On the eve of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic, here is a nice video montage of the best of all the all-access segments from the playoffs so far, produced by NBA TV, to help y'all get in the mood -- I know it helped me get into this series. Enjoy the game...
I think y'all know by now where I stand on the AAU vs High School debate. AAU has its merits and I have no problem with AAU coaches defending what they do, it is their right to do so. I have a bias because I plan on being a high school teacher, but I strongly believe that playing and coaching prep sports in high school is something special that can't be replicated in any traveling or club scenario.
Case in point, this past weekend here in Vancouver, they played the Province (state) High School Championships in soccer, and a local school won the Senior Girls championship. The way amateur soccer is setup here, club soccer dominates, kids play club to get recruited and get college scholarships (much like AAU basketball in the US). To understand a little as to why playing prep sports has more intrinsic value, here is a quote from one of the girls from the winning team:
"For a lot of us, it’s bigger than club soccer, because we’re all so close," said UBC-bound Rachael Sawer, who scored three times in the final. "This team is so tight. We love each other. I can’t express how amazing everybody is. To me, I’ll probably remember this more than anything in club soccer."In explaining the difference between the two -- club and prep -- the head coach of the winning team had this to say:
"In terms of careers, club soccer is the thing," said Handsworth coach Ted Smolen. "But high school is the time they get to play for themselves and for their peers. Club soccer becomes like a job for some of them after awhile. With high school, it’s really for the love of the game. They’re playing with their friends.The key words being 'friends' and 'love of the game'.
High school is a ritual that has such cultural significance that the memories usually last a lifetime (good ones and bad ones). And it certainly extends into prep sports, players have common experiences in the classroom -- 8:30 English with Mr. A, 11:00 PE with Mr. B, chasing girls/boys during lunch, etc... Players on club teams also develop friendships, but the point is that because in high school you struggle as group together playing prep sports has that much more significance, and in the end you make it out of high school together.
With the lead up to Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, a lot is being written about Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy this week, and rightfully so. SVG has been overlooked, written off, cast-aside time and time again. Lets go through the rather lengthy list of slights:
First off, Jeff Van Gundy was always thought to be the "better" coach, at least now we'll think Jeff might just be the better TV analyst. After taking Miami back to the playoffs, SVG was forced to resign by Pat Riley only to see Miami win the Championship that very year. The Magic had originally signed Billy Donovan to be their coach-in-saviour only to have Donovan pull a runaway bride (in some random Vegas gym scouting the next Nick Calathes, Donovan is left wondering what could've been -- woulda, shoulda, coulda) and leaving the Magic to "settle" for SVG -- always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
There was the very public squabble with a former player who played under SVG, Shaq, who ranted and raved about SVG's supposed "master of panic" which has yet to materialize so far. When all-star point-guard Jameer Nelson was lost for the season and the Magic stumbled initially, they and SVG were subsequently written off. Incredible back-to-back comebacks in this year's playoffs, down 2-1 to the 76ers, down 3-2 to the Celtics. The most difficult snub perhaps came from his own team, franchise player Dwight Howard making a very public challenge in questioning SVG's coaching abilities, and everyone including myself saying SVG was probably toast. Finally, taking on the game's most prolific player in Lebron, overcoming that last second game-winner in Game 2, and still winning the series over the heavily favored Cavs in 6.
Even in comparing rosters, no coach has had to assume the leadership mantle more than SVG -- the Lakers have plenty of leaders on their roster to rely on, who do the Magic have? Howard? Too immature. Rashard? Too quiet. Turkoglu? Too enigmatic. SVG is the coach, the captain, the leader, the button-pusher. If the Magic win, it's clear who led them all the way to the Land of Canaan.
When you really add it all up, it is unbelievable what he and his family have gone through. SVG is the embodiment of resilience, throughout it all he's never wavered, never compromised his principles, and he's always been honest in everything that he does. Win or lose in these NBA Finals, one thing is clear, SVG can flat out coach, there is no doubt about that. I leave you with this clip from ESPN, the best SVG soundbites so far this playoffs, enjoy...
Everybody's talking about Lebron James and his quick exit in Game 6 on Saturday night. After losing the game, James bolted for the locker room never shaking a hand, skipped the post-game news conference and headed home. After catching up to him more than a day later, all Lebron could muster up for his show of disrespect was:
"I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. You know me, I’m a competitor. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them, it doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand."Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo!Sports wrote an article about it today. The sentiment around the blogosphere is mostly about the same, that Lebron is a sore loser and nobody around him wants to tell him that because they coddle him. Yes, he acted selfish and immature and nobody around him wants to chew him out, but why is that?
What I see missing in all the chatter is some of the psychological reasons why Lebron acted the way he did. Certainly, some of it can be blamed on celebrity culture, or too much money too young. But what nobody is talking about is Lebron's upbringing, and specifically the lack of a strong male-figure growing up. Sure, he lived with some coaches in between years when his mother was unable to take care of him, but nothing can substitute for the real father figure that Lebron never had.
In Wojnarowski's article, he states that Kobe never acted that way when he lost (Kobe grew up privileged with a father who was a professional basketball player and coached him in high school). Jordan always shook hands graciously when losing to the Pistons (Jordan was known to be really close to his father). Wojnarowski lists Isiah Thomas as an example of a supposed classy guy who walked out without shaking hands when the Pistons lost to the Bulls (Thomas's father left his family of 8 kids when he was just 3 years old).
Am I saying that if one grows up fatherless they will always act immature, and if one grows up with 2 parents they will always act normally? No, there are examples of guys who grew up without fathers or had abusive fathers and still act appropriately like Julius Erving or Larry Bird, and vice versa (ie. Barry Bonds). Nor am I saying that it's a race issue, because white players who grew up without fathers like Chris Andersen of the Nuggets, or Roger Clemens in the majors, or Jeremy Shockey in the NFL have all also exhibited similar attitude problems.
With this being June and Father's Day right around the corner, Lebron's behavior serves to underscore the point that fathers make a difference. Lebron never learned how to be gracious in defeat because those kinds of hard life lessons are usually learned from your father which Lebron never really had. The values we hold as individuals are in large part given to us by our parents, and when one or two of your parents are absent, where will those values come from?? Nobody around Lebron is going to tell him he acted like baby and he should apologize because that is something a father would tell him, not his teammates, not the owner. Coaches, teachers, and mentors can help, but nothing can substitute for the real thing.
Most of y'all probably saw most of these coaching 'wired' segments during the TNT broadcast of the game between the Lakers and Nuggets, but as a coach I can see these over and over again.
My favorite part is Coach Phil Jackson saying "et cetera et cetera". I also like Coach George Karl letting his players know to enjoy the moment. It may have been in one ear and out the other for the players, but sometimes as players and coaches, we fail to appreciate the "basketball moments". It helps to get perspective on things when you watch the fans watch you and your team play.
I'm a big fan of Michael Lewis, I own several of his books including Moneyball and Blind Side. I read the NY Times article he wrote earlier in February on the use of sabremetrics in basketball, specifically regarding Shane Battier and how the Rockets are the Oakland A's of the NBA. In a recent interview, Lewis believed that many NBA teams will be adopting sabremetrics in the future following the Rockets lead and MLB, here is a partial transcript:
Q: Speaking of “Moneyball” and team sports, you recently wrote a piece for The New York Times Magazine about the statistical revolution coming to basketball. And you focused on the Houston Rockets and a player they’ve deemed undervalued by conventional statistics, Shane Battier. My one issue with it, compared to “Moneyball,” was that it was harder for you to make the case because the Rockets wouldn’t share a lot of the statistics they used to back up their assertions about player value. Was that frustrating to you?I'm not surprised how guarded the Rockets are about their system. In the NBA, math matters and it looks like more teams will follow suit soon. I wonder who those 7 undervalued players are -- I took a look myself roughly and came up with: Flip Murray, Kirk Heinrich, Thaddeus Young, Paul Millsap, and Rudy Fernandez, all appear to be good buys.
A: He gave me enough to do what I wanted to do — which was ask the questions. It would have been nice to know all the secrets, but I got enough. It wasn't going to be a rigorous statistical piece. They genuinely don't want people to know what they’re looking at.
Q: And I guess, since you point out that “Moneyball” contributed to the A’s losing their competitive advantage, the Rockets should be wary.
A: Right. The only reason the A's let me in is that they thought people [cared] so little ... about what they were doing. They couldn't imagine anyone would care about what I wrote.
On the other hand, this was leaking out already. The Red Sox were rapidly becoming what they are in terms of following Sabermetrics. On top of all that, enough of all the intellectual property that they seized upon was in the public domain. The Rockets have created a lot more intellectual property than the A’s ever created.
Q: Are there more Shane Battiers out there in the NBA? And how does studying the exception to the rules of NBA selfishness help us learn things about the vast majority of players who are not exceptions?
A: Yes, there are more of them out there. The Rockets have generated a list of five, six, seven players who they thought were dramatically undervalued. And there's the converse — players who do well in conventional stats who are overvalued. I think the thrust of the story is that what's going to happen in basketball has happened in baseball. A wand will be waved and a new system will be put in place on how to value players. The Rockets will tell you that everyone in the NBA is at least slightly misvalued.
In comparing the Lakers and Magic in the finals, I took a look at some of the +/- stats and Lamar Odom of the Lakers and Courtney Lee of the Magic appear to be the key players. I also find the Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating, quite useful too.
Some great tips from Montana State head coach Tricia Binford on becoming a better ball handler by developing the weak hand. Too many kids I see these days can only go right or go left, makes it much easier to defend. The advantages of being ambidextrous are tremendous, when Greg Oden broke his right wrist, it forced him to develop his left hand and it helped tremendously when Ohio State made their run. In baseball, the switch hitters are always valued more. Anyways, here are Coach Binford's tips:
1) Everything you eat from now on must be with your weak hand. The skill is more important than the image. Tell that to your date before he takes you out to Chinese.
2) Go rock climbing. Strong forearms improve your ball handling, passing, and rebounding. Just please make sure to have someone hold the rope. When I was in college on a ropes course I jumped off a 30 foot pole when my teammate wasn't holding the rope. That's why I ended up 5'4 instead of 6'4.
3) Find a racquetball court, bring a basketball, and shut yourself in for an hour. Practice any and every ball handling and passing drill you've ever learned and OVER EXAGGERATE it. Bounce or throw that ball as hard as you can. If you make a mistake you have four walls to bring that ball right back. Tell your mom to bring the video camera and you might make $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos.
4) HAVE FUN. To take it to the next level you have to put in more time than others are willing, so you might as well enjoy it. Be creative, innovative, and challenge yourself in ways you haven't imagined before.
My five year old can climb our fridge in under 5 seconds. He is destined for greatness.
The eating with the other hand is interesting, I've never thought of that one, I guess you could take that a step further by practicing to write with the weak hand.
Personally, my favorite is using a stress ball...
For more ball-handling tips, take a look at Ganon Baker's DVD on Perfecting Ball-handling.
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