Rutgers Team Camp

We returned to Rutgers today for the conclusion of the Rutgers team camp. Before we arrived at the RAC, we went to the football complex to check out the facilities (the picture above is from the football stadium). It was Sunday and there was no staff on the premises, so we worked together to find a way to see what Rutgers football had to offer. We got some great pictures (www.GoodBasketball.com/photo). After our football tour, we went to the RAC. We played a team from Trenton, and jumped on them early, getting out to a 4-0 lead and a 17-10 lead with 2 minutes to go until halftime. At that point we went into a scoring funk, and just couldn't put the ball in the basket. Now we had a tough game on our hands, and the court we were playing on was a little smaller than a regulation court, and we ended up turning the ball over way too many times. The game finished with a 38-36 loss, and our team was very, very disappointed that we did not win the game and the tournament. After the game I was quick to remind our guys about now having an opportunity to rebound from a bad game and play well next game, and we also talked about having a killer instinct from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Our team rebounded from the defeat well (with a quick trip for lunch to Au Bon Pain in the student union) and jumped on the team we played from Middleton. Our guys are fatigued and sore, yet they wanted to play better than they did the game before. My hat goes off to the 7 guys on the trip with us, and they were certainly game to play well and play hard. Thanks to Jake Silver, Jake Wheeler, Sami Jafri, Marcus Blake, Juan Ferrrales, Ryan Andino, and Mikon Hewitt. Coach Arlen was on top of his game too, and we ended our week with a 10-2 record over 2 team camps. Sami played really well, and he hit big shot after big shot all day long.
We then returned to the hotel to freshen up, and headed out for a big dinner at Champps Sports Place, and enjoyed a big dinner while watching the first half of the NBA finals. Our team is pretty much split on who they are rooting for, but I would like to see Game 6, so I am rooting for the Magic.

Rutgers - Day 4 of Summer Tour 2009

Today was the first day of the Rutgers team camp. The Rutgers staff has prepared a great camp with 32 quality teams, from as far as Florida (hmmmm... who could that be?), but yet as near as Newark, NJ. The facility that the camp is held in is called the RAC - Rutgers Athletic Center, and it holds 5 full size courts, and is home to the camp. One of the nice things about this team camp is the fact that it is all knock-out play, with no pool play games. This means that every game is important, and can essentially end your bid to win the team camp.
Our first game was at 10:15am, and we played Newark Central. Our opponents have been very good here in the state of New Jersey, and we were warned about how good they were. Our kids came out a little slow, and we found ourselves in the middle of a tough game as were up 2 at the half. Halftime saw our kids get together and put it together, and we ended up winning the game by 20+ points. We had a 1 game rest, and followed that with a game against the team South Regional. They were ready for us, but our guys came out focused from the beginning. This was a tough game, but we were in control. We led from start to finish, and ended up pulling out the 47-40 game. The win put us in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 1:00pm against another good team.
As the coach of this team, I can be nothing but happy with them. Over the last 2 weeks we have posted a 9-1 record while playing against some really good teams. The players have bought into the style that we are playing, and are really, really defending well. Our team is coming together, and I am looking forward to tomorrow's games.
After the game we returned to the Embassy Suites for a quick rest as we were able to nap or visit the jacuzzi. I was able to spend some quality time with a couple of our players.
We finished our day with a great dinner at TGI Friday's, where we laughed and shared a good meal, and a visit to the movies tonight. We have an early curfew tonight, as we focus on our quest to win the Rutgers team camp tomorrow.

Fairfield University and Rutgers University - Day 3 of American Heritage Summer Tour

Today saw our 9 man travel group leave the Boston area in the morning and head toward the Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey area. Our first stop was Fairfield College in Fairfield, CT. Coach Maciariello and Coach Cooley were absolutely awesome and showed our team a good time. We were able to see a bit of Fairfield, watch a highlight tape, and spend about 30 minutes with the coaching staff. It was an informative session, and, at the conclusion of the meeting the coaches told us about a place called Vino's - a local eatery in town. Our team went with the suggestion, and absolutely loved lunch - big sized italian food. We really had a good meal.
After lunch we headed to Monmouth University in New Jersey. Unfortunately our plans needed to be flexible, as we were stuck in a 3 hour traffic delay on I-95 South right outside of New York. We ended up going straight to our hotel in Piscataway, and at this point our entire van was tired of being couped up in the car for multiple hours. We checked into the Embassy Suites and got ready for our shoot around. We went over to the Rutgers Athletic Center where we met Coach Nee, Coach Bloom, Coach Gregory, and Coach Winterbone. We were able to get the blood flowing again and soon we were having a great pre-game shoot around - our kids broke a good sweat and got a good number of shots in before we departed. We came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner - the players requested a dinner of White Castle - and - since I like to do things and go places while on the road that you cannot do while at home, we obliged. I saw Jake Wheeler eat an enormous amount of food (trust me - enough to feed small classrooms of children!) - and a couple of our other guys give it the old college try.
We are now back at the hotel where we are resting in preparation of the team camp, which begins tomorrow at 10:15am for us.
Happy Birthday to Coach Arlen - who was kind enough to share his birthday with the team.