ALWAYS WORKING

Former NBA player John Lucas is down in Houston training players.  He’s one of the best at Skill Development.  Here is his website. I have heard so many good things about his work, I plan on making a trip to Houston this summer to observe him.

Came across a good article this morning from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer written by Terry Pluto on Cavaliers player Lebron James and his workout/work ethic during the off-season;  Great read! Who says superstars don’t work?

“LeBron is driven to win a championship,” said Jent. “Most people have no idea how hard he works. He wanted to start last week, but I told him to rest his body. Let’s start after July 4th.”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

BELLY UP

One night back in the 1980’s I was watching the Phoenix Suns on CBS against the Los Angeles Lakers.  The tip-off started at 11:30 est. right after our local news and with us being situated on the East Coast, that was pretty late to be watching a basketball game.

John MacLeod was the Suns head coach and the late Dennis Johnson was the point guard where he spent 3 seasons.

CBS always had a guy sitting on the sidelines in front of the scorer’s table with a huge camera and you could always pick up the coaches and sometimes the players voices.  And of course you had the great Brent Musburger announcing the game.

“BELLY UP, BELLY UP!” MacLeod shouted out to Johnson that night as another Johnson, Magic, brought the ball up the floor for the Lakers getting LA into their half-court offense.

On cue, DJ stepped up and began to pressure Magic.

Players today don’t seem to pick up their man anymore like DJ use to.  When he was traded from the Suns to the Boston Celtics he led the C’s to two NBA titles.   Just like in Phoenix DJ would pick his man up close to the time-line and ‘belly-up’.  Being a huge Knicks fan back in the day I would sit in the stands and watch Johnson pressure the heck out of guys like Rory Sparrow, Edmund Sherrod and Fred Cofield; making it very difficult to run Hubie Brown’s offense.

Point of pick-up is different with all coaches.  Some want the pressure, some sit back and wait; it’s all in the philosophy and strategy against certain players.  Match-ups are key, you don’t want to pressure a great point guard and have them blow by you.    Even in pick-up games today that I observe-kids never check their man early.   Former NBA players that thrived on picking their man up early were Sidney Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Michael Ray Richardson, Joe Dumars,  Gary Payton and even the great one, Michael Jordan at times would get out on at the 3-pt line and pressure his man with the ball.  Ball pressure is a lost art…or not being emphasized enough.

DJ will go down as one of the greatest defensive guards to ever play the game; he was a guy who liked to get physical.  He played the game hard and played it the right way.  Magic and George Gervin both said that he played them the toughest.   If that’s not enough, Larry Bird said DJ was the best player he ever played with.  “I still got 30 but it was a tough 30.”  The Iceman once said.

I find it hard to believe that Dennis Johnson is not a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

CLEO HILL

Tonight while meeting Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines’ son, Clarence, Cleo Hill a former player at Winston-Salem popped into my head.   I recall seeing a piece on TV about him and reading an article on a guy who scored 26 points in his first regular season NBA game.  But things didn’t last long for him.  Here’s an article I found on him.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

GETTING IT DONE

Thanks to True Hoop, I came across this article from the City Paper. net on a former Temple basketball player waiting for the draft.  Just goes to show what a little dedication, hard work and persistence can do for a player.

If Dionte Christmas doesn’t make an NBA team, it won’t be the first time he hasn’t made the cut. When he was 13, he couldn’t even make the Oak Lane Wildcats.

I love stories on players being cut only to work their tails off to bounce back and turn into a very good player.  It takes a special person to accept rejection and get back after it.

For most kids that age, being told they weren’t as good as their friends would have been enough to put an early end to their career. For Dionte it was motivation. He gave up video games and started coming to practice early every day, to get in more jump shots. The next year he made the team.

Love the commitment!  Dionte gave up video games!  How about showing up to practice early!  Don’t be on time, be early!

By the time he was 15, he had improved enough to meetJohn Hardnett, the Philly basketball guru. Hardnett, Sonny Hill’s heir apparent, mentors nearly every good-to-great player growing up in Philadelphia. His workouts are the stuff of city legend, frequented by pros from across the country, and always provide a chance for local preps to show and prove. Christmas was just barely good enough to get into the gym. “At that particular time he was not a very good basketball player,” Hardnett remembers. “He wasn’t a guy you imagined to be where he is now.” He was, Coach Hardnett says, “an average basketball player.”

Partly this was because Christmas wasn’t an exceptional natural athlete. But what he lacked in athleticism he made up for in time on the court. Inspired by seeing pros like Aaron McKie, Cat Mobley and Alvin Williams up close, Dionte became a gym rat. “I threw my older guys at him and suddenly he was always the first one in gym,” Hardnett remembers. “Once he met those guys, I never had to say anything to him,” his father agrees.

On Fridays, Hardnett used to run workouts at Mallery playground in Mount Airy until almost 11 at night, and then hold practices the next morning at 9. For most players, the regime was almost impossible. “Dionte was always there at 8:30,” Hardnett remembers, “shooting.”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

DOLLAR BILL

My favorite NBA team while growing up on the streets of Brooklyn, New York was the New York Knicks.  Red Holzman was their coach and he preached to play the right way and always hit the open man.   One of their forwards, Bill Bradley put together an excellent book that all players/coaches/parents should own.  ‘Values of the Game’ is a must read for all.  I look at it almost every day.

There are excellent passages by Bradley;  stories and examples of the values of the game that should never be neglected.  Bradley was a player who played the right way and really bought into the team concept.   The Princeton graduate has written other books too but ‘Values of the Game’ to me is his best.

Here’s a review from a customer via Amazon.com

In this inspiring book, Bradley demonstrates the values that have helped shape him as a person, and enabled him to achieve excellence. The book is a colorful and creative collection of eye-catching basketball photos interlaced with chapters on values of the game.

In describing ideals that have helped him and other champions to succeed both on and off the court, he encourages us all to pursue excellence in our own lives- whatever our life circumstances may be.

He names ten core values that he has found meaningful in his development as a player and a person. They are: passion, discipline, selflessness, respect, perspective, courage, leadership, responsibility, resilience and imagination.

Bill Bradley has demonstrated here that he is truly a man of the people. He wants to encourage every American to celebrate the gifts, abilities and values that give them meaning and hope in their lives.

I highly recommend this book to everyone with the courage to reach beyond their grasp and strive for excellence in their lives. The pictures and stories are great, and the essays are even better. Pick it up today, and also, be sure to make your vote count in November- your opinion matters and deserves to be heard!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

GREATEST ASSIST EVER

Maurice Cheeks may not be talked about when discussing the greatest point guards in the history of the game; but today while researching him I thought about all the times he kicked ass on the court for 11 years with the Doc, Charles Barkley and Andrew Toney.  Cheeks helped in leading the 76ers during their run in the 1980’s.  (He played his last four years with the Knicks, Nets, Hawks and Spurs)  What came to mind was while he was the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers and he gave a much-needed assist to a performer before a game.

To me, Cheeks was a guy who his teammates loved playing with.  He was unselfish, defended and pushed the ball in transition.  In a day where players rarely pick up their man full-court, Cheeks always hounded his man bringing the ball up the floor from baseline to baseline.  I’ll never forget watching him at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks.  Even though he played for the enemy, we respected his game.   I was able to get his autograph one day before a Knicks game.  My friends and I were outside the Statler hotel, right across the street from the Garden and when Cheeks came out he was real cool to us.

Former NBA coach John Killilea once said of Cheeks:  “He doesn’t try to lead a team, he directs them.”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

HONEYCOMB HIDEOUT

Great piece written on the late Gus Johnson by way of Jock-bio.com

I didn’t realize he was high school teammates with Nate Thurmond!

Take all the things that make up an NBA superstar—talent, tenacity, intelligence, imagination and style—and put them together. What’s the result? Michael Jordan. And what happens if you take away good health? You get Gus Johnson.

To those who saw Gus and Jordan in their primes, bum knees were all that separated these two stars. With apologies to Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson and Julius Erving, the man known as “Honeycomb” for the sweetness of his game was MJ before MJ—the prototype of the modern American basketball superstar. A generation before Jordan, Gus was the man who believed he could fly.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

NO REBOUNDS NO RINGS

I actually once heard Pat Riley say ‘no rebounds, no rings’.  To me, it’s true.  If you can’t rebound, you will not win many ball games.  We all talk about what makes a good scorer, defender, passer but what  makes a good rebounder?  Why do some ‘bigs’ play a lot of minutes and only pull down a couple of boards?

Toughness, courage, strength, heart, hard work, tenacity, competitor and willingness to pursue ball…all traits necessary to become a good rebounder.  

Here’s my top 4 rebounders of all-time.

1-Wilt Chamberlain

2-Bill Russell

3-Moses Malone

4-Dennis Rodman

Here’s some thoughts on rebounding by Keith Ellis from the APBR.org forum.

First off, height does not make one a great Rebounder. Wilt Chamberlain too often is scoffed at for incredible Rebounding as a 7-footer, but way too many examples of Russells, Unselds, Danielses, Cages, Truck Robinsons, Barkleys, Ben Wallaces, & Dennis Rodmans exist to swallow the story that Wilt’s height awarded him caroms on the cheap. Simple girth doesn’t get boards, either, as the gargantuan Shaquille O’Neal has learned. 

Chamberlain’s the greatest Rebounder. He snagged 55 boards on Russell! Moses Malone follows Wilt & Russ. Rodman’s an easy pick for fourth, w/ the proviso that nobody in earlier times would’ve let Rodman concentrate solely on Rebounding while non-Offending to such an extreme. Rodman playing his famed game in the Sixties & Seventies would’ve been named Clyde Lee. 

Fifth? I like Hakeem, who exploded on the Off glass early on before settling into becoming the league’s best Defensive Rebounder before settling even further into becoming more of a scoring specialist a la Jabbar while never slacking on the boards as Kareem eventually did. Rebounding needs rhyme & reason as much as any other skill. Rodman-esque Rebounding for rebounds’-sake leads to the 1995 Spurs.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

SIMPLY A WINNER

Bill Russell, the greatest winner in the history of team sports has written a book about his relationship with his former coach Red Auerbach, ‘Red and Me’.  I listened to a great interview a few weeks ago with Russell and Jim Rome.  At the conclusion, Russell asked Rome to do him a favor and from then on, to always introduce him as ‘the former captain of the Boston Celtics-and not Bill Russell the Hall of Fame center’.  I thought that was amazing!  Russell later explained that it was more important to be the captain of the Celtics than to be in the Hall of Fame. 

Bill Bradley, former NBA player writes the review in today’s New York Times.

If I could pick any player in history to start a franchise in the National Basketball Association, I would pick Bill Russell. He was the smartest player ever to play the game and the epitome of a team leader. 

RED AND ME

My Coach, My Lifelong Friend

By Bill Russell with Alan Steinberg

Illustrated. 187 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $24.99

 

 

 

Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

MISS YOU MUCH

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and was a big New York Knicks fan.  I attended my first game at Madison Square Garden when I was a little boy.  I’ll never forget it.  I idolized Red Holzman and his team.  They played the right way.  They are also one of the last championship teams to have a starting five that hailed from small colleges.

Like many other young kids playing ball in every schoolyard around the country, I dreamed of one day suiting up for the Knicks.

Memories of waiting for players after Knicks games in the snow, cold and sometimes rain getting their sneakers and practice gear will stay with me forever.   What will also stay with me forever is the players and coaches who have recently passed away.

Randy Smith, Wayman Tisdale, Marvin Webster, Howard Komives, Norm Van Lier, Nick Weatherspoon, Glen Gondrezick, Chuck Daly and Pete Newell.

Smith was one of the fastest guards with the ball in transition.

Tisdale was a happy go lucky power forward who had great moves in the post.

Webster was nicknamed ‘The Human Eraser’ because he was such a good shot-blocker.

Komives played for the Knicks could really shoot the ball.  He led the nation in scoring while at Bowling Green.

Van Lier was a crafty point guard who played for the Bulls in the 70’s.  Nickname was ‘Stormin Normin’.

Weatherspoon had ‘Spoon’ written on the back of his jersey.  I used to love hearing the PA announcer say his name after he scored a basket.   “Spoooooooooooooooonnnnnnnn!”

Gondrezick came from UNLV and played the game hard.  I remember getting an autograph from him on 7th avenue and following him down into the Subway.  Cool dude they called ‘Gondo’.

Daly was an amazing coach.  Won back-to-back titles with the Pistons.

Newell was the father of footwork.  A great Skill development coach who I had the pleasure of meeting him for lunch and received the greatest clinic ever!

I understand death is inevitable.  But losing these fine men remind me of what they brought to the game and each guy brings back great memories.  My good friend Larry D said to me a few weeks ago, ‘death reminds us of how to live”.

Here is a solid forum I was invited to a few weeks ago.  Sign up and talk about the former players and coaches you grew up watching.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com