ACROSS THE WATER

Part of a player’s development is having to continue their playing career in another country after their college career comes to an end here in the states.  Playing overseas is common for many American born players if they want to make a living and possibly improving and coming back to play in the NBA.  Here’s a story on Michael Byers-Dawson playing pro ball in Iran.  The Star-Telegram has the story.

“They have the wildest fans I’ve ever seen,” Byars-Dawson said. “I’ve been to a soccer game in Buenos Aires and I thought they were wild. But nothing like those fans in Gorgan. “The Iranian assistant coaches told me not to worry about it. They said it was normal in the city. It was kind of strange, but I wasn’t worried too much because they were puny little guys.”

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

DECISION TIME

Life is full of decisions; we make good ones and bad ones every day.  In basketball, a high school player has to make an important decision that may impact their life in terms of choosing a college to attend for the next four years.

Do you choose the bigger school that gets all the exposure but you will have to battle for playing time or do you settle down at a smaller school and catapult that school to a possible championship?

Kind of like the old expression, ‘Big fish in a little pond‘ or ‘Small fish in a big pond‘?

Found a great story in the New York Times on a female basketball player, Jessica McEntee  from Flushing, Queens who decided to stay close to home to play her college ball at a NYU.

“I loved everything about N.Y.U. before I got here, and I love everything about it since being here,” McEntee said. “I really made the right decision.”

The coaching staff in the West Village loves her.

“She showed us guts, she showed us perseverance, she showed us mental toughness, she showed us physical toughness,” said Quinn, who said having McEntee on her team was like having an extension of the coaching staff on the court. “You ask her to do something, she figures it out. She does it immediately. She learns, she changes, she adapts.”

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PLAY THE RIGHT WAY! 

POP MUSIK

I was sent this article by a coach.  Very, very interesting.  A player, Chris Webber refusing to do what the coach, Jim O’Brien says.  The Canadian press lets us know.

“Webber didn’t practise at all that year prior to coming to us,” O’Brien said. “He didn’t practise at all the previous six weeks. I think he was just at the point where he didn’t necessarily feel where he was in need of practice, or could practise, or couldn’t practise and play at the same time.”

Now, the disturbing part.

O’Brien said he wanted to actively use Webber, who had lost some mobility and agility after microfracture knee surgery, in the low post to open up shots for three-point threat Kyle Korver. “He said, ‘Coach, I don’t do the low-post thing anymore,”‘ O’Brien recalled. “We just made a major trade to bring in this (six-foot-ten) guy and he said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Yes, you do.”‘

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY! 

TOLD YA SO…

If you are a regular reader of Play The Right Way blog, you know I really like to stress the little things.

A couple of days ago I touched on the importance of ‘getting back on defense’. A lot of basketball people, or so-called “know it all’s” like to focus on certain aspects of the game (I.E., shooting, dribbling). Or they rave about their “workouts” with so-called stars and how they shoot 7,500 jump-shots a day; blah, blah, blah.

But folks, there are a lot MORE areas players need to work on in order to become a complete player.

North Carolina men’s basketball team lost to Maryland yesterday and coach Roy Williams touched on his players lack of ability to get back on defense. David Glenn of WRAL.com has the story.

“During a couple of possessions in the second half, I was really mad because I didn’t think we sprinted back. I didn’t think we got involved and got back the way we did,” Williams said. “We had one time two guys give me the tired signal running back on defense. That should never happen. If you’re going to be tired, tell me on offense, don’t tell me as you’re running back and the other team’s laying it up on the other end.”

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

TOO TOUGH?

Eddie Sutton has taken over at USF and he’s trying to get his players to ‘play the right way’.  SF gate.com has the piece.

Sutton is trying to accelerate the process by holding practices twice a day for the past two weeks while the school has been in intersession. Players start their basketball days at about 9:30 a.m. and don’t leave until noon. They get a chance to grab a bite to eat and shower before heading back to another practice at 3:30 p.m., followed by weight training and then a film session. They don’t leave until 7 p.m. Quezada likens the load to going to class for seven straight hours. Class, however, might be easier than learning under Sutton’s strict style.

Be careful Coach Sutton, some people may think you are spending too much time with your players.  They may feel you’re too tough on them.  They feel college students should play other sports, socialize with others, maybe hold down a job?

But, I’m with you coach, work them, teach them, drill them, discipline them, best of all…Get them to PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

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Kevin Armstrong from SI.Com on Samardo Samuels.

The funny thing about his Jamaican memories is that his peers used to laugh at him. All elbows and jawbone, he couldn’t do a single pushup. The Muscett High team was in its first year, but Samuels’ weakness was most noticeable. When they did pushups, teammates laughed, saying, “Look, man, he cannot even do one! He has no strength!” He wanted to quit, but his father, Rohan, who owns a taxi company on the island, lectured him on pride. His mother, Jacqueline, had already bought him a pair of sneakers. “I couldn’t let her money go to waste,” Samuels says.

So he worked. At night, in the privacy of his home, he would do pushups, first 10, then 20, all the way up to 70. Clumsy and uncoordinated, he could not catch the ball. The only thing rougher than his game was the court he played on. Unpaved and rocky, a special skill was needed to dribble the ball and have it bounce back to you. He and his teammates, dressed in their school socks and shoes, would run three miles twice a week to find a playable surface with a rim. In time, they captured the national Under 16 title. After which, the school soon invested in rims with backboards. One day after school, though, Johnson returned to find a rim on the ground. Samuels had been there. “It was a dunk contest with a $50 prize,” says Samuels. “I wanted the money, but I landed on my butt. That hurt.”

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PLAY THE RIGHT WAY! 

 

GET BACK!

You hear the coach shout it out often, “GET BACK, GET BACK!” It’s usually when their team misses or makes a shot or turns it over.

It’s transition defense!

Charlotte.com has a piece on NC State preparing for their game against North Carolina.  Wolfpack team member Brandon Costner on what they need to do.

“That’s the biggest part — transition defense,” Costner said. “Run back as fast as you can and match up with your man before they get an opportunity to get into their early offense.”

How many times do you see offensive teams gain control of the ball and start the fastbreak to the other end of the floor.  Do you ever notice how much faster the team with the ball runs the floor? The team getting back on defense is always much slower.

Why is that?

A player misses a shot, they get down on themselves and the transition back down the floor is slow. A player turns the ball over, and they pout or feel sorry for themselves.  For a lot of players, defense is not a high priority, especially transition defense.
Every player on the floor should always SPRINT back on defense!

Observe the energy exerted when the players on offense run down court with the ball as opposed to the guys getting back on defense.  I bet you the team with the ball will be running faster.  Out of all the players in transition, I bet you more guys on offense are sprinting.
The next time you are getting back on defense, sprint as hard as you can.  Match up with your man, locate the ball, stopping the ball or slowing it down by forcing the ball handler to change direction, and always talk, talk, talk.  Knowing where the ball is might be the most important aspect of transition defense.

Get into position to draw a charge.  Sprint back to a help-position.

Stop the ball, help your teammate and most of all, sprint back on defense!

Nothing gets done ‘half-ass’, you get what you put in.

Talk with your coach and ask them their philosophy on transition defense.  It’s something that should be worked on every day in practice.  It should be talked about often, it’s a part of the game that is neglected.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

EXTRA, EXTRA

I heard a story about Larry Bird this evening and I’m sure most basketball fans have heard it before.  It has to do with getting up extra shots before a game.

Mike O’Koren was a forward for the Nets.  He was born and raised in New Jersey and attended North Carolina.  He had heard that Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird would show up at the Boston Garden on game day four hours before tip-off to get up some extra shots. On a road trip to Boston, O’Koren decides he’s going to take a cab over to the Garden during the afternoon to see if it’s true about Bird and his shooting on game day.

O’Koren arrives at the Boston Garden during the afternoon, looks around the court and doesn’t see Bird.  He does see a security and asks him, “Hey, where’s Bird?”

The security guard replies, “You just missed him.”

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How many shots do you get up? Do you make the time to work on your jumper?

Catch and shoot.  Catch, one dribble pull-ups.  Dribble drives into a mid-range? How about 3-point shooting?

Work on your jump-shot every chance you get…

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY! 

MICHAEL FLOWERS

Did anyone catch Wisconsin and Texas last week?

Well Badgers guard Michael Flowers made two tremendous plays at the end of the game to seal the victory for the road team.

Flowers made a huge three-pointer with three seconds to play off of a great high ‘pick-n-pop’ at the top of the key.  (No, Stephen Bardo, it wasn’t a screen and roll like you described it)  With his defender going under the screen, Flowers dribbled hard off the screen, saw he had room and let a long jump-shot go putting the Baders up 67-66.

As Texas took the ball out, instead of cheering, jumping up and down, or even running back on defense, Flowers went towards the Longhorn player inbounding the ball, jumped in and stole the inbounds pass.

Now, with ball in his possession, Flowers was falling out of bounds and you know you can’t call timeout when you are falling out of bounds so Flowers pulled a ‘Magic Johnson’; he flipped the ball up into the air and time ran out before it came back down!

What a great play!

Most players, after hitting the shot would celebrated or mugged for the camera.  But instead, Flowers used his head and went and pressured the ball.

I’m always telling players to watch and observe the guys who do it the right way and learn something from them.  Watch Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Rip Hamilton, Kevin Garnett…Watch the guys who work on their game and want to win.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY! 

PLAYER RESOLUTIONS

Happy New Year to all!

Here is a New Year’s resolutions list for you, the basketball player.

1-Become a better teammate.

2-Listen more.

3-Improve your jump-shot.

4-Become a better defender.

5-Bring more energy to practice.

6-Share the ball.

7-Improve your dribbling/ball handling 

8-Become a better student in school.

9-Become a better person.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!