Graceketball

Maggie Dixon Classic was fun. The games were both pretty good through the first three quarters. Madison Square Garden sold me obstructed view seats and then moved us to crummy seats when I called them on it. Ordered the tix in the first minutes they went on sale during presale, we were supposed to be third row. Not nice. Very, very deceptive. Madison Square Garden is shady. The whole place is now set up for corporate/sky boxes and there aren't many good seats at all. We probably will not be going back next year unless there is a very good reason to do so. Too bad, this is the third year we have gone and it's been fun up until now. It was nice to see Pat Summitt get the Maggie Dixon Courage Award, she deserves it. It was also great fun to see Brittney Griner again. She played well scoring 17 blocking 6 and pulling down 13. St John's gave Baylor a hard time for much of the game. We've seen St John's 4 times already this season and this is the best they have play...

Hard to believe GraceAnne is finally playing High School ball. Seems like it's been a long time coming even though I have to keep reminding myself she's only 12 and in 7th grade. So far so good. Corinne Turner, as it turns out, is a VERY good coach. Clearly she knows basketball but that's not all there is to it. Only 3 games in and three wins so how do I know she's so good? The kids are going bananas in every practice and every game... they have bought in . That's the hardest part. Knowing plays or anticipating what your teammates are doing is one thing, that will come, diving for loose balls, banging under the boards and getting back on defense? They're already there. The effort is there. Every kid on that team feels invested in the team, the coach, each-other and the outcome... the eventual success or failure of their endeavors. You can see it. Pretty cool to see something come together so quickly. They beat Friends Academy on Monday. They play Cold ...

GraceAnne played her very first game of High School basketball this past Saturday. She did very well and the team won in a come from behind thriller. They started off very slowly but ground out the win taking the lead for good in the fourth quarter. The four 7th graders are the heart of the team but that's not to say the rest aren't contributing in a big way. Interesting thing is this team can only get better. Many of these girls have not played real basketball before and non of them have had a coach that played DI ball. From Sewanhaka High School we went straight to West Hempstead Middle School to play the same St Thomas team the Storm CYO team beat last weekend. This time the Storm took an early lead and were up by as much as 14 before panicking late in the fourth yet again against a weak press and half court trap. They held on to win by 4. Sunday it was out to St Agnes in Rockville Center to meet a team we have not seen before. This was an absolutely crazy game. Crazy ...

A workout at St John's, a Glen Cove Jr Varsity scrimmage, a clinic at St Dominic's and another Storm victory were a few of the basketball related activities over the long Thanksgiving weekend. I'm thankful Thanksgiving is over until next year. On Wednesday Grace worked with Laura Barry at St John's. She went over a variety of offensive moves as well as shooting. Lots of change of speeds, exploding out of crossovers, inside out dribbles a few ball fake to step through low post moves. Lots of NCAA action over the weekend. Hofstra went to Cancun and won two games, St John's went to the Bahamas and lost two games, Princeton stayed home and won two games... we stayed home and ate turkey. Saturday morning bright and early GraceAnne and her JV teammates boarded the bus at Glen Cove High School and headed to Wheatley for a scrimmage. The girls played extremely well! I think they "won" 3 out of 4 quarters. Coach Corinne Turner played the four 7th graders to...

GraceAnne and I went to see LuHi scrimmage Christ The King on Saturday afternoon right after her first official JV practice. It was great and we got to see some really talented kids, especially all the underclassmen. Some very impressive players including Sierra Calhoun who is definitely for real. The speed at which they play is the most obvious difference as far as "next level". GraceAnne's Hudson Storm team won their second game of the season on Sunday in what was a very hard fought victory. I had the privilege of coaching and I really do mean privilege, this is an extremely nice bunch of girls that have worked very, very hard. I was relieved to get the victory because I felt like it was a team we should beat and I didn't want to let the girls down. Sunday's game also marked the end of an era. Our longtime point guard, and GraceAnne's good friend, Grace Stone has moved on to greener pastures. Stone signed on to be team manager for the Long Island Luthera...

Nice! Went to see St John's v Hofstra on Friday at the Mack center. Grace brought her friend Aniya who doesn't follow basketball. I wasn't sure she would have fun but it turned out to be a fantastic game! I found myself cheering for both teams alternately but really pulling for individual players more than anything else. Nadira McKenith is an amazing player and fun to watch. She has a heavy load to carry with Da'shena Stevens out hurt but she has really picked up her scoring in the two games since we last saw the Red Storm against St Bonaventure. Friday night it wasn't enough but I would take her at the point any day. Shante Evans had an amazing game for Hofstra with 27 points and 14 rebounds. She seemed to somehow come away with every rebound when it really mattered and dominated the offensive glass. Jen "Big Love" Blanding couldn't counter her because when she entered the game Marie Malone came onfor Hofstra and kept her busy. It seemed lik...

Things are beginning to heat up... even though they never do seem to cool down too much. GraceAnne has qualified to play varsity basketball through selective classification. Yay Grace! She should be very proud, she worked extremely hard. Tryouts for JV and Varsity begin today at Glen Cove High School. Hopefully she will be confident in her skills and do very well. We're looking forward to her playing Junior Varsity along with several of her long time teammates for Coach Corinne Turner! CYO St Hyacinth Storm won their first game this past weekend against St Aiden. The girls played well with the new teammates playing confidently and coming into their own. Grace and I went to see the St John's home opener against St Bonaventure. The Red Storm lost the lead for the first time late in the second half in a game where it seemed like they just couldn't get the separation they needed. They were obviously the better team but if you don't play like it sometimes it doesn...

One of the things all ballers should work on is their screening. GraceAnne should know and be comfortable with setting most of her screens (she knows away screens, down screens and ball screens). But, unfortunately she isn't encouraged to use them in the offense that her team runs. When the girls do set screens the ball handler usually runs off the wrong side, doesn't set up the defender, leaves before the screen is set or simply doesn't use the screen at all. Lots of timing and footwork combined with proper balance and positioning for the screener. Coming off the screen correctly is every bit if not more important than the screen itself. It's a BEAUTIFUL dance when it works! Along with good ball movement and help defense good screening is one of the true measures of good teammates and proper team basketball . Nothing as selfless and as satisfying as setting a GREAT screen! Below is an example of Tiffany Hayes coming off a Kailie McLaren screen using the correct t...

Marc, Nicole Capurso, GraceAnne, Amara, Marie Malone

Grace has practice this evening and then her last Game7 workout with Nicole Capurso. Next CYO game 11/13. Dropped their first three, YIKES! The first two were battles in which the team played extremely well and went right down to the wire. The last game was against an inferior team but the offense just couldn't seem to get on track.... that and 31 turnovers.... yes, I said 31 turnovers against a mediocre press. Grace has been playing extremely well but needs to score. At some point she's going to have to develop a scorers mentality, she has all the tools. Can't wait for the college season to start! Not a huge NBA fan but this lockout is a bummer. Princeton 2012 Recruiting Class Princeton 2011-12 Preview Toulouse Metropole Basket (Carrem's French Team) Carrem Gay Highlight Tape Ramat Hasharon (Ketia Swanier in Israel) St John's Picked #25 Hofstra Freshman PG Hofstra's Shante Evans Pan Am Games ...

Great Boot Camp on 10/23. GraceAnne was pretty beat and had difficulty getting through it but they must have run 20 or more different drills. Everything from ball-handling to shooting and even some low post moves. In addition Jason Fraser was there and both he and Marc had quite a few words of inspiration and motivation for the kids. Grace still has not taken the second part of her test for selective classification. She did very well on the first part but her teachers won't let her miss any class to take the second part. She did get all the paperwork she needs to fill out yesterday, physical and doctor's reports, so maybe that's a good sign? Two games this upcoming weekend.

From today's NY Post; "Former Mary Louis star Amanda (Buzz) Burakoski signed her release form with St. John’s University on Wednesday and will transfer from the Big East school, The Post has learned." Buzz was super nice to GraceAnne at the camps over the summer and I could tell all of the kids really liked her. The fact that she is transferring is interesting because it shows where basketball can take you... and the different paths and options that become available to you from the hard work you put in. Buzz seems to have made a great choice to pursue academics and to get her degree in a field that she seems really good at. "Burakoski, who is still under scholarship at St. John’s until May, said she is considering Division II schools where she can come in and play right away. The 6-foot dead-eye shooter from Brooklyn said she never adjusted to the high-Division I lifestyle. “I want to go somewhere where I don’t have to live, eat and breathe basketball,” Bura...

Don't like to lose but the girls got better in a loss yesterday. Grace had a breakout game defensively, blocking shots, ripping rebounds, generally getting in opponents faces. Offensively she took it to the basket and drew fouls or dished just about every time she did. Rough game, a grind, many fouls called but Woody stayed out of foul trouble the whole way and played big minutes. Third quarter comeback from being down 11 to get within 4, couldn't hold the momentum. Lots of defensive lapses. Fun game to watch against a team with good ball movement and active help defense. That's why we play up!

A future in broadcasting? Was just checking out Hofstra's really impressive non-league schedule for this season and stumbled upon this picture of Nicole giving an interview on the Hofstra site. Looks like she should be doing play by play! Both Hofstra and St John's are kicking off their season tonight with a pep-rally. Yep, it's time for midnight madness and the beginning of the college basketball season with official practices starting tonight at 5:00. Games begin Nov. 7th. Hofstra should have a good team this year and it's definitely reflected in their non-league schedule. They will start away against Gonzaga and then play Hartford, Kansas State and two of our favorites St John's and Princeton. They may also play Emma O'Conner and the Marist Red Foxes in the  Holiday Invitational which Hofstra hosts in December.  All these teams danced last season. GraceAnne knows lots of players on St John's, Princeton and now Hofstra too... her allegiances will ...

Lots of basketball for GraceAnne over the long Columbus Day weekend. Friday night started with an open gym at GCHS for her CYO St Hyacinth Storm team. The newly minted Storm was preparing for a preseason tournament to help them get ready for their first season with a couple of new girls on the team. Surprised by how many did not know the offense but they got it together after an hour or so. Marie shooting over Maya Moore From Glen Cove we went directly to St Mark's in Rockville Center for an excellent Boot Camp with Nicole Capurso and some of her Hofstra teammates. Very nicely run with the girls split up based on age and ability. Three stations were set up with a starting Hofstra player manning each one. Marie Malone showed the girls post moves and footwork. Drop steps, inside pivots, step through moves... the progression reminded me of all the time Grace spent learning the very same moves from Brittany Hunter. With only four girls at the station everyone got plenty of reps...

GraceAnne is attending open gym with Glen Cove Girl's Varsity Basketball on Wednesday nights.  First one was this past Wednesday. Coach Gus Sirakis will be working with the girls, super nice guy. She also just got notification and permission slips for Selective Classification so she should be tested in the next week or so. Hopefully she does well, she's been working very hard towards it. Tonight GraceAnne has an open gym with her CYO Storm team. They need to prepare for a tournament this weekend. Should be interesting to see how they do playing up in 8th grade A division CYO. Grace has played up before in both super-league and AAU so it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment but... this is a different team and some of the girls haven't seen this level of play. Later tonight she will be attending a Game7 training session with Nicole Capurso. Really like Nicole.  Nice person and great trainer, has a good feel for what the girls need and how to get 'em where they ...

Oct. 4, 2011 NEW YORK - MSG Sports and the Dixon family announced today that top national teams University of Tennessee, Baylor University and DePaul University, along with local favorite St. John's University, will play in the annual Maggie Dixon Classic on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 at Madison Square Garden. The national matchups will mark the sixth anniversary of the Maggie Dixon Classic and the fifth-consecutive season The Garden will host one of the premier women's college basketball events. Tickets for the Maggie Dixon Classic start at $20 and go on sale Friday, Oct. 7 at noon. They can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, all Ticketmaster locations and online at www.thegarden.com. The Dixon family and Madison Square Garden will honor Lady Vols' head coach Pat Summitt with the Maggie Dixon Courage Award. Summitt recently announced that she was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Distributed annually, the award is presented to an indiv...

Dribble for the Cure at St John's was a fantastic event! It was fun seeing all of the players as well as Kim and Megan. Great day, great cause... definitely do it again next year and hopefully get a bunch more teammates to participate. GraceAnne ended up raising close to $300 for pediatric cancer research and had a blast doing it. Game7 Fall Boot Camp started yesterday. Great seeing Grace back in the gym at St Mark's! Afterward she said she needed to work on her handle, felt like her right hand was stronger than her left. Looked like she was killin' it to me. Made me really happy to hear her giving a self assessment and deciding what she needed to work on. She's growing up! She and her friend Amara continue to train to get ready for selective classification. They're definitely getting stronger.

GraceAnne will be participating in Dribble For The Cure tomorrow at St John's University. This is an event that helps raise money to fight pediatric cancer. Both the St John's women's and men's basketball teams will be there and it should be a fun day! Follow This Link "Did you know that one in 300 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20? Did you know that each year cancer kills more children and adolescents than any other disease? Did you know that you can make a difference? I've decided to do something about pediatric cancer and I'd like to invite you to help. The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is holding its innaugural "Dribble for the Cure" on Saturday, September 24th at St. John's University. The money raised will fund research that explores causes, treatments and cures for pediatric cancer. PCRF works very hard to ensure that over 80% of all funds raised go directly to research. If you canno...

Moose, Amara, Woody, Stone and Brady

2008 STORM! They been growing... CYO St Hyacinth Storm basketball begins practice this coming week. GraceAnne has had a lot of fun playing CYO ball the last few years and the team has done very well. Sounds like we will be a bit short handed this year but that should give everyone lots of playing time. Playing up in the 8th grade dvision so that should be challenging! So... GraceAnne's Game7 summer league team finished up their season by losing in the first round of the playoffs to a Unique All-Stars team they beat twice during the regular season. All-Stars went on to win the Championship. Seemed like the other teams continued to improve during the season and peaked during the playoffs. Grace's team had no practices throughout the summer which is definitely a trade-off. I think the last practice was prior to the final AAU tournament in June. The girls did extremely well considering they basically improvised. At times they really did play some absolutely spectacular ball...

Corinne Turner has been named Glen Cove JV Coach. Should be very interesting! We welcome Corinne and plan on giving her all of our support. We have very high hopes for both Corinne and the future of Glen Cove Girl's Basketball! High School Member of perennial high school power Christ the King ... Four-year varsity letterwinner ... Ranked 33rd among the 2003 senior class by Blue Star Basketball ... Helped lead Christ the King to three Queen Diocese titles, three city crowns and three state championships ... Also helped the squad to a No. 1 national ranking and the NIKE Tournament of Champions title as a senior ... Averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds for the Lady Royals ... Selected as a McDonald's All-America Team finalist ... Member of the Liberty Belles AAU team.   Corrine was a 2003 recruit and played Div I ball for The George Washington Colonials. Sophomore Year (2004-05) Played in 29 games ... Averaged 2.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game ... Also record...

GraceAnne, Grace Stone, Grace Brady and Amara will be attending the Rockville Centre Game 7 Girl's basketball camp this week. Stone, Woody and Jenna Brown did the same camp last year and had a fantastic time! This year Marc Von Essen has put together a pretty amazing line-up of talented and experienced players to train and coach the girls camp. It's always great for aspiring players to learn from young women who are hard working, accomplished and have been successful. Carrem Gay played for Bob Mackey at Christ The King in Middle Village Queens with Lorin Dixon, Nakeja Kelly, Tina Charles,  and Sky Lindsay where she won the 2005 New York State Class AA Federation Championship averaging 18.1 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.3 blocks and 4.7 assists in her senior season.  She was selected New York State Miss Basketball as well as a McDonald's All American and is also a member of the National Honor Society. Carrem went on to play four years and receive two degrees at ...