IT’S ALL ABOUT DEFENSE!

Say all you want about guys scoring the ball.  Talk about skill development, shooting 1,000 shots per day, working with trainers, and all that other stuff.

Defense is what it’s all about!

If you can defend, there’s a place for you.

You will be on the floor late in a close game, trust me.

Every coach wants a great defender to stop the opposing team’s best player.

It takes hard work; many don’t want to work.  It takes courage, toughness and a desire!

Last night, the Cleveland Cavaliers went into Houston to take on the Rockets.  LeBron James, one of the best players in the NBA knew he had his work cut out.   Shane Battier and Ron Artest of the Rockets were assigned to check LBJ.  James has been unbelievable to this point.  He soars through the air, shoots long jumpers, makes the mid range and of course dishes the ball.  He is clearly one of the most exciting players to ever play the game.

Notes:

Pre-game on TNT with Kenny, Charles and EJ.  They all chimed in on the contest and they included their views on offense vs defense, mainly the Rockets trying to stop LBJ.

“It annoys you when someone says they can stop you.” That’s what Charles said last night when talking about great offensive players and hearing that someone is going to shut you down.

Well CB,  I don’t know if LBJ was annoyed, and I don’t know if Battier or Artest said they were going to stop LBJ but they did a great job last night.

“Offense beats defense.” said The Jet, Kenny Smith.  “Just ask George Gervin.”

Yes Kenny, you may be half right.  Just how many championships did Ice win?

If you want to win big games and rings, there comes a time you have to lock up! Just ask Walt Frazier, Bill Russell, Dennis Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan and Bruce Bowen.  (People fail to realize that it just wasn’t Jordan’s big time shot against Byron Russell and the Utah Jazz back in the day in the Finals that won the game, it was his steal on Karl Malone that put them in position for Jordan’s great shot)

Speaking of defense, rings and high scorers, T-Mac, who is currently out of action for the rest of the season scores a ton of points right?  He’s never made it past the first round of the playoffs.

I don’t know if any one player can stop Lebron, but I do know you can slow him down and make it tough on him.  (Or try your best to slow him down) The basketball world puts too much emphasis on offense and not enough on defense. It’s time players, coaches and teams focus more on defense.

“You may get into the second round (of the playoffs), but if you want to make a serious run and be a serious contender,” said Wafer, “you’ve got to be able to continue to play defense. We are trying to come together as a unit.”

Battier was able to draw two charges on James during the game which is always key.  Many players refuse to draw charges.  I often wonder why? Artest hounded LBJ all night.  Ron-Ron looked focus.  Give his boy Reggie Miller credit, Miller was in the house doing the game for TNT.

The Rockets won the game 93-74, Cleveland shot a season low 34% from the field.   A lot of the credit has to go to the Rockets defense.

Offense may win games and sell tickets, but defense wins rings!

Just defend!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

CARING

I watched the Pistons and Cavaliers last night on ESPN. The Cavs won going away 99-78. This game was over early.  Cleveland led 61-29 at the 2:26 mark of the second quarter.

Cleveland’s biggest lead was 36.  They were flying around the court all night.  Defending, sharing the ball and big time defense.

Delonte West, of Cleveland just back from his wrist injury dropped 25.

Notes:

During a fastbreak, LeBron James was sprinting (notice the word I use, sprinting, not jogging) on the right side of the floor and the ESPN microphone picked him up shouting, “TRAILER, TRAILER, TRAILER!”  I wonder how many people heard that? I do know Mo Williams did, Cleveland’s point guard.   Williams was pushing the ball up the middle and once he heard LeBron communicate, he dished the ball to him without even looking.  James caught the pass and drained a jumper.

One of the announcers on ESPN said Detroit Pistons backup forward Walter Herrmann looked like Dr. J driving the baseline.  This guy should be suspended and not allowed to work a few games…Walter Herrmann looking like Julius Erving? That’s an insult to one of the best of all-time. By the way, Herrmann shot 5 for 15 in 17 minutes.

The Cavs only turned it over 5 times in the game.  They had just 1 in the first half…

“We looked like we don’t know each other.” Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons head coach told ESPN announcer Rick B. at half-time.  “We look like we don’t like each other.”

“The ball was hoppin’” Said Delonte West on Cleveland’s passing.

Lifetime achievement award goes to Dikembe Mutombo.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

MAGIC SPEAKS

While watching Michigan State and Wisconsin this afternoon on ESPN, Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson was a courtside guest during the game with Steve Lavin.  Lavin mentioned how he used to watch Magic mentor a lot of the UCLA Bruin players while he would be out there.  Lavin asked Magic if he did the same with the M.S.U. players.

“I’m a big brother role model to all players.” Magic answered.

That’s how you should be; work with all players.  Not just the popular and good ones.

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Everyone has been raving about the Suns and their offense where they have scored 140 twice and 142 in the past three games.  Please note that two of those games were against the LA Clippers.  Today, against the Boston Celtics (without K.G.) the Suns went down 128-108 at home.   I received a few e-mails from friends the past few days saying, “You see, just let the players play, let them run up and down…”

Ummm, not exactly.

The Celtics, who run great stuff went through their sets and quick hitters today and showed how it’s done.  Sure you can get out on the break and run, but you have to run a few plays here and there.  You can spread your offense out on the perimeter and let guys go one-on-one but when you come up against good defensive players and teams that help well, you need to run plays.  Especially in the playoffs when it gets down to half-court basketball.

Boston scored 38 points in the first quarter, 68 at the half.   Jeff Van Gundy mentioned that the Suns need to play defense and that takes work.   Some parts of work is not fun.  JVG also had recently fired Terry Porter’s back by saying a few Suns packed it in.   JVG quoted Pat Riley, “You’re either all the way in or all the way out.”

*******************

Magic Johnson sat down with LeBron James for an interview on ABC.  LeBron said, ‘Every game means something.’ He also mentioned they need to get better every night.   Preach on LBJ, preach on!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

RICK BARRY SPEAKS

Can you imagine teaching a player to shoot free-throws under-hand? You know, granny style.  Well Rick Barry, father of Scooter, used to do it and he did it pretty well I might add (.89%)  Here’s some interesting thoughts via an interview from the OregonianLive.com site.

On what’s wrong with the NBA: “… the problem isn’t the league itself, it’s the game itself. We’re not teaching young people how to play the game anymore… if you’re an incredible athlete and have very little skill, you can get to the NBA.”

Mr. Barry is correct, actually there are coaches who teach the game…just not enough.

On LeBron James: “… one of the greatest talents I’ve ever seen in my life… I mean, I think this guy is amazing… but he has a major flaw in his shot. How can a guy five years into the NBA have a major shooting flaw in his game? That’s inexcuseable to me.”

Interesting.  This is actually the second time I have read where Barry has mentioned something about James…on the negative side.  Don’t you think LeBron does everything he can to improve? James doesn’t have the sweetest looking stroke in the league but I can name a few other players from the past who had something wrong with their form.  Reggie Miller comes to mind and he was one of the greatest shooters of all-time.

On what makes the difference between good players and great ones: “I can teach you to pass, I can’t teach you to see…. I can go watch a player play for one half of a college basketball game and I can tell you whether he’ll be a great player… you look for that little natural feel for the game… the great players have it… and it can’t be taught.”

Good call Mr. Barry.  I agree. You can tell right away from watching who has a feel for the game.  That comes with being a great student of the game and working hard at the craft.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

SHOOT IT!

Kevin Loughery once said, “Ya gotta shoot it up and sleep in the streets!”

Huh?

Think about for a moment what he was talking about…

Thanks to Eric Mussleman’s blog for the assist I found this Q and A from Slam Magazine’s Matt Caputo (brother of Chris by way of GMU); Caputo sits down with former Georgia Tech guard Mark Price.

SLAM: Did you have intense workout sessions growing up?
MP: I spent a lot of time in the gym. I was fortunate because my dad was a coach, and I typically had a place to work out. I was always around the game, and it gave me an understanding of how it needed to be played. I understood nuances that maybe a lot of other kids didn’t have the opportunity to. I always kind of felt like a coach on the floor because of it. My dad taught me what he thought was the right way to shoot the ball, and he told me it was up to me as far as how hard I was going to work. I spent a lot of hours just trying to perfect my shot, because I wasn’t real big—I was probably only 5-11, 155 pounds when I showed up at Georgia Tech. I had to work hard on my skills.

So you see sports fans, get out to the gym or the schoolyard and work on your shot.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

COMPLYING WITH INSTRUCTIONS

Thanks to my assistant coach BW, here’s an article from ESPN.com on Rex Walters suspending 4 players at U.S.F.  Wonder what these kids did?

What is it with players not listening in practice? Not hustling? Not playing hard?

In another article Walters has a comment on his team via SFGate.com

Head coach Rex Walters said the Dons “aren’t tough enough” to do the little things – such as boxing out, taking a charge and hitting an open teammate – that turn losses into wins.

“It’s really disappointing. It is,” Walters said. “That comes with trying to change a culture, trying to change a mentality, changing a work ethic.”

Why must there be players who talk back to coaches or act like jerks? Why must players not give 100 percent?

I threw a kid out of practice early in the year for talking back.  A kid who never played high school basketball, he was getting a chance to turn his life around.  But he didn’t take advantage of the situation.

Players think they have all the answers.  Their opinion is valued, I’m sure, but there is a time and place.

You are given an opportunity to play – it’s not about entitlement.  You do what your coach says.  You are on scholarship.  You have a responsibility.

Listen to your coach…

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

THE RIGHT WAY

I came across an outstanding article written by Michael Lewis in the New York Times Magazine section on players who make a difference to their team without scoring a ton of points.   Shane Battier, formerly of Detroit Country Day and now of the Houston Rockets is the main principle in the article. This is a great article to print out and distribute.

“I hate being out on the floor wasting that time,” he said. “I used to try to talk to people, but then I figured out no one actually liked me very much.” Instead of engaging in the pretense that these other professional basketball players actually know and like him, he slips away into the locker room.

No one likes him very much huh?  Well I love him! The guy is what the game should be about.  Every young player should try and emulate him.  I recall first meeting him when I worked at Michigan State University.  The Spartans were recruiting him and I thought to myself, ‘this is a great kid!’  More from the article.

“He can’t dribble, he’s slow and hasn’t got much body control.”

Yeah right but all he does is play hard, defend, bring energy and he’s a model citizen off the floor.  You won’t find Battier in a strip club at midnight or giving a fan the finger.

During his official recruiting visit to Michigan State I watched him play in an open gym and the dude tried to draw an offensive foul on Sean Respert!

When he is on the court, his teammates get better, often a lot better, and his opponents get worse — often a lot worse. He may not grab huge numbers of rebounds, but he has an uncanny ability to improve his teammates’ rebounding. He doesn’t shoot much, but when he does, he takes only the most efficient shots. He also has a knack for getting the ball to teammates who are in a position to do the same, and he commits few turnovers. On defense, although he routinely guards the N.B.A.’s most prolific scorers, he significantly ­reduces their shooting percentages. At the same time he somehow improves the defensive efficiency of his teammates — probably, Morey surmises, by helping them out in all sorts of subtle ways. “I call him Lego,” Morey says. “When he’s on the court, all the pieces start to fit together. And everything that leads to winning that you can get to through intellect instead of innate ability, Shane excels in. I’ll bet he’s in the hundredth percentile of every category.”

Isn’t that how it should be?  When you’re on the court, make sure all the pieces fit.

Taking a bad shot when you don’t need to is only the most obvious example. A point guard might selfishly give up an open shot for an assist. You can see it happen every night, when he’s racing down court for an open layup, and instead of taking it, he passes it back to a trailing teammate. The teammate usually finishes with some sensational dunk, but the likelihood of scoring nevertheless declined. “The marginal assist is worth more money to the point guard than the marginal point,” Morey says. Blocked shots — they look great, but unless you secure the ball afterward, you haven’t helped your team all that much. Players love the spectacle of a ball being swatted into the fifth row, and it becomes a matter of personal indifference that the other team still gets the ball back. Dikembe Mutombo, Houston’s 42-year-old backup center, famous for blocking shots, “has always been the best in the league in the recovery of the ball after his block,” says Morey, as he begins to make a case for Mutombo’s unselfishness before he stops and laughs. “But even to Dikembe there’s a selfish component. He made his name by doing the finger wag.” The finger wag: Mutombo swats the ball, grabs it, holds it against his hip and wags his finger at the opponent. Not in my house! “And if he doesn’t catch the ball,” Morey says, “he can’t do the finger wag. And he loves the finger wag.” His team of course would be better off if Mutombo didn’t hold onto the ball long enough to do his finger wag. “We’ve had to yell at him: start the break, start the break — then do your finger wag!”

-Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

HAPPY FEET

Last night one of my players made a nice move going to the basket.  I thought it was legal – one official, who had a decent look blew his whistle and called the kid for a travel.  I jumped up off the bench but didn’t say anything.  I just stood there and stared a bit.   My kid who made the move had a puzzled look on his face as he jogged back down on defense.

One of the officials came running down towards me and while the action was going on, I whispered to him, “Was that a travel?”

His reply, “it looked awkward.”

Awkward?

The move looked awkward?

“I call the kid Old-school because he plays a bit slower.” I told the ref.

He laughed.

I really don’t think my kid travelled – I’m honest when a kid does get called but I wish officials would look a bit closer to the footwork.   Like when a player catches, shot fakes and drives to the goal – the refs always call a travel.

Thanks to Henry Abbott at True Hoop, check out this travel call by Dan Majerlie.

Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY

FLOPPING

It makes me laugh when players flop.  You know what I’m talking about.  The defender who gets into position, hands out,  down in a semi-stance and with the slightest touch from the offensive player, the defender is falling backwards onto the ground in an animated state.

To me that’s phony, and it shouldn’t be tolerated by officials or coaches.

Yesterday we played a game and one particular defender twice, flopped to the ground.

On one possession he was guarding his man away from the ball and my player made a v-cut to pop out to receive the ball and sure enough, the ‘flopper’ fell backwards,  letting out the infamous grunt; so everyone could hear him.

Today’s players pride themselves on lifting weights, getting stronger, balance, holding up in the toughest of times, but should that offensive player brush them, the defender is falling down like a ton of bricks hit him.

Officials should pick up on this bad basketball and call a personal and technical foul.

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Crystal Robinson and her basketball thoughts, past and future via The NewsOK.com

The only thing I ever wanted to be able to do in life was be able to beat this one cousin I had named Kevin. Wanting to beat him drove me to play basketball when it was a hundred degrees, when it was zero degrees. Everywhere I went, I had my basketball. I was preparing for Kevin.

ENTITLEMENT

Websters dictionary defines ‘Entitlement’,  the state of being entitled – the right to guaranteed benefits.

In basketball, you’re not entitled to anything!

You have to pave your own way – you have to commit yourself to making the team, earning playing time and being a great teammate.  And with that comes work – something very foreign to many players.

After losing to Penn State at home last night, Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo had this to say about his team and playing at home via the Detroit News, “It’s an entitlement society as we all know,” … “I think our players kind of feel the past players pioneered their way through and it’s entitlement to win at home”

Coach Izzo hits the nail on the head; it’s an entitlement society.  No one wants to work for anything anymore.

You just can’t walk on the court and expect to win basketball games.

Too many players think just by showing up, putting on a uniform and lacing up their sneakers they will perform well.

You need to hit the gym, get up your shots, lift and run.

What do you do when you can’t score?  Do you rebound, defend and dive on loose balls?  Do you share the ball, run the floor hard and screen to free up a teammate?

Woody Allen had it all wrong when he said that “80% of success is showing up…”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!