US Sports Basketball: Two of Texas Women’s Basketball Coach Vic Schaefer’s Tips For Team Culture and Las Vegas Aces vs. Indiana Fever HIGHLIGHTS |

 

• By Grant Young

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Building and sustaining team culture is crucial for a basketball coach because it shapes the overall experience and performance of a winning basketball team. A strong culture fosters trust and camaraderie among players, allowing them to communicate openly and work effectively together. When players feel a sense of belonging, they are more likely to put in the effort and hold each other accountable, creating a cohesive unit that can navigate the challenges of the season. 

A positive team culture enhances resilience, helping athletes cope with the ups and downs of competition. It encourages players to embrace a growth mindset, focusing on collective improvement rather than individual accolades. Coaches who prioritize culture cultivate an environment where athletes feel valued, motivated, and inspired to give their best. 

These reasons point to why well-established team culture can be the difference between winning and losing, as it impacts player morale, commitment, and performance on the court. A coach's ability to nurture this culture is foundational to long-term success.

On February 24, 2025, the latest AP Rankings for NCAA women’s basketball showed that the Texas Longhorns were the nation’s top-ranked team, marking the program’s first No. 1 AP ranking for the first time since February 16, 2004, which is over 21 years ago.

It has taken Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer a long time to bring his program to this point. Schaefer is a two-Time National Coach of the Year, and boasts a 109-32 overall record in four seasons as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. The 2024-25 season will mark his 20th season as a head coach and 40th season in coaching. 

Schaefer, a Texas native who has spent 25 of his 39 years in coaching within the state of Texas, is the fifth head coach in program history.

In 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach, which also includes eights seasons at Mississippi State and seven seasons at Sam Houston State, Schaefer now owns a career record of 410-204. 

If someone were to ask Schaefer how he has brought the Texas program to this point of being the country’s top-ranked team, one of the first things he’d cite is surely the team culture he has built. And in his ‘It’s Not What We Do, But How We Do It - Vic Schaefer, Univ. of Texas’ clinic, Schaefer reveals some of the core lessons he has learned about building team culture that has turned his program into perennial national championship contenders.  

Three Adjectives All Coaches Want For Their Team

Coach Schaefer explains that a team’s identity can often start with the ideals (and adjectives) that a coach wants their team to encompass. And in his opinion, there are three adjectives that are a great place to start when it comes to building team culture.

“If they describe your team as a tough, physical, aggressive team, I’m gonna say you’re gonna like that,” Coach Schaefer says in the clinic. 

The reason Coach Schaefer loves these three adjectives is because it doesn’t convey anything about the talent your team boasts or their win-loss record and place in the standings. And this is also why these three adjectives are great for any sports team (not just basketball) to try and strive for. 

Coach Schaefer then discusses an unavoidable aspect of coaching in the modern age: Kids don’t like “hard work.” They typically want their success to come easily and with as little struggle as possible.

However, by building a culture that can genuinely be described as tough, physical, and aggressive by someone on the outside looking in, there’s no way just any player will be able to succeed in that sort of program. 

This means that your team will only attract and retain players who don’t want things easy and are willing to work for their role. And these are the exact kinds of kids all coaches want to have on their roster. 

Celebrate the Little Victories (Even in Losses)

Coach Schaefer spoke about how at the beginning of his coaching career, Pat Summitt’s Tennessee Volunteers teams were consistently national championship contenders and seemed unbeatable. 

Of course, while any coach wants to win every game (especially an upset against a juggernaut like Tennessee used to be under Pat Summitt), the reality is that losses will occur. But as the cliché goes, you either win or you learn. And Coach Schaefer asserts that there aren’t just learning opportunities in losses, but little victories that can be found that will help build team culture. 

For example, a basketball team could lose a game by 15 points but still win the rebounding battle. And if this is something that a team is actively trying to improve upon, a coach would be wise to point this out as a positive during a defeat. Or if one player had a standout game, they should still be praised despite losing. Celebrating little victories like these will build confidence and increase morale in tough moments, which can work wonders for building a winning team culture. 

Coach Schaefer also shared a message one of his coaches shared with him, that conveyed how sometimes a coach’s best job in a season is getting a basketball team that was supposed to win five games in a season to win 10. In other words, only one team can win a championship each season. Therefore, a coach can't hinge their work on that lone outcome. Even if a winning season isn’t in the works (which is unavoidable eventually), Coach Schaefer asserts that the building blocks to success can still be laid each day. 

US Sports Football: Learn How to Improve Your Offense with USC’s “Harrell Effect” and The IFL Week 15 Plays of the Week

 

• By Coach Grabowski

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Graham Harrell, offensive coordinator has quickly made a positive impact on the offensive production of the USC Trojans.  It’s been referred to as “The Harrell Effect.” He’s orchestrated a quick turn around for the Trojan offense as shown below:

In this course, Coach Graham Harrell takes you through the foundational philosophy he teaches his players. He covers things like core values, philosophies...

He doesn’t do it with an elaborate playbook.  Like many Air Raid based teams, it’s a simple attack with enough answers that are perfected in practice by doing them again and again and again.

It starts with Harrell’s offensive philosophy:

- Commit to what you do

- Keep it simple

- Put your players in a position to be successful

- Score

While he does not identify as a pure air raid coach..he does believe in the philosophy of committing to what he is doing.  With 20-25 plays, he knows they can get good at them.  

He points out that most coordinators get themselves into trouble because they want to have the capability to run any pay in football. There’s a lot of good plays, but you can't get your players good at 200 plays.

You need to say “this is who we are and commit to it.”  Keeping it simple allows your players to play fast.  A quick rule of thumb he uses is if it requires more than 4 signals for a play to get in, it’s too complicated.

From a practical perspective, this means installing everything in three days.  This is how it breaks down:

3 day install

- 1 quick game

- 3 dropbacks

- 2 runs

- 1 Movement pass

That format is repeated over three days to install their entire offense, then they repeat that throughout camp working on getting better at it each time.

Harrell explains his philosophy on video:

Harrell’s clinic, “The Harrell Effect” covers his player development philosophy then demonstrates how the get their players better in practice as well as showing how they use concepts in different presentations.  As a bonus, Coach Helton gives a clinic on the USC culture and how they coach their student athletes to be successful on and off the field.

Learning from Helton about keeping it simple could be just what you need to propel your offense to the top in 2021.

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The Rock Almighty: Casting Away Evil Spirits: Is it Biblical Today? And What's Your Pastor Up To This Sunday?

 

• Author Mark Slaney

Over recent years, there has been much controversy on whether God has given us the power to cast out evil spirits. Ministry leaders, like Morris Cerullo and Richard Roberts, among others in the evangelical community, have been under attack and accused of heresy for this type of healing practice.

Since Jesus was able to heal the sick and cast out demons, they also believe that we have been given that power through the Holy Spirit. But how can we be sure that God has anointed people with the power to heal others?

The argument people make is that Jesus only gave his twelve apostles the ability to heal the sick. While the apostles were with Jesus on earth to witness him heal people, they were taught to do the same. Scripture tells how the twelve men did drive out unclean spirits and heal people from every disease.

How wouldn’t it be even more possible for people now to heal others after he ascended? That would be a point of what Jesus did through his death and resurrection, by giving people ability to drive out evil forces through the power of his completed work. Unless his death was only done according to his plan of salvation for the next world, what authority can we obtain from him on earth?

God’s power may not just be limited to the twelve apostles; they were given authority to show how others can apply the same commands. Otherwise, we would not have the power to overcome strongholds that people are burdened with.

Sometimes we just have to follow God’s word to understand what’s clearly taught. By being willing to obey his commands, our struggles with sin are covered, but there can still be negative consequences of how it can impact your life. It can easily cause trouble in the world that leads to reproach, persecution, or spiritual affliction that people need cured from, such as anxiety and witchcraft. Those are reasons to avoid taking certain paths, or else it could result in harming people that way.

Whether it affects our relationship with God is another issue, but simply turning from sin is not how we inherit the land; it is obtained by his grace alone, and it’s assured by seeing the wrong in our transgressions. Why sin keeps happening could be yielding us from turning to him the wrong way. But the deeper you are into sin, the worse it can cause those kinds of spiritual attacks.

It’s obvious that those things can cause physical and mental harm, although it does not have to affect your faith if you understand the fault of your sin. The problems it may cause are not only in the mind and body but also theological misunderstandings in your belief system. As a result, one may need a faith healer to help be restored from all kinds of spiritual warfare.

One faith leader by the name of Derek Prince (who was a British medic in North Africa during World War Two) discovered God’s healing power after going through many trials and tribulations. He wrote several books on how to overcome demonic attacks, many of which give biblical direction into God’s healing medicine, his unique method of using scripture passages.

Prince cured people from psychological, physical, and spiritual disorders, just as Jesus and the apostles did, just as Morris Cerullo and Roberts could, and just as others could, through God’s anointing power. Morris Cerullo and Richard Roberts, including his father Oral Roberts, are believed to have healed people from all walks of life, giving them mental, physical and spiritual power over the enemy. According to what the Bible teaches, God can use other people to release his divine healing power.

What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Luke 4:36).

What power does satan have then if we have faith over our sins? Sin shall have no dominion over us if we aren’t deceived and recover properly. Falling into sin doesn’t have to mean you fall away from faith, for God provides enough grace each day.

In order to not fall away, you don’t go astray into destruction that’s caused by unbelief, in which one becomes blameless in their own eyes. Those who think you must become blameless without sin would be what the world sees and not what God sees to replace. Breaking free from addiction is not the only type of sin. Although addiction could harden your heart, only the deception of it can.

Much of the world still needs help over its demonic attack — the right solution that heals people from its problems, including the sickness and confusion that it causes. That solution can only be found through the power of Christ, which may be released by someone you encounter.

Footnotes:

— We are not our own cure.

— To become blameless on our own is infused righteousness

— We are imputed righteousness.

— One must know his sin

— One can only turn from addiction; he cannot turn from sin.

I am a website owner and I write articles on various topics, including theology, church history, and prophecy. I have also published works for different writing companies and online publications.

https://www.biblicalperception.com

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US Sports Baseball: 5 Reasons Why There Is More To Good Base Running Than Just Speed and Giants vs. A's Game Highlights

 

• By Brandon Ogle

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When a baseball player is fast, the first thing everyone assumes is that they are an elite level base runner. Too often someone with speed will still find themselves getting thrown out all over the field, because they don’t pay attention to the details of becoming a great base runner. Here are 5 reasons any one from slow runners to the elite speed players can become a better base runner.

#1 Ability To Read The Ball Off The Bat

An innate ability to get a great read off the bat can be the difference between a run scored and getting stranded at 3rd base. This skill comes from practice and game experience. The more balls off the bat you see, the more often you will be able realize when you can go ahead and get a great jump and when to hold and see if the ball is caught.

Another major part of this principle is knowing your ballparks - especially your home park. If there is an unusual nook or cranny where you know the ball gets stuck, or if the left field line is really deep, you know that it takes the fielder longer to get there, which allows you to take the extra base.

Be sure to practice these reads every day, anytime you go through base running drills. Before you know it, you won’t even think about whether a ball is going to land in the gap, your instincts will just tell you to go.

#2 Ability To Read The Pitcher

Rickey Henderson is the undisputed greatest base stealer of all time. Henderson was fast, but he will tell you that studying the other pitchers and using your instincts is the reason why he was so successful. 

Every pitcher’s delivery is different. Some take a long time to the plate; others incorporate a slide step to keep the runner honest. Some pitchers will change their timing every pitch, while others are locked in on the hitter. These are all tendencies you can see immediately as the game starts and that will arm your base running game.

Does the pitcher look over twice and deliver the ball every time? Then be ready to take off once you see that second glance. The first game of the 2015 baseball season, featuring Jon Lester of the Cubs versus the savvy Cardinals serves as a great example. Coming into the game, Lester has not made a pickoff attempt to first base since April 30, 2013, a period of 66 starts. The Cardinals knew this information and knew Lester wouldn’t be holding them close, so they ran every chance they got. When Lester did finally throw over a few starts later, he threw the ball into right field. 

Studying pitchers and learning how to read pitcher tendencies gives you a huge advantage. In the example above Matt Holliday, someone not known for his speed, was able to take second base and get himself in scoring position because the team had studied their opponent and knew how to take advantage.

#3 Become Excellent At Sliding

There are players all over baseball that are terrible at sliding. I could write an entire article with images of professional players costing themselves outs by being a poor slider. Here’s an example using Drew Stubbs, an extremely fast base runner. He has 2nd base stolen easily but he doesn’t slide properly, his knee gets dug into he clay and he flips over 2nd base and is tagged out.

There are so many different types of slides that can help avoid tags and put you in an ideal position if done correctly. Pop slides allow you to get to the bag and get on your feet quickly in case you can take an extra base. Hook slides let you slide to the outer or inner edge of the base depending on where the throw comes from. Practice these slides over and over again from a young age. Eventually, they become second nature and you won’t end up on the Not Top 10 like Stubbs.

I also want to take the time to say that sliding incorrectly is very dangerous. Knees are shredded and fingers, wrists and hands broken every year due to bad sliding techniques. Take the time to practice and do it right because trying to come back from a broken wrist is no fun in baseball. Also, don’t dive into first base, it isn’t faster than running through the bag and it almost always ends up badly for the base runner. 

Check out this course that will help you slide like a pro in no time.

#4 Work With And Trust Your 3rd Base Coach

Your 3rd Base coach is your greatest ally in becoming a better base runner. It’s important you work with your 3rd base coach and that they realize your skill level so that they can properly coach you on where to go. I know this is difficult but you should always trust your 3rd base coach. If he is telling you to hold up, then put on the brakes. If he is waving you home then turn on the after-burners.

There will be times when your 3rd base coach is wrong, however they always have the better angle at the play. If you are trying to turn your head and find the ball while running, it is going to slow you down. You will be more likely to miss a base and your body will be out of sync. Your 3rd base coach can see if there is a bobble, or if the fielder fields it cleanly and comes up throwing.

In the end, you will save yourself a lot bad mistakes by listening to and trusting your 3rd base coach. We all know there is no worse look than when you run through a stop sign and get thrown out at the plate, especially with your cleanup hitter standing on deck.

#5 Know The Situation – When To Take The Extra Base

If you read more of my baseball-related articles, you’ll find that I often come back to the principle of being the smartest player on the field and it applies to base running as well. You should always be aware of the situation. Perhaps you are a great base runner and always have the green light to steal, however, your best hitter is standing at the plate with 2 outs and the other catcher has already thrown you out once. This is probably not the best time to try to prove you can beat the catcher. 

This goes back to studying the game and always paying attention. It may be okay to try to stretch a double into a triple early in the game, but you don’t want to get thrown out at 3rd for the first out in a tie game in the 9th inning. Your 3rd base coach should be helping you in these situations as well. If you are striving to be the smartest player on the field, you will more often than not put yourself in the best positions to score.

Conclusion

There are so many poor base runners in the game today that taking these steps to becoming better will set you apart from the rest of your team. Coaches notice when you are working on the little things and sometimes it is as simple as becoming great at the fundamentals: knowing the situation, becoming a better slider and trusting your coaches. 

 

US Sports Martial Arts: Training For Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) - Best Conditioning Techniques and Stamp & Superbon Were STUNNED 😳 Jojo vs. Paez & MORE

 

 

• Author Hubert Mahala

How to Train for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is growing in popularity every day and has been for more than a decade. This has only increased since professional fighting circuits, the UFC and other events started being promoted on television. So it's obvious, then, that people want to learn all about it. The sport is quite a demanding one and the level of success you reach will be dependent upon a few things. Your current physical fitness, the kind of training you get and how well you are conditioned all factor into it. Within this article are a few important tips that you can employ for MMA training.

You need to cultivate the training mindset of matching all you do with what happens in a MMA fight scenario. There are endless possibilities in regard to the hundreds of training exercises available for you to do. It is imperative that you train intelligently, taking your time to do the training properly. If you approach it with a lazy attitude, you will train incorrectly and that is the road to defeat.

You must do exercises that include as many joint movements as possible. You must have strong and flexible joints to do these exercises. Take care of your joints through proper warm up times and stretching. Many of our other articles have gone over core training and why it is important. So when you do MMA fighting, it is critical that you build Rotary core strength. It is all about rotating your core as you engage in any one particular fighting technique. When fighting, and doing any number of techniques, static core strength is absolutely essential to proper delivery. Strength during the fight, as well as endurance, is necessary when you execute this particular move many times. So as not to injure your back or spine, rotary core training needs to be done as carefully as possible.

It is important that anyone who does MMA fighting become comfortable with the basic stance, your proverbial "sweet spot" before the fight begins. You will also need to experiment with finding it and then refining your techniques. Of course, there are two areas of concern when doing this type of fighting. One is on the mat and grappling. The other is standing and fighting. You must be able to smoothly transition into both scenarios from your stance or stances if you have several. Whether you're going down on the mat, or you are striking with power, proper balance is always required. But do not forget that you need to be firmly rooted in your stance, as well.

You can make your difficult mixed martial arts training easier to approach when you get into a groove and don't break it. It's even better if you can view it as a habit that will help you get through your daily training workouts. Then of course maybe you have joined a local MMA club or have a membership in a school. This offers you the chance to practice and test all of the MMA learning and training you have done.

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