Hello all,

Below, please see important Seaforth men’s basketball weekly update (Sun, 7/28).

Cheers,
Coach Berry

Quote: “The commitment needed for success is vicious. Not everyone can go the distance.”

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Open-gym Schedule:

This week, there will be 2 open-gyms:

  • Mon, 7/29 from 4:00pm – 5:30pm
  • Tue, 7/30 from 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Let's get that work in! No excuses!


Rule of 100:

The Rule of 100 states that if you spend 100 hours/year (18 minutes/day) working any discipline, you’ll be better than 95% of your peers.

Consistency makes the difference.

Set yourself up for success by incorporating the Rule of 100!

By doing so, you’ll always be at the top of the list!

Footnote: During upcoming dead period (Wed, 7/31 - Tue, 8/20), what are you going to do on your own?! The great ones relentlessly work!


Basketball Approach & Philosophy:

Good offenses attack the defense’s weakness. Some team defense weaknesses could be as follows:

  • Bad individual defenders
  • Bad team defense (1st, 2nd & 3rd levels)
  • Sub-par making defensive adjustments

Good defenses take away an offense’s strength. Some team offense strengths could be as follows:

  • Great individual player
  • Fundamentally-sound offensive sets
  • Great offensive rebounding

On my basketball teams, defense starts with offensive competency.  Competencies such as breaking the press and not turning the ball over (giving up easy, runout layups).

By doing this, every team we play will have to deal with our half-court defense, which historically, has been our strength.

We want to smother teams with our half-court defense, run a “controlled” press on made shots (or dead balls), get easy buckets (when possible) and run a fundamentally-sound offense (making the opposing defense work).

This is what I call winning and successful basketball!


My Feelings Were Hurt:

Once upon a time in my coaching career, I averaged 1 - 2 technical fouls per year. This is when the referee deems your behavior so inappropriate that s/he awards 2 free throws to the other team (plus possession of basketball).

One game stands out. We were playing Emerson Waldorf in Hillsborough, NC. During the game, I felt the other team was getting away with being overly physical with one of my players.

I chided the referee several times. After the same thing happened four times, as the referee ran past our bench, I aggressively smacked my hands together, and screamed (as loud as I could) “CALL THE FOUL!!!”

The referee immediately hit me with a technical foul, and I was forced to sit for the remainder of game. If I received another, I would get kicked out of game (and gym)!

Long story short, we won the game. We were all feeling good. As we were leaving the gym, a parent said to me “Coach Berry, you’re not setting a very good example for the players. You’re supposed to be a role model, and the referee reprimanded you for being out of control!”

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! My feelings were hurt! The last thing I want to do is be a negative influence on our players!

Guess what, the parent was right! My behavior was unacceptable! From that point on, since 2010, I only received one (1) technical foul. I vowed to everyone (players, parents and school) I will do everything I can to minimize this!

I disclose this story to highlight my mistake(s). If I screw up, I’ll apologize. There's strength in acknowledging your faults, and always lessons to be learned.

It’s more than basketball, it’s life!

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Seaforth’s Basketball Calendar (click here)

Any student athlete (or parent), who would like to get notification texts, have them fill out form on website below:

https://www.SeaforthBasketball.com