Thought for the day 12/22

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. - Oscar Wilde

Thought for the day 12/18

Consistency is what counts; you have to be able to do things over and over again. - Hank Aaron

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas mood. We played two games this weekend and got two big wins. We don't have another game until January 8th, so we have a long break and we are looking forward to getting out and recruiting during this break. Coach Shelton has gone out to Los Angeles to spend a few days with the UCLA team and observe them. He coached with two of their assistants when he was at the University of Utah. He has really been looking forward to this trip for a while.

We plan on going to as many tournaments as possible and seeing as many kids as we can during this break.

Best of luck to everyone playing this week and we want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Lion Basketball Program.

Thought for the day 12/11

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. Galatians 6:4-5

Thought for the day 12/10

There will always be someone working harder than you. Find that guy, and make him your friend. Then work harder than he does.

Thought for the day 12/9

You set a goal to be the best and then you work hard every hour of every day, striving to reach that goal. If you allow yourself to settle for anything less than number one, you are cheating yourself. Don Shula, Former NFL Coach

Thought for the day 12/8

The leader's role is to guide the contribution of brilliance that lies waiting to be released from within us all. We are all yearning for infusion, not intrusion.

Thought for the day 12/2

Stop the mindless wishing that things would be different. Rather than wasting time and emotional and spiritual energy in explaining why we don't have what we want, we can start to pursue other ways to get it - Greg Anderson

This past weekend

Sorry it's been a few days since I've updated. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break and enjoyed the holiday with family.

We had two games this weekend and won them both. On Friday we played McKendree from Illinois and they were ranked #9 in the preseason poll. The game was back and forth and they missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with no time on the clock and we got the win 80-79. On Saturday we played William Carey from Mississippi and it was another close game that went back and forth. We won 73-71.

We start conference play this week with games at Trevecca and Cumberland. If you are in the area we would love to see you at the games.

Thought for the day 11/21

Good decisions are the result of experience. Experience is the result of bad decisions.

Thought for the day 11/20

If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad - Denis Waitley

Thought for the day 11/17

I think the most rewarding thing that can happen to a person is to find out God's purpose for him and go ahead and do it well...Baseball is what God gave me - it's my purpose in life. - Mike Schmidt, Former Major League Player

Thought for the day 11/12

Leave as little to chance as possible. Preparation is the key to success. - Paul Brown, Former NFL Coach

Opening weekend

After a couple of exhibition games against Division one teams, we finally got to play our first regular season game this past weekend. We played Friday and Saturday and won both games. Overall we played well and the players did exactly what the coaches asked them to do. The team we played on Saturday was a very good team and our guys did a great job of getting a stop when it was needed and then making a shot on the other end. We are very happy with the way everything turned out and now we must get ready for our games this week. We go to Brescia tomorrow and then we play Lee on Saturday at home. Best of luck to everyone out there as you are preparing to open your season as well.

Thought for the day 11/5

Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. — George Bernard Shaw

Thought for the day 11/4

Don't be afraid to fail. Experience is just mistakes you won't make anymore. - Joe Garagiola, former major league baseball player

First Exhibition Game

We had our first exhibition game yesterday at Northern Illinois. The head coach there was the coach at Colorado when Coach Shelton was there and it was a fun game for both of them. We played pretty well overall and everyone was happy with the effort even though we couldn't pull it out in the end.

We lead 40-36 at halftime and lost 84-72 in the end. We had some players get in foul trouble and had some other guys step up. Overall it was a great learning experience for our guys and hopefully it will give us confidence going into our season. It's always a confidence booster to know you can play with a Division 1 team and hold your own.

We play another exhibition at Lipscomb tomorrow night and everyone around here always looks forward to that game. They are having a big promotion and it should be an awesome atmosphere. I hope to see you out at the game.

Thought for the day 10/31

Have you ever had a day when you get up in the morning and something goes wrong and you say "Jiminy, it's going to be one of those days"? I bet you do that a lot; I've done it. But you know what I say now? "Well, it started out bad, but it's still going to be a graet day." You'd be amazed how doing that turns a bad day into a good day. - Gerry Faust, College Football Coach

Thought for the day 10/30

A mind once stretched has a difficult time going back to its original form. - Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays Manager

Showcase Recap

Sorry I haven't gotten this up before now but I wanted to post a brief recap of the showcase we had on Saturday.

It was a pretty busy day for all of us since we had a couple of recruits in to see campus and meet our team to start the day and then the showcase in the afternoon. Overall I think everything went really well after we dealt with getting started late due to some uncontrollable circumstances. I feel like the two guys we had in enjoyed their time here and we are looking forward to watching them play this season and also to hearing their decision when that time comes. But on to the showcase.

The turnout was about what we expected with around 80 players here. We had a kid come all the way from Knoxville because he said he wanted to see how he matched up with Memphis players. Memphis has a great reputation in the basketball world and although he is only a freshman, he wanted his chance to prove he belongs. There were some very good players here but some that we were expecting did not show up which was disappointing but the competition was still great.

I hope everyone had a fun time at the showcase and we look forward to doing another one next season.

Thought for the day 10/27

Leaders are people who don't compromise their values to gain approval, who live up to their own inner sense of things. And for this reason, leadership is often different than success.Success is culturally defined. When you give the culture what it expects, the culture will reward that. But a leader is someone who gives the culture what it needs, not what it expects.

Thought for the day 10/24

It is all the little things that make the big things possible.

The past couple of thoughts have been ones that we have given to our guys to make them think a little bit.

I can't believe that we play in a week, it seems like we just started practice a couple of weeks ago and now it's time to see if all the hard work we have put in is going to pay off.

I hope to see you at the Exposure Showcase tomorrow.

Thought for the day 10/23

The changes required to move to a higher level of performance are not quantitative but they are qualitative.

Thought for the day 10/22

The hardest part of success is that you have to keep on being successful. You can't just flash. We're being evaluated day by day, week by week, game by game, year after year. So you want to avoid the flash. You want to strive to establish a winning expectation and maintain it. - Jeff Fisher

Thought for the day 10/21

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. The key is discipline. Without it, there is no morale. - Tom Landry, former NFL Coach.

First Preseason Poll

The first preseason poll came out yesterday and it is from a publication that only covers NAIA athletics but is in no way affiliated with NAIA. We are starting to get some recognition and were ranked #20 in the poll. That puts some pressure on us to live up to expectations. We also have 2 other teams in our conference ranked in Union and Martin Methodist. Overall we have 10 games against teams ranked in the top 25 so we have a difficult schedule ahead of us but that is all part of the fun.

http://basketball.victorysportsnetwork.com/article.php?articleID=7949
1. Robert Morris (Ill.)
2. Georgetown (Ky.)
3. Lee (Tenn.)
4. California Baptist
5. Oklahoma City
6. Azusa Pacific (Calif)
7. Oklahoma Baptist
8. Texas Wesleyan
9. Cumberlands (Ky.)
10. McKendree (Ill)
11. Auburn Montgomery (Ala.)
12. Union University (Tenn.)
13. Mountain State (W.V.)
14. Campbellsville University (Ky.)
15. LSUS (La.)
16. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
17. Westminster (Utah)
18. Northwestern Oklahoma State
19. Xavier (La.)
20. Freed Hardeman (Tenn.)
21. Concordia (Calif.)
22. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
23. Lambuth (Tenn.)
24. Martin Methodist (Tenn.)
25. Illinois Springfield

Just a reminder about the October 25th showcase, we would love to have you at it so we could see you play and you could see campus. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thought for the day 10/16

When your hourglass runs out of sand, you can't turn it over and start again. Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth. - Kenny Chesney

Thought for the day 10/15

Yesterday is a cancelled check, tomorrow is a promissary note, today is the only cash you have so spend it wisely.

Thought for the day 10/14

Selfishness can be seen in many places, especially in a mirror.

Thought for the day 10/8

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. - Michael Jordan

Thought for the day 10/7

Opportunities sometimes go unrecognized because they are disguised as hard work.

Thought for the day 10/6

For every 100 that can handle failure there is but 1 who can handle success.

Thought for the day 10/3

Be honest and work hard to get what you want. Don't take shortcuts; you only cheat yourself in the long run. Success is not measured by money or fame, but by how you feel about your own goals and accomplishments and the time and effort you put into them. - Willie Stargell, former Major League Baseball Player

Thought for the day 10/2

You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. - Sam Rutigliano, Former NFL Coach

Thought for the day 10/1

Winning is not a sometime thing, it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do the right thing once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. - Vince Lombardi

Coaching Clinic

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Our team went up to Murfreesboro this past weekend to be demonstrators for the Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee Coaching Clinic. It was very interesting to see our guys working with different coaches and doing things differently than the way we do them. Some of the guys they got to work with were Dave Loos from Austin Peay, Seth Greenburg from Virginia Tech, Brian Gregory from University of Dayton, Kevin O'Neill from the Memphis Grizzlies, Kellie Jolly Harper from Western Carolina, Lenny Acuff from University of Alabama Huntsville, and Gary Van Atta from Trevecca Nazarene University. They all really enjoyed it and as soon as each session was over they would come to me or Coach Shelton and wanted to talk about how we could implement some of the things they had just done. It was a very neat experience and we have already volunteered for next year.

Talked with Andre Whitehead from TNprephoops.com and he said he already had some people signing up for the showcase. If you have not already signed up go to his website and preregister.

Best of luck this week and I hope to see you all soon.

Thought for the day 9/25

Joy in life comes from being part of something bigger than yourself.

You Can't Fake The Harvest

Basically this means that you must put in the work to see the results. It references a farmer's harvest and to actually have a harvest you must plant the crop and then tend to it to make it grow. We relate this to basketball by saying if you do not put in the work in the gym and weight room, you will not get the results on the court that you want. But you can relate this really to anything in life, because nothing is going to be given to you, you must do the work and then you can enjoy the benefits.

Thought for the day 9/22

A teammate is someone who can look right through you and still enjoy the view. - John Miller

I have gotten one response to the Harvest quote and it was correct. I am going to wait a couple of more days and see if anyone else wants to give it a shot before I explain it. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Thought for the day 9/19

John Wooden's Two sets of Threes

My father had what he called his "Two sets of threes." They were direct and Simple Rules aimed at how he felt we should conduct ourselves in life.

The first set was about honesty:
1. Never Lie
2. Never Cheat
3. Never Steal

It required no explanation. My brothers and I knew what it meant and that he expected us to abide by it.

The second set of threes was about dealing with adversity:
1. Don't Whine
2. Don't Complain
3. Don't Make Excuses

Some people today may think these are naive or kind of corny. But Think a moment about what they mean and who you become if you abide by them. That isn't naive. You don't become corny.

Dad's two sets of threes were a compass for me in trying to do the right thing and behaving in a prpoer manner.

Taken from the book: Wooden: A lifetime of Observation and reflections on and off the court. ( I highly recommend this book to everyone, not just basketball people)

Thought for the day 9/18

You can't fake the harvest.

This is one that we say to our guys all the time. If any of you think you know what it means let me know. If not I will explain it next week.

Thought for the day 9/17

You can play with all the intensity of a mad dog in a meat house but if you aren’t smart, sooner or later you’ll get a bullet between your eyes. - Don Meyer

I would like to ask everyone to keep Coach Meyer in your thoughts and prayers as he is recovering from a very serious car wreck.

First week of practice/TN Prep Hoops Showcase

We had a very good first week of practice even though it started out slow. The slow start is understandable since we do have 7 new players. The guys are really starting to catch on and working hard. Coach Shelton went to South Dakota this past weekend to spend some time with his former coach, Coach Meyer, who was in a very serious car wreck last Friday. So I ran my first full practice and was very nervous. It was just as ok practice but hopefully they will get better with time. I am not used to being the one who has to correct everything and watch everything. It was an interesting experience and one that I enjoyed and look forward to trying again in the future.

An exciting announcement is Andre Whitehead from TNprephoops.com is having a showcase for high school players to help them get exposure and get noticed by coaches. It is going to be October 25th and registration will start at 1:30 and stretching starting at 2:45ish. We would love to have all of you down for it and we feel that it will be a great event. This is the second annual event on our campus and we hope to improve it from last year.

Hope everyone is doing well and we hope to see you play soon.

Thought for the day 9/12

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34

Thought for the day 9/11

Knowing the thrill of an all out effort. - Not sure who said it originally but Coach Shelton uses it a lot.

Thought for the day 9/10

To the High School/College Graduate - Things You Did Not Learn in School
1. Life is not fair - get used to it.
2. The world won't care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. You will not make $40,000 a year right out of school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.
6. If you screw up, it is not your parents' fault so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way by paying your bills, cleaning your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are - so before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades. They will give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters, you don't get summers off, and very few employees are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
10. Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you will end up working for nerds.
12. Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. And ditto for purple hair and pierced body parts.
13. Living fast and dying young is romantic, only until you see one of your peers at room temperature.
14. Get up when you fall down.

First Practice

Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday, but I had to get more opinions on the first practice since I missed most of it. A friends mother passed away and Coach allowed me to stay in Nashville and spend some time with him and miss practice. I did make it back for the last 30 minutes and really liked what I saw. The team was very competitive in the drills I witnessed and seemed to be practicing really hard. Everyone I talked with said it was the typical first practice with the new guys trying to get the concepts down and Coach explaining everything in detail. Hopefully everyone will catch on quick and we can move pretty quickly. Coach Shelton and I went down to Memphis this past weekend and saw some very good players. We are excited about recruiting and hope to see you play soon.

Thought for the day 9/8

A person really doesn´t become whole, until he becomes a part of something that´s bigger than himself. - Jim Valvano

Mile Run/First Practice

Well we had our mile run test this morning. We always have the guys run a mile on the Friday before we start practice so we can see what kind of shape they are in. The quickest time was 4:40 and everyone finished in under 6 minutes except our big man who came in at 6:15 (which is good considering he is 6'9/260). Everyone seems excited that our first practice is on Sunday. We have a total of 18 players on the roster and with 12 returners we feel like we should be able to move pretty quickly with our concepts. It will take a little while for the new guys to pick everything up, but that is to be expected. Everyone on campus also seems excited for basketball to get started which is a very good feeling. I think we are starting to win over most of campus and it is great to have their support. The President of the University even spoke to the coaches this morning and told us he was looking forward to the season. Nice to know you have someone like that behind you. Well I hope all is well with everyone and I will try to post Monday morning on how our first practice was.

Thought for the day 9/4

The 4 steps of a mistake:
1. Recognize it
2. Admit it
3. Learn from it
4. Forget it

Thought for the day 9/3

Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. -Lou Holtz

Thought for the day 9/2

John Wooden's 7 point creed:
1. Be true to yourself
2. Help others
3. Make each day your masterpiece
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
5. Make friendship a fine art
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day
7. Pray for guidance and count and give thanks for your blessings every day

Workouts

We started our strength and conditioning program this week. Twice a week we are working out with a personal trainer to help our guys prepare for the upcoming season. Our trainer is a former NFL player who was with the Baltimore Ravens and also played in the Arena League. He puts us through a total body workout that leaves the guys exhausted. We had our first workout Monday and it was an eye opening experience for all of our new guys. We start practice September 7th and are very excited about the upcoming season. We return almost all of our contributors from last season and added a couple of guys who we feel will help us. We were 20-11 last year and hope to build on that and turn it into a National Tournament appearance this season. Best of luck to everyone as you are starting school. I will not update this for a couple of days since I am getting my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow but will try to get some more information up next week. Have a good Labor Day Weekend.

Thought for the day 8/28

Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. -Fred Shero, NHL Coach

Thought for the day 8/27

You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good. - Jerry West

Welcome

Welcome to the FHU Lion's Basketball Blog. I plan to update once a week on the happenings of the program. I hope to use this in addition to the official webpage at http://www.gofhulions.com/sport/0/2.php to keep everyone informed. Please comment to let me know who all is out there reading about our team. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from everyone.