If you haven’t seen this…..WATCH NOW!  Inspiring….

My favorite sport to watch (BY FAR) is finally here!  Tonight is the opening night for many teams around the country.

This past summer, I made my NBA finals prediction, and was right.

I hope I’m right on this too.  The #1 is my favorite team.

Top 5

5.  Ohio State

Thad Matta teams are always good.  Sure they lost Jared Sullinger, but they still got a lot of firepower.  Deshaun Thomas, Preseason All-American,  returns to OSU.  The guy can wake up in the middle of the night and score 20.  Wouldn’t be shocked if he gets 40+ a couple times this year.

The Buckeyes also return one of the best point guards in the country.  Aaron Craft.  Expect him to score more than he has in his previous seasons in Columbus.

4. Michigan

When Trey Burke decided to return, IU fans like myself, got pissed.  Without him Michigan is still very good, but not a top 5 team.

They are not a one-man-show though.  An excellent freshman class that includes Glenn Robinson Jr. (son of former NBA star) is going to make a huge impact.  I saw Robinson Jr. in person this past spring, he is underrated at #11 by Rivals.  He’s gonna be a beast in the Big 10 this year.

3. Louisville

They made it to the Final Four last year and return several key players.  Anytime you return a pg of the caliber of Peyton Siva, you’ve got a great chance to win.

Oh yeah, they have a coach on the sidelines with a Ring.  As Coach Pitino teams always are, they’ll be extremely tough defensively.  If this team figures out how to score more consistently, they’ll definitely live up to a top 5 ranking and have a good chance to get back to the Final Four.

2. Kentucky

This is kind of a toss-up.  It’s a completely different team than last year.  But I’m not going to bet against Coach Calipari.  It’s no secret that I’m not a UK fan in the least bit.  Thanks to some loud-mouth UK fans that I like to call friends, I tend to root against them.

But to be fair, I think UK belongs here.  With a completely different team, it’s hard to tell.  Don’t compare them to last years team (best in a LONG time I think), but they’ll still be VERY good.

They’re super athletic.  They have two 7 footers.  Archie Goodwin is a machine.  Kyle Wiltjer is going to score in bunches.  Surprisingly, I think Calipari is extremely underrated as a COACH.  He gets attention for his recruiting, but he can coach.  He’s a master people-person and gets stars to play together.  His teams also always play lock-down defense.  That’s why I think they have a good chance to make it back to the Final Four.

1. Indiana

Call me bias all you want, but Indiana has the most complete team in the country.  This team will score….ALOT.  They returned the entire roster from a Sweet 16 team that scored 90pts against the Defensive Juggernaut that UK was last year

They have, in my opinion, the single best player in the country: Cody Zeller.  He’ll be anchoring the post, with a multitude of shooters around him.  Christian Watford, winner of the ESPY for Best Play, returns for his Senior season.  He’ll be playing to prove that he belongs in the 1st round of the NBA draft next year.  Victor Oladipo, one of the most underrated players in the country, will be the lock-down defender.  This team is deep.  Their 2nd five is very good.  Everything they were lacking, they picked up the off season   They needed a penetrating point guard and brought in Yogi Ferrell (you’ll know about him by March).  With Ferrell’s help, Sharpshooting Jordan Hulls will be freed up to do what he does best.  Hit 3′s at an incredible percentage.

Their only question mark is defense and rebounding.  Last year, they were not to championship level in these areas and will have to improve to live up to this #1 ranking.  Freshman: Jeremy Hollowell & Hanner Perea should help here too.

Barring any injuries, they’re the most complete team in the country.  IU is back.

Conclusion

Preseason rankings mean absolutely nothing.  But they’re fun to do.  Wouldn’t be shocked to see NC State, Kansas, and Michigan State have incredible seasons.   UCLA could also be a wildcard with their incredibly talented freshman class.

It’s going to be a great college basketball season!

*Pictures are not mine.  Credit to the photographers.

If you can realistically achieve your dream….

IT’S TOO SMALL! 

If you can achieve  it without God’s help….

IT’S TOO SMALL!

If your friends wouldn’t laugh…

IT’S TOO SMALL!

If you haven’t figured out your reason WHY….Stop. Right. Now.

What do I mean?   A WHY is the core reason that you’re doing something.  It’s the purpose behind your actions.  It’s the reason why you get up for an early workout, study for a test, or spend late nights in the office.

People with a great reason WHY, are the hall-of-famers.  They’re the people you remember.  A legacy was left.  They may not have been famous, but they made an impact.

I want to make something clear though: WHY does not mean GOAL.  They’re completely different.

Getting them mixed up will only lead to temporary success.  Goal-setting is important. I actually think you NEED to set them.

But they’re not the answer.  In a season of trials, they won’t survive.  You’ll either give up or lower your expectations.  Worst of all, you’ll return to where you started.

Why do most people lose weight, then gain it all back in a few months?  They didn’t have a WHY.  They had a goal of losing 20 lbs and achieved it.  The problem is, there wasn’t a WHY.  They achieved their goal, but couldn’t sustain it.  They were disciplined enough to get to a certain point, but were unable to change their reason behind it all.

Formula for Temporary Success:

Formula for Lasting Success:

Get the point?  There has to a reason in your GUT for doing something.  It has to be what motivates.  Yes, we can be motivated by goals.  The problem is, we can’t STAY motivated by goals.  When we have a reason WHY we’re much more likely to give 100% and never let up.

Think in baseball for example.  The Dominican Republic has an incredible amount of Major League Baseball alumni!

How is this possible?  The country’s population is minuscule compared to other world powers.

They have a reason WHY!

It’s a reason that goes straight to the core of who they are as people.  It’s their culture and where they grew up.  Baseball is their way out!!  It’s a game that can provide them with an opportunity to escape the cycle of poverty.  If they get a contract, there is a big pay day.

They can break the cycle!

It’s their chance to not only help themselves, but also their family. If they make it big, future generations can be changed.

That is a reason WHY!!

It’s created out of desperation.  It’s the reason they play ball for 8 hours a day.  It’s the reason they play on disastrous fields, use milk carton’s for gloves, and leave their family at the chance to sign a contract.

So I ask you….what is YOUR reason WHY?

Want to learn the way baseball is played at the highest levels?  Michael Fear & Bobby Willis will show your kids how college/pro players:

• Warm-Up
• Throw
• Field their position
• Hit
• Pitch
• Run the bases

Back-to-back gold medals.  Hall-of-Fame players.  Hall-of Fame coaches.  What does it mean?  The USA is the world’s premier basketball nation!

Throughout the Olympics, I noticed there were many things they did that can help anyone #GetBetterToday.

1. Winning is more important than ego!

Right after winning the gold medal, Coach K bragged about his players.  He said there were zero complaints throughout the Olympics about playing time.  I just sat back and thought “Wow!”.  They’re all elite stars on their own individual NBA teams.  They’re used to playing massive amounts of minutes.  It could have been easy for them to complain.  They didn’t though and that’ a huge reason for their success.

This team was in the Olympics for one reason, TO WIN.  That was it.  Need proof?  Watch the bench during the game highlights.  There were many times that the players on the bench appeared to be more excited than the players on the court.  That just shows a team that’s TRULY rooting for each other.  They were not only winning, but having FUN winning!

We need to do the same thing.  It’s not always about who is going to get the credit.  I’ll be the first to admit, that’s harder than it seems.  At the end of the day though, success & winning is all that matters.  If you’re going to accomplish something great, you’re going to need help along the way.  As a former athlete, I cherish the winning teams that I was a part of  FAR MORE than personal success or records.

2. Stick With What’s Working

It was obvious that Team USA rode with their hot hands.  Remember when Carmelo Anthony hit the 4 three-pointers in like 90 secs?

His teammates were waiting for him to get back down the floor.  They knew he was on fire and continued to feed him the ball.  The same can be said for Kobe, Lebron, and Durant during the tournament.  Team USA continued to ride someone’s momentum and feed the hot hand.

If you’re doing something that is proven to be successful, stick with it.  In fact, Donald Trump said, “When you have momentum going, play the momentum.”  Stick with your qualities that are making you successful.  If someone gave you some great advice, use it and go back to ask for more.  We go through many different seasons in life.  When we’re in a season of success/breakthrough, get as much as possible!

3. Never Be Content

Over the past 9 months, Lebron has won a Regular Season MVP, NBA Title, Finals MVP.  It could have been easy for him to become content and not put an emphasis on the Olympics.  But he did.  Because of that, he added his 2nd gold medal.

There’s A LOT we can learn from Lebron (Enough I need to write a whole blog post about it).  His willingness to stay hungry and “buy-in” to Team USA should be an example to everyone across the world.  Never be content, because you can always get better!  As a result of getting better, you can achieve more than you’ve ever dreamed of!

How Are You Handling Pain?

Check out Eric Thomas’s  How Bad Do You Want It (Part 1) & (Part 2) 

Here is Why You Should Treat Practice Like A Game!

If you’re not practicing hard, you’re wasting your time.  POINT. BLANK. PERIOD.

There’s no nice way to say it.  If you’re not treating practice like a game, it WILL catch up to you.  It may not be in Youth sports, High School or College, but it will eventually happen.  Still don’t believe me?  Ask Kwame Brown.  When that day happens, you’ll be the laughing stock of your league.  You’ll be person who had the talent, but underachieved.  That’s an embarrassing spot to be in.

For the rest of your life, there will be someone who wants take your spot.  As you progress further in your career, you’ll notice one thing.  Results are the ONLY thing that matter.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve started your entire life, your dad is the mayor, or if you’re the most talented player on the team;  If you’re not producing, someone WILL take your spot.

That’s why you need to treat your practice time as game-like as possible.  Run every route, take every groundball, and take every shot at game-speed.  Running half-ass routes isn’t going to make you any better.  It just gets you in the habit of catching passes running half-speed.  Taking groundballs with a nonchalant attitude WILL lead to an error during a game.  Taking 100 jumpers at a comfortable speed is going to lead to a swat and lay-up at the other end.  Did I mention all of those RESULTS will probably lead to the bench?

Just because you’re averaging 15 points-per-game doesn’t mean you’re not a failure.  If you’re capable of scoring 25 per game, then you’re a failure for not reaching your full potential.  Shooting 70 on the golf course isn’t good when your potential is 65.  Especially if you’re not spending time on the putting green.

Maybe the worst of all,  acting like a lazy-piece-of-crap will NOT earn the respect of your teammates.  If the captains are asked about you and another player, they’re going to recommend the other guy.  Don’t expect your teammates to go to battle for you if you’re not taking practice seriously.

Your practice time is not that long.  It’s not like high school coaches are scheduling 10 hour practices.  They’re a couple hours MAX!  There is no excuse as to why you can’t take every rep at game-speed.

Eventually, everyone is done with playing a sport.  For some it’s a lot later than others, but it will eventually happen to everyone.  At the end of your career, you will want to be able to look back without regretting anything.

My career ended a year ago, but I left with zero regrets.  When I look back at my time in sports, I’m not only appreciative, but satisfied.  I know that I gave my all.

Will you be able to say the same?

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