Warriors Looking Good!!

   Hi everyone, well the season has begun and we are off to a very good start.  The guys are picking up on stuff quickly and we are making good progress everyday.

   One thing I think many people forget is how important that team chemistry has to be on the court to be successful.  Each year is a new team so it takes time for everyone to get used to playing with each other, know each others strengths and weaknesses.  With this team while we do have a lot of returning players we also have four new players so getting them all on the same page will take time.  You can see progress being made everyday as we are showing more trust in our teammates on the defensive end and offensively we are learning to work together to get a great shot each time down the floor.  One item that has really improved in a week is the passing on the offensive end.  The first couple of days we saw a ton of turnovers but the guys have slowed down and they are getting used to playing with each other.  A key for this team, as with all of our team in the past, we want to take care of the ball and limit turnovers.

    This past weekend we had our first purple/white scrimmage along with our annual family day.  It was a great day all around as our scrimmage went as well, Coach Browns team won 3-1 over Coach Gove, but Coach Gove team lost by a total of 3 points in those 3 losses.  In each session the guys were put onto different teams so many different combinations were out on the floor, which gave us a ton of looks of different line ups we could have this season.  A team strength for this year will be our depth, we do not have one guy that we would not be afraid to put on the floor.  After the scrimmage the team and parents meet down at Bub's Brewing Co. for the annual lunch.  It was a excellent time as it was an opportunity to see many old faces along with many new faces.  Every had a great time and each player did a good job of introducing themselves along with the family that was in attendance.  

    Looking forward we are closing in on that first exhibition game of the year which will take place November 2nd versus La Crosse.  We still have a ton of work ahead of us but we will have a couple more team scrimmages to get ready for the game and we will really start to focus on items we need to clean up on both ends of the floor.  The guys are working hard and excitement is in the air as we cannot wait to get out on the floor for the first game of the season.  

    This is it for now, until next time.....GO WARRIORS!!!

Warriors Kick Off New Season

Hi Warrior fans, well it is official we have started practice and the 2009-10 season in underway. The first practice of the year went well as the guys gave great effort and focus during the day. After our first official practice we had a little bit of time off before coming back on to the court last night for our "Warrior Madness" event. The event as excellent and we thank all the fans who showed up to support both men's and women's teams along with giving money to Winona Health's breast cancer center. The night started off with the introduction of both teams with the women's team then taking the floor for a 10 minute scrimmage. After that it was our turn to get out and give the fans a view of this years squad, our scrimmage ended up a tie at 29-29.
At the conclusion of the scrimmage both teams put out some of their top shooters to square off in a 3-point contest. The winner of the contest ended up being, senior David Johnson, who was able to out shoot one of the women's new freshman players. In between the 3-point contest we also held a dunk contest. Luke Doedens stole the show with the dunk contest, Luke was able to complete a variety of entertaining dunks including throwing a ball of the back wall behind the basketball hoop, catching an bounce ally-oop pass that was thrown from in the middle of the padded stands by Brad Meyer and finally a pass off the side of the back board from Jon Walburg.
Overall it was a fun night and we look forward to doing this again next year. Up next for the Warriors we will be holding our first scrimmage of the year this Saturday, October 17 at 9:30 am in McCown gym. The scrimmage is open to the public and we invite all of you to come and watch. Finally this weekend is Family Weekend at WSU, we look forward to seeing all you parents at the scrimmage and then lunch afterward. GO WARRIORS!!!

Follow John Smith in Portugal!

Hey Warrior fans, I hope everyone is getting ready for the season as we are only 8 day away!

We have some great news that former Winona State star, John Smith, is now playing professionally over in Portugal. He left a couple of weeks ago to take part in per-season activities and his season will be beginning soon. For those of you who want to follow John he has set up a blog at the following site - http://johnsmithbasketball.blogspot.com Just copy and paste that in your web browser and it should take right to his web site. I will also be putting a link in our "links" area here for you to follow him through that as well. We wish John the best of luck on his new journey and look forward to keeping in contact with him as he blogs back to all of us. Good luck John!!!

A quick update on a couple of items that will be coming up soon for the current Warrior squad. First we will be holding "Warrior Madness" on October 15th. The event, which will also include our women's basketball team, is in part to raise money for breast cancer and is in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend here at WSU. The door will open for the event starting at 6:00, admission for the event is $1 with that going to Winona Health Mammography. Also a meal will be offered from Hy-Vee from 6-7 pm, the cost of the meal is $5 with $2 from the meal going to Winona Health Mammography. Finally at 7 pm the men's and women's team will take the court for a 3 point shooting contest, dunk contest and short scrimmage. Also during this time there will be a ton of different give aways and drawings for those in attendance. Then on Saturday October 17th we will be holding an open scrimmage to the public starting at 9:30 in the morning. Admission is FREE and we will be going up and down for around an 1 1/2 hours. This will be a great opportunity to see the players in full action for the first time of the year. We hope to see all of you at both of these events. GO WARRIORS!!!!