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Mental Toughness

Mental Toughness

Mental toughness is not something you have on game day. It is a habit of mind that becomes a part of your pride and your self image. It is something you carry with you everywhere: patience in a line of traffic, attentiveness in a classroom, a nobility on the practice floor. It's a quality of mind.

What do you care if you are fouled going for a shot in a pickup game? What do you care if the court you are playing on isn't very will-lit or if the temperature isn't just right? What do you care about how well your uniform fits?

What do you care about referee's calls, length of practice, or the criticism you get? There are thousands of potential complaints, and there is also a certain kind of nobility that surmounts it all. You don't need to worry about all the tiny things, the minor problems, the childish complaints.

Develop a noble quality of mind. Learn to do your best quietly, methodically, without regard for tiny problems and adverse conditions. There are players who ignore all the negatives and give EVERY game, EVERY practice, everything they do their best shot. That is what mental toughness is. That is what every player should strive for.

Advanced Ball-Handling

Make Your Shot Automatic! - by Hal Wissel

"Most basketball players want to improve their shooting. That is good, but to reach your basketball shooting goals takes daily, specific, measurable goal setting and correct practice. For the average player it takes 20,000 correct repetitions to make your shot automatic. If you shoot 1000 correct shots each day, how many days would it take for your shot to be automatic?

The answer is 20 days or less than three weeks. If you shoot 100 correct shots each day, how many days would it take for your shot to be automatic? The answer is 200 days or almost seven months. You have a decision to make. How bad do you want it?

The Truth to Success

"Don't cry to give up. Cry to keep going." Cry because you want it that much. And, the thought of NOT having the opportunity is more painful than quitting midway.

BG Hoops Store: Hurry merchandise is going fast!

BG Hoops Store
Shop Now!!

The BG Hoops Store is now online. All players needing practice gear should order it here. BG Hoops fans everywhere can order and wear what the players and coaches will be wearing this year.

Our online store is safe! All our online transactions are handling by Eastbay, a major national sports company, and Sports Sign-Up, a company that is dedicated to youth sports and keeping young people safe. Feel secure that all of your information is safe and secure in our store.

Click on the link above to go to our web store now!

Make sure you check out completely, we're getting a lot of orders that are being left in the shopping carts.

BG Hoops In The Pros

Coach Cuevas sending
off two BG Hoops Stars

On September 1st, BG Hoops star (Class of 2002) Arcenio Ramirez, returned from Potros Itson in the LNBP in Mexico after being released. On the same day Coach Robert Zaragoza boarded a plane to Mexico City to become the coach of Captial Titanes.

On September 9th Coach Zee happily signed Arcenio to a deal to become one of his guards in Mexico City. Coach Zee stated "I'm fired up, the Rocket is one his way".

Good luck to all of our BG Hoops stars in Mexico City!!

Are you waiting to be a player? Or are you preparing?

7 C’s of Championship Team Building

There are seven primary areas that go into building your team's chemistry.

1. Common Goal Championship teams have a singular, common focus. The team is most often focused on winning a championship. This is their primary, specified, overt goal and all other goals revolve around it. This goal is firmly embraced by all members of the team, coaching staff, and support staff. Everyone understands that this is the direction and destination that the team is moving toward. Additionally, the goal that the team is striving for typically is so challenging that the only way it can be accomplished is through a unified effort.

2. Commitment While seasons may start with the entire team focused on a common goal, rarely do they end up that way. Commitment is probably the single most important factor that differentiates championship teams, coaches, athletes, businesses, schools, marriages (you name it) from the mediocre. It's much too easy to say you want to win the championship and its a whole other thing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to pursue a championship - especially when obstacles and adversity strikes. Continual commitment to the team's common goal is one of the toughest areas of team building. Championship teams buy into the mission at every level and make the mission their own. They work hard and pay their dues because they want to, not because they have to. In addition to their commitment, the team members feel a sense of personal and group accountability. The players have a clear understanding of how their individual choices and decisions influence the collective psyche and success of the team. There is a true sense that if an individual is slacking off, he is not just hurting himself but his entire team. The players feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to give it their best.

3. Complementary Roles Championship teams are comprised of several individuals who willingly take pride in a playing a variety of roles. These roles, when played in concert and harmony lead to team success. Thus, each player is assigned specific responsibilities and tasks that help determine the entire team's success. While individually they are not solely responsible for the team's success or failure, collectively each role forms a synergistic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The major difficulty in developing complementary roles is that some roles get more attention and praise thereby making them seem more important. Championship teams however realize that all roles are critical to the overall team's success and willingly accept and value their individual roles.

4. Clear Communication A fourth characteristic of championship teams is clear communication. Successful teams communicate successfully both on and off the field/court. The on field communication helps them to perform more efficiently on the field and the off field communication allows them to monitor the team's effectiveness, modify things when necessary, and celebrate successes.

5. Constructive Conflict Along with effective communication, championship teams have the ability to keep conflict under control and often are able to use conflict constructively to further develop and strengthen the team. It is not that championship teams never experience conflict, because this is impossible. Instead they are able to handle the conflict they experience and do not let it interfere with the team's common goal.

6. Cohesion A sixth characteristic shared by many championship teams is that they genuinely like and respect each other. The players like to hang out with each other outside of scheduled practice and game times. Many championship teams will also spend a great deal of time socializing together in larger groups. The players genuinely like to spend a lot of time together outside of actual practices and games. They find reasons to stay together like going to the movies, studying, hanging out, etc. This is not to say that every single player is a part of the group, but that a majority of players tend to socialize together. Cohesion is a factor that often will help your team perform at a higher level.

7. Credible Leadership Finally, it takes a credible coach and team captains to develop, orchestrate, and monitor all the other C's. The team must have leaders who they believe in and have the skills necessary to get the most from the team. Credible leaders create an environment that allows the team to perform to their full potential.