Coach, I Tore My ACL

This past off-season, I made a prediction to all of the players that I work with.  That there would be 1 player that would have the best  season of all of them.  Her name is Hayden Latham, and she plays for The Yale Women's Basketball Program.  

This off-season, we set the short term goal of working on her mid-range game off the dribble. And the long term for her to be All-Ivy League this season.  But I got the call right before Thanksgiving.  During her first week of practice at Yale, she tore her ACL and is out for the year.

Perhaps, you were already aware that female athletes are 4 to 10 times as likely to suffer an ACL tear than male athletes. Or that many ACL injuries occur with either very little contact, or no contact AT ALL.

Female athletes are more prone to knee injuries because of their anatomical makeup.  They have smaller ACL's than men, a wider pelvis, and a steeper angle from the hips to the knee than male athletes do. Therefore, when female athletes do certain athletic movements, more tension is put on the medial area of the knee, which can cause the knee to cave inwards, and the ACL to tear.  

And it can take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year for athletes to get back to playing at full capacity

Is there anything athletes can do to prevent ACL tears?

YES!!!   

Improved strength and stability - (especially on 1 leg!) can aid in the Reduction and Prevention of ACL injuries.  Here are two 1 minute videos that can help prevent athletes from tearing their ACL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlDSV-H03zs&feature=endscreen
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOwKQVXe4Fo

An ounce of prevention... Is worth a Pound of Cure!

TheFundamentalMan.Net

Players, Check Your Feet!

Nearly 1/5 of the population has feet that do not develop with enough of a support arch.  No matter what the sport, footwork and balance is the foundation to all sports performance.

Players should be aware of whether or not they have flat feet prior to concerning themselves with agility and change of direction speed. Although having flat feet poses no disadvantage to athletic performance,  Patellar tendinitis can be caused by problems with the way your hips, legs, knees or feet are aligned.

I should know.  By the time I left high school, I had already had 4 knee surgeries.  2 on each knee.   I never tore anything.  No miniscus, ACL, MCL, LCL.  None of them.  But I had my first 2 knee surgeries when I was 15.

My knee injuries were more related to what track and field athletes refer to as "Jumper's Knee" - or what doctor's call:  Patellar Tendinitis. And yes, severe cases are very painful, and require surgery.

My knee injuries were due to 3 factors:

1).  Having Extremely flat feet. (which I wasn't aware of at the time)

2).  Having a leg length discrepancy of nearly an inch. (Where one leg is longer than the other causing pelvic rotation in asymmetrical muscle balance)

3).  Repeated pounding, running, changing directions, and especially jumping year round playing sports.  Particularly from Playing BASKETBALL!!! (The Greatest Game Ever!)

 

Unlike football, where players tend to have rotational tears of knee ligaments and impact injuries, basketball players tend to have wear and tear injuries to knees.  Same with Volleyball players, only volleyball players tend to jump with a more controlled vertical vector (more often straight up and down off two feet). Conversely, basketball players frequently are jumping off 1 foot or 2 feet - in multiple directions.

 

At some point this year, you will have to take a physical to play sports in high school.  If you have not already, next time you go to your doctor, have them check your feet and your leg lengths. 

The combination of having a leg length discrepancy, flat feet, and playing basketball thousands and thousands of hours destroyed my knees, and ended my sports career by the time I got to college.

 

Probably a good enough reason for athletes to Check their feet!

Amistad Basketball - Success is the Outcome

The Greatest reminder I have ever received about winning or losing comes from John Wooden. 

He said, “That if a spectator had not seen the game and walked into the gym right as the buzzer sounded – I would hope that he would not be able to determine whether you won or lost based on your actions.”

It doesn't matter who wins or loses, how talented players are, or how much knowledge or game strategy a coach has.

That’s the standard. 

That’s the outcome. 

That’s as good as it gets. 

We all have growth areas in how we approach life, carry out our days, and how we think about anything of significance when it has ended.  Whether painful or enjoyable – we get to learn something more important about ourselves and those that we keep around us.

That’s the outcome.

Coaches may be called mentors or even teachers.  But coaches have to always be mindful that in the end, basketball will always be just a game.  But being a coach of the game gives us the opportunity to be leaders of young men.  

That is the outcome.

As John Wooden also stated, success is only measured by doing the best of which you are capable.  And after the season ends, which it does for everyone – the season can be reduced to a few simple questions:

Am I better coach than I was before?  Am I a better person than I was before?  Are my players better players than they were before?  Are they better people?

No matter how or when it ends – If a coach can answer “Yes” to these questions – then that’s all that matters.

That is the outcome.

On a certain level, as the head coach of Amistad, I know that some people are aware of the triumphs of our Program’s development.  But I also know that only those whom were there – day in and day out – every day since its inception – truly know what we have all learned and gained from being with each other. From when it “Started from Scratch” to how we became “Team Blue.”

That is the outcome.

Alright, boys… “It’s what you do AFTER the Buzzer that counts.”

Love Team Blue.

~ Coach

Amistad Basketball – Seniors Fair Well

Well, we lost 3 out of our last 5 without two of our starters this past week, but the battle continues on into the post-season for Amistad Basketball.  As a team, we finished 13-7 this season – seven more wins than last year.  However, after our final win of the season on Wed. at Goodwin Tech., we all agree that we have yet to really access our full potential as a team.  And that we were capable of a much better overall regular season record.  Hopefully, that means that we are poised, but not satisfied; that our best basketball is still ahead of us, and that there plenty of more games to be played.

But we also agreed that we have gone through quite a bit this season as a team – from losing players from our original roster, to 1 game suspensions for players, to injuries that knocked out our leading scorer for the past 4 games, and our point guard from even before that.  But no matter what the ups and downs have been – the players that have remained have come together.   And I can tell that they have bonded as a team, and that they believe in themselves and each other no matter what the ups and downs have been.

A team’s record doesn’t really matter much when it comes to the postseason anyway.  The regular season is over, and really shouldn’t be thought about much anymore.  It’s what’s in front of you that matters, because anyone can beat anyone on any given night in high school basketball. 

 Every year, teams with very strong regular season records go down early. And every year, some teams that barely squeak into the tournament go far.  That’s part of the excitement of the postseason and the CIAC Tournament.  It’s the team that commits to playing most like a team that triumphs in the postseason.  

Last year, we weren’t ready to win in the postseason. 

This year, we will be. 

Amistad Basketball - Con"CUSS"ed

After a 5 Game Winning Streak, the Amistad Varsity hit a rough patch this past week due to late season illnesses and Two Starters suffering concussions in back to back to games.  In Friday’s loss to Stratford, Amistad was forced to play a man down, as one of the top 5 leading scorers in the area, Chris Gibbs, was dealt the flu.  Nevertheless, the Amistad Squad competed fiercely from the getgo and played very aggressive, solid man to man defense.  But without Chris Gibbs to start, and losing another starter by the finish – we didn’t have enough in the tank to put the ball in the basket as much as we needed to win. 

I could live with the loss, though, as we always tell our players – “You can have a bad offensive night…  But you can’t have a bad defensive night!’

However, there was a pretty serious issue to deal with during and after the Stratford game:  the amount of contact that was allowed throughout the game led to at least 10 no calls on block/situations – where neither call was made, not a whistle was blown, and our Starting Point Guard, Meech Barfield, suffered a concussion while taking a charge. 

I have played, coached, refereed, and have been around basketball my whole life.  Concussions are rare.  As are technical fouls on Amistad’s Head Coach.  But as the game went on, players knew that blocks and charges weren’t going to be called – so the amount of contact just became exceedingly dangerous.  After another egregious “No Call” – it was probably my tone, though it could have been my choice of words, that magically found a way to get the refs to somehow blow their whistles.  Either way, I couldn’t witness the amount of contact that was being allowed by the Board 9 Officials without doing something to protect my players.  

 It was my first Technical Foul of the season, and I deserved it, but if anyone had seen the tape of the game, it would be a great example for future referees to watch how a game should NOT be called at the high school level.   I even went as far as to call the Head of Board 9 officials the day after the game in order to report the issue of safety being a concern for my players.  Never have I had to do that after a game. 

In an unrelated, but coincidental incident, Chris Gibbs was also sidelined after suffering a concussion in our following game vs. Gilbert.  So we’ll see how Amistad responds from the loss.  Next Game is Friday at Morgan of Clinton, followed by our last regular season game next Wed. at Goodwin Tech. 

With 2 Starters down and 2 regular season games to go, The Amistad Program is actually looking forward to closing out the regular season and getting some much needed rest prior to the State Tournament beginning in Early March. 

Amistad Wolves – Grit their Teeth!

Well, the boys have stepped it up a notch in recent play.  The defensive efforts have been strong, and I believe that they are seeing how much the Defensive side of the ball can create offensive opportunities in transition. 

Monday’s 20 point win over formerly undefeated Goodwin Tech was a good step for the Amistad Program.  Last season, Goodwin Tech bounced us out of the CIAC State tournament before going to the quarterfinals.  Amistad was lead by a 30 point performance by Chris Gibbs, 22 from Darien Barfield, and 16 from his twin brother Demetrius.  The team managed to combine for 19 steals throughout the game., and our guards are beginning to manage the game better and are showing more confidence in their decision making and leadership on the floor. 

Wednesday, we were at home against Eli Whitney again, and prevailed 78-49.  It was another good win.  Chris Gibbs led all scorers again with 23, including a couple of thunderous dunks, and Darien Barield had 22 again.  It was the first time that we were able to get all players on the team into a single game, and it was great to see everyone contribute.

Amistad stands at 11-4 thus far, with a trip to Stratford on Friday evening. 

Game time:  7:00 PM!

Amistad Basketball - States, Here We Come!

On the road, The Amistad Wolves won a Big Game over Cromwell Tuesday night, giving us our 8^th win of the season, which qualifies us for postseason play in the CIAC State Tournament.  It was a terrific game on all accounts.   Cromwell came into the game at 10-1 on the season, and are expected to compete for the Shoreline Conference Championship, as well as the Class M State Championship this year. 

Amistad got off to a very slow start, down 10 early in the game, and down 7 at the half.  However, the press took hold over time, and we were able to outscore Cromwell in the 3^rd and 4^th quarter.  Up 5 with 3 minutes to go, our team was starting to look like the team that held that same lead a year ago in the first round of the State Tournament.  Two turnovers, and a missed shot allowed Cromwell to score on back to back trips, as they hit a 3 point shot with just over a minute to play to tie the game.  Chris Gibbs responded with a 3 pointer of his own to put Amistad ahead for good on the ensuing possession – with a final score of 56-54. 

But the game did not end without its share of drama. While Amistad ran the clock down and Cromwell was forced to foul -  A simultaneous foul call and 3 second violation call by both officials resulted in one official overruling the other and giving the ball back to Cromwell.  On the ensuing possession, a defensive stop by Amistad forced a Cromwell turnover and gave Amistad back the ball.  As Cromwell was forced to foul, we were up two at the free throw line,  with 1.8 seconds left.  After missing the free throw, a loose ball ensued, which Cromwell regained possession of – then called timeout as time ran off the clock. 

The Game should have been ruled over as the timeout was granted as the buzzer sounded. Instead, the referees decided to give Cromwell back the ball, and randomly decided that they should have 1.2 seconds on the clock despite NOT having definitive knowledge that there was any time on the scoreboard.   As a former referee - it was not the right call, and would have been a terrible blunder had Cromwell somehow managed to score on the ensuing inbounds.  After the timeout - the full court heave was intercepted by an Amistad Player and the game officially ended for the second and final time.

Less than 24 hours later and back on the road, Amistad Followed up the Cromwell win with a 78-39 win over Eli Whitney.  After a couple of early season letdowns in games, the tenacity of our team defense has seemed to re-emerge, as we hope to keep the momentum rolling into a 3 game week next week.  Monday we play one of the only remaining unbeaten teams in the state, Goodwin Tech, at home.  But as guaranteed by their coach, once we made states – it was time to take a step back and enjoy our accomplishments as a team thus far... 

Pizza for Everyone after Thursday’s Practice!

Amistad Basketball - Your Rent is Due!

I have heard that success is NOT owned.  It is LEASED.  And the rent is due EVERY DAY!

We all love to win.  We practice and prepare to win.  We compete to win. 

Make no mistake, however – It’s not about winning or losing.  After going winless in our first season – I know that it is the losses that teach you more about the game, and what you need to improve upon rather than the wins.

Losing teaches you more about yourself, your coaching staff, and your team more than winning does.  A lot of mistakes can be overlooked when you win.   But not when you lose. Winning doesn’t always tell you who you are when faced with adversity.  Losing forces you to stare adversity in the face, and find answers to what you must do differently next time. 

Win or lose - the outcome of a game cannot sustain you into the next day.  That’s the great thing about coaching a team throughout the course of an entire season.  Every day is a new day as long as you go into that day with conscious reminders of what you need to continue to do well, and what you need to improve upon.  Good coaches and good teams know that it is HOW you win or lose that determines your progress and potential as a developing team. 

But after two deflating losses last week, I had seen enough… 

It was time for The Amistad Basketball Program to “Put the Balls Away.”  The Players know what I mean when it is time “To Put the Balls Away.”  It means basketball practice without basketballs!

The message gets received pretty quickly:  We’re either going to play basketball the right way with intensity on the defensive end.  Or we are not going to play basketball.  Because Great Teams do NOT take defensive possessions off.  For one reason or another – the complacency that took place within our program throughout the two losses was fraught with defensive lapses due to a lack of intensity and immediacy. 

Even more than that – it means it’s time to get back to work – Conditioning, Conditioning, Conditioning!

Because if players look and act tired in games – all that means to their coach is that they need to better conditioned to last longer.  After two fairly deflating losses in a row – the Amistad Team got back on track with a Solid Win over Hal Ray on Wed. Night.

Although winning in December and January is always nice.  It’s the rent that you pay now every day that allows you to profit in March!

Back to back games next week.

West Haven Next Tuesday.  North Branford Wed.

Back to work today…

Rent is due!