3 THE HARD WAY

Ok I admit, I have a Facebook account and a Twitter account.  To me, it’s a great networking tool and an excellent way to stay in touch with friends.  It’s also a good way to meet new coaches and share ideas, thoughts and of course, talk shop.

On Facebook, a friend who is a D-1 head coach mentioned last night that it was time to pull out an old game tape of MJ and watch it just to remind him that Jordan was/is better than Kobe and LeBron.  He also mentioned that Kobe was doing some ridiculous stuff with the ball against the Jazz…he has actually done it throughout the series.  Does anyone pull up on a dime better?  What about his face-up, his jab step and his pivot? 

(Compliments of AOJ Lithocards)

And of course this subject brought on thoughts from other facebookers.  Interesting note by one guy:

All you need to remember is MJ played in an era where you could actually foul. You could use the hand check. There was no zone defense. And remember this: that year Jordan averaged 37, he shot over 50% and had no real Jimmy. I will give you this about Kobe- he is the most skilled player in the game…and he has my respect for always being willing to guard the other teams best player. Lebron is the best athlete in the league right now- but far! He is amazing. He will eventually be the best. I think he is actually the first player since Oscar to have the ability to average a triple-double. If he ever develops the killer instinct and will that MJ had. I guess we will see. My one knock on Lebron is that I see too many people just move out of his way. Him and Kobe don’t have to worry about Rodman and Laimbeer or that whole Milwaukee Bucks team with Lohaus and Brickowski…..dudes who would jack you up!

What do you think? And please, we all know MJ has 6 rings, Kobe 3 and LBJ still hasn’t won one, so don’t come with that argument.  Great conversation as we await the Lakers and Cavs showdown in a couple of weeks.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Every time I see a player I’m going to ask them, ‘how many shots ya get up today’?

Ya gotta love the NBA playoffs – are the Lakers and Cavaliers headed for a showdown in a few weeks? If they do meet, I predict that series breaks some sort of viewing record.

Shannon Brown of the LA Lakers has found a home.   The former MSU Spartan has had stops in Cleveland, Chicago and Charlotte.  He has found his niche and has taken minutes away from Jordan Farmer.  I use to watch him workout after his college career ended in East Lansing and the kid was determined to improve. The Sun with a small piece.

“However I need to be, that’s how I’m going to be,” Brown said. “I’m on the bench, anxious and ready to get in (the game), following the flow of the game so I can catch the flow of the game.”

Good attitude Shannon!

Cavaliers-Pistons:

Sure, sure, Cleveland swept Detroit 4-zip.  But why?  Most of us know why.  Michael Lee of the Washington Post has a great take on the fall of Detroit.   Make no mistake, with Joe Dumars and Michael Curry, the Pistons will get it done.  I’m pulling for them.  They have great fans who deserve nothing but the best.   ESPN’s Chris Broussard on the Pistons.

The rest of the old guard isn’t about to run through a brick wall for Curry, either. Curry was hired as a replacement for Flip Saunders because of his leadership and toughness. Detroit’s management had watched the players blatantly disrespect and curse out Saunders for years, and they knew Curry, a Pistons assistant coach last year, would put an end to that mess.

Still hard to believe Wallace and Prince combined for zero free-throw attempts in four games…Lebron James shot 57!

James’s second effort going after missed shots is unreal!  He never gives up and he has a desire to come up with the loose ball.

Hubie Brown on Lebron, ‘He’s a joy to watch’.   If it’s a joy for Hubie, you know the guy plays the right way!

‘Stay fine tuned’ said James when asked what the Cavs will do with all their time off before the second round.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

-Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

WANG CHUNGIN’

I watched the LA Lakers beat the Utah Jazz last night in Salt Lake City to take a 3-1 lead in the series.   Kobe Bryant was asked after the game what the Lakers need to do heading back to LA, in an attempt to close out the Jazz.

“Be Mature.” he said.

Be mature he says – a behavior used only by a select few.

The announcers on ESPN last night kept talking about how Kobe isn’t smiling, fooling around, etc. during the game.  Dude, KB 24 is all about business.  And when players do smile, and joke around, (having fun),  you people (announcers, writers, etc.) say he isn’t serious.  How about all the people that say, “just have fun”.  Kobe couldn’t spell FUN last night – he was all business.

More thoughts from last night:

The one thing you need to do any time you are on the court is knock down jumpers.  Especially when you get an open look.  Seemed like everytime I looked up LA was making theirs and Utah was missing; leading to the Lakers break.  Long shots, long rebounds…off to the races.

During the course of the game, Jazz point guard Deron Williams blew by his man for a lay-up.  The Lakers back-up big man Josh Powell was playing off the ball and no where to be found.  (Help-side defense dude, where did you play your middle school ball and who was your coach?)  With this mishap, Powell quickly was removed from the game and on his way to the bench, Phil Jackson asked him, “did you see the ball?”  Great camera work ESPN…

Bryant was killing Ronnie Brewer.  I felt sorry for the former Arkansas Razorback.  He tried everything.  Wonder if Brewer’s father, ‘Boot’ would’ve loved to come down and try to check KB.  Or even young Brew’s coach, who was one of the most physical defenders back in the day.   How would the late Dennis Johnson do checking Kobe? I’d love to see Michael Cooper guarding Bryant.  Alvin Robertson or how about Scottie Pippen?

Sloan tried putting Deron Williams on Kobe for a few possessions and he actually did a good job.  Must’ve been the USA Olympic workouts this past summer.

How come when they flash a player’s stats on the screen they never list turnovers?

To conclude, ESPN’s Doris Burke is terrible.  She did the color on last night’s telecast and it got to a point where I had to use the mute option on my remote.  How did she get that gig?  (Note to ESPN: Bring in more former or current players/coaches who know the game).    First,  she said Kobe’s cross-over reminded her of MJ’s move against the Jazz on the same court a few years ago…she said the move was on Craig Ehlo!

And why did she keep saying it’s not just Kobe’s skill getting it done; that it was his will.  His will? You don’t have to tell us about Kobe’s will – there’s a reason why they call him the Black Mamba!

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

GET THE POINT

As a Junior College head coach for the past three years, I have come to realize just how important the point guard position is to your success. (not that I never knew that…)  Watching the NBA playoffs, I marvel at some of the fantastic lead guards.  I love watching these guys play.  

Deron Williams, Chris Paul,  Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups  just to name a few.  I know all positions on the floor are important, but without a PG, it’s highly unlikely you will advance… unless of course you are the Lakers or Cavaliers.  

To play point guard takes a special person, a special player…someone who cares about the team.  

Rose’s agent, BJ Armstrong, a former point guard himself now represents Rose.  New York Times has the story.

“This is what he does,” Armstrong said in a telephone interview. “He has had this type of focus. That’s one of his many gifts. He has the ability to set his mind, and his focus after the game starts is to win the game and that’s it.”

Denver Post on Chauncey Billups of the Nuggets.  

To conclude, Deron Williams made a huge shot last night for the Jazz in their game against the Lakers.   Marv Albert and Reggie Miller of TNT made some comments during the telecast about how Williams and former Jazz point guard John Stockton used to hook up and talk about the craft.  It’s great to see the greats from the past interact and help today’s young players.

If you want to run the point, be selfless, willing to work hard, make your teammates better and display courage to take big shots!

-Coach Finamore

JUST A THOUGHT

How long will it be until we see 8th graders from America skip high school and move to Europe to join club teams?

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE

Another High School basketball player heading to Europe instead of enrolling in University. He’s actually skipping his senior year of high school.  I guess he will not be renting a tuxedo for his prom…  New York Times reports.

Jeremy Tyler, a 6-foot-11 high school junior whom some consider the best American big man since Greg Oden, says he will be taking a new path to the N.B.A. He has left San Diego High School and said this week that he would skip his senior year to play professionally in Europe.

-Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

NOT TOUGH ENOUGH?

What’s the definition of toughness?  Every one has their own philosophy.  Dave Friedman from 20 Second Timeout gives us his breakdown from the first weekend of the NBA playoffs. Some good stuff especially from Scottie Pippen, MJ, Kobe, Bobby Jones and the Doctor.   Friedman does a great job.  He goes under the radar for sure.  (You need to scroll down a little for the entire piece.  Here’s an excerpt. 

1) While discussing the Lakers’ toughness (or lack thereof), Jeff Van Gundy mentioned the recent Sports Illustrated article about Dwight Howard. Someone asked Kobe Bryant if he would have let Nate Robinson jump over him in the Slam Dunk Contest the way that Howard did; Van Gundy cleaned up the language while noting that Bryant responded very firmly that he would not have done that. Some people question if Howard is too nice to lead a team to a championship. No one harbors such doubts about Bryant, though Bryant is not certain that the Lakers are mean enough or angry enough to win the title.Is it really necessary to be mean and/or angry to be a champion? What do those traits represent in the context of winning basketball games?

This is not necessarily about what kind of person one is away from the court but rather about the disposition and attitude that one has about competing at an elite level. The 1990s Chicago Bulls almost employed a “good cop, bad cop” style of internal leadership, with Michael Jordan taking the “tyrant” role while Scottie Pippen was much more nurturing toward his teammates. Bill Wennington told me that in film sessions if the coaches started to criticize a player for being out of position on defense Pippen would speak up and say that he had told the player to play that way on that particular possession; I have spoken to several members of those Bulls teams who told similar stories about Pippen and who absolutely raved about how supportive he was as a teammate. Everyone on those teams respected Jordan but Pippen was also highly respected and probably more well liked than Jordan within that locker room. Is one approach better than the other? Could the Bulls have won six titles without Jordan being so harsh as he pushed players to be at their best at all times? Would Jordan’s fiery ways have been less effective in the long run if Pippen had not been there to offer support and positive reinforcement at times?

GET IT OR YOU DON’T

I spent some time with an Athletic Director over the weekend and he gave me a few good quotes.  One was, ‘you get it or you don’t get it; if you don’t get it, I can’t teach it to you…’

I love that!

I saw a few comments by Detroit Pistons power forward Antonio McDyess this weekend:

“It is a new era,” said McDyess, who at age 34 averaged a double-double for the last 30 games of the regular season. “There is a new generation coming in. It seems like every young guy now is a freakin’ amazing athlete, an amazing talent. From one to five (positions), it’s like everybody coming in now is an outstanding athlete.

“In the past you would have a shooter that couldn’t jump, or an athlete that couldn’t shoot or somebody was strong but not fast, you know? Now they got it all; they are big, fast, they can run, jump and shoot. You look at it, I think you are going to start to see some of those younger teams get to the Finals. The new phase of the league is coming in.”

Thank you Antonio; players are working hard!  The game is in good hands with the young guys – but if you want to keep advancing, you have to keep playing.  Rest when you get in your 40’s.  Shoot every day, run, lift, work on your dribbling…Like McFadden and Whitehead once said, ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now’.

While watching the two NBA playoff games last night, it was such a joy to see guys like Ben Gordon, Ray Allen and Tony Parker excel.  Three guys who play the right way!

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

-Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

ILL COMMUNICATION

I attended an open workout on Sunday for unsigned seniors in high school.  I enjoyed it because it was a two hour event where the players went through drills for the first hour and then they were broken down into teams and played 5 on 5.  

The one concern I had was the lack of ‘talk’, you know, communication.

During a two-man shooting drill the guy who was rebounding and passing out to his partner should be encouraging, talking and cheering the guy on, esepcially when the shooter misses a few in a row.  Lifting the shooter up with some verbals is always inspiring.  The shooter has to hear his teammates are with him through not only makes, but misses as well.  Plus it lets people know you as the rebounder/passer are into the drill.  I dislike players who are unmotivated when it comes to drills.  Drills are the backbone to improvement! 

Talk, talk, talk! Let’s be heard!  In a positive way of course…

There was one kid I really enjoyed…he was doing a lot of talking to his teammates.  “Nice pass”, “Pick left, pick left”, were some of the words I recall him using.

Not enough players do the right talking – most times you hear trash talking, which is a joke.  Thankfully there was none of that yesterday.

Speak up, let your teammates know you are looking out for their best interest!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

BURN OUT?

Do you ever hear pundits talk about basketball players hitting burn out stages?  They ‘hit the wall’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean).

Many speak of our USA players who compete in the summer, mainly last year’s USA team that won the Gold medal.

Peter Vescey of the New York Post on Lebron’s comments on the subject:

Naturally, nobody on The Redeem Team would dream about trading their Olympic experience or gold medal. But surely their undivided commitment, and all the training it entailed, followed closely behind by an 82-game schedule, has drained the participants.

I mean, other than LeBron.

“This is the best I’ve felt at this point in the season in my six-year career,” he told me in late March.

How can that be?

“The help we added has helped,” said LeBron, namely Mo Williams. Having Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak (‘08 acquisitions) and Anderson Varejao (contract dispute) for a full season has made a big difference, too.

“Also, this past summer is the hardest I’ve ever worked,” LeBron went on. “You know, individual workouts with the Olympic team, more time in the weight room, and hours of shooting practice.”

In the past, Olympic players broke down in the subsequent season at a higher rate than the rest of the league.

LeBron can’t understand why that happened.

“If you look at those guys from our roster, a lot of them are doing as well or better than they’ve done in their careers,” he said. “People said the Olympics may hurt us, but Dwyane [Wade] has had an MVP-type year. Kobe also is having an MVP-type year.

“And the same goes for Chris [Paul] and Dwight [Howard].

“All of us — Deron [Williams], Jason [Kidd] — the list goes on. We’ve all built on that success and carried it into the season with our teams.”

Let’s stop all the B.S. and turn up the heat on the work ethic!  Stop listening to uninformed, so-called people who think you should ‘rest’ up.  Work on your game! Stop making excuses…Stay hungry!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com