No vacation during summer
Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008
BENTONVILLE - The Bentonville Tigers have stayed busy this summer even if boys basketball coach Mike Nelson gave his team most of June off.
Except for one team camp, the Tigers started the summer light.
But they weren't inactive.
A group of 12 Tiger upperclassmen have played together on a MAYB team, attending three tournaments so far, Nelson said.
"They've done pretty well in tournaments," he said. "It's good that they're together and playing and playing against other teams.
"They've played some pretty good competition."
The team, which includes returning seniors Chad Hood and Rylie Akins, won a tournament in Springdale, was second at a Alma tournament and took fourth in the B Bracket of a 70-team tournament at Hutchinson, Kan.
Bentonville Black coach Brian Ward is helping coach the team, which has three more tournaments scheduled this month.
Playing on the MAYB team allows the Tigers to get plenty of playing time, as if they had gone to several team camps this summer. The Tigers attended the University of Arkansas team camp in June. Nelson said the Arkansas Activities Association-mandated two-week dead period didn't affect the Tigers' summer schedule besides limiting when they could go to camp. "The only thing that hurt us was the choice of team camps we could go to," Nelson said. "Most major colleges have their team camps the last week or two weeks of June because they start going on the road in July. "In the past we'd given our kids the month of June basically off. The kids need a break but we just hope they don't stay on vacation once they go on vacation."
The Tigers got back to work this week with strength and conditioning. Through the end of the month they will work out four mornings a week and have an open gym three nights a week.
Players also have the opportunity to work with coaches on specific skills before or after the morning sessions.
"There's a lot of opportunities if they want to," Nelson said. "They have to be self-motivated in that sense. "
The Tigers lost six seniors who played a lot of minutes last season but have another big senior class waiting to lead the team.
"The kids always kind of step up when a class moves out," Nelson said. "It's like a light comes on in some of them."
Nelson has big expectations for Hood and Akins, who return with the most experience.
Hood, a guard, averaged 5. 2 points and had 43 assists and 25 steals last year.
Akins, a forward, also averaged 5. 2 points to go with 3. 6 rebounds per game and a team-high 19 blocked shots.
"I don't know if they'll be able to meet my expectations," Nelson said. "I'm going to set it high for them because they've been thrown into the fire a lot. "Seniors Bryce Miracle and Craig Mahan were limited last year because of injuries but have had good summers so far. "(Mahan ) can really shoot it and he's not bashful about shooting it," Nelson said. Miracle appeared in 12 games after recovering from a knee injury and averaged 2. 7 points in limited action. Juniors Jeff Johnston and Jonathan Koonce - both about 6-foot-4 - will give the Tigers addition height and length next year. "We've got a good basis of 12 or 14 kids," Nelson said. "It's just which ones are going to step up in a consistent role and be tough mentally and be coachable."
• • • While his team was on vacation in June, Nelson was working. Nelson worked two weeks at the University of Kansas camp and another week at the University of North Carolina camp. "We get a lot of good ideas and picked their brains (while at the camps )," Nelson said. Nelson is old friends with Tar Heels coach Roy Williams and still has connections at Kansas, where some of his Bentonville staff joined him for the camp.
• • • Nelson and the Tigers hosted a successful kids' camp earlier in the summer. Despite starting the day after school let out, the Tiger Round Ball Skills Camp had close to 100 children attend the three-day camp. "We've gotten good feedback from parents who bring their kids every year and every year the numbers increase," Nelson said. "We had to do it early because of gym space and even when we do it, with two of the nontraditional schools not out of school, we still had good numbers."
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