao Carlos. A neat little city of approximately 200,000 people. The drive took us about 4 hours and we stopped halfway at a big rest stop. We all got coffee and hot drinks as the bus was cool. There were also toasted ham and cheese sandwiches which were OK. I had slept most of the way on the bus so the coffee was a nice wake up. A harsh, bitter type of coffee that I couldn't even rescue with sweetener. It was funny to watch though when our video analyst, who hasn't travelled much internationally, tasted his coffee and said it was weird, almost too salty. Looked at the sugar packets he used...yep SALT. Needless to say he got another one. 

Along the drive we got to see the countryside. Long, rolling hills. Quite green and you could see it was a lot of farmland. People were out working in the fields along the way and every once in a while a village would pop up with houses jammed very close together and often built into the side of a hill. Very interesting landscape. I am anticipating what the rest of the area will look like. 

When we arrived here it was cool outside. I forgot that it was winter here ..late winter. People were all bundled up in big jackets and toques. I didn't mind it but I guess for this place it is cold. We immediately had to go to our snack/lunch which was meats and cheeses and bread. I made a sandwich and then headed to a coaches meeting. This meeting ended at 6 and we were leaving for practice at 6:30. I went to my room and grabbed a quick shower which felt incredible. Jumped back on the bus and headed to practice. Of course because it is winter, it is dark here at 6:30. Yucky. 

Practice was held in an open air facility which means there are openings along the side of the building and there are heavy tarp like gates at different spots. The gym was very cold but the girls managed to have a very good practice. 

We came back and immediately had our supper. Some kind of beef in gravy, a very nice tortellini, chicken, rice and potato & pasta salads. A nice meal. I exited fairly quickly afterwards as I just wanted to have some relax time. So here I am finishing up this blog.

We have a long day tomorrow and then we play Argentina at 6pm. The following day we play at 4pm and then Sunday we play at 1pm. We stay here on Sunday night and then drive back to Sao Paulo on Monday. Flight leaves in the night heading back to Canada. A whirlwind tour of Brazil. I will try and keep up to date as the days go on.

Until tomorrow.....

National Team 2013 - Phase 3 - Pre-Departure for Brazil

Well here it is the last day in Canada of the last phase of my National team involvement for this year.

We spent the last week or so in Edmonton doing training. The practices were good and the facilities were incredible. The accommodations were great. Having never been to Edmonton I can say that I enjoyed it. We got an afternoon off and went to the West Edmonton Mall which was impressive to say the least. The Mayflower mall doesn't have an aquarium, water park, theme park, skating rink and all the other stuff it has. Impressive. We flew to Toronto last night, had a nice dinner then a quick meeting and off to bed. I had a little trouble sleeping but eventually crashed after 1:30am
On the basketball side, I learned a ton in just a week here. lots of new stuff plus we had a number of different coaches around.

This morning we had a practice which was OK and then we were able to go to the Nike Employee store through the Nike Rep with Canada Basketball. Very grateful for the opportunity to get in there plus we had a very nice credit we could use.

So now we are scrambling to get ready to go. The laundry is done and the packing is underway. I am pretty much set. We will go out to dinner here soon and then head to the airport around 8 or 8:30. We have an 11:40pm departure and then a 10 hour and 15 minute flight to Sao Paulo Brazil. We arrive at around 11AM Thursday morning. We then have an approximate 2 hour bus ride to Sao Carlos, Brazil which is where we play. Our games start on Friday vs Argentina then Saturday vs Puerto Rico and Sunday vs Brazil. We fly home on Monday. It will be a very quick trip. I think the games will be a great test for the world championship qualifier that the girls will be going to in Mexico in September.

This is going to be an interesting trip for me. Having been to many places, I have never been to Brazil or even South America. People say it is a beautiful place. I guess we will wait and judge that later. I am a little excited to see a new country but not over the top excited. There is always a job to be done and long plane rides so it is business as usual. I have loved the travel and games this year but I have missed some things and I am actually looking forward to getting home and taking a number of days off to do absolutely nothing. Hopefully get a few minutes to recharge the batteries before our season starts up.

Well I must finish last minute things. I will post again after we arrive in Sao Carlos. Hopefully we have no internet issues and I can keep things updated.

Until then .......