Shake True Blog

• An interesting interview with Andrew Miller of the Philadelphia 76ers. Be sure to check about 3/4 of the way down when he drops a gem about playing basketball the “right way.” Check it out.

• Paul Shirley has been writing a blog for ESPN for a while now. He’s up to 57 entries. If you don’t know who he is, Paul spent a season with the Phoenix Suns and a few other NBA teams. He’s played in Pro leagues in Spain and Russia and has a lot of insight into things on and off the court. He also wrote a popular book titled Can I Keep My Jersey. Check out his ESPN Blog here.

• If you’re interested in trying out for a D-League team, it only costs $150. Show up at Humber on October 5th & 6th. More information here.

• Ex-D-League North Dakota Wizard and current French Pro-A League Player (with SLUC Nancy) Rod Benson has his own blog titled “Too Much Rod Benson” however, he contributes to the Ball Don’t Lie Blog on the Yahoo! Sports Network. Anyways, he’s pretty hilarious. You should definitely check out his life as a D-Leaguer and as a pro player in France. Too Much Rod Benson & Ball Don’t Lie.

• Bill Simmons, who is my favourite sports writer (actually, he’s so good that I even read his baseball and football articles and still find myself enjoying them even though I take no interest in either sport), recently wrote an article for ESPN The Mag about the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal game between USA and Spain and makes a case for it being one of the 10 best basketball games ever. Check it out.

• Big Shaq working out some dance moves with his kids. You’ve got to appreciate the amount of fun this guy seems to have all the time.

Keepin it cool with Shake and a book in the shade.

Well, summer camp at Shake True Hoops has been over for a while now, but believe me the learning continues…

If there is one thing that I really need to say about STH summer camp ‘08, it’s that I learned just as much, if not more, than the campers did.  Going through the drills with the campers over and over has honestly done wonders for my game (just ask Joe about the “YES!  YOU HAVE VALUE!” incident for a good gauge of how far I have come).  That said, my learning and development went far beyond the painted lines and rules of the game.  I got to watch the positive development of so many young people, and I take great comfort and pride in knowing that I had a hand in it.  So, I would like to thank all the campers for sharing pieces of their personalities and lives with me!

That said, there are several people specifically that I would like to talk about, but it’s going to take a while.  I’ll start here with a few…

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Belmont Bruin Jon House pontificating on the importance of hitting the books:

Anti Wesley-James sharing a little insight:

While never having gone through the Shake True Hoops program myself, I recognized the value of the information Shaker had to offer while playing for my high school team. He was invited to one of our practices as a “guest coach” and ran us through a few defensive drills. Not only was the information he conveyed important, but what struck me was that he made a point of explaining why we needed to know what he was telling us. Until that point in my life, many people had taught me many things, but no one had taken the extra step to tell me why what they were telling me was important. Its one thing to pass on information, but to emphasize the value of the information, letting someone know why you are telling them what you are telling them, was an illuminating concept for me at the time.

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This summer has been an interesting one for me. As I moved to new a city and began down the path towards my teaching career, I spent a lot of time thinking of the things that I can do to prepare to become the best teacher I can be. Looking back I can say unequivocally that experiences with Shake True Hoops have not only made me a better basketball player and coach, but have been important in shaping the approaches I take with students within my classroom. The opportunity to work with such a diverse group of kids was certainly an enjoyable experience for me.

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