What would you like to see changed in terms of the game? You are David Stern for the day.

The thing I would change is the effect of cosigning.  I believe that if you work hard enough, stay dedicated consistent and loyal, you end up where you belong and needed.  Cosigning just advances the thrill seekers in our game. I’m a basketball purest who is absolutely great at what I do.  I learned basketball pre NBA hype days.  I got to learn from the very best when they were at the top of their teaching game.  Pitino, Calipari, Chaney, Williams, Odom, Malone, Carlesimo, Donlon,Wade, Wooten, Gibbons,Garland, Izzo, Ellis,Cremins,Miel,Van Gundy’s, Jackson, Gregory, Smith, Knight, Coach K, Holland, Valvano, Forentino, Phelps, Henson, Barnes, Garfinkel, Klein, Staak,Ferry, Purnell, The Lehman Bros.  In my opinion, these guys never needed a cosignor. You knew they were good.Why? Because you sucked at everything (coaches too!) until you knew them or somebody off their tree.

AAU basketball in the States; Good or bad…Why?

I have no knowledge of AAU basketball. I never played. I never coached. I wear all kinds of sneakers. My kids will be at Five Star.

There seems to be a large number of Personal trainers in basketball these days-everywhere you look, they seem to be popping up all over the place.  I have read where 12 year old kids are hiring them, is it a good thing or bad thing? And when looking for a personal trainer in basketball, what should a parent/player look for?

I say this  to parents…If you thought your son was a B student in 9th grade science, capabe of an A, would you go get a College science professor to tutor him?  Why not?  He has potential?  He could possibly develop the super vaccine…save lives perhaps.  You won’t do nothing. Why?  Because no one can see you do you’re ” look at me ” or,  ”Look at what I can afford” dance.  If we took away the airtime coverage we see, less people caring as much about doing anything in our game.

If you weren’t involved in basketball, what would Sean Tyson be doing?

There is no Sean Tyson without basketball. I love this game for every reason. I will be here doing what I do for the game,camera on or off.

Thanks to Sean Tyson for the time sharing his knowledge.  For more info on Tyson visit his site.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

Who are some popular players you have trained in the past?

Paul Davis,  Chris Grimm,  Goran Suton,  Jermaine Jackson,  Mateen Cleaves,  Charlie Bell,  Javelle McGhee, Alan Anderson,  Ben Wallace, James White, Jonathan Roberts,  Kelvin Tolbert,  and many others.

Is there a level (HS, College, Pro) that you would rather/prefer to work with?

Do American players work hard on their game or are the pundits right in saying Americans don’t work?

Americans still work hard on the game.  Europeans do as well.  In America we have a reason for working.  We set our goals on the benefits of accomplishing certain levels of the basketball.  We tend to have a arrogance about it because we are good at it.  We depend less on learning anything from anybody that does not connect to the NBA or the higher NCAA circles.  What Europeans work hard at is developing the communication that allows them a chance not to miss something we may come up with.  They don’t want to play like our best players.  They want to know why we think the player is good.  They don’t want to own the Mercedes that depreciates.  They want to send money back home to the club that has several sports and 140 years of operation in their town.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

I first met Sean Tyson a few years ago at a basketball camp.  He had an outgoing personality and liked to talk basketball.  The more I got to know him, the more I realized how passionate he was about Player Development.  After observing him train some players, I knew this guy was good at what he does.  He isn’t well-known like a lot of other trainers; he doesn’t toot his own horn with a blog claiming you should use his methods.  He just works his ass off.

I recently sat down with him and discussed training, his career, and his thoughts on Player Development.

Why are you totally absorbed in Player Development? What is it about Player Development that makes you want to put so much time into it?

My understanding of basketball comes from a foundation of Drills, Camps and philosophies.  These elements are staples in the game.   Players and coaches come and go.   Somethings never change.  In our game, skill work, repetition and discipline are irremovable and unbiased.  It is what it always will be “work”.   There is no room for injection of politics or spin control in Player Development.  You do it or you don’t.  You improve or you wont. You win or you lose.

When I think of how much time I put into Player Development I immediately think of safety.  I realize that not everybody is going to get a coaching gig.  I rely on things that are a constant necessity for the players after all, they are the reason we coach right?  I concentrate on starting habits and setting short term and long term goals.  Player Development is a self proclamation of a focus usually brought on by deficiencies or under performance. Ive been absorbed with player development because it’s safe.   Safe because you need it and u can always use it.   There is always something to teach and learn.   I used to believe that the safest job in the NBA was the of a Player Development guy.   These  guys are not held responsible for wins and losses but I can tell you they have a huge impact on both. Most have Kinesiology backgrounds in the league and rest assured they all try to maintain a level of consistency with the overall state of health with the entire club.

When did you first start to train players?

I have followed the work of Arnie Kander Detroit Pistons,  Gary Vitti and Chip Schaffer LA Lakers, Dwight Daub Former Seattle Sonics,  Ivan Dukin,  Mike Garland at Michigan State and Timmy Grover- Attack Athletics Chicago, Tobin Anderson from Five Star Basketball Camp.  Kander in particular. He has one of the longest tenure of employees in the NBA.  Over 2000 plus games 3000 plus practices and of course, several injuries.   Kander is a staple.   In a here today gone tomorrow business we are in player development seems to be the safest bet to display your worth.

Do you have any mentors that got you started in Player Development?

Mark Hughes Mike Garland Arnie Kander i just studied everything he wrote and everything he did with players.

Click here for more information on Sean and to visit his  Skill Development program.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

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!

Lucas is located down in Houston, Texas working guys out-from all reports he is very good at what he does.

My version of A-B-C in basketball terms:

A-Achieve

B-Believe

C-Caring

Achieve all you can.  Work hard and keep reaching for the stars.  Do well in class.  Make great grades.  Be a winner!

Believe it can be done.  Keep on keepin’ on if you are serious about improvement.  Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done.

Care about your teammates.  Care about your coach and parents.  Care about your program!  Care if you win or lose.

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

I have been on Twitter for a few weeks and it’s been a lot of fun.  As Stephen Covey would say, ‘Enjoyable and Productive’.  I have mentioned before it’s a great networking tool with loads of information pertaining to the game.  You get different insight from very good coaches.  Also a great way to meet new coaches/friends.  Give it a try  twitter.com

You can also find me on Facebook, another cool networking site.

Talked to my good friend Herb Welling today, the father of the D-D-M; he said he was in Milwaukee and Chicago at some AAU events and the outside shooting displayed was fantastic.

“What are people talking about?” he asked.  “They say Americans can’t shoot!” Herb was on a roll…he was actually yelling over the phone.

“Herb, it’s all bull-shit, it’s blowhards behind their keyboard trying to ignite garbage.” I answered.  “They complain and whine but do nothing about this so-called problem with American basketball.”

I said it once, and I’ll say it again, our players are fine.  They are working hard, sharing the ball and playing with energy. I spoke with a high school coach out of New York City today and he told me some of his players coordinated a group workout today…minus the coaching staff! Players-only workout!

Ya gotta love that!

Last but not least, I came across a good basketball coach and his website, Mike Lee who is out there working hard with our players.

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

]]> http://playerdevelopment.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/a-b-c/feed/ 0 hoopscoach IMG_0435 http://playerdevelopment.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/same-old-same-old/ http://playerdevelopment.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/same-old-same-old/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:11:05 +0000 hoopscoach http://playerdevelopment.wordpress.com/?p=1091 ]]> Bob Starkey, women’s basketball coach at LSU has an excellent blog.  I came across an interesting piece he posted today written by ESPN’s Jay Bilas.  The article goes into detail as to what is wrong with American basketball players.  He also points out ways to make it better, what players should work on and of course the ever famous line of, ‘European players are passing Americans in the fundamentals category‘.  This discussion gets tired…

I sat in the Shoemaker Center on the campus of the University of Cincinnati and watched many hours of AAU basketball.  And what I saw may surprise Mr. Bilas and all the other pundits.  Ladies and gentlemen, American basketball at the grassroots level is fine.

I saw:

Players sharing the ball.

Teams running great sets on offense.

Tough, hard-nosed man-to-man defense.

Solid outside shooting. I watched one kid from one of the Florida teams knock down jumpers from the stands!

This talk of “American players need to learn how to play” needs to end.  Everyone keeps writing and talking about this garbage.  I’ll tell you what a problem is that no one seems to address; the parents screaming from the stands at the officials.   To me, that is worse than anything reporters write about the players.

I watched All-Ohio Red 15 and Under team run great, textbook fastbreaks .   I watched them move the ball side-to-side on the perimeter without dribbling until they got an open look; and I watched them listen to their coach every time he called one of them over for instructions.

I watched the Michigan Mustangs, led by Keith Appling, an amazing point guard out of Detroit, Michigan.  Appling is a rising senior and then will move on to play his college basketball for fine coach in Tom Izzo at Michigan State.   Appling scored 49 points in the Michigan High School State championship game back in March.  I was in attendance that night and when Appling came out of the game when the game was decided late, the entire SRO crowd gave him a standing ovation.

For two nights in Cincinnati I watched him push the ball up the floor, hit the open man and take it to the rim for a score.  I watched the wing players get out wide and run the floor hard and look for the kick-ahead pass.   I also watched the Mustangs big men run the floor, post up and utilize good footwork for buckets in the paint.  On one particular play, John Horford, younger brother of Al of the Atlanta Hawks caught the ball on the right block, take his time and after feeling for his defender, made a gorgeous spin move to the baseline and throw one down.

Chalk one up for footwork in the post.

Everyone has a solution, everyone is great at complaining, but I think it’s about time these so-called experts of grassroots basketball take a closer look and watch games.  American kids can play basketball the right way.  Don’t believe me?  How about Tyler Hansbrough, Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Ty Lawson, Johnny Flynn are just a few of the American players who were drafted last month and play the right way.  Ricky Rubio, the young man from Spain that everyone was calling the next Pete Maravich pushes the ball on the fastbreak and throws a behind the back pass to a teammate and he is praised.  An American player does that and they call it showboating, he’s too cocky.

I wish people would put all the garbage talk about American players this and international players that, to rest.  Let’s just play ball and not worry about where someone is from.   But as an American basketball coach, when someone puts down my players, I feel the need to come to their defense.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Came across a good article this morning from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer written by Terry Pluto on Cavaliers player Lebron James and his workout/work ethic during the off-season;  Great read! Who says superstars don’t work?

“LeBron is driven to win a championship,” said Jent. “Most people have no idea how hard he works. He wanted to start last week, but I told him to rest his body. Let’s start after July 4th.”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

If Dionte Christmas doesn’t make an NBA team, it won’t be the first time he hasn’t made the cut. When he was 13, he couldn’t even make the Oak Lane Wildcats.

I love stories on players being cut only to work their tails off to bounce back and turn into a very good player.  It takes a special person to accept rejection and get back after it.

For most kids that age, being told they weren’t as good as their friends would have been enough to put an early end to their career. For Dionte it was motivation. He gave up video games and started coming to practice early every day, to get in more jump shots. The next year he made the team.

Love the commitment!  Dionte gave up video games!  How about showing up to practice early!  Don’t be on time, be early!

By the time he was 15, he had improved enough to meetJohn Hardnett, the Philly basketball guru. Hardnett, Sonny Hill’s heir apparent, mentors nearly every good-to-great player growing up in Philadelphia. His workouts are the stuff of city legend, frequented by pros from across the country, and always provide a chance for local preps to show and prove. Christmas was just barely good enough to get into the gym. “At that particular time he was not a very good basketball player,” Hardnett remembers. “He wasn’t a guy you imagined to be where he is now.” He was, Coach Hardnett says, “an average basketball player.”

Partly this was because Christmas wasn’t an exceptional natural athlete. But what he lacked in athleticism he made up for in time on the court. Inspired by seeing pros like Aaron McKie, Cat Mobley and Alvin Williams up close, Dionte became a gym rat. “I threw my older guys at him and suddenly he was always the first one in gym,” Hardnett remembers. “Once he met those guys, I never had to say anything to him,” his father agrees.

On Fridays, Hardnett used to run workouts at Mallery playground in Mount Airy until almost 11 at night, and then hold practices the next morning at 9. For most players, the regime was almost impossible. “Dionte was always there at 8:30,” Hardnett remembers, “shooting.”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

There are excellent passages by Bradley;  stories and examples of the values of the game that should never be neglected.  Bradley was a player who played the right way and really bought into the team concept.   The Princeton graduate has written other books too but ‘Values of the Game’ to me is his best.

Here’s a review from a customer via Amazon.com

In this inspiring book, Bradley demonstrates the values that have helped shape him as a person, and enabled him to achieve excellence. The book is a colorful and creative collection of eye-catching basketball photos interlaced with chapters on values of the game.

In describing ideals that have helped him and other champions to succeed both on and off the court, he encourages us all to pursue excellence in our own lives- whatever our life circumstances may be.

He names ten core values that he has found meaningful in his development as a player and a person. They are: passion, discipline, selflessness, respect, perspective, courage, leadership, responsibility, resilience and imagination.

Bill Bradley has demonstrated here that he is truly a man of the people. He wants to encourage every American to celebrate the gifts, abilities and values that give them meaning and hope in their lives.

I highly recommend this book to everyone with the courage to reach beyond their grasp and strive for excellence in their lives. The pictures and stories are great, and the essays are even better. Pick it up today, and also, be sure to make your vote count in November- your opinion matters and deserves to be heard!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com