Check out this podcast of yours truly. I went on the air with some good people from Raptors Republic. I wish I knew some more about the club North of the border, I did the best I could. Oh well. We talked about a lot of hoops stuff. Notice the Black Sabbath music for the intro, I was a big Ozzie fan back in the day!
-Coach Finamore
Hoope135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
We all know about the athlete who endorses some sort of shoe in their particular sport. They get paid for free shoes and rock their gear. Michael Jordan is probably the most famous athlete of all-time to start a line and really explode over the past 25 years.
Sporting News Today is reporting via CNBC.com that Orlando Magic back-up center, yes I said back-up center Marcin Gortat will not be getting hooked up anymore with free shoes. Gortat said Reebok doesn’t pay him enough. WOW! Seems like Reebok wanted Gortat to cover a Jordan tattoo on his calf but he refused so Reebok decided not to send him any more shoes. The Magic have signed ‘The Polish Hammer’ to a 5 year deal worth $34 million so I’m sure he could walk into any Finish Line and pick out any shoes he wants. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!
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Some NCAA football teams are cutting out ‘printed media guides’ to save money and now it seems NBA teams will do the same. Makes sense to me. Those things are useless and only end up in the trash anyways.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
On Twitter, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors:
All my followers asking about shooting advice…there is no secret formula to it, you have to master your own form, repetitions, and make it
July 27, 2009
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
A guy I met about 10 years ago used the above name for his scouting service; I found it pretty interesting.
I’ve been addicted to Twitter and Facebook since the start of the summer, it’s pretty cool, both sites. Though I tend to post a lot more on Twitter (CoachFinamore). There are good solid basketball people on Twitter, I enjoy reading their comments. Summer basketball and shooting (the basketball, not a gun) have been a couple of topics discussed a lot as of late on both networks.
I have heard so much about the negative side of the summer basketball venue. AAU coaches pulling their teams off the court during a game. A coach punching an official, turnovers, undisciplined play, etc. The latest from the New York Times on another negative part of summer basketball; how expensive the roster packets cost at these events along with the admission.
Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo refused to pay $100 for admission to the Summer Jam tournament in Milwaukee earlier this month after one of his assistants had already paid $250 for the packet that doubled as an entry fee. Izzo said the tournament director should visit him if he had a problem.
This is where the college coaches like Izzo and Stallings with strong voices need to step up. Not saying anything will not help the problem. Don’t sit there and say, ‘I don’t want to hurt my relationship with the promoter or organizer of the event because I may never get a kid’. To me, that’s weak. If you can recruit, you will get a kid.
Roster booklets and admission fees at summer basketball events have been a joke for many years. Sometimes you can’t even get a kid’s name and jersey in the book. I recall back in the 90’s at the ABCD camp the charge to get in was $5. If you wanted, you could buy the roster booklet. For those that don’t know what a roster booklet is at an event it’s filled with the players and coaches information participating in that event. Address, phone number and other info like high school attending, high school coach and sometimes parents names. A lot of college coaches need this info especially if they are interested in a player they are seeing for the first time.
I’ve known coaches who have seen a kid out on the floor, open up the packet, check his jersey number, like his game and decide to call his home right there just to leave a message, “Hey this message is for Joey, this is coach so and so. I am sitting here watching you play and I think you really play well.” The coach leaves a message for the kid so he’ll get it when he gets back home. I’m not sure of the NCAA rules at the time, they are always changing so not sure if was illegal or not.
I understand these tournament people need to make money so they can pay for the facility, the officials and the employees, but charging hundreds of dollars for a book is insane. The highest a book should cost is a $100. For a small-level tournament the book should cost no more than $50. I once went to a weekend AAU tournament and the guy was charging $80 for the book and $25 to get in. I was like, ‘I’m trying to get kids scholarships and give them a chance to play college ball and you’re charging me $100′!
If basketball people who really care want to improve summer basketball, get rid of the high priced roster booklets to start. Stop complaining about low field goal percentage and turnovers by our players.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
Like I always say, in basketball there is no ‘off-season’.
Basketball in the summer is very popular in the inner city. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and in the summer time we played everywhere we could find a run. Manhattan Beach, West 4th Street, Dyker Heights, East 5th street, Sunset Park and even Kingston Park. We started in the morning and went all the way until 9 o’clock that night.
Back in the day there were summer leagues everywhere. We’d watch games during the morning at Riis Beach, go over to the Village and watch games at West 4th then head uptown to Xavier High School. Pro’s, ex-pro’s and college players all staying sharp.
(Chatterbox.typepad.com)
This morning I came across an article in the Detroit News on St. Cecilia’s in Detroit, Michigan. Seems like they still ball there but John Long, former NBA player has an interesting comment about where guys play these days.
“Those guys go to their colleges to play during the summer,” he said. “They don’t want to be in a sweaty gym when they can go to an air-conditioned one.”
I’d like to see the return of summer leagues. I’d like to see more pro players showing up. Most of all, I’d love to see more summer leagues played outdoors! Someone once said, ‘The summer time is when you improve, the winter is when you prove it.”
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
For those that know me, I’m not a big fan of people who bash AAU basketball. I am someone who has coached it and have seen it help a lot of people. I understand there are stories out there that paints AAU basketball in a dark light (I never hear any specifics though).
I asked some coaches on Twitter what are the Pro’s and Con’s of AAU basketball. Here are some of the answers I received: (Keep in mind on Twitter you are only allowed 140 characters)
Too many games! Do kids really value a good win or more importantly learn to hate losing?
There is nothing better than havin all that talent in one gym but ur right those booklets are way overpriced!
Another pro is that kids get to travel and see other cities and states, places many have never been and may never go.
Another pro is that the big events (Vegas, PeachJam, etc.) allow the players to play in front of HUNDREDS of college coaches.
One con is that it has taken a lot of kids out of individual camps in June and July.
It is what some of them need to do though.They need the exposure and to play at that competitive level.Competition is good.
Agree w/ coachsilk but a PRO is it lets others take leadership, playmaking, scoring rolls to enhance their games and the team.
Too many games also leaves you too tired for skill work sometimes.
Agree w/ the comp being better as a BIG PRO. You always have to play hard. Big CON is to many games, Ws and Ls less important.
One of my cons is that while we are developing team chemistry over the summer, our best players are not with us.
Pros: Great Competition.
Pros: Kids in a gym playing. Biggest Con for me is that there is no regulation of coaches, there is no accountability.
Con: Beginning to be too many irons in the fire. Too many “outside influences” around the players come from AAU.
Pro: Best players get to play vs. best players. Makes evaluations easier. Don’t get that with football recruiting.
Coach K from Duke on what Team USA looks for in their players. It’s the same thing we need to preach to our younger players.
Defense, Attitude, Enthusiasm and Unselfishness.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
Jay Bilas of ESPN wrote a good piece on ‘Toughness’ during this past basketball season. I thought it was a great read. All the elements he covered should be practiced at the high school level and built upon through college. Matter of fact, hopefully all coaches at all levels saw this wonderful piece and printed it out. (I had my players read it aloud as a group). This afternoon I was reading and doing some research for my writing project and came across some ‘tough guys’ who used to play the game. I also had the opportunity to meet up with a former basketball player from New York City who played his high school basketball at Boys High back in the 1960’s. He later went on to play for Michigan State.
We both reminisced about the former players he played against and guys he liked.
Guys like Lonnie Shelton, Scott Skiles, Maurice Lucas, Buck Williams, Nate Thurmond. I miss those types. I’m not sure we have them anymore. The game has become a lot more finesse.
I once heard Charles Barkley and Chris Weber discussing the Detroit Pistons on TNT this past season and Weber said, ‘The Pistons take on the personality of Joe Dumars”. Barkley countered, “No they don’t, Dumars played hard.”
How many guys actually play hard today and really care about the team concept? As coaches we have to pound the ‘sharing the ball‘ mentality into our players just like Red Holzman talked about 24-7 with his New York Knicks championship teams.
How many guys defend and get out on the break like Bobby Jones? How many guys move without the ball like John Havlicek? Hondo once said he never gets tired in the game.
How many guys hit the glass like Kurt Rambis and Marc Iavaroni? How many guards play lock-down defense like the late Dennis Johnson?
Gus Johnson and Dave DeBusschere battling all night. Wes Unseld in the post at 6′7″ battling against Willis Reed. Moses Malone rebounding like a monster, fighting for position with the opposing center. How about Paul Silas, Elvin Hayes, Clifford Ray and even Dennis Rodman?
I miss guys like Bill Bradley, Rick Barry, Rudy Tomjanovich, Billy Cunningham, Maurice Cheeks and Jerry Lucas.
Today’s young players need to make sure they possess the work ethic that made all the above mentioned players great competitors.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
I always talk about the ‘well-off’ helping others in need. It’s the humane thing to do. I have mentioned that every NBA player should run a basketball camp in their hometown or even help build a playground or basketball court in their neighborhood.
My guy Charlie Bell of the Milwaukee Bucks is doing his part by running a camp at the Boys and Girls Club in Milwaukee. Read the story from the Bucks website via NBA.com
“There are a lot of camps out in the suburban areas,” Bell said. “I figure that no one hardly ever does any camps in the inner city for kids who can’t afford it, or can’t get there. There are a lot of Bucks fans who don’t get a chance to see a Bucks player, or an NBA player at that, so I just wanted to do something different to give back to the community and give them a chance to have an experience of a lifetime.”
Charlie is one of the best people you will ever meet.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the kids to see that a Bucks player would take interest in showing them the fundamentals of basketball,” added Alicia Fleming, Club Manager of the Roger and Leona Fitzsimonds Branch. “The kids are excited to have an NBA player come into the community, show them skills and show them that they’re relatable. And Charlie is definitely a role model to them.”
Bell said he hopes to one day hold a camp in his hometown Flint, Mich., while also continuing to host free camps in Milwaukee. As a child in Flint, Bell never had the chance to attend a camp hosted by an NBA player.“I think at the time there were a couple of players from Flint who were in the NBA, but they didn’t hold camps back at home,” Bell said. “No one ever threw a camp there. I wish they would have but they didn’t. That’s why I’m holding a camp like this. I want to try to get to the point where every summer I can be here (in Milwaukee) and also where I’m from (Flint) doing free camps just for the kids and just to give back. Hopefully next year we do it again.”
There are others who do the same across the country and hopefully even more step up to the plate and help out. There are some kids out there that would love to attend camp but just can’t afford it.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
My guy Michael DeCourcy of the Sporting News came out with his column today (Starting Five) and he had a great piece referring to the USA U 19 men’s basketball team capturing the Gold Medal. For some reason that accomplishment received less publicity than someone dunking the ball in a pick-up game.
What does it say about American basketball that Jordan Crawford’s pickup game dunk got 100 times the attention of the United States’ U-19 World Championship?
America can’t just excuse this abomination by claiming no one got to see the U-19s because they weren’t on American television. That’s a situation that ought to be rectified, pronto. But no one saw Xavier’s Crawford dunk on LeBron James, either.
James is the biggest star in basketball, but Crawford’s dunk happened in a meaningless pickup game in which James’ attention was split between having some fun playing and making sure he didn’t injure himself in the process. Indeed, it was a major PR blunder for Nike to demand tapes from the few videographers recording the game, but that didn’t drive all of the coverage.
The U-19 team won a major international championship in which it was a constant target and that was strongly emphasized by many countries that play basketball seriously. Some major sports websites barely acknowledged this, after devoting reams of coverage to Crawford’s dunk. That’s messed up.
I know why. The ego! People have huge ego’s. They are afraid to give credit to USA basketball for playing the game the right way. So we messed up a little bit a couple of years ago in international play, that was due to choosing a bad selection of players. Our eyes were blackened because ESPN glorified the ‘And 1 Mix Tour’ and then every kid wanted to be ‘The Professor’. As coaches, we have been battling those negative events ever since. But please, give credit where credit is due.
I have always said that Team USA has nothing to gain when they defeat another country in basketball. When they win, it’s like, ‘oh they’re supposed to win‘. God forbid if they lose, all the bloggers, so-called coaches and anyone else who knows how to turn on a computer get their fingers warmed up and rip into American players for not shooting the ball well.
Gotta love the ones who make it personal!
Sam Presti, General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet once said he wants players who are; 1-resilient, 2-competitors and 3-professionals. Instead of criticizing our players at the younger levels for lacking such traits, why don’t we do something about it?
I’m pleased to announce that I will be writing a basketball column for collegeinsider.com Joe Dwyer and Angela Lento have been doing a great job for many years and are two of the most passionate basketball fans you will ever meet.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
