MORE VALUABLE INFORMATION

Looks like Boston Celtics assistant coach Kevin Eastman not only won a championship with the Celtics this past year but now he has a blog. I think this is great news.  We need more guys who are willing to share their information and help raise awareness to playing the right way.

In his latest entry, he writes about the importance of Discipline.

Discipline takes on many forms depending on the player: from Ray Allenarriving at the game site 3 hours before tip off so he can go through his shooting preparations before anyone else on either team is in there (and I will tell you this was the case every night because I was right there with him), to making a minimum of 100 shots before each game so that he develops not only good form on his shot but also the workout discipline needed on a daily basis to become an improved shooter (we estimated that he made almost 12,000 shots total before all of the games combined last year — and 12,000 shots if done with fundamental form can improve your shot, to Kevin Garnett working on some part of his game just about every one of those 287 days (he is a very big believer in fundamentals and repetition). And this doesn’t even take into account a Paul Pierce working on the treadmill many days whether we are practicing or not.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

FATHER KNOWS BEST

I love the way Lakers forward Luke Walton plays the game.  He has learned a lot from his dad.  Thanks to a great blog ballerblogger I came across this piece on Luke via NBA. Com

My dad has always been there giving me good advice, whether it’s injuries, basketball, life, whatever. He’s lived through a lot so he’s got a lot of information and knowledge to share.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

BALL-YOU-MAN

My assistant and I went to observe individual workouts yesterday at the University of Michigan.  Let me just say that John Beilein is an incredible teacher!

This workout wasn’t your typical, roll out the balls, shout out to the players how many shots or makes from each spot.  No, this was teaching!  This was instructing!

How to cut without the ball, how to screen, how to pass, how to defend and even how to jump/land!

U of M takes individual instruction to a different level.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

TRAIN LIKE A PRO

Tim Grover and my main man Mike Procopio. getting it done in Chicago.  Boston Globe checks in on one of the best training centers.

“No one had trainers 15-20 years ago,” said former Celtics scout Mike Procopio, now director of basketball operations for Attack. “Now, there are training facilities all over the country. A lot of people are doing it right, but the market is saturated right now.

“The problem with facilities is a lot of them pop up, but you need a revenue stream. Our business model is different from most because we have professionals paying to come here, so you don’t have to run little kids’ tournaments and other stuff every weekend.

“Doing something like this is very costly. Just for Gatorade and water, we go through 50 cases a month. Instead of trying to do something like this, you would probably be better off getting one or two guys as clients, and take them to a gym.”

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

OPEN GYM

On Saturday I attended the open gym at Michigan State University and watched some recruits battle against Spartan current and former players. It was a great morning of hoops.

Open gyms are very popular at this time of year – at local high schools players get to show their stuff in front of college coaches who come by to observe; and older guys get to work out, looking to stay in shape.

Also, the current players at the particular college get to go against each other and see what their teammates have added to their games over the course of the summer. (Remember what Hubie Brown says, ‘all players should come back the following year with a new move’)

I love it when a high school player goes against a former star in their early or late 30’s or early 40’s. When the young buck has the ball, they try and make a move to impress the crowd. When the older player’s team has the ball they usually get to the low-post and call for it. After the entry pass, the lane is cleared and the older player goes to work.

At Michigan State yesterday I watched Mateen Cleaves, Shannon Brown and Steve Smith run the court all day. I think Mateen told me he won 6 straight games. No surprise because Brown can still play.

The current Spartans and their recruits tried hard to knock off the ‘vets’. But it wasn’t happening. Sure the high schoolers had their moments but when the game is on the line, the vets usually take over.

Here are my top 5 tips for excelling in the open gym:

1-Play hard (That is a given)

2-Share the ball (Keep your teammates happy)

3-Shoot when you are open (within your range)

4-Defend (Take pride, don’t let someone score on you)

5-Don’t talk trash (Keep quiet and just play)

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

STEPHEN CURRY

Last March, I blogged about Davidson guard Stephen Curry. I found a good piece on him via Sports Illustrated on how he is handling stardom.  Seems like he has to make the switch from Shooting Guard to Point Guard.

What I like about Curry is his work ethic and strong support from his parents.

The kid is grounded and has class.

Curry’s unassuming nature is of a piece with the Davidson Way. A college of 1,700 students 23 miles north of Charlotte, Davidson is the kind of place where almost nobody locks their doors, and (shock of shocks) the basketball players take all of their classes with the rest of the undergrads. “If you had a roster of every student, I probably would know a little something about each one of them,” Curry says. “After a game we’ll go to the student union and just walk around. Everyone will be talking about the game, and it’s not random people you’ve never seen on campus. You know their names. That’s a special thing.”

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

WRISTBANDS AND HEADBANDS

I recall Slick Watts, the guard for the Seattle Supersonics wearing a head band back in the day.  I also recall Wilt Chamberlain rocking one.

As for wristbands, I have seen many players wear them over the years; most visible was Adrian Dantley.  When A.D. went to the foul line he had his routine with the ball and I always recall his.

Some coaches allow them, some don’t.  I don’t let my players wear headbands; wristbands I could care less.

The New York Times has a piece on how fashionable they have become in the NFL and NBA.

“There is absolutely no benefit from a performance standpoint or a medical standpoint,” said Ralph Reiff, a certified athletic trainer and director of St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis. He has seen the upper-arm bands become popular on football players from the N.F.L. down to middle school. “It’s purely a fashion statement.”

So are we running a fashion show or a sporting event?

Ronnie Barnes, vice president for medical services for the Giants, agreed. “There is no medical benefit or purpose,” said Barnes, who has about 10 players on his team wearing versions of the bands. “A lot of players wear them because they believe it enhances the muscular definition in their arms. At the end of the day, you can attribute this increasing trend to the old adage: look good, feel good, play good.”

I once heard a coach say he doesn’t allow his players to wear headbands because he thought the player was bringing too much attention to himself.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

HOW GOOD IS TOO GOOD?

Thanks to my wife, who brought this article to my attention this morning from the New York Times’ PLAY magazine, ‘Scary – Isn’t She’? It’s an article on a 12 -year-old girl, Jaime Nared who some say is too good.

Until this past spring, Jaime had been quietly going about her life, as unnoticed as a mocha-skinned 6-foot-1 12-year-old can be in predominantly white Portland, Ore. It was then that she found herself at the center of a controversy about sports and gender: she’d been kicked off a boys’ basketball team for being too good.

Hmmm…That’s a tough one. How can you kick her off the team?

Jaime is not just a phenom either. She is a student of the game.

Jaime has been studying basketball strategy, often walking around the house with her own notepad, scribbling X’s and O’s. Her long-term goals include playing in the W.N.B.A., playing in the N.B.A. and being the first female coach in the N.B.A. To that end, she watches pro and college games as frequently as possible, sometimes decoding the moves with her father and then practicing them in the gym.

But, I can just hear the pundits now…”Oh this poor girl is missing out on being a young girl!”

And, is she being penalized for being too good?

So now Jaime, her kewpie-doll ponytail bouncing, is playing with Abraham’s top high-school girls, much to the chagrin of many of their parents, who are protective of their daughters’ court time. But what’s she supposed to do? She can’t play with boys her age. She can’t play with girls her age. She’s as tall as anyone on the team except Kailee (who turned 14 last month) and one other player, and she has a great court sense and strong ball skills — though, to be honest, the fast-paced game of the more muscular postpubescent girls seems to take a lot out of Jaime. Out on the court, she played aggressively, like she always does, but her age showed: she looked mentally drained. Abraham offered so much advice, at such close intervals, that he sounded as if he was coaching Jaime by remote control. “Back up, Jaime!” “Toes on the 3-point line, sweetie.” “Hands up. Up! Toes on the line!”

Jaime, keep on ballin’ girl!

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

YOU ARE APPRECIATED

Steve Nash’s youth basketball program gets off the ground via Timmins Daily Press.

Instructors didn’t waste any time teaching the youngsters the game’s fundamentals.

“We get them going right away, practising dribbling, passing, shooting, defensive footwork,” said Gilbert

He said their plans were initially to start up a youth basketball houseleague this year.

However, he said the Steve Nash program essentially achieves what a houseleague is supposed to do.

“It’s basically to get kids playing basketball at the entry level, introduce them to the sport, learn new skills and basically have the youth train properly,” said Gilbert. “That’s why you have houseleagues. It gets them to enjoy the sport and learn the rules.”

As I have said in the past and have been preaching for years – wouldn’t it be great to have every NBA player start a program in their hometown? Look hat we have here…

The Philadelphia Inquirer tells us about former NBA player Pervis Ellison giving back.

He is donating time and money to New Beginnings Academy in Chester. New Beginnings, which has students in first through 12th grade, is a new school.

Ellison will coach the middle-school basketball team. He’s also providing five full scholarships worth $4,800 apiece so disadvantage youth can attend this school. And the 41-year-old runs an after-school workout session for all of the academy’s basketball players.

Ellison, who sought the position, is not getting paid for coaching.

I’s all about giving back and taking advantage of the resources available. Nash and Ellison, two decent human beings in action. More should learn from them…

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

BANKHOOPS MINICAMP

On Sunday morning I traveled 35 miles to work at Stephen Bell’s 4th Annual All-Star Mini-camp at the Cage Fieldhouse in Swartz Creek, Michigan. But this wasn’t your ordinary event – you know the type where you drop your cash at the front door, get a jersey with a number and play full-court for 5 hours.

No this is different.

But first, let me give a shout out to the Cage!  This place is sweet.  Not too big, not too small.  Great bleachers and an awesome lobby.  Upon arriving as you enter, you can’t help but notice all the basketball jersey’s in cases scattered throughout on the walls.  (How about this, they have Julius Erving’s Nets jersey hanging up!)

At the Bankhoops Mini-Camp a little over 100 players from all around Michigan started the day out with station work.  Coaches like Adam Trumpour from Eaton Rapids High School, Lance Baylis from Holly High School with his staff, John Buscemi, Warren Wood,  JJKN and yours truly took the eager players through some great work.

At my particular station I worked on passing, shooting off the catch, and moving without the ball.  It’s amazing how much some players need to learn in those areas.   All-in-all, it was a great morning of basketball.

After the lunch break, it was time for the full-court games; the players played hard, defended and ran the floor hard.  They shared the ball, pulled for each other and competed.

There were D-2, D-3 and NAIA schools in the house observing, hoping to find a player or two – as well as Glen Oaks Community College and of course the Jackson Jets were represented.

I’m not sure how many D-1 players were in attendance (or how many have a shot at playing D-1) but I do know that the number one rated junior in the State was there working hard on his game.  Trey Ziegler a guard from Mt. Pleasant High School in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan is not only a fine young player, he is a good person.

I wondered to myself why more players weren’t there?  It was a great opportunity to get out and work on your skills.

The Michigan High School kids are Playing the Right Way…

Kudos to Bell and his partner in hoops, Darryl.