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Musicians' First Tryout Camp Successful

February 2, 2006 - World Basketball Association (WBA)
Murfreesboro Musicians News Release


The Murfreesboro Musicians first tryout camp was a huge success this past weekend. The Musicians had 25 prospective players participate in the tryout camp, and the Musicians offered contracts to 4 players at the end of the camp.

In the afternoon session of the camp the Sports Com Recreation Center was packed to see the Dunk Contest, 3 Point Shooting Contest, and Games. There was not a seat open as the campers thrilled a packed house with high flying dunks, long range shooting, and some exciting game action.

"It was definitely an exciting day and we were thrilled with our first event that we've put as a franchise. This is just the beginning though and there is lots of thrills and fun coming up soon as our season approaches!" stated Musicians Co-Owner/General Manager, Dr. Ben Tankard.

The Musicians will open Training Camp on April 2nd in preparation for the WBA Season tipping off later in April.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW! (Family Pack Included)

Family Pack Tickets and Season Tickets go on sale for 14 Musicians Home Games April 22-July 2. Call 443-416-5112 for info. Corporate buys season tickets available. GO MUSICIANS ! GO MUSICIANS ! GO MUSICIANS ! GO MUSICIANS ! GO MUSICIANS !

COACHES CORNER:

COACHING PHILOSOPHY BY COACH STEVE C. TUCKER

This is a very enjoyable topic for me! I truly enjoy coaching, for it gives me the opportunity to teach the Great Game of Basketball. The basketball court is my classroom, and I take the teaching of the game very seriously when I walk across the lines of a basketball court. I have many ideas and beliefs on the proper way to play the game of basketball, but all of these ideas and beliefs center around one very important area, and that is Hard Work. Hard Work to me is the main ingredient to success in any phase of life, for if you want something badly enough, you won't mind paying the price to achieve it. The Legendary Football Coach, Coach Vince Lombardi once said, "Everyone wants to be successful, but few are willing to pay the price to achieve success!"

COACH TO PLAYER: This is a very special area & relationship, and one that I cherish! When dealing with your players whether they are young or old, they all need guidance and leadership. I deal with my players in a direct and communicative fashion. In a manner like a father would deal with his sons! I'm consistent in the manner that I deal with my players, though you have to deal with each individual at times differently in accordance to the players personality and background. I want to see each one of my players develop as a basketball player and as a person under my leadership & guidance. I want to give him the direction needed to allow him the tools to be the best he can be both as a basketball player and as a person. We forget sometimes that players are people, who are working to acheive their goals and to be a part of a team. It is up to us as their coach to give them the proper leadership & guidance to allow them to shine both within our team and on into the future as they seek their goals & dreams... "I tell my players that I may have you for one season or several, but you'll have me for rest of your life! I really mean that and I wished that more coaches would be there like that, for our role in a players career and life is so important!"

THE TEAM: The most important thing in managing, coaching, or directing anything, is to be sure not to ask someone to do something they can't do, but make sure you have them doing things they do effectively. That is the only way to maintain efficiency, which goes hand in hand with Winning! In other words, "Handlers will handle, Shooters will shoot, Passers will pass, Defenders will defend, and Rebounders will bound!"

ON WINNING: As I stated earlier, I believe wholeheartedly in Hard Work, but I also believe in teaching the proper fundamental way of playing the game of basketball. You have to blend the abilities of your players into a team concept. You have to teach players to take their unique abilities & skills and make our team better through the proper use of their individual gifts as players. You have to idenify each players role within the team, and you have to show each player how his abilities as a player will make us a better and more successful team. I can be extremely demanding at times, for I believe that you must work to develop your players and your team! There is no substitute for this if you are going to Win!!! So we work consistently on a daily basis to improve what our players do well, for we want to become efficient & consistent in those things... We always as a team want to put ourselves in a position to do our best. That is so important if you're going to be a Winner & Champion! I take great pride that over the years that My Teams have been successful, not just my players. Winning is about Team and what you do working together as One to become the very best you can be on the basketball court! The understanding of keeping things on a level plain is so important as well, not becoming to high in victory or to low in defeat, but taking & learning from both in a manner that is condusive to being a consistent Winner. UCLA's Coach John R. Wooden put it best, "For who can ask more of a man than giving all within his span? For giving all it seems to me, is not so far from Victory!" You have to know yourself, both your strengths & your weaknesses, you have to know your role within your team, and then you have to go out on a consistent basis as a part of your team with those skills in hand to give your best effort to Win & be Successful. That is what Winning is all about! Those who master this physically and mentally give themselves and their teams the best opportunity at being a Winner & Champion!

ON PRESSURE: If you are a goal oriented person, and concerned about what type of job you do, there is pressure in everything that you do. Just remember, pressure is pressure, and a lot of it you put on yourself. People do that all the time, and many don't even realize it. You just have to accept that in life there will be pressure. Just stay focussed on what your after, and allow all the rest to stay to the side and away from your line of vision on what you're seeking to acheive. I personally try to stay completely focussed on the job at hand! I think you have to, for you cannot allow things to get in your way of doing the best job that you can. You have to be personally self disciplined and you have to work at it every day. Allow the pressures of the job to make you better, and to keep you focussed on the job at hand. Allow pressure to be your allie and not your enemy! Just always remember, "The greater the pressure, the greater glow after the Win!"

ON DISCIPLINE: I am a great believer in discipline! I don't believe you can succeed as a person or as a team without discipline. You show me an undisciplined team and I'll show you a team that losses most of time. There is no substitute for discipline within a team. Winners & Champions display discipline in all that they do both on and off a basketball court. To be a disciplined team you must have players who are self disciplined and who consistently display this within themselves as players and as people. I believe as a Coach you have to lead by example and you have to display the discipline you preach within your own life as a coach and as a person. Discipline breeds Winners & Champions, and that is a fact! Coaches have to be allowed to instill their discipline within a team, and Coaches have to be responsible and accountable for the discipline that they instill on their teams! You have to be consistent with your discipline, but you also have to be understanding in how you apply it to your players, for players respond to discipline in different ways. To be a good leader, you have to know your players and your team! You have to know how to use discipline in a manner that makes your team and everyone on that team the very best that they can be. Never lose sight of that within employing discipline on a team... "Team Discipline will teach Self Discipline, and Self Discipline within each player will allow your Team to be Disciplined!"

ON BEING A COACH: I truly love the Game of Basketball, and I love being a Coach! I enjoy teaching the game and I'm proud of being a Teacher of the Game of Basketball. The thrill of watching my players and team develop drive me to be the best coach that I'm capable of being! There has always been a fire that has burned within me from the first day I walked on a basketball court to teach & coach the game. Over the years, I may have gotten older and wiser, but that fire within my gut has never ever gone out! I hope it never does, for in so many ways that Passion for the game that fuels that Fire defines me as Coach and Person. It drives me to Succeed... It pushes me every day to be the best coach that I can be in every way... Yes, I am proud to be called Coach, for I've worked so hard over the years to be just that! As well, I have always been a puriest of the game, who has had great respect for the Game of Basketball and its well being worldwide. As a Coach, we all have to do a better job of teaching the proper ways of playing the Game of Basketball, for in this day of so many gifted athletes, we so many times forget that we must teach the game. Lets all do a better job in teaching our players how play and our teams on what has to be done to be a true Team and to be Successful! So as a Coach, I'll keep teaching the game and teaching how I believe the game should be played... I'll always be a Coach & a Teacher of the Game of Basketball!"

WBA NEWS:

WBA PRODUCES ITS OWN MOVIE

The World Basketball Association has produced and made its own move entitled, "THE GAME." This movie that tells real stories about real people in the game of basketball will be out soon, and it will be a must see movie for everyone that loves the game of basketball. So keep an eye out on the WBA website (www.wbaball.net) to order your copy of THE GAME.

Coming Soon!

WBA League Tryouts Free Agent Camp March 24 - 25, 2006 Life University 1269 Barclay Circle Marietta, GA 30060

The World Basketball Association will hold its Free Agent League Tryouts on March 24th & 25th, 2006 at Life University in Marietta, Georgia. This camp will be conducted in order to give free agents an opportunity to be exposed to the 12 teams in the WBA. There will be a Free Agent Selection Draft held directly after the camp.

Last season, approximately 40 players were drafted by the 12 teams in the League. This season, 66 players will be drafted, as each team will select in 8 rounds. Drafted free agents will report directly to team training camps after the Free Agent camp, joining vets and protected players for preparation for opening night. Teams participating in the 2006 WBA are...

Eastern Division Griffin, GA Gainesville, GA Anderson, SC Marietta, GA

Central Division Rome, GA Cleveland, TN Murfreeboro, TN Tuscaloosa, AL

Western Division Mississippi (Jackson, MS) Arkansas (Little Rock, AR) Gulf Coast, MS Southaven, MS

"This is a very unique opportunity and I hope players take advantage of this to come out and showcase their skills for the teams in the WBA!" states WBA Tryout Camp Director and Veteran Professional Coach, Steve Tucker.

You can get more information on the WBA Tryout Camp by going to the WBA website and clicking on Tryout Camp at: www.wbaball.net.

Take Your Shot To Play In The WBA!!!

BASKETBALL NEWS:

NBA D-League Faces Transition By Roland Lazenby, January 14, 2006

I remember cornering Memphis Grizzlies boss Jerry West at the 2004 All-Star Game in Los Angeles and asking him about the NBA's development league.

Did he think that NBA players should be assigned to the league?

His passion for the game always seems to keep West wound tight as a main spring. Ask him a basketball question, and his answer usually sort of pops and snaps with tension.

The league needed a minor league, one where it's young talent could get playing time, he told me.

West has always made it clear that young players need to play. He wanted a place where one or more of his young selections, like Troy Bell, could learn the pro game, instead of sitting on the bench or hanging out on injured reserve.

"NBA teams are paying for the D-League anyway," he said. "I don't see why we can't send young players down to get minutes." Well, West is one of, if not the, most powerful people in basketball. He usually gets what he wants.

Lo and behold, the new collective bargaining agreement reached last summer made it possible for NBA teams to assign their players to one of the Development League's eight teams.

As a broadcaster for development league games on the local ESPN affiliate in Roanoke, Va., I anticipated seeing a bevy of talented young players, mostly second-round draft picks, in the league this season.

To a limited degree, that has happened, but nothing like the wholesale transfer of talent that was expected. So far, just 10 of the NBA's 30 teams have assigned players to the D-League. And West's Memphis Grizzlies isn't among them.

Why are West and 19 other GMs hesitating at using the minor league option? The answer to that is a bit complicated.

The Washington Wizards have sent two players down to the Roanoke Dazzle to gain more experience. One of those is 19-year-old forward Andray Blatche, who was there for a few weeks to get game experience and improve his conditioning. The other is 20-year-old center Peter John Ramos out of Puerto Rico. He's 7-3, with a chiseled NBA-style body and soft hands. He needs game experience, some defensive work and more low-post development.

The Wizards rented him an apartment in Roanoke, about four hours from Washington, and assigned development coach Ron Ganulan to watch over things. Asked why other teams haven't jumped at the chance to send young players down, Ganulan speculated that some NBA GMs may fear having their draft picks exposed as busts if they don't play well in the minor league.

A former college coach, Ganulan says the Wizards are pleased with the situation for Ramos in Roanoke. The young center is seen as having a huge upside. Ditto for Blatche.

"The D-League has been great for my conditioning and helping me get adjust to pro ball," Blatche told me recently.

A second-round pick in last June's draft, Blatche said the league reminded him of summer league games. And that perception is a huge part of the problem.

"A lot of GMs see the D-League as just like summer league," observed Tex Winter, now 83 and a consultant/assistant coach for the Lakers.

Winter spends a lot of time scouring D-League games on TV, looking for low-cost, free agent talent.

"There's quite a bit of talent in the D-League," he says.

He thinks there are some jewels that might help NBA teams, but many of them don't seem to take the league seriously.

There are signs that the situation is changing slowly. Celtics boss Danny Ainge recently decided to send first-round pick Gerald Green down to the Fayetteville Patriots to get some playing time. Ainge even has plans to accompany Green to North Carolina for the first few games of the experience.

It may be that Ainge has followed the cue of his old teammate, Minnesota VP Kevin McHale, who immediately assigned two players as soon as the D-League opened for business this year.

And McHale quickly collected a payoff on the effort. Bracey Wright, a second-round pick last spring out of Indiana, quickly showed that he could adjust to the pro-style game, averaging 21 points while shooting 46 percent from the field as a silky 6-3 guard for the Florida Flame.

"He's shown he's a player," Flame coach and former NBA veteran Jeff Malone told me in December.

The 6-foot-3 Wright will be the fourth point guard on Minnesota's roster and will play some shooting guard.

"I wouldn't want to throw him in against Kirk Hinrich or anything like that to bring the ball down the floor right away," T-Wolves coach Dwane Casey said. "I'm not anticipating just throwing him in a game. The main thing is just practice and see where he is."

It remains to be seen if Wright is ready to help the Timberwolves this year. Regardless, his time in the D-League has revealed his promise. That's a message that some NBA execs are slowly getting.

''Our experience with the league has been very positive," Wizards boss Ernie Grunfeld told the Boston Globe ''You can't improve until you get in game-time situations and these guys have been able to get that and it has been a big help to them and to us."

The sooner other NBA execs get the message, the better the minor league will have a chance at answering the other major question it faces: Will it survive economically? When it began five years ago, the NBDL was owned entirely by the NBA. But, reminiscent of the NBA itself in the early days after World War II, NBDL franchises opened and folded across the Southeast like barbecue shacks.

Finally, the NBA realized it needed to shift to a new ownership base. It first sold the Florida franchise to private interests, then either moved existing franchises or opened new ones for an ownership group in the Southwest.

Now, the league itself owns just two franchises, Roanoke and Fayetteville, and is likely interested in selling those.

The plans are for the Development League to moved ahead with the opening of eight new franchises to bring the league to 16, so that only two NBA teams will share one minor league affiliate.

The only problem with this plan is that ticket sales seem to be lagging across the league. Only the Arkansas RimRockers are drawing well, and the Rimrockers are an old team from the ABA (another minor league) that moved over to the Development League this season. The Rimrockers, coached by Joe Harge, played a crowd-pleasing, up-tempo style that has found a following in Razorback country by including three University of Arkansas players on its roster.

The Roanoke franchise, which averaged about 1,700 fans a game last season (second in the league), has reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of dollars during its five years of operation.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has admitted that the league erred in choosing smaller Southeastern cities for its original locations. Yet there's no proof that newer communities in the league such as Austin and Albuquerque, can draw any better.

The ideal situation for the league, of course, would be dramatically rising attendance over the next few seasons, which would allow the NBA to sell off its franchises for a tidy profit. Making that happen, however, would require that the NBA find some way to communicate that the games offer quality competition and are fun. Part of the strategy for that involves giving the D-League a higher profile on NBA.com and even broadcasting weekly games on NBA TV.

The games themselves often offer surprising athleticism and thunder dunks. The league, though, has no backboard cams to capture spectacular images.

The league was hoping that nearby college journalism programs would jump at the chance to produce D-League games for TV, but the NBA offered no money for such a program and said it expected the colleges to come up with the TV equipment necessary for the broadcast.

If the NBA is to continue with Jerry West's plan for a true minor league, it's going to have to come up with a better TV plan than that. And it's going to have to persuade its own executives to use the league to train and showcase their younger players and draft picks.

Roland Lazenby is the author of The Show: The Inside Story Of The Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers In The Words Of Those Who Lived It, recently released by McGraw-Hill

COURTSIDE:

Colorado 14ers Unveiled (CBA's Newest Franchise Announced)

Broomfield, CO (February 1, 2006) - Beginning this fall, the Broomfield Event Center will showcase a new kind of hockey and basketball. The Rocky Mountain Rage hockey team and the Colorado 14ers basketball team were unveiled today at a standing-room-only name and logo release party at C.B. & Potts Restaurant and Brewery at Flatirons. "This is exciting for our season ticket holders, fans, our business partners and the city" said John Frew, co-owner. "Selecting names for both teams started with a list of over 300 names and took months of collaboration. The Rocky Mountain Rage and the Colorado 14ers are both unique to Colorado and both capture the intensity of their respective sports. We are pleased with these names and we think that hockey and basketball fans will like what we've chosen." Adrenalin, Inc., regarded as one of the top branding, marketing and design agencies in the nation, designed both teams' logos and jerseys. Adrenalin, founded in 1997, specializes in supporting the brand-expansion goals of sports organizations around the world. "We are thrilled to have the Colorado 14ers join the CBA family," said Hunter. "I, along with the CBA Board of Directors, have been impressed with the 14ers management and their dedication to doing things first-class from day one. The ownership, facility and location are a great addition to the league." Master of Ceremonies and ESPN commentator Kurt Hansen joined Broomfield Mayor Karen Stuart, team co-owners Frew and Tim Wiens, Central Hockey League (CHL) President Brad Treliving and Continental Basketball Association (CBA) Commissioner Gary Hunter for the team presentations. Price and Adrenalin Vice President Dave Smrek rounded out the list of speakers. Following the team announcements, Treliving and Hunter presented the first official team jerseys to each team's first season ticket holder. Tonya Haas, Broomfield's Assistant City and County Manager, was recognized as the hockey team's first fan. Littleton resident Garrett Baum, who is also a season ticket holder for the Rage, was recognized as the basketball team's first fan. The CBA is celebrating its 60th Anniversary season this year, making it the oldest professional basketball league in the world For those who are interested in reserving a space on the priority list for season tickets, $50 per seat refundable deposits can be made online at http://www.broomfieldeventcenter.com/. Colorado 14ers - Basketball at its Peak.

"Colorado has 54 mountains that loom above 14,000 feet. Nowhere on earth does such a dominating collection of peaks exist. As a tribute to these natural wonders, we introduce the Colorado 14ers, the majestic newcomer on the CBA professional basketball landscape. This is basketball that others look up to; it's higher than the rest. Untouchable and unreachable for most, it's awe-inspiring and will take your breath away."

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World Basketball Association Stories from February 2, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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