Every Basketball team wants to win games, it's never fun for a team to lose and be known for sucking. That I feel like is the exact same for WKU Men's Basketball team also. They just upgrade all their facilities this summer costing them roughly 10 million dollars or so. They did this because they want to win. They want to win the games that count like a NCAA championship. They believe good facilities help improve the players will to perform better and want to do better than normal teams with just regular facilities. WKU has made the NCAA tournament back in 2007 and few times before that. They want this tradition to come back and show that even if they are a smaller D1 school they still have the talent and capability to do just as well as any other team. Dedication and hard work is what these guys put in every week. They push everything they have every practice that way they will have results when game time comes around. Not one of them wants a losing record and not one of them doesn't want to go the March Madness tournament.
Every team has to come together for this dream of winning a championship. This is why the locker room is in a circle so everyone can always look at everyone else and become closer as a whole. If they aren't a whole unit and play like that and have chemistry on the court then they won't play well and have hard time winning any games this year and will just frustrate everyone. Every coach wants the best for this team and athletes that are on here they know they can do some then special. That is why they are here and have done the changes this past summer so WKU basketball will incline to level of teams like UK, UNC, and Duke. To bring this team together even more the coaching staff wants the older guys to help the new freshman out with shooting drills on free time, that way they can be pushed by people who know the game better and have played at this level. The older guys know what it needs to be done and how to push one's self to become better to be able to compete at this level and that is why they have this buddy system with the players.
This photo essay is showing how all the basketball Facilities are used and there for the team to get inspired and have the best equipment so they strive to win a championship. This is the goal every year but with all the renovations that WKU did on the facilities this past summer it should push the players even more this year than ever. The photos start out as the team logo to going through the locker room, to the players' lounge, to the weight room, protein shake bar, to the history of the team and all it has represented throughout the years since the first team in 1915.
The Western Kentucky Basketball team is like a brotherhood. They always have each others back and will never let one down, that way they will strive to win. With winning will come chance at championships which is the goal of every member of the team, ether from past of present members of the organization. Who doesn't who plays sports want to be on the court, or field on that last game of the season at the chance to say your team is the best and that you are the champions. I don't know anyone who would put all the hard work, suffering, and time into it wouldn't.
This is the place where it all starts! The mental readiness, to go out and seek for a great practice, or to go beat the opponent that they are facing that day. A lot of preparation has to be put into because the game of basketball isn't just about all the practices that are held or how long they are. Its over half of the game is mental. If a guy gets mad at himself for missing a shot and wont forget about it then he wont be able to make any shots until they forget about it and calm down. Plus while being mad you seem to not play as careful and cautious as you usually do so you have a great chance of fouling and giving up chances for the other team to take at scoring points.
These lockers are made so nicely because the head coach feels if the facilities and equipment they use are nice then the team will player better because they have higher confidence on themselves. It makes them feel like they are playing for more then just the season but self of pride for all the things WKU has giving them to become a championship team again. These lockers have components for shoes, clothing, has personal safes for electronics and walletts to get locked up in, and also each one of them has a padded top to the bottom crate that way they can use them as seats during half times or between practices.
The players lounge is one of high class. It might look pointless to have 4 TV's on the same wall but when players come in to watch tv show they can each listen to there own TV of one of the four that are already on. They have this so they can clear their minds of things bothering them and just relax, take a nap if they really need to before a class, practice, or maybe even a game. People who chill in here also get a bounding time and get to figure there team mates out. You can figure a lot out by watching what kind of TV show they are watching and how they are reacting towards it.
This is where the Hill Toppers start and improve the team. A team can only be so good with athletic ability, but they also need to be in shape. A championship team needs to work out and be some of the strongest members in the game. When a center is going up and has four people hitting him he has to have the strength to push through them so he can still make the shot as well as drawing the foul at the same time. That is why WKU works out every day doing different exercises like bench, squats, power cleans, dumbbell lifts, endurance training, ab work outs and running. All these put together help build a strong player as well as a strong team. This is the goal for Western and why they have such a nice weight room.
Stretching Stations! This is a must before every work out, practice, or game. You never want to go into any physical activity with cold muscles or you run the chance of getting hurt by pulling a muscle or tearing a tendon. WKU makes every player stretch for 25 mins before every activity they do no matter what. If some one was to tear or pull something, like a MCL or quad muscle, they would be out for at least couple weeks and no team can loose some of there star performers to some then that could have been prevented and kept them in the action to help build the team as whole to win games.
Protein shakes and the fruit bar. It is a must to have one because during any kind of work out your muscles are being stretched out which is how you get stronger and how your muscles grow. They tear and then grow back together filling in where they were torn at. Protein shakes and fruits help these give nutrients back to your muscles so they grow back faster and you wont feel nearly as much soreness. The soreness is from your muscles growing back and protein is what helps build it back. So the more protein you put into your body, the better. With this increase help in muscle rebuild after every work out it helps players become better quicker.
This is why Westerns Basketball team works so hard because all the great players who came before who had the same mentality to win championships and make a difference to show they had it in them. There has been many great basketball players go pro because the team pushed them to work and strive for the main goal to win a championship. Some of these players are Courtney Lee who plays for the New York Nets, Jeremy Evans who plays for the Utah Jazz. These are just some recent players who the players this year know personally and want to show that they have the same heart and dedication that they had to be a legend.
This just proves it that Westerns main goal every year is to win championships. They have over 6 cases just like this from all the years they have won since WKU started their basketball program back in 1915. Players today want the same as all the previous players who have won these championships and with all the major teams out there like UK, UNC, Duke, Alabama, and Tennessee. They want to show WKU still has it in them to win a national championship and it doesn't take some huge power house of a school to be the only one to win them. That is why these cases of trophies and rings are placed in the locker room where every player has to see them everyday when they are in there.
Western Kentucky University has toughness, pride, and teamwork. That is why they put in the 2 a days till first game starts up at beginning of November. Toughness is shown by all the physical practices they have to endure by blocking out going through the pain. Pride is to always try your best and help improve yourself as well as your team. If one person fails then the whole team fails. You have to hold every one accountable to succeed, because you are only as strong as your weakest link. Teamwork, everyone has to get along and not be selfish. If your selfish and ball hog, then most of the time you will end up taking bad shots or making a move to were the ball will get stolen. This causing a turn over when you could of passed it to the open guy who could of scored and helped the team keep moving in the path to win the game. With these three elements it will help WKU head in the path to win championships.
Closing
This essay was a different one in the aspect of having the photos and captions to go along with them. I picked the photos I did because I work around the basketball team every day and I see what they do to become better. That is why I took the photos in the locker room and lounge and why it plays such a big impact on the team. And how it was such a must need for this team to help improve them. When talking about these photos in the captions that is why it wasn't hard for me to realize what I wanted to say because I knew what needed to be said because what I said is the truth why things where done the way they were and how things are ran now. All from the way the players act in the locker room toward the weight room to get better, even to protein shakes they drink and the tradition that flows through the building. It won't ever go away now and will continue to grow stronger and stronger as the new freshmen learn about it, because there is 8 new freshman this year who are new to everything.
During creating this I knew exactly want I wanted to talk about and that was how Western is changing their facilities to help the teams become championship teams. That is why I dedicated every photo I took in showing how this was done and taking different angles on the photos and styles to show emphasis on some photos and less on others. As an example one that means a lot I took up close and made it big on the screen, and ones that were less important I stood back and just took the whole picture just making sure everything was in there that I needed to show my point on that photo.
While doing this photo essay and asking questions to some of the coaches and players I learned a lot about the program that I did not realize by just working around and not always having that first hand experience. It isn't just a sport and team that plays together but it is just like a fraternity, it is a brotherhood which everyone on the team always has each other and wants the best and to help each other to become the best player they can. They care how they do on school work, if they are passing, or on helping them on classes they are struggling with if they can help. Myself learn a lot also, like if I was in the team I don't know if I could handle all the pressure from the school work and trying to do so well during practices. I couldn't keep it all under control because they are always so busy and I never see them have any time to do any homework or time to study. If they can do it though it makes me think I can do better in my school work because they are all passing with b's and a's and I have couple c's. So I'm a start working on my time management get my school together just like the players who are also focused on winning and becoming a championship team.
