Useful Past
The morning came quick, when doesn't it? Once again I had class at 9am and once again I found myself trying to stay interested. Immediately after class, I went to the gym to work on my shooting mechanics----form shooting, footwork into shot, and jumpshot balance. I was about 20 minutes in when my teammate John Williams came to me and asked if we could work on some things? This always sparks my interest because I love working with people who want to get better just as I do. So, we began working on simple pick and rolls. John is an extreme athlete and will be a great player once he learns to use that athleticism intelligently. What better way than practice right?? We worked strictly on pick and roll scenarios---rolling, popping, slipping, lobbing, rescreening. I was very thankful that he asked me to work with him because whether he knew it or not it was helping me just as much as it was him. ---- reading the screener, passing, footwork, decision making. All things that can never be perfect. Unfortunately, I had to bounce out of the gym after 45 minutes of that because i had an eye doctor appointment that I had to make in order to get my new contacts and see. After that, I went home and had a good lunch and rested up for a little while before going back to the gym in the late pm to continue my conditioning sessions.
My freshman and sophomore years of college I spent at Middle Tennessee State University. When I transferred from there and somebody asked me what was my worst memory of Murfreesboro---my answer was always "the LADDER"----Those of you who don't know, it is a conditioning exercise from baseline to baseline going from 1 touch, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 9, 7,5,3,1. In other words it is brutal. I remember my freshmen year we went all the way to 13 and back down----that means a 13, two sets of 11 and two sets of 9 then all the way back down again......CRAZY. After a good warm up I ran the ladder to 11 and back down. Although it was extremely difficult, it is a little bit funny when I think about what coach Kermit Davis (MTSU) would think if he walked in the gym and saw me running the ladder by myself.!!! He might think I have gone mad. With that said, when people ask me "don't you feel like you wasted your time at MTSU?" My answer is not at all, not only did I meet some of my friends there and gain invaluable experience, but I also took a select amount of the coaching staffs intelligence and ideas with me---which I'm sure I will touch on throughout the season. I finished the night up with 100 free throws switching goals after every 10......the result : 97 makes.
