July 17, 2017 at 2:02 p.m.
Catching up with Lemmens Bros. at camp
Catching up with Lemmens Bros. at camp
Bound by brotherhood and a love of basketball, the RHS alums were back on the court last week leading their Complete Package basketball camp at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
The camp was for boys entering grades 5-9 with an emphasis on creating more well-rounded basketball players. The brothers also put on the camp last month at Wausau West. Derek Lemmens said there were roughly 100 participants between the two day-and-a-half camps.
The River News caught up with the Lemmens brothers before last Thursday's camp session to talk about the objectives of the camp and how the brothers feel the camp will help their respective varsity programs in the future.
River News: How has the turnout been and what have you worked on during camp?
Derek Lemmens: Turnout's been good. Like I said, we had 44 participants here - and those are good numbers - because we don't want this huge number where kids aren't getting a lot of reps. I think this is a really nice number to work with. Kids can get a lot of reps and they can also get adequate rest in between those reps.
We just really work on the entire game. We said "complete package." You have to be able to perform in all aspects of basketball - defense, rebounding. You have responsibilities in all those areas, so we really want to work on all those areas.
Nate Lemmens: Like Derek said, I think the number is good and, going off the whole complete (package) thing, when me and Derek thought of this: 1) it was a way for us to work together and 2) we just thought there was a need of trying to make the more complete basketball player that we think is kind of, I don't know, fading away as far as kids seem to be good at one or two things and then have struggles in the other areas. So we're just trying to address that and hopefully teach the kids how to play the game and (drive them) to really want to expand on their game.
It's been good. Wausau was good and now I think Rhinelander has been even better in some areas. It's been fun building off of it. Each year we try to add something new to the table and improve any way we can.
River News: How do your coaching styles mesh to help create the learning environment for this camp?
NL: I think our philosophies are very similar. Obviously, offensively and defensively, we may do some different things but our overall outlook on basketball is very similar and we're very compatible in that way as far as how we think about the game and the way we think the game should be played.
We really mesh well. And we're brothers, so we enjoy hanging out with each other and that sort of thing. I think it just goes hand-in-hand - the basketball piece and the friendship piece - and it's a good way for us to spend some time together and do the thing we love, that's basketball.
DL: We're both extremely competitive and we want to see our players be extremely competitive. We want intensity and we want guys to be focused. That's the way we believe that basketball should be played on an organized level. If you want to play organized basketball, you should have a competitiveness about you. You should have an intensity about you. We believe in the importance of that mindset and also just our love for the fundamentals. That's what it all comes down to.
The fundamentals are missing in so many things. They see the finished product when they watch it on TV with the Steph Currys and the moves that they make. Those moves are made up, when you break it down, of the fundamentals. They've mastered that and that's what allows them to do that. We want kids to understand the importance of those basics. Like (Nate) said, we both have very similar personalities. Sometimes it's bad cop, bad cop, but that's why we bring in guys like (RHS assistant coach Chad) Bolkema in here. They can be the gentle guys that really build them back up after, sometimes, we get after them a bit.
RN: How many of the participants are Rhinelander or Wausau West kids and how does this camp serve as an investment in the future of your respective programs?
DL: I would think, between the two schools, we're probably looking at 75 percent of our kids being from our programs. I like that. I love seeing our kids in this because, not only does it let us continue to work with them, but it lets them understand and learn our philosophy and our concepts. By varsity year my goal is I'm not spending half the time (focusing) on the fundamentals like we are right now. Instead we're working on some advanced things. We'll always visit the fundamentals, but can we really master these where we're just reviewing them by varsity and not teaching them again.
NL: With how we started the camp, me and Derek were kind of in similar situations where - as much tradition as Rhinelander has - he still had to build a program. There was still a need there. I'm in the same boat. We're trying to build Wausau West. Being able to have this camp and get our kids to spend another day and a half or three days getting better at the game of basketball only helps our programs. They're hearing the same voice and the same terminology as we preach in our high school camps and all that. I think it benefits our program. I think it benefits our kids and, again, we're just trying to build that competitive mindset and that dedication to the fact that they want to make the sacrifices that it takes, not to be a college basketball player or anything, but just to become a solid basketball player, to want to compete and have an investment in it so when they get to the next level. Like Derek said, you're not going back to square one. You're just continuing to build off what they already have in their arsenal.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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