06/24/2008 - 04:52
YBG and Training Hard
by Rashad McCants
I love my family and all friends. All glory to GOD.
Here I am…typing to all my fans to show you how much of a nerd I really am. Haha.
YBG IS GROWING, AND COMING TO YOU SOON
Back on May 1st, I started my summer with YBG introductions. There are now seven members of the YBG Team to help me share our vision to the world. Their names are: Michael Moore, James Keith, Barrington Edwards, Giovanni Turnipseed, Rahmeen Underwood, Jarvis Rivers, Sylvester Carver, and of course, myself. Everyone brings something different to the table with special skills, kind of like the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. On this day, we established a movement to inspire all young and gifted children and adults to follow the path of evoultion, to evolve and change negative habits. These eight young black and gifted men are the leaders of the next revolution. We also received samples of our YBG collection, which should be coming soon. We want it to be perfect, and perfection takes time and planning if you want something to last.
GOLF IN MIAMI
We -- the YBG -- recently all went to Florida for Memorial Day weekend. We were all sporting YBG gear, including, hats, shorts, polos, and tee shirts. In Ft. Lauderdale, I kicked it with my main man Mark Doman, who is a head of the AMP sports and management agency. I played like Mr. Woods during a charity fundraising golf tourney hosted by Jay Fiedler of the Miami Dolphins. It was the first time I've ever been in the sun for five hours, never to hit the ball in the direction it was supposed to go. But hey, Tiger has bad days too.
FOCUSED ON HOOPS
My intial plan to workout in LA for a month soon changed after having too much fun in Miami. I decided to stay in Minnesota so that I could stay focused on basketball. It's for the best interest of my team and my contractual situation.
Watching the playoffs I found it hard to sit around and do nothing. Kobe Bryant is inspiration to become a better all-around player. Always been my fav all time player since Michael Jordan. Watching his approach to the game is amazing to see when great is what I inspire to be. Kobe is the next greatest...we work for the greater good....
So, now I'm here in Minnesota, lifting and working on my ball skills to become a more lethal threat on the hardwood. I've watched countless hours of film to understand what can be better in my game to help my team become a playoff contender. I've been with the Wolves for four years now, yet I still need to find my true fit with the team. This past year after working extremely hard to recover from microfracture surgery, I found myself coming of the bench being the sixth man and the second leading scorer. The only bad part about it was that I could have been twice as productive with more minutes. I would have been able to meet my individual goals, we could have won more games, and I'd be on my way to being a respectable player in the NBA.
The road is long to greatness. Now, it's the middle of June and my workouts are, as expected, extremely exhausting. My days consist of early morning workouts, then office work, then NBA 2K8, my fav game ever. They better update me this year, though -- that's not how I shoot. Hahaha.
I plan on going to Jamaica for a charity event where I will be handing out my YBG t-shirts to the little kids there. This trip should be very exciting…..
Till next time!!!
YBG : Loyalty before Royalty
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Love is...........
This is my first time to your website and after reviewing your site, and learning so much more about you, Im a bigger fan now. It's nice that you take time out to write and address your fans.Are you still blogging?
I find your "Writings from Rashad", refreshing, heart felt and thought provoking. I know you are a very busy man, but please continue to bless us with your words of wisdom and your insight.
I love tattoos on a man and yours are simple yet meaningful, I like how you noted what each symbolizes. I have a colored butterfly on the small of my back with a heart around it. My mother passed away in 2002 and she loved butterflies, and my last name is Hart, something special for my mom.
Any updates on the YBG clothing line? I like what it represents, will you have women clothing?
When's your next trip to LA?
I think you are an incredible, gorgeous, and talented young man. May GOD give you all the faith it takes to make your dreams come true. May His love and wisdom always help to guide you on your way.
YBG
I saw your YBG and clicked on it and it said Young, Black, and Gifted young men and women; however, your members are all male. Who is there to appeal to the young women? Not to say that a man or woman can inspire beyonnd gender lines but there is always that connection for a young female to see that females came to eat too. Females these days need to be inspired. They need inspiration and motivation to do more with themselves. Especially now a days where the norm is to have children before even graduating school. So please be sure to accomodate the female youth. I was a troubled teen and found no inspiration but I discovered self-motivation and the will power to do more for myself then the average. I may not be an A-list star, but I am a college student, an american soldier, and over a young (half :-] ) black and gifted female.
"If better is possible, then good is not enough!"
Sasha
neveraverage@gmail.com
http://myspace.com/onleesasha
Wishing Much Success
Rashad,
Wishing you and your YBG team much success. Helping others change their lives for the better will be hard but you'll be blessed for it. Also, hoping for your breakout season in 2008-09. We know you're ready.
Dez Davis
big fan of you and your vision
Wsup Rashad. Just wanted to say I'm a big fan of you and your vision. I've been trying to follow your games here in NY/NJ area but the wolves don't get much love out here lol. You probably get mad fan mail but im just letting you know that you just need to keep working hard and be patient. When i first saw you play at UNC, i fell in love wit your game. You have a very dynamic offensive game and I never seen a scorer in college ball score in the various ways like you have. I just wish the wolves would give u more PT on the court. My advice to you is to be patient. Patience opens doors of opportunity. Sooner or later your time to shine will come. Btw, 2k8 totally messed up on your sig shot. I play the game alot too so I would know lol. I changed your shot to ricky davis's. I don't know, it looks somewhat simiilar. Anyways best of wishes to you and your bright future in the NBA my man. PCE
Achieving Greatness
Rashad -- You are certainly capable of achieving greatness -- and not only on the basketball court. The trade following the draft puts you in a very good position to get more minutes. Continue with the work ethic you had to return to play after your surgery and you will eventually get more minutes. You will be successful. This team will easily double the number of wins it has from last season and you will be a part of it. Have a great summer, but good idea to wear a hat when you're on the golf course. Sue
Keep Focused MAN
You gots to be loving your situation post-draft. I think you have a serious opportunity next year to show your talent and set yourself financially for life. With Marko and Buckner gone, thats 45 minutes of PT. Miller should take most of Antoine Walker's minutes, but either way you've got a golden opportunity. Would of been fun to play with Mayo, but being on the receiving end of some of those Love passes has got its perks.
One word. Focus. Be smart and stay in the gym this summer. You'll have time for fun later. Show the athlete you are and, most importantly, show that you're the type of teammate McHale and GMs througout the League want on their squad. Attitude is everything. This year you need to remember that. Make them love you, even if you have to swallow your pride a few times for appearance sake. Good Luck. Heelz House!
Good work!
Hey Rashad. What's going on? I see that you are training hard this summer. It's really nice to hear that you have been watching a lot of tapes of yourself so you can improve your game. A lot of people on the message boards want you gone because they do not think you will learn how to play on the defensive end. They think that you will always pick up the dumb foul and that is part of the reason why they think you do not get any minutes. I still believe in you though. Heck, if you went 40 minutes a game, you would be averaging the same numbers as Brandon Roy (minus the assist totals because he has the ball in his hands a lot more to fascilitate). I also hope that if the Wolves do pick Mayo (that is the word on the street), Mayo, Foye, & yourself can have a really good three guard rotation. That would be one of the best three guard tandems in the league. Hopefully you have a break-out season because it is your contract year. As you also know, Minnesota does overpay their players to compensate for the cold weather. Hopefully you get to start this year so you can get some respect from other players around the league, I also was extremely dissappointed on how they rated you on NBA Live. They must really think you can't shoot. Hopefully that will change this year though. I want to actually dominate with you against other players on XBOX Live. My XBOX Live membership name is JustinBoe if you want to play some vids. I am really good at all basketball games. I could show you a trick or two. That would be coo - haha.
I like what I'm hearing
Keep up the good work! And LOL at the NBA 2K8 comment. I know what you mean, what the hell kind of jumpshot did they give you? You are almost useless with that thing. You need to contact them and fly down there so they can get your real jumper and tats. Which jump shot in the game best resembles yours man? I think I use kickout or kickflip or something.
"able to meet my individual goals"
Rashad,
You' are a great offensive force. And I think the team played better when you came off the bench to add some spark. Much like Manu Ginobili. I hope you can stride in this role and help the Wolves back to the playoffs! Much love!