Basketball Warm-up

2011 NCAA Basketball Rankings

2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - Week 1 (Nov. 15)

Year:

2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03

Week: Preseason | 1
Poll:

AllESPN/USA TodayAssociated PressESPN.com Power RankingsInsideRPI Rankings

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AP Top 25
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Duke (58)	1-0	1,617
2	Michigan State (7)	1-0	1,558
3	Kansas State	1-0	1,422
4	Ohio State	1-0	1,379
5	Pittsburgh	3-0	1,325
6	Villanova	1-0	1,197
7	Kansas	1-0	1,178
8	North Carolina	1-0	1,021
9	Florida	1-0	1,017
10	Syracuse	2-0	967
11	Gonzaga	2-0	911
12	Kentucky	1-0	887
13	Illinois	3-0	834
14	Purdue	1-0	772
15	Missouri	0-0	685
16	Butler	1-0	626
17	Baylor	1-0	587
17	Washington	1-0	587
19	Memphis	1-0	540
20	Georgetown	1-0	333
21	Temple	2-0	289
22	Virginia Tech	1-0	271
23	Brigham Young	1-0	228
24	Tennessee	1-0	194
25	San Diego State	1-0	162

• Others receiving votes: Texas 130, Wisconsin 113, West Virginia 43, Georgia 42, Minnesota 41, Florida State 37, UNLV 21, Wichita State 20, Richmond 18, Vanderbilt 16, North Carolina State 9, Connecticut 8, Colorado 7, Arizona 6, Mississippi State 6, Murray State 6, UCLA 4, Xavier 4, Utah State 3, Ohio 3, Maryland 3, Portland 1, New Mexico 1, Appalachian State 1

• Dropped from rankings: West Virginia 6, New Mexico 8, Wisconsin 16, Vanderbilt 21, Richmond 24, Xavier 25

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ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Duke (29)	1-0	773
2	Michigan State (2)	1-0	743
3	Kansas State	1-0	676
4	Pittsburgh	3-0	656
5	Ohio State	1-0	648
6	Kansas	1-0	568
7	Villanova	1-0	557
8	North Carolina	1-0	476
9	Purdue	1-0	475
10	Florida	1-0	456
11	Syracuse	2-0	441
12	Gonzaga	2-0	434
13	Kentucky	1-0	433
14	Missouri	0-0	362
15	Washington	1-0	348
16	Illinois	3-0	335
17	Baylor	1-0	308
18	Butler	1-0	267
19	Memphis	1-0	209
20	Temple	2-0	136
21	Georgetown	1-0	128
22	Texas	2-0	110
23	Tennessee	1-0	92
24	Virginia Tech	1-0	82
25	Wisconsin	1-0	78

• Others receiving votes: San Diego State 72, Brigham Young 62, Minnesota 30, Florida State 17, UCLA 15, UNLV 14, West Virginia 14, Wichita State 9, Xavier 8, Vanderbilt 8, Mississippi State 8, Texas A&M 7, Richmond 6, New Mexico 4, Utah State 4, Georgia 4, Marquette 2, Saint Mary's 2, North Carolina State 1, Northwestern 1, Maryland 1, Murray State 1, Dayton 1, Arizona 1

• Dropped from rankings: West Virginia 3, Xavier 14, New Mexico 16, Maryland 18, Saint Mary's 19, Brigham Young 22, Texas A&M 25

• Complete Rankings »

Find Your Zone

Dr. Rob Bell
Ball State University

There are instances within all of sports where everything is perfect. These are times when there are no thoughts, movements are effortless, and time is transcended. Csíkszentmihályi (1990) characterized this state as “flow,” although it has become popularized by the more common name of being “in the zone.” It is essentially losing oneself in the moment of our activity.
Throughout the history of sports, there have been numerous examples of athletes being in the zone. A perfect illustration of this state was Michael Jordan during the 1992 NBA championship series against the Portland Trailblazers, hitting seven 3-pointers in a row and scoring 35 points in the first half. Jordan was so shocked by his performance that after his seventh 3-pointer, he just threw up his hands as to say “I can’t explain it.”
David Toms also epitomized the “zone” or “flow” during the 2005 Accenture match play. During the week, he hit 74% of greens in regulation, made 37 birdies, two eagles, and only four bogeys throughout six matches and 118 holes of play. During the final 36-hole match against Chris Dimarco, Dimarco played the match 3-under par despite losing the match being 6 holes down with 5 to play. In fact, Toms at one point held a 9-up lead with 10 holes to play. Toms play epitomized losing oneself in the moment; “I can’t explain why I felt like I did all week,” Toms said “I just felt very, very comfortable with myself and the golf that was in front of me. I don’t know that I’ve ever really felt like that in an event.” (LA Times, Feb 28, 2005)
The beauty of this flow state is that it is not limited to athletic endeavors; painters, musicians, writers, surgeons, and chess masters have described similar feelings. We can even encounter “flow” during everyday life. Whether we are totally immersed in conversation, shaving, or daily chores, a lot of activities present the opportunity to experience “flow.” The key ingredients that provide the best opportunity to experience our zone are to structure our activities accordingly.
To work toward flow state, we must merge our actions and awareness. The universal experience for the zone is that our performance becomes automatic. Everything is so effortless that we do not even recognize our total concentration on the task at hand. However, since lapses in concentration can hinder these states, we must learn to eliminate outside distractions, self-critiquing, and/or thinking about the outcome. Here are a few ideas to help:

• Eliminate outside distractions such as cell phones or iPods. It is easier to focus on the task at hand without these devices.
• Have clear goals that balance our skill level with the challenge. If we set too high a challenge, then we will become anxious, and if we set too low a challenge then boredom will result and we won’t improve.
• Approach every practice as an opportunity to improve. Avoid self-critiquing yourself with language like” I messed up again”, or “I can’t get this right.” Instead, view every moment as a challenge to improve.

4 Ways to Improve Your Mental Game

                

Want to shoot better? Then you might be surprised at how much of your game is mental.
For instance, if you imagine yourself missing shot after shot, how do you feel? Pretty lousy. And, chances are very high that you're going to do exactly what you imagined: you're going to miss shot after shot.
Then, your performance spirals downward because the more shots you miss, the worse you shoot.
So, let's look at how to improve your mental game with these basketball shooting tips that will help you shoot better.

Stop Thinking

Practice is the time to think about the mechanics of your shooting, not during a game.
When it comes to your games, don't think about your shot, and don't pick apart the mechanics of what you're doing. This will only trip you up.
Just shoot.

Stop Being Afraid of Failing

Did you know that even the pros miss their shots more than half the time?
Yep. More than half.
Stop being terrified of missing your shots. Everyone misses.
Fear causes anxiety. Anxiety causes you to tense up. And then you're going to miss even more shots.
So, relax. Realize that if your shooting game isn't on, you can still contribute to the team in other ways like basketball defense. It all comes out in the wash.

Focus On Your Zone

You've probably been in The Zone before, right? You know, when your shots seemed effortless, and playing was just plain fun.
When you're in The Zone you feel like you're flying. So, make an effort to get in The Zone for games. Focus on clearing your mind of clutter. Make a list of everything you need to do (school work, things at work, etc.) so you don't have to think about remembering it all during the game.
This will keep your mind focused on playing, and nothing else.

Relax

When your mind is relaxed, your body is relaxed, and when your body is relaxed, your shots are looser and more accurate.
So, make a real effort to relax before games.
How? Well, you can try meditation. Don't laugh; even Kobe Bryant meditates before his games.
To meditate, sit in a comfortable position in a quiet place. Close your eyes, relax your mind, and just focus on breathing in and out. That's it.
Do this for up to 20 minutes. Normally 10 minutes will be fine, but if you're getting really relaxed then keep at it!
Meditation can work wonders for your mindset before a game, so don't be afraid to try this technique.