11/20/2009

I’m sorry for the late blog.  But I know everyone can agree it’s been a crazy semester. So much work and somehow we have to keep up with our jobs and still maintain a healthy social life.  I am also sorry for my picture.  I’m going to try to talk to Dennis about that.  So everyone keep me in your prayer and hopefully the next time you see me in a picture it’ll look less…um yea it’ll just look less lol.

The End of the Exhibition Season

We ended our exhibition season with a loss to Miami L.  It’s okay though because we learned a lot from this game.  We learned we are fully capable of beating a team like Miami, but before we can do that we need to fine tune some things.  Our loss came with a defensive downfall.  Yea shots weren’t falling but if we would have cut down turnovers and second chance shots we would have been right there in the game.  As a result, we made turnovers a point of focus in practice (individually and as a team).   Defense has definitely gotten better as we continue to talk and listen.  A very hard thing to do is to stay disciplined and stay focused on things you need to improve on individually in order to get better collectively.  We have to see our forward progression and our success and then know that we can strive for it and achieve what we set out to do.  I see all of us trying to work on our shortcomings and i know that we will slowly diminish them.  I expect to start off the season very well.  Although we do still need a lot of work I believe our growing process is at a nice steady pace. We kick off our regular season at Nova on the Nov 20th and 21st.  I hope to see a lot you there.  

“Hope is not good enough.  We have to believe it and see it.  If we believe it and see it we will achieve it.”  

11/09/2009

Hi all!  Thanks for joining me again.  I just like to start off by saying thank you to everyone who came out and supported us on Thursday (against Broward College) and those who came out and supported us on Monday (against Miami Dade).  It was good to see all of you in the stands.  We all really appreciate the support.  
Exhibition Season
 We have played two exhibition games since I last talked to you.  I am glad to report that so far we are…..2-0.  Yessssssssssssssss! 
I believe that we are gaining strength with each day that passes.  Our game against Broward was a very defining game in my eyes.  It showed that we are a well rounded offensive team.  We can score in the paint as well as beyond the arc.  Not to mention that contributions are coming from every direction (I mean heck Shanna almost dunked on somebody).  Our defense is coming together as well.  Practice is a constant struggle (which is good).  Sometimes it is very very difficult to score against one another.  We stop each other’s penetration, we close out on shots well (oh I will box you out one day Anika… I will box you out), and we are beginning to help each other on defense too.  Practice is a constant challenge mentally and physically but we rarely lose sight of our goals and we constantly learn from mistakes and lapses in judgment.  Also, coach is right there to put us back in line if we start to get too far off track.  We use practice to learn plays and defense from coach.  However, we are also using practice to learn from each other.  Not only are we learning how each other plays but we are learning how to play as a single unit.  We are becoming a single force by communicating our ideas and our understandings with one another.   It doesn’t stop at practice either.  In our game against Miami Dade, the first half seemed to be difficult for us defensively.  It seemed as though we kept giving up offensive rebounds.  Nevertheless, we stayed persistent and we constantly talked amongst each other about the goals that we needed to accomplish in order to stop Miami Dade from scoring and then begin to pull away from them.  We had to hold each other accountable and continuously verbalize our strategies with one another.  Before you know it second half came and we limited there second chance shots dramatically and ultimately pulled away from them and created a deficit they would never come back from.  That’s teamwork at its finest right there lol.  Yea but what I was trying to say earlier is the fierce competition in practice makes game days a lot easier (and it helps when the opponent doesn’t know you plays).  It also helps that we do not doubt each other or ourselves.  We keep the necessary confidence and drive needed to breed success.
When you light a candle or turn on a light you don’t try to hide it. If you do hide it you will not be able to see anything.  So, you put the light on a table out in the open so that when you or others come in the light will be seen.   In your physical body the eye is the lamp.  Therefore, when you focus your eyes the light your whole body (your heart, mind, thought process, and your physical actions) will be filled with light. If your eyes are focused on darkness (the light is not there) then your whole body will be filled with darkness.   Therefore you should focus your eyes on the light so that you can become a living picture (you’ll walk like it, talk like it, and act like it) of that light.  Not only will you be the light in which you have focused on but people will see that light in you.
(I’m using light as a metaphor meaning that which is of God including: good, positive, kind, humble, persistent will to learn etc.  Darkness is a metaphor for that which is negative (evil) which includes: bad attitude, lazy, spiteful, resistant to good, etc.)
God Bless

P.S. Don’t worry these blogs will get shorter.  I just feel like I have to introduce you to so much right now.

10/30/2009

As I’m sitting here whistling a sweet melody to myself I realize that we’re (me and you (the readers)) will be spending some time with each other.  So, allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Mariesa Greene and I am a member of the Barry University Women’s Basketball Program.   I am 1 of 6 returners and 1 of 3 seniors.  We have 8 new comers to the team.  Now I know what you’re thinking….actually I don’t know what you’re thinking but what I do know is that within our team lies a tremendous amount of talent and potential.  I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but right here with this group of girls.  I believe God placed all of us here for a reason and I’m so glad to be surrounded with such an amazing group (um… coaches includedJ).  Now that all that mushy stuff is out of the way let’s get started with my first but far from last blog entry.

The Beginning:

We have just made it through a very rigorous pre-season that consisted of weights, individuals, and pick-up games.  Pre-season has made us physically and mentally strong.  It has taught us a little about ourselves and about each other (yea apparently Kisa is a rapper and Mariah Carey ain’t got nothin’ on Yvonne).  Anyway, with weights, individuals, and pick-up games all on our plate we have been forced to come to grips with, not only, our strengths but our weakness as well.  These strengths and weaknesses have not only been revealed to us on a personal level but within us as a team.   Being faced with this has brought us closer.   We realize that in order to grow (in these strengths and weaknesses) we have to stick together.  We have to communicate.  We have to all unite on a common goal and focus our talents and our intelligence and become one.  We are all pieces to a puzzle…and this team possesses all its pieces:  speed, strength, court vision, leadership, heart, willingness to learn/get better, focus, friendship, discipline, respect, patience, humbleness…the list goes on and on.  We are the same size and no piece is bigger than the other.  The only difference is that we’re shaped differently.  In other words, we possess a different structure we all give our own unique qualities.  And when we fit each piece within the other and build upon each other and stand interlocked, side-by-side with one another we become the masterpiece that God has created us to be.  We have only had 11 official practices and I already see it forming quickly.

A little too deep for the first blog entry lol???  Perhaps.  But I am off to go get ready for our game tonight at 7.  I hope to see many supporters in the stands.  Thank you for reading and thank your support, prayers, and wishes.

God Bless!