Graceketball

GraceAnne's AAU team played a tournament at Seton Hall University this past weekend. It was the Hoop Group Spring Jam Fest and in spite of taking our lumps we had a great time, played some of the best competition we've seen and the team definitely got better through their efforts. It also seems like Grace is getting back to her normal self. She played well in all four games but didn't score much in the first three. She did make aggressive moves to the hoop, drew fouls and converted her free-throws. She also played fantastic defense and got back into her rebounding and shot-blocking groove. In the third game, the first three were on what was a lo-ong Saturday, she started to put the ball on the floor and caused a lot of problems by doing so. Most teams don't expect a big to be able to handle, bring the ball to the front court, draw defense and dish. It wasn't until the fourth game that she started to score as well, she dropped eight which is a nice start to getti...

Last night GraceAnne attended a skills clinic given by St John's Women's Basketball. It was a fun thing to do and she had a good time participating. She was happy that everyone remembered her from camp! Coach Arico talked to Grace for a bit. Got a chance to chat with Coach Megan Duffy afterwards for a while too. Very nice people and great coaches. Looking forward to St John's camp in early August!

Great Boot Camp this week! Stone, Amara and Woody work hard to get better and Marc, Brian and Jason show them how to get there. Good opportunity to work on skills.

GraceAnne had a busy weekend of basketball with four games at the Metropolitan AAU Regional Tournament in Hauppauge but... she couldn't miss the first day of Game 7 Spring Boot Camp! Working with Marc Von Essen and the Game 7 trainers has become kind of a reprieve from the pressure of team basketball for GraceAnne. She has only herself to rely upon and can work on her individual skills and game without all the craziness. This is where she goes to get better. Nicole Capurso was helping out at the spring boot camp. GREAT player! "Named to All-Colonial Athletic Association Academic second team...Received CAA Commissioners Academic Award...Played in all 34 games, making nine starts...Averaged 9.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game...Ranked third on the team in scoring...Had a team-high 58 three-pointers...Ranked eighth in the CAA in three-pointers made per game (1.7)...Tied a career-best with 23 points and five three-pointers against Providence." Gr...

"I want to thank my mom. When I'm having a hard time, I think about her having to wake me up and go to work and just making sure I'm all right," "My mom, she always told me just because you can shoot a basketball better than someone else, I shouldn't think I'm better than them," Humble guy and very thoughtful. Reminds me of another quote by a guy at the end of a long career rather than the beginning, Jamie Moyer before becoming the oldest pitcher to start a world series game; "What you end up remembering is the human relationships. I mean, you'll get money, you'll spend it, but it ends up being about the people you meet and the games you play and the life experiences you have. That's just how it works." Tha-at's what it's all about! So many players feeling entitled, not giving credit or being thankful and humble, talking and thinking about only themselves... Been a long time, it was very refreshing to hear D-Rose s...

Had a very nice weekend participating in the Philadelphia Freedom Stars tournament last weekend. GraceAnne got to spend some time with family outside Philly and played against two very competitive teams in an excellent facility. In pool play GraceAnne's Game7 team won the first game against a good Buck's county team and then lost to the host Freedom Stars. That was enough to get into the semi finals against the same Buck's county team but this time Game7 lost. I really feel like her AAU team needs to be practicing more than once a week. This could be an exceptional team but they sometimes do some strange things on the court. The effort is always there but the execution seems to be lacking at times... missed layups, poor shot selection, failure to move the ball and get ALL teammates involved. The defense is pretty incredible and has come a very long way so if their offense does come around they will be extremely hard to stop. Practice tonight and then the Metro Regional To...