B-RadHoops - October 2009

October 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Mom

First order of business for this B-RadHoops is to honor Marilyn Fleming – my mom - on her birthday, today October 25^th.  Mom is the hippest Grandma I know and the coolest Mom as well. 

Saturday evening I attended a gathering of Friends of SELU.  The group was established in 1989 to help RU maintain and grow the beauty and value of the 380-acre conservancy.  It features 70 acres in pasture and 310 acres in forest with Little River frontage and river-front facilities.  The SELU 4,100 square foot Retreat Center, with a seven-sided meeting room modeled on the non confrontational design of Cherokee Indian council houses is located just six mile south of RU’s main campus.  It’s beautiful.  And the people that lend their financial assistance and sweat equity to keep it beautiful deserve praise.

We had a guest at practice on Sunday.  Billy McKinney the Milwaukee Bucks Director of Scouting.   I asked Billy if he would talk to the team after practice.   He eloquently addressed the reality of being a “favorite” to win.  And the need to be self motivated and focused every day in practice. He stressed the importance of working every day to get better when you are the hunted.   It was a great message for our guys to hear from someone other than our staff.  It was especially well received as Billy has quite a resume.  After an All Big 10 career at Northwestern University where he still reigns as the school’s all time leading scorer, Billy spent 7 seasons playing in the NBA and has also spent time in the front office of the Detroit Pistons (as General Manager), Seattle Supersonics and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Southwest Coaches Tip-off Luncheon to Benefit Coaches vs. Cancer

PLEASE CALL ME at 540-831-5125 to learn more about the Southwest Coaches Tip-off Luncheon to Benefit Coaches vs. Cancer.  It’s November 3^rd at Blacksburg Country Club and is a joint effort of VT Coach Seth Greenberg, Roanoke College Coach Page Moir and myself.  It’s for a great cause, plus a good chance to discuss the upcoming college hoop season.  You can purchase an entire table (for 10) for this luncheon for just $150.  Click the link below to learn more about the event.  CALL ME IF YOU WANT TO RESERVE A TABLE!

http://www.radfordathletics.com/news/2009/10/7/MBB_1007093240.aspx

The 3^rd Annual RU Basketball Tip-Off Banquet

IT’S GETTING CLOSER!  The 3^rd Annual RU Basketball Tip-Off Banquet is November 11 at the Dedmon Center.  Please sign up for a table or a seat.  Tables are filling up fast.  All the proceeds go to the basketball program, so we’d love to have as many people as Dedmon can hold. Meet the team and watch a special video previewing this year’s team and season. And get to hear a coaching great, Fork Union Military Academy Coach Fletcher Arritt speak.  Call 540-831-5125 and ask for Cheryl.  Below is the link for more information.  Atlantic Bay Mortgage and CEO Brian Mason are on board as Co-Presenting Sponsor with Texas Roadhouse.  This is the third year that Texas Roadhouse is supporting us in a very significant way and the second year for Atlantic Bay Mortgage.  THANKS!

http://www.radfordathletics.com/sports/2009/10/11/MBB_1011094208.aspx?id=97

 We’ve gotten a little dinged up in practice, but so far nothing serious.  Phillip Martin took an elbow to his head and needs to take a few days off to clear out the cobwebs.  Gorkem Sonmez sat out Saturday’s practice after bruising his back.   Jamal Curry is nursing a sprained ankle and Tolga Cerrah got popped in the face and required some stitches to close a cut lip.  Tolga is 6-8+, an athlete with bounce and an exceptional young man.  He is a stellar student, a fantastically coachable player and one of the most mature and thoughtful young men I have ever had the pleasure of coaching.  We will take Monday off and I hope all four will be ready to go full strength on Tuesday afternoon. 

We have completed 10 full practices (9 practice days) and have just 13 practices and 2 scrimmages before opening night on November 13^th against Navy in the Dedmon Center.   This week we begin working hard on our zone defenses and offenses against zones along with building a full court press and working against full court pressure. 

I hope you will make plans to be in Dedmon on November 13 to help us kick off the season.  It is a great feeling to walk onto the Dedmon Center court and see a packed house to cheer on the Highlanders. 

Go Highlanders

Brad

October 18, 2009

On Tuesday the Big South held Media Day in Charlotte and the Pre-Season All Conference, POY and Team Rankings came out.  Joey and Art were selected 1^st Team All Conference.  Art was selected Player of the Year.  And we received near unanimous voting as the pre-season favorite to win the league.  Pre-season recognition was expected because of our returning players and the success we had last year.  And it’s a good springboard for us as we began official practice this week. 

I knew Saturday was off to a great start when I pulled into our Daily Bread for the best French Toast around, and saw that Flip Shoemaker was the brunch musician.  Flip is an incredible guitar player and is wife, Pat, is the Dean of the School of Education at Radford. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for Flip’s entire set, but heard enough to know I’ll show up again when he’s there.  Plus the food is so great.

We practiced at Peters Hall twice on Saturday.  We don’t often have “two a days” but I like to do it on occasion early in the year.  When we practice twice in one day we design one practice as more of a teaching, shooting and individual skill practice with no live competition where players will be physical against each other.  The other practice that day is a highly competitive with a lot of controlled scrimmaging.  Our second Saturday practice was a physical one and it gave Detroit Pistons scout, Doug Ash, an initial look at our squad and Art Parakhouski.  Doug had been to Virginia and Virginia Tech prior to his visit to Radford.  Having a NBA scout include Radford on the first weekend of official practice is a sign that our program has made some strides in the last two years.  And Doug won’t be the last NBA official to make his way to Radford this year or see our team play on the road. 

Three full days of practice are in the books and I like some of what I have seen so far.  The experienced players who are familiar with our drills and some of the offensive and defensive tactics we have already introduced are as expected moving with more confidence and playing more instinctive.  The new players are competing hard, learning a lot and doing their best to pick things up.  When players are in the first stages or learning plays and defensive concepts they play with some uncertainty.  As they get more comfortable and the plays become more familiar, basketball instincts start emerging and with that a “freedom of play” that enables players to be more productive.  It will take a while for our younger players to get to that stage as our playbook and defensive strategies are fairly complex.  A lot more complex than any of them have experienced in HS or JC prior to arriving at Radford.  Our veterans do a nice job of trying to help the younger guys along.  I like that. 

Prior to Saturday morning’s practice in Peter’s Hall, Radford’s Exercise, Sport and Health Education Program was holding its “Peak Exercise and Activity Kamp” which is an annual happening 5 Saturday mornings in September and October.  It’s theme “Building Physically Active and Healthy Lifestyles...One Person at a Time”.  It’s a kick to see kids 5-10 years old moving from one activity to another in Peter’s Hall under the direction of the talented ESHE professors and RU students majoring in that renown program.  I got a high five from A J Raccuia – son of Joe (RU Baseball Coach) and Jodi Raccuia.  A J is a fireball who will definitely steal a few bases when he grows up!  It’s great to see the RU Baseball facility undergoing some improvements.  New dugouts (long overdue) and improved drainage engineering for the playing field are underway and that’s great for Coach Raccuia and RU Baseball. 

Congrats to women’s soccer coach Ben Sohrabi, his staff and team on a great weekend with a dramatic come from behind 2-1 win over Winthrop on Friday and a Double OT 1-0 win over Gardner Webb on Sunday.  And field hockey coach Jeff Woods’s team is 4-0 in league play after Saturday afternoons win over Davidson.   

Please let me know if you’d like to join Seth, Paige Moir and me for the Southwest Coaches Tip-off Luncheon to Benefit Coaches vs. Cancer.  It’s November 3^rd at Blacksburg Country Club.  It’s for a great cause, plus a good chance to discuss the upcoming college hoop season.  Click the link below or call our office at 540-831-5125 to learn more about the event. 

http://www.radfordathletics.com/news/2009/10/7/MBB_1007093240.aspx

The 3^rd Annual RU Basketball Tip-Off Banquet is November 11 at the Dedmon Center.  Please sign up for a table or a seat.  We’ve got over 100 folks signed up so far.  All the proceeds go to the basketball program, so we’d love to have as many people as Dedmon can hold. Meet the team and watch a special video previewing this year’s team and season. And get to hear a coaching great, Fork Union Military Academy Coach Fletcher Arritt speak.  Call 540-831`-5125 and ask for Cheryl.  Here’s the link for more information. 

http://www.radfordathletics.com/sports/2009/10/11/MBB_1011094208.aspx?id=97

Two special shout outs this weekend:  Leah Greenberg for passing the Pennsylvania Bar and Elaine Platt on her 60^th birthday

Go Highlanders

Brad

October 11, 2009

There are so many nice people in Radford and two of the nicest are Jeff and Harriett Price.  The NCAA allows for an “occasional meal” at the home of a booster and Jeff and Harriett were kind enough to host our team for a Sunday afternoon get together at their beautiful Merry Point home on Claytor Lake.  On a beautiful afternoon our team hung out with the Price family eating hot dogs and hamburgers, tossing a football, fishing, and being entertained by the daredevil exploits of Jeff demonstrating a front flip off the upper deck of the dock into semi frigid waters.  The Belorussian judge gave him an 8.5, the Serbian judge an 8.0, the Turkish judge a 9.0 and the American judge factoring in the bravado of a 48 year old doing a front flip off a 15’ deck awarded Price a 9.5!

The basketball magazines are hitting newsstands and so far all of them pick the Highlanders to win the Big South.  I’m often asked how it feels to have a big target on our back this season.  Do I feel more pressure?  Do the raised expectations create more stress?  The expectations are different but its different great!  We have good returning players.  We have players with championship experience.  And we have motivated players.  Motivated players who want to get better.  That’s what I think about and appreciate when somebody asks me about whether I feel more pressure.  And I think the teams that don’t have returning players like Art, Joey, Amir, Laz Phillip and Cole are the ones that might feel more pressure when they have to line-up against those guys.  Having motivated and experienced talent doesn’t guarantee winning performance.  But it’s a good starting point. 

Our team completed the last of our conditioning tests this week.  Just about everyone made their times on a windy day and those that didn’t were successful on a second or third attempt before the weekend was over.  Joey Lynch-Flohr clocked the fasted mile time – 5:08. 

On Tuesday the Big South holds its annual Basketball Media Day in Charlotte.  And on Friday we start official practices.  Unfortunately we won’t be able to start in Dedmon due to a scheduling conflict.  So it looks like we begin another season in Peters Hall.  The last time we did that it turned out OK. 

Here’s the radfordathletics.com link to info about the 3^rd Annual Tip-Off Banquet.  Please click if you haven’t already reserved a table or seat for the event.  It is going to be a great evening.  Meet the team and hear guest speaker Fork Union Military Academy Coach Fletcher Arritt – a coaching treasure.

http://www.radfordathletics.com/sports/2009/10/11/MBB_1011094208.aspx?id=97

On November 3^rd I will join my brother Seth and Roanoke College head coach Page Moir for the inaugural Southwest Coaches Tip-off Luncheon to Benefit Coaches vs. Cancer at the Blacksburg Country Club.  Click the link below or call our office at 540-831-5125 to learn more about the event. 

http://www.radfordathletics.com/news/2009/10/7/MBB_1007093240.aspx

Go Highlanders

Brad

October 4, 2009

I like for our team to get out in the community and Saturday’s Highlander Festival was a great opportunity to do so.  Our guys and all our assistant coaches ran the Highlander Festival 5K Saturday morning and Assistant Coach Rick Hall placed 3^rd in his age group.  Freshmen Evan Faulkner (1^st) and Tolga Cerrah (3^rd) placed in the U20 division.  But the real RU runner in this race was Brian Conniff, Dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences who blistered the course in record time.  Dean Conniff logs upwards of 50 miles a week on Bissett Park Trails.

Vice Mayor Dick Harshberger, a regular with better half Kathleen, at all our games was flipping pancakes early Saturday morning and later served as one of the parades master of ceremonies.  He introduced our team as we passed the review stand on Main Street.  The highlight of the parade walk for me was when I heard the enthusiastic voice of Mrs. Barbara Turk calling my name.  She is an RU Foundation Board member and along with Judge James Turk, one of our most loyal fan and one of my favorite people in Radford.

This week I realized that my cable provider Comcast now includes NBATV and I have been watching some LA Lakers, Denver Nugget and Boston Celtic pre-season training camp action.  NBA teams start playing exhibition games one week after opening camp so coaches install offensive and defensive strategy at a fast pace.  I like to do the same but with so many new players I have to remind myself to be a little more patient when we get underway with official practices on October 16.  In our workouts to date we have been putting in some ½ court offensive sets and some fast break alignments and I sense that our young guys will need some extra work to keep pace with our veteran players as we build our offensive and defensive game plans.  We do some of the same drills that the NBA teams do and I like to remind our players the fundamentals we preach and practice are the same that the best players in the world work on as well.

As the start of the season gets close, and weekend double session practices and games approach, a friend often reminds me that weekend social networking while fun and important, will be coming to an end.  In recognition of that, dinner for 16 in Roanoke was planned.  I intervened and suggested a no cook solution – takeout Chinese from China Inn in Blacksburg and my now favorite Bubblecakes.  Try to imagine what takeout Chinese looks like for 16.  We had Egg and Spring Rolls, Broccoli with Garlic Sauce, Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, Chicken Lo Mein, Scallop & Shrimp Szechuan Style, & Chicken with Garlic Sauce.  Guests included the inquisitive Art Duncan who set a record for the most basketball related jeopardy like questions.  After all that Chinese food, it was a good thing to take my dog Holly for a 5 mile walk Sunday morning along the Roanoke river.   Of course a well earned breakfast of bagels and lox followed the walk.

Saw Fame Sunday afternoon, skip the movie and just buy the soundtrack to hear Naturi Naughton sing. 

WNBA Finals are in progress and I saw a post game interview with Tamika Catching of the Indiana Fever – while eating leftover Chinese food - after they beat the Phoenix Mercury Sunday afternoon to take a 2-1 lead in the best of 5 series.  My first year in the NBA as  assistant coach of the Los Angeles Clippers I coached her dad Harvey Catchings, a 6-9 journeyman  center who played eleven seasons in the NBA with Philadelphia, New Jersey, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles.  Tamika, a 1^st Team All WNBA player shoots better than her Dad.

Please call Cheryl Cox at 540-831-5125 or email RUHoops@radford.edu to reserve your spot for the Tip-Off Banquet to meet all the players and hear guest speaker Fletcher Arritt on November 11th. 

Tables are filling up fast.  If you can’t come, please consider a donation to host a player at the event. 

Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com gave us some high praise this week.  He suggested in his blog our frontcourt trio of Art Parakhouski, Joey Lynch-Flohr and Lazar Trifunovic may be one of the premier Mid Major Frontcourts in the country.  I hope he’s right.  Here’s a link from radfordathletics.com to get to Goodman’s blog.

http://www.radfordathletics.com/news/2009/9/30/MBB_0930090220.aspx?path=mbball

Go Highlanders

Brad