Tough loss on the road last night to a very good Princeton team. One of our biggest keys we talked about was rebounding, and we were hammered on the boards in the second half last night. Princeton outrebounded us 44-26 including 20-6 on the offensive boards. It's very tough to win close games with that kind of a discrepancy on the boards.
Another frustrating thing in the second half was the number of times we forced Princeton into a turnover, and then gave it right back before ever getting a shot off. Right now we are playing a lot of inexperienced players and we just have to learn how to win games against good teams. We have to understand how important every play is and how it affects the outcome of the game.
Jake Junis was phenomenal last night, scoring 39 points on just 18 shot attempts. He was 9-11 from 3 point range, many of those coming well beyond the arc. Jake surpassed the 1,000 career point mark. He needed 21 for the game. He had 26 in the first half!
Princeton had all 5 starters in double figures. That's the type of balance that I think we are capable of when we get healthy and back to full strength. The guys are still playing hard and that is a positive. I thought we had several trips on the defensive end though where one guy would take that play off or not box out, and against a good team it showed! Again, we have to learn from it and understand we cannot take plays off!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Coaches Corner: Ottawa 48 Rock Falls 40
Right now we are really struggling to shoot the ball well. Against Ottawa, we also turned the ball over 17 times which is just way too many turnovers when you are struggling to score as it is. We are experiencing some growing pains with the new offense. We have given the kids a lot of freedom with this offense, but we have to show more discipline and understand who we are right now. We are really an average team offensively right now and we cannot keep giving possessions away with turnovers and poor shot selection.
On the other hand, Ottawa is one of the better defensive teams we will see all year. They just flat out get after it on the defensive end. I think our kids have done some very good things on the defensive end as well and that continues to carry us early in the season. Shay Brown had 7 steals against Ottawa. We held Ottawa to 33% from the field, but they outscored us at the FT line 15-5. Dylan Austin led us with 15 points and Matt Lauts led with 7 rebounds. We have to do a better job of freeing Jake Junis up for some higher percentage shots when teams are keying on him like Ottawa did. Hopefully we take away the lesson that every possession is important on the offensive end, that there will be nights where you shoot poorly and you have to find ways to win those games! We have to work for some more easy baskets and get to the FT line even more on those nights when shots are not falling. We attempted only 8 FT's for the game.
On the other hand, Ottawa is one of the better defensive teams we will see all year. They just flat out get after it on the defensive end. I think our kids have done some very good things on the defensive end as well and that continues to carry us early in the season. Shay Brown had 7 steals against Ottawa. We held Ottawa to 33% from the field, but they outscored us at the FT line 15-5. Dylan Austin led us with 15 points and Matt Lauts led with 7 rebounds. We have to do a better job of freeing Jake Junis up for some higher percentage shots when teams are keying on him like Ottawa did. Hopefully we take away the lesson that every possession is important on the offensive end, that there will be nights where you shoot poorly and you have to find ways to win those games! We have to work for some more easy baskets and get to the FT line even more on those nights when shots are not falling. We attempted only 8 FT's for the game.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Coaches' Corner: Rock Falls 61 Hall 51
Seems like we did just enough to get by last night. For the first time this year we did get the ball in the lane on over 85% of our possessions which was the bright spot. Way too many turnovers on offense though. We did not shoot a FT in the first half which is just unacceptable. One of our team goals is to make more than they attempt from the FT line. We ended up accomplishing that, but I thought we could have really pounded it in the lane more in the first half. We scored 41 points in the second half once we made the attempt to pound it inside. Our break has to get better as well to start creating more easy baskets.
Defensively we were bad last night. I think our defense had been our strength going into last night. For whatever reason we did not pressure the ball or closeout well last night. When we did pressure we gave up easy drives to the rim. We didn't adjust to the officials very well either when they started calling hand checks and reaches pretty consistently. We cannot have guys committing their 3rd or 4th fouls reaching in either. No one rotated to take charges last night. I thought we had 5 good chances.
Yes a win is a win, just not sure we improved at all last night and I hate wasting chances to get better. We will have to be better tonight against Ottawa who is always very strong defensively!
Jake Junis led us with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Matt Lauts and Brett Chappell also scored in double figures. Dylan Austin finished with 5 assists for us. Andrew Cain gave us a nice lift off the bench in the first half with 3 rebounds and an assist.
Defensively we were bad last night. I think our defense had been our strength going into last night. For whatever reason we did not pressure the ball or closeout well last night. When we did pressure we gave up easy drives to the rim. We didn't adjust to the officials very well either when they started calling hand checks and reaches pretty consistently. We cannot have guys committing their 3rd or 4th fouls reaching in either. No one rotated to take charges last night. I thought we had 5 good chances.
Yes a win is a win, just not sure we improved at all last night and I hate wasting chances to get better. We will have to be better tonight against Ottawa who is always very strong defensively!
Jake Junis led us with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Matt Lauts and Brett Chappell also scored in double figures. Dylan Austin finished with 5 assists for us. Andrew Cain gave us a nice lift off the bench in the first half with 3 rebounds and an assist.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Player Performance Ratings
One tool that the coaching staff uses to evaluate players after every game is a player performance rating. Each stat that we keep is assigned a positive or negative point value. Here are a list of the stats we keep and how we assign points:
2 PT FG Made= +2
2 PT FG Missed= -2
3 PT FG Made= +3
3 PT FG Missed= -2
FT Made= +1
FT Missed= -2
Fouls= -1
Turnovers= -2
Offensive Rebounds= +2
Defensive Rebounds= +1
Assists= +2
Steals= +2
Charges Taken= +5
Blocked Shot= +1
FT Assist (any pass that would have been an assist if the payer had not gotten fouled and missed the shot attempt-these do not count on assist records but we do like to reward them with performance points)= +2
Our highest overall team rating so far this season was against Newman on Tuesday night with a +70. Our low was a -24 against Dixon on Friday night. Shay Brown has the highest individual game rating thus far with a +25 against Morrison. A big chunk of that was the 16 rebounds he pulled down that night. Overall, Shay also leads us on the season with +73. Jake Junis is second with a +57.
We don't generally compare post players' scores with perimeter players' scores. We generally feel post players should have higher scores due to taking higher percentage shots, being in a position to grab more rebounds, and not turning the ball over as much as a guard might. The biggest reason for the ratings is to take the emphasis off of the need to score points in order to contribute. It also emphasizes the fact that scoring points alone is not enough. We try to use the ratings to encourage our players to become more complete players and not just one dimensional. The ratings do not cover things on defense such as boxouts, closeouts (contesting shots), pressuring the ball, etc. So they're not perfect and are not a total measure of how a player performed on any given night. However, it has really helped to give more meaning to the stats we keep and emphasize to our players.
2 PT FG Made= +2
2 PT FG Missed= -2
3 PT FG Made= +3
3 PT FG Missed= -2
FT Made= +1
FT Missed= -2
Fouls= -1
Turnovers= -2
Offensive Rebounds= +2
Defensive Rebounds= +1
Assists= +2
Steals= +2
Charges Taken= +5
Blocked Shot= +1
FT Assist (any pass that would have been an assist if the payer had not gotten fouled and missed the shot attempt-these do not count on assist records but we do like to reward them with performance points)= +2
Our highest overall team rating so far this season was against Newman on Tuesday night with a +70. Our low was a -24 against Dixon on Friday night. Shay Brown has the highest individual game rating thus far with a +25 against Morrison. A big chunk of that was the 16 rebounds he pulled down that night. Overall, Shay also leads us on the season with +73. Jake Junis is second with a +57.
We don't generally compare post players' scores with perimeter players' scores. We generally feel post players should have higher scores due to taking higher percentage shots, being in a position to grab more rebounds, and not turning the ball over as much as a guard might. The biggest reason for the ratings is to take the emphasis off of the need to score points in order to contribute. It also emphasizes the fact that scoring points alone is not enough. We try to use the ratings to encourage our players to become more complete players and not just one dimensional. The ratings do not cover things on defense such as boxouts, closeouts (contesting shots), pressuring the ball, etc. So they're not perfect and are not a total measure of how a player performed on any given night. However, it has really helped to give more meaning to the stats we keep and emphasize to our players.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Coaches' Corner: Rock Falls 52 Sterling 42 11-28-09
This is why I have been saying for so long that I love the makeup of this team right now! As bad as we were on Friday night, and as hard as we were on our kids during post game meetings on Friday night and film on Saturday afternoon, our kids responded in a very positive way. We called them on what we thought was selfish play on Friday night and they proved they learned a lesson on Saturday night. As a coach, that's all you can ask is that you don't repeat mistakes-especially mental mistakes. I believe this group is really excited about learning this game and they show it almost every day. This group has already faced a lot of adversity with injuries and suspensions and to end the week at 4-1 was very satisfying.
Our scoring was very balanced: Lauts with 12, Junis and Chappell with 11, and Brown and Austin with 9 apiece. Lauts was the leading rebounder with 7. Austin and Junis each grabbed 6 boards. Our discipline on offense was much better. We got the ball in the lane on 78% of our possessions for the night and only attempted 7 three-point shots. Our defense was outstanding, holding Sterling to just 35% from the field and allowing just 8 FT attempts. We also survived a long stretch with Junis on the bench with 3 fouls in the second quarter. I probably should not have played him with 2 fouls in the second quarter, but was afraid the game might get away from us. Our kids did an outstanding job keeping it close in the second quarter.
Shay Brown has been outstanding defensively for us this first week. That has been a huge bright spot for us. Jake Junis has been as good as we thought he should be as long as we can keep him out of foul trouble. Matt Lauts has shown some versatility in the post and presents some matchup problems for opposing teams. Dylan Austin has been a very solid option on offense and has defended and rebounded well. Brett Chappell has been fearless-and I think the more he plays and learns at this level the better he will get. TJ Teske has stepped up off the bench playing his role well and providing some energy defensively. When we limit turnovers and take good shots, we look very tough and that will continue to improve. Again, all of the adversity will make this team stronger-it has to!
Our scoring was very balanced: Lauts with 12, Junis and Chappell with 11, and Brown and Austin with 9 apiece. Lauts was the leading rebounder with 7. Austin and Junis each grabbed 6 boards. Our discipline on offense was much better. We got the ball in the lane on 78% of our possessions for the night and only attempted 7 three-point shots. Our defense was outstanding, holding Sterling to just 35% from the field and allowing just 8 FT attempts. We also survived a long stretch with Junis on the bench with 3 fouls in the second quarter. I probably should not have played him with 2 fouls in the second quarter, but was afraid the game might get away from us. Our kids did an outstanding job keeping it close in the second quarter.
Shay Brown has been outstanding defensively for us this first week. That has been a huge bright spot for us. Jake Junis has been as good as we thought he should be as long as we can keep him out of foul trouble. Matt Lauts has shown some versatility in the post and presents some matchup problems for opposing teams. Dylan Austin has been a very solid option on offense and has defended and rebounded well. Brett Chappell has been fearless-and I think the more he plays and learns at this level the better he will get. TJ Teske has stepped up off the bench playing his role well and providing some energy defensively. When we limit turnovers and take good shots, we look very tough and that will continue to improve. Again, all of the adversity will make this team stronger-it has to!
Coaches' Corner: Dixon 57 Rock Falls 43 11-27-09
Anyone who was there knows this was a terrible night for us on the floor. We shot 24% on the night, partly because of bad shot selection and decision making across the board. We were undisciplined on offense to say the least. Our goal is to get the ball in the lane on 85% of our possessions. We only did so on 61% on this night and when you are struggling to make shots, that will make it tough to win. Another goal of ours is to score 40 points in the paint and we were only able to score 22 in the paint, mainly because we settled for jump shots all night.
Matt Ross from Dixon is just an outstanding player. We struggled to match up with him. The bright spot for us was that I thought we executed the game plan defensively very well until the 4th quarter.
On the offensive end, we refused to try to run any offense, settled for the first available jump shot over and over again, and really handled end of quarter situations poorly. We were outrebounded 36 to 26 on the night.
I was extremely disappointed in our body language, attitudes and leadership on the floor during this game. We are a better team than we showed on Friday night!
Matt Ross from Dixon is just an outstanding player. We struggled to match up with him. The bright spot for us was that I thought we executed the game plan defensively very well until the 4th quarter.
On the offensive end, we refused to try to run any offense, settled for the first available jump shot over and over again, and really handled end of quarter situations poorly. We were outrebounded 36 to 26 on the night.
I was extremely disappointed in our body language, attitudes and leadership on the floor during this game. We are a better team than we showed on Friday night!
Coaches' Corner: Rock Falls 61 Stillman Valley 35 11-25-09
I don't know what it is about the Wednesday night game at 5 PM, but it always seems like we would rather be somewhere else. Like in previous years, we did enough to win against a short-handed Cardinal team, but were less than impressive in doing so. Defensively we were sluggish and got beat off the dribble way too easily. Not a whole lot stood out to me in a postive way in this one other than getting a win. Jake Junis led us with 17, Dylan Austin and Brett Chappell added 14 each. Matt Lauts was the leading rebounder with 8. We shot 53% overall.
Coaches' Corner: Rock Falls 72 Newman 50 11-24-09
This was a game in which I thought Newman's size could give us fits. I loved our defensive intensity early on. We had some foul trouble in the second quarter that caused us to back off a bit. Jake Junis was obviously phenomenal with 32 points and 8 rebounds. Best part about it was he did it in a number of ways: knocking down threes, strong drives to the rim, pull-up jumpers-pretty impressive night. We did have entirely too many turnovers finishing with 21 on the night. That is not something we can continue to do and expect to beat good teams down the stretch. Matt Lauts was the leading rebounder with 9. Shay Brown and Brett Chappell both had 4 steals. Shay Brown also led in assists with 4. We ended up outrebounding a much bigger Newman team 36 to 24. I thought our shot selection for the most part was pretty good and we finished the night at 52% from the floor. Overall a pretty good night for us!
Coaches' Corner-Rock Falls vs. Morrison 11-23-09
Obviously with Morrison being short-handed due to their success in football, it is very tough to really evaluate our play in this game. I thought it was a typical opening night game-pretty sloppy overall. Shay Brown was outstanding with 11 points and 16 rebounds in a little less than 3 quarters of play. Jake Junis also scored 11, Matt Lauts with 10 and Brett Chappell with 9. No starters played more than 3 quarters on the night.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Schedule Changes Next Week
Opening night on Monday November 23rd will now be against Morrison instead of Dixon. It will still be a home game with sophomores playing at 6 PM and varsity to follow at 7:30 PM.
Friday night's game will be against Dixon at Sterling at 8 PM. These games were moved due to possible state championship games for both Stillman Valley and Morrison in football.
Again, times and locations next week have not changed-just opponents!
Friday night's game will be against Dixon at Sterling at 8 PM. These games were moved due to possible state championship games for both Stillman Valley and Morrison in football.
Again, times and locations next week have not changed-just opponents!
One Week to Go!
With our first game coming up next Monday, I'm pleased with where we stand currently. We have a lot of little things to clean up on both ends of the floor, but who doesn't after just a week of practice? There seems to be a maturity level with this team right now that gives me a lot of confidence in them as a group. You really get the feeling that these guys want the criticism in order to improve. That is huge for a team over the course of a 4 month season-to understand the purpose of criticisms and welcome them.
That being said, we do need to develop a toughness that we lack right now. I think we have a group that works hard to a point, then gives in to being tired instead of pushing through it mentally and finding out what they are really capable of accomplishing. That will be a big focus for us this week, to build that mental and physical toughness to a much higher level.
Another concern for us is our rebounding on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. We need to anticipate shots and crash the offensive boards much better than we do now. On the defensive boards, we are just a little soft right now and need to develop toughness there as well.
I do love the unselfishness of this team to this point. We have, for the most part, made the extra pass and trusted the open man to knock down the open shot. That is a very good sign early in the season and should give everyone a ton of confidence. Everyone knows the adversity we face early. Throw in J.C. McNinch's injury and we face a little bit of an uphill battle early on. However, I love the fact that these guys still expect a lot of themselves. Some people will have the opportunity to step up, and that will make us stronger down the road!
We can't wait til Monday night! Help us fill up the gym! Pass the word along to friends and familiy. We need you there!!!
That being said, we do need to develop a toughness that we lack right now. I think we have a group that works hard to a point, then gives in to being tired instead of pushing through it mentally and finding out what they are really capable of accomplishing. That will be a big focus for us this week, to build that mental and physical toughness to a much higher level.
Another concern for us is our rebounding on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. We need to anticipate shots and crash the offensive boards much better than we do now. On the defensive boards, we are just a little soft right now and need to develop toughness there as well.
I do love the unselfishness of this team to this point. We have, for the most part, made the extra pass and trusted the open man to knock down the open shot. That is a very good sign early in the season and should give everyone a ton of confidence. Everyone knows the adversity we face early. Throw in J.C. McNinch's injury and we face a little bit of an uphill battle early on. However, I love the fact that these guys still expect a lot of themselves. Some people will have the opportunity to step up, and that will make us stronger down the road!
We can't wait til Monday night! Help us fill up the gym! Pass the word along to friends and familiy. We need you there!!!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Josh Pickens-Assistant Varsity Coach
I am very excited to work with Josh again. He is an outstanding leader and will be another great role model for our players. Josh was a starting guard for us both years that I coached at Rockford Jefferson H.S. In his Junior year, we won the school's first ever conference title. The following season, Josh helped lead us to a 4th place finish in the state in Class AA. We lost in the semi-finals to eventual state champion Glenbrook North. Jon Scheyer who currently plays at Duke was a member of that Glenbrook North team.
High School: Rockford Jefferson (Class of '05)
College: Rock Valley Community College (Associate of Arts Degree); Will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science form Ashford University this December.
Accomplishments as a Player: 4th place state finish in high school; two-years all-conference at Rock Valley; all-conference at Ashford U.
Employment: Will be employed in the admissions office at Ashford upon graduation
Coaching Experience: Has been a student assistant coach at Ashford this fall
What are your future goals in coaching? Would like to someday be a head coach in High School and at the College level
Other Sports: Ran track in high school
Certifications: ASEP (American Sport Education Program) and CPR
High School: Rockford Jefferson (Class of '05)
College: Rock Valley Community College (Associate of Arts Degree); Will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science form Ashford University this December.
Accomplishments as a Player: 4th place state finish in high school; two-years all-conference at Rock Valley; all-conference at Ashford U.
Employment: Will be employed in the admissions office at Ashford upon graduation
Coaching Experience: Has been a student assistant coach at Ashford this fall
What are your future goals in coaching? Would like to someday be a head coach in High School and at the College level
Other Sports: Ran track in high school
Certifications: ASEP (American Sport Education Program) and CPR
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Coach Danny Rodriguez: Assistant Sophomore Coach
I'm very excited to have Danny on staff with us this season. Anytime you can get former players on staff I think it's great for the program. They possess that ROCKET PRIDE and have that passion for seeing the tradition continue! Danny played basketball, football and baseball at Rock Falls. He is a huge sports buff. Danny is CPR certified and a licensed IHSA official.
High School: Rock Falls (Class of 2004)
College: Graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in Financial Accounting and General Finance
Playing Experience: 4-year player at RFHS; 3-year member of the varsity team
Accomplishments as a Player: Member of two Sweet 16 teams (2001-02, 2003-04); All Conference and All Area team; participant in the Gazette-Telegraph All-Star Game
Why did you want to coach at RFHS? Growing up in Rock Falls, I watched the various teams and there success of which inspired me to not only become a member of the tradition but also to inspire future athletes.
What are your future goals in coaching? The goals are to team my athletes' integrity and determination as well as the value of hard work of which they can use throughout their lifetime. Also, I strive to be a successful coach now and for years to come.
High School: Rock Falls (Class of 2004)
College: Graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in Financial Accounting and General Finance
Playing Experience: 4-year player at RFHS; 3-year member of the varsity team
Accomplishments as a Player: Member of two Sweet 16 teams (2001-02, 2003-04); All Conference and All Area team; participant in the Gazette-Telegraph All-Star Game
Why did you want to coach at RFHS? Growing up in Rock Falls, I watched the various teams and there success of which inspired me to not only become a member of the tradition but also to inspire future athletes.
What are your future goals in coaching? The goals are to team my athletes' integrity and determination as well as the value of hard work of which they can use throughout their lifetime. Also, I strive to be a successful coach now and for years to come.
Coach Matt Naftzger: Head Freshman Coach
High School: Morrison (Class of 2003)
College: Ashford University-Bachelor of Social Science Degree
Playing Experience: Played High School Baseball and Basketball at Morrison; Played Baseball at Ashford University
Coaching Experience: 3rd year (2nd at Rock Falls)
Why did you want to coach at RFHS? I wanted to be a part of the winning tradition that RFHS has.
What are your future goals in coaching? In the future, my goal is to be a varsity basketball or baseball coach
Coach Naftzger is in his 2nd year teaching Social Studies at RFHS. He is also an assistant baseball coach. He is ASEP (American Sport Education Program) and CPR certified and is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. His duties include planning and running all freshman practices. He also does the majority of scouting future varsity opponents. Coach Naftzger has put in countless hours working our Little Rockets and Runnin' Rockets Basketball Camps, assisting with fundraisers, supervising the weight room and open gyms and coaching our freshman basketball team in the summer time. He has been an invaluable asset to our program since joining the staff last season.
College: Ashford University-Bachelor of Social Science Degree
Playing Experience: Played High School Baseball and Basketball at Morrison; Played Baseball at Ashford University
Coaching Experience: 3rd year (2nd at Rock Falls)
Why did you want to coach at RFHS? I wanted to be a part of the winning tradition that RFHS has.
What are your future goals in coaching? In the future, my goal is to be a varsity basketball or baseball coach
Coach Naftzger is in his 2nd year teaching Social Studies at RFHS. He is also an assistant baseball coach. He is ASEP (American Sport Education Program) and CPR certified and is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. His duties include planning and running all freshman practices. He also does the majority of scouting future varsity opponents. Coach Naftzger has put in countless hours working our Little Rockets and Runnin' Rockets Basketball Camps, assisting with fundraisers, supervising the weight room and open gyms and coaching our freshman basketball team in the summer time. He has been an invaluable asset to our program since joining the staff last season.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
One Month To Go!
Ok so it's a little more than a month actually. The first day of practice is November 9th...but we're getting close! Team shoes have been ordered; we just hosted our coaches' clinic for our feeder schools, and pre-season conditioning begins next week! I'm excited about the summer and off-season we've had up to this point. We've made a lot of changes to our offense after last season and our players have really embraced it. We've also seen many of our players make tremendous gains in the weight room.
We've also had a lot of changes occur with the coaching staff. Coach Frank decided to retire so he could spend more time with his kid's teams. He will coach the 7th/8th graders at East Coloma this season. As a result, we picked up a very knowledgable coach in one of our feeder schools who will try to implement the new system we are implementing. Coach Northcutt has retired and recently unretired-he will be a volunteer assistant with the freshman and Coach Naftzger this season. A pair of Rock Falls Alum are set to take over our sophomores this season. Mike Menchaca will be assisted by Danny Rodriguez as they lead the sophomores in the 09-10 campaign. Coach Shore will return as a volunteer assistant with the varsity again this season. Joining him will be a former player of mine, Josh Pickens as the assistant varsity coach. Josh is graduating from Ashford U. this December where he played the past two seasons following two seasons at Rock Valley College. Josh was a starting guard on the 2005 Rockford Jefferson team that finished 4th in the state. I am very excited to work with this staff. We are very young as a staff, but I love the rapport these guys have built and will continue to build with the kids; not to mention their enthusiasm!
I will post a bio on each coach as the season approaches.
Our potential varsity players will be attending a Team Building Retreat on Saturday October 24th in Oregon, IL.
We've also had a lot of changes occur with the coaching staff. Coach Frank decided to retire so he could spend more time with his kid's teams. He will coach the 7th/8th graders at East Coloma this season. As a result, we picked up a very knowledgable coach in one of our feeder schools who will try to implement the new system we are implementing. Coach Northcutt has retired and recently unretired-he will be a volunteer assistant with the freshman and Coach Naftzger this season. A pair of Rock Falls Alum are set to take over our sophomores this season. Mike Menchaca will be assisted by Danny Rodriguez as they lead the sophomores in the 09-10 campaign. Coach Shore will return as a volunteer assistant with the varsity again this season. Joining him will be a former player of mine, Josh Pickens as the assistant varsity coach. Josh is graduating from Ashford U. this December where he played the past two seasons following two seasons at Rock Valley College. Josh was a starting guard on the 2005 Rockford Jefferson team that finished 4th in the state. I am very excited to work with this staff. We are very young as a staff, but I love the rapport these guys have built and will continue to build with the kids; not to mention their enthusiasm!
I will post a bio on each coach as the season approaches.
Our potential varsity players will be attending a Team Building Retreat on Saturday October 24th in Oregon, IL.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Welcome
To those of you following us on Twitter, welcome to our blog site. Twitter was just the beginning. Anytime a longer post is needed, I will simply post a link on Twitter to the new "blog" here.
For those of you following us on Twitter thank you for your support! I am determined to get our fan support back to a high level no matter what it takes! People have high expectations of Rock Falls Basketball and we have had two years in a row that were just slightly above average--not enough for most people around here--combined with no post season success.
As you can tell from my "tweets" I am excited about what I've seen this off-season. Will it be enough? Hard to say but things are heading in the right direction. How can you help? Spread the word about our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/rockfallsbb and the blog page here. I am going to try to tweet and blog a couple times a week about our program, motivational quotes and things that I just really like and believe in! We need all the positive support we can give our kids that work harder than you will probably ever fully know. Thanks Again!
For those of you following us on Twitter thank you for your support! I am determined to get our fan support back to a high level no matter what it takes! People have high expectations of Rock Falls Basketball and we have had two years in a row that were just slightly above average--not enough for most people around here--combined with no post season success.
As you can tell from my "tweets" I am excited about what I've seen this off-season. Will it be enough? Hard to say but things are heading in the right direction. How can you help? Spread the word about our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/rockfallsbb and the blog page here. I am going to try to tweet and blog a couple times a week about our program, motivational quotes and things that I just really like and believe in! We need all the positive support we can give our kids that work harder than you will probably ever fully know. Thanks Again!
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