July 4
If there is one thing that makes me appreciate the country in which I live, it is being elsewhere on the most important day in American history. Other places are great. Filled with great people and interesting culture, but I am glad I live in the U. S. Happy birthday America.
Today was a great day of basketball. We had 4 hours of workouts, 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the evening. The kids were great; the coaches were fun to work with. I think they both appreciate seeing something different. I think that there is no better reward in coaching than seeing a kid smile (of course winning and getting paid are pretty rewarding, too).
I had another discussion with one of the coaches whom I have developed a lot of respect for. He played professionally in several different countries for 11 or 12 years. It is interesting how image and reality might be the same. He was telling me how there is no emphasis on teaching fundamentals in Europe and all their time on tactics. He admired the way we concentrate on fundamentals. Our image in the U. S. is exactly the opposite.
We also look at European training as being innovative. In truth, their off court training truly is. But he said that once they get between the lines, any departure from traditional basketball might be grounds for dismissal. Coaches here are constantly afraid of getting fired. Sure, it is part of coaching life, but I don’t think that it is part of everyday life in the U. S.
July 5
Today, we are off in the morning. These kids come for 16 days at a time so they get some time off on Sunday. The groups also change. There are 120 kids in the camp, 60 left yesterday and a new 60 came in. So, this morning, we visited the place where sport was invented, ancient Olympia.
Visiting a place that is so significant in human history and a place that is so old can be overwhelming and difficult to comprehend. Seeing the Temple of Zeus, walking out into the original Sports Stadium and walking where people walked 2500 years ago is not an opportunity that comes around that often for me. Seeing the actual sculpture of Hermes and Nike (now I know where the company name comes from) is difficult to put in perspective. I stood in the place where they now light the Olympic Torch for each Olympiad. I thought that was pretty neat. It is definitely worth the trip.
After coming back from Olympia, we stopped for lunch with some of the coaches. People eat more here than anyplace I have ever seen. A cardiologist would have a heart attack here. Huge amounts of food, everything fried, lots of fatty meats and cheese everywhere. It sure tastes good, though.
I worked out with the new group this evening. Since I had 1 group and had 2 ½ hours we were able to get through quite a bit. We went through the entire footwork series that took a couple of days with the other groups. They pick it up really quickly and they are really hungry to learn. Had some more great discussions with the coaches about traveling and how hard it is to coach teams that have players from different countries. Player come from the U. S. for big dollars and it creates jealousies amongst the national players. Differing styles of play generate some issues as does differences in language.
Who said coaching basketball was easy?