Coaches Corner: Steve Curtis, Ladies Basketball
Coaches Corner: Steve Curtis, Ladies Basketball
1-24-08
Hello again from Centenary!
The travel schedule in our conference is challenging to say the least. One of the things I like about the Summit League, however, is the different places we get to visit. The first paragraph on the Centenary home page is a statement with three words highlighted (explore, invent, connect). Our student-athletes definitely get to explore. I have always believed travel is an important part of a person's education. It is one thing to read about different places, but quite another to actually visit them. Last week we were in Northern Indiana and Detroit, and our girls got to experience snow and temperatures in the teens. That's a little different from Louisiana. This week we are headed to Kansas City and Las Vegas. Down the road we will visit Chicago, Indianapolis, Tulsa, and the Dakotas. Seeing America is one of the best things about being a college athlete at Centenary.
Of course there are two sides to the story. While it is good to visit these places, we also have to compete with the schools we are visiting. The days are long and arduous; it's not unusual to spend 10 hours on buses, on planes, and in airports. One of the challenges is trying to work in practice around all the time on the road. This year we are going to try something different; we are going to practice on Tuesdays after the Monday night games. This will allow us to use Wednesday as our day off. Usually coaches like to take the day after a game off then get back into action after that. Our problem is that Tuesdays are travel days for us. Last season many of our "off" days were spent traveling all day. We would pull into the Gold Dome parking lot as late as 9 pm. Then on Wednesday they would have to catch up on the class work they missed and get back on the practice floor. So employing this season's idea we headed back over to the gym at Oakland Tuesday morning at 8:30. We had a decent practice before bussing back to the hotel to shower, pack, and ride to the airport. We got home around 8:30 pm. Monday was the first day of class for the spring semester, so they spent Wednesday going around meeting with their professors in addition to going to class.
After two good days of work we had a game with IUPUI Saturday at 3 pm. We went back and forth early, but soon we were done in by our turnovers. This has been a constant problem in the last few games, and it is not getting any better. It is not just one player struggling with them; it has run throughout the entire squad. IUPUI played a defense we hadn't seen before and we didn't handle it very well. The frustrating thing is there were openings we didn't take advantage of. Individually there were some bright spots, led by another good game from Anne. The bottom line is we let an early lead get away, which resulted in another loss.
Sunday we spent time watching film and practicing. We have so much to learn, and this film session seemed to go pretty well. The missed reads and assignments were there for all to see. I know we are young but we as coaches have to teach better and the players have to learn better. There are a lot of things we are missing that would make a big difference for us. Monday night we hosted Western Illinois, who came into the game undefeated in league play and sporting a two-game lead in the standings. They are another veteran team �- almost all the players in their rotation are juniors and seniors. They shoot the three-point shot very well, as we found out late in the first half. We got off to a good start and grabbed an early lead. About midway in the first half we were tied but then the floodgates opened. They made three after three, ending the half making seven for ten. That's 21 points on ten possessions, which means if we had made ten consecutive lay-ups we would have been outscored by one. They did a very good job of spreading us out, and they moved the ball extremely well, but hand in hand with that we didn't do a good enough job of getting to their shooters. They were up big at halftime and went on to a victory that was far too easy. I can see us struggling with our confidence. All the signs are there �- the missed shots around the basket, the dribbles off our feet out of bounds, the errant passes and missed catches. So here we are; a very young team at the crossroads. My main concern is that we keep improving and grow into the team we can become. It won't be easy �- and it shouldn't be. Competitive athletics is about what you do when things are going against you. It's fun when you win: everyone tells you how great you are, you have friends everywhere, life is one big smile. But the true test in sports, as it is in life, is what you do when things get tough. That's where we are. But I know our players are not happy with that, and they are going to do what is necessary to build this program into what we want it to be.
After the game with Western Illinois I was driving home with my dad, who was up for the weekend, and John, who recently celebrated his eighth birthday. While in my usual post loss sulk I looked back at John and asked, "John, what did you think about Daddy's game?" Without missing a beat he responded, "It was pretty good Dad. You just needed 30 more points." Aren't kids the greatest thing in the world? John, just like our team, still has a lot to learn. See you next week.
Go Centenary!
1-16-08
Hello!
I'm sure you are familiar with the saying "it's a small world". We had living proof of that one day after practice last week. Michael Bastian, former softball coach at Centenary, is now coaching the Chinese National Softball Team. He was in Shreveport for a few days and stopped by the Gold Dome. As most of you know Sarah was born in China and lived there until she moved to California a couple of years ago. When Michael saw her walk by he said hello to her in Chinese. She stopped in her tracks and her face lit up hearing her native language. They began to talk about her home town, life over there, the Olympics coming up in Beijing, and even some people they both knew. She signed a media guide for him to take back to his team. They spent some time with Bojan in his office (when Bojan was in college his team took a tour of China). As I walked by listening to three people talk about their experiences on the other side of the world, in stepped Karolina �- from Poland! Five people, four countries, and one passion �- to compete in athletics at the highest level. I guess it really is a small world.
Friday was one of the typical Summit League travel days. We left the Gold Dome at 5:00 a.m. to catch a flight from DFW. We boarded our flight for Indianapolis a little after ten and flew to Indianapolis. After the usual wait for our luggage we got on a bus to Fort Wayne. We stopped for lunch at Culver's in Anderson, Indiana. When we lived in Nebraska, Culver's was one of Claire's and my favorite stops for ice cream on the way home after games. Of course, I had to call Claire to let her know the ice cream and pecans are just as good as ever (I know I shouldn't, but she really likes them and I couldn't resist the urge to rub it in a little) . The restaurant is only a couple of miles from Regan Seybert's house. Regan was an All-SEC player for us at Ole Miss about 15 years ago. Has it really been that long? It seems like yesterday Coach Chancellor and I were in her living room trying to convince her to come south for college. I guess I'm getting old. After lunch it was on to our hotel. We pulled in just before 5:00 p.m. �- which gave us about an hour to get ready for practice.
Saturday we had our first road game of the conference season. IPFW jumped out to a quick lead and was up by as many as 17 in the first half. I have to give our players credit though �- they came out strong after halftime and played a stretch of very good basketball. We took care of the ball, played excellent defense, and worked hard to get good shots. With ten minutes to go in the game we were ahead by three. Unfortunately Anne picked up her fourth foul on a block / charge call and we had to take her out. The momentum swung back to them and they went on to hand us another loss. I was very proud of how we fought back to give ourselves a chance to win. There were some bright spots; Anne and Leslie had very good grades, and we outrebounded them by a pretty wide margin. But we have to learn how to put 40 minutes together to be a good team.
Anyone who knows me knows what a big football fan I am. Practice was scheduled for 4:30 Sunday afternoon, which created quite a dilemma for me. The bus was leaving at 4:15, and at 4:10 the Colts had just stopped the Chargers to get the ball back. So here's the situation: Peyton Manning has two minutes left, four points behind, with a chance to pull out a win in defense of their world championship. Everything you want in a sporting event �- star players, drama, excitement, pressure. It was one of the great moments of the NFL season. Or so I heard.
Igor Kokoskov, a friend of Bojan's from Serbia, is an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons. He is the first full-time, non-American coach in NBA history. This fall the Pistons invited Bojan up to watch training camp for a few days. While he was there he met the owners of a local restaurant. They invited our team to have a traditional Serbian meal Sunday evening. So after practice we had a very special treat. There was chicken, pork, lamb, beef, fresh vegetables, great salads...I could go on and on. All of it was good, as was the hospitality. Earlier this year Bethany's family had us over for a Cajun meal on the way down to Nicholls State. It was excellent as well. So in less than a month we've gone from South Louisiana gumbo to European style buffets. Not bad, not bad at all.
Monday night against Oakland we played without a doubt our worst game of the season. They dominated us from the start and we never recovered enough to make it competitive. They have a very good team, as evidenced by their close games with Auburn and Georgia and their win over Florida State. But as I told our team in the locker room afterward this game was a lot more about us than them. We have to learn to play harder, smarter, and sustain our good play longer. After the game Igor was talking with us about their game against the Knicks the night before in New York. Even though the Pistons are one of the best teams in the league, and the Knicks are one of the worst, they lost by about 30. He told us Larry Brown always said you may not always win but you always have to try to get better. That's exactly where we are right now. We only have a few days to get ready for IUPUI Saturday and Western Illinois Monday. If you have a chance, come down to the Dome and see how we do. Talk with you again soon.
Go Centenary!!
1-9-08
Hello again from Centenary
We rang in the New Year with a steady dose of basketball practice. After our win against Sam Houston we took a day off and then settled back into the usual holiday routine. We talk with our players often about what a good opportunity this is for us to progress, and as a group they have been working very hard to get better. We are a little short handed �- Cierra had her ACL surgery and is going into her rehab full speed ahead. That means we are down to nine bodies in practice until Jasmine gets back at the start of the semester. Those nine are putting the additional time to good use though. Even with practices twice a day, some are coming by to get in a little extra work. That's a very good sign for our future.
When I walked into practice Monday morning Bethany asked "Where's your LSU stuff, Coach?" Her family has had season tickets to LSU football for years and she was ready for the big game. I'm sure she was worried when they were down 10-0 but she said she knew they were going to win all along. We are trying to schedule a game in the CenturyTel Center with LSU next season and it looks like it may happen. Hopefully we can get all the details worked out. Not everyone here was for LSU though �- Bill Ballard, Centenary's VP for Finance and Administration, is Ohio State through and through. His colleagues have been giving him a hard time since the match up was announced, and I'm sure it hasn't been any better for him since the game ended.
Monday was also Mattie's birthday. When the alarm clock went off that morning there was a tap on my shoulder as I hit the snooze button. My first thought was, "C'mon Claire, it's your turn to take the dog out." (We got the kids a seven week old Shih Tzu for Christmas). When I rolled over there was Mattie with a big smile on her face. Before I could say anything she yelled "Daddy I'm six years old!" What a way to start the day. I always say this but it's true - children are the best thing in the world.
One of the last things I do each night is log onto the Caring Bridge website (www.caringbridge.org) to see how Matthew Campbell is doing. When I first came to Centenary a lot of people were very helpful to my family and me. Claire and I decided we wanted to build a home but we needed a place to live during the construction. Centenary's Director of Facilities, Francine Campbell, went out of her way to help us find a faculty house on campus and was there right away whenever something needed fixing. That's just Francine, she is the kind of person you can count on whenever you need something taken care of. She was the recipient of the President's Excellence Award at Centenary in 2007. Her son Matthew, an eighth grader, has been very ill for quite some time. He recently underwent a heart transplant and is recovering at the Children's Medical Center in Dallas. He has a long, uphill, battle, and some days are better than others, but he seems to be slowly getting better. You can read about Matthew on the Shreveport Times website (search Matthew Campbell), or for more updated information you can read their family's journal at the Caring Bridge site. Either way please say a prayer for Matthew and his family - I cannot imagine going through anything remotely like what they are dealing with. Their strength is amazing.
And now for the basketball. Oral Roberts was picked to win our league this year and we knew they would be a big challenge for us. They play one of the most aggressive trapping defenses in the league but I thought we were ready for it. Unfortunately before we could settle down they were out to a 16-2 lead. We finally relaxed and played some good basketball, so much so that with five minutes to go we were within eight and had a chance to win. We didn't play well down the stretch and ended up losing 77-57. Our defense let us down, in fact it was one of the worst defensive performances we've had in a game since I've been here. Several Ladies played well - Bethany, Michelle, Ashley, Sarah, and Anne all had above average grades. We have to play better when the opponent has the ball to be successful however. We also have to become more consistent. We actually outscored ORU for the middle thirty minutes but were outplayed badly in the first five and last five.
We are on the road this weekend for the first conference road trip of the season. We fly to Fort Wayne, Indiana to play IPFW Saturday. Then it's on to Detroit to play Oakland University Monday night. IPFW is a new addition to the league and they are playing well. Oakland?
