WHO’S AT FAULT?

When teams struggle, and everyone is going nuts, who’s at fault?

Players? Coaches? Managers? Trainers? Ball boys? Concession workers?

I’m not really sure to tell you the truth.  But I will tell you the easiest target is the coach; so eventually he gets fired.

The Detroit Pistons are going through a tough stretch right now after they lost their 8th straight game last night to the New Orleans Hornets. Michael Curry is not the problem with the Detroit Pistons.  I repeat, he is not the problem!

I found a story from the SGVTribune on Lamar Odom and his stay in LA with the Clippers and the coach at the time Alvin Gentry; who has taken over for Terry Porter in Phoenix.

He put a lot of faith in me,” Odom said.

Odom said he repaid that trust by making mistakes that cost Gentry his job.

“A lot of that team could have stayed together if my decision-making was better, and A.G. did a great job of giving me support,” Odom said. “I probably didn’t uphold my end of the bargain, to some degree. I got hurt and I did some things to hurt myself.”

I love Odom for being a ‘truth-teller’.  I wish more players would admit that it’s their fault when teams struggle.  I was watching a Pistons game the other night and Curry was explaining something to one player and the guy wasn’t even listening to him.

Gentry was loyal to Odom and put a lot of trust in him.

“But I was more mad at myself because I feel like I could have done a better job myself of protecting him,” he said. “I mean, if I would have protected myself, you know what I’m saying? If I had done a better job of playing, of taking care of my body, taking care of Lamar the person, those kinds of the things all go together in the sports world.”

It’s easy to point the finger at the coach, it’s usually what everyone does, but sometimes you need to look a bit closer; there are other problems other than the coach.

Accountability baby!  Teach it to your young ones at an early age!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

THE MEDIA

Seems like someone from the media asked UConn men’s head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a dumb question and kept on annoying him throughout the press conference.  Video below.

This guy was at the post-game press conference and he’s talking about Calhoun giving the State money back from his contract?

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

STEP UP AND GET IT DONE!

Came across a story in today’s New York Times on the new GM for the Detroit Lions Martin Mayhew.  Mayhew has been with the club since 2001.  So why do the Lions think Mayhew is the guy to turn it around?

“You know what? There’s nothing about it you can say,” Mayhew said. “The fans have heard it all before. The proof is in the pudding. I am self-confident. I also know where I need help sometimes. People can be overconfident. I’m not that person.”

Is he the right guy for the rebuilding job?  Who knows?  But he does deserve a shot. Recently, Mayhew sat down for dinner with Matthew Stafford, QB out of the University of Georgia.

“He’s a very intelligent person,” Stafford said of Mayhew. “I think he’s more of a listener. He was listening to what other people had to say. He was very engaged in the conversation without maybe saying a whole lot.”

I am rooting for Mayhew to turn it around in D-Town.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

HUSBAND AND WIFE

Cool story out of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan where the wife is the head coach of the boys basketball team (She’s also the A.D.) and the husband is the head coach of the girls varsity basketball team. Thanks to Mick McCabe of the Detroit Free Press.

“After games we’ve learned to give each other space, especially after a tough loss,” Damon said. “Eventually, one of us will break the ice. I think we’re tougher on each other than anyone else. We tell each other what we don’t want to hear and it’s usually right, especially if it’s coming from her.”

Disturbing story from high school basketball in Indiana where a coach was ordered to court on his alleged verbal abuse of one of his players.  South Bend Tribiune reports.

“Society is not free from yelling and swearing, and neither is high school basketball,” Woods said. “All we have here is a coach trying to prepare his players,” adding that the claims were an attack on a good high school program.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

WEEKEND MATERIAL

Canisius men’s basketball assistant coach was arrested.  Buffalo News has the story on how he beat his 4 year-old kid.

According to the felony complaint, Adingono struck his son “with a belt numerous times, causing welts, bruising and pain” to the boy’s back, neck and arms. The incident occurred at about 8 a. m. Jan. 15.

First year head coach of the New York Jets Rex Ryan Q and A with the New York Daily News.

What has been the biggest adjustment to being a head coach?

A: The first item on the agenda was hiring a coaching staff. On paper, you always have the staff that, if you ever got a head-coaching job, you’d feel confident in. When I got there, I started interviewing guys that were on the previous staff. You start with a plan in place, but there are other coaches that become available. I want to surround myself with the best possible coaches I can. It’s just like you do with your players; you want the best players you can win with. There’s no way I could’ve envisioned putting together this kind of coaching staff. It’s an all-star staff that I feel extremely fortunate to have.

I think this staff can match up with any staff in the NFL, and I know that’s a big statement, but when you’re able to keep a Brian Schottenheimer, who’s got a great reputation … to add a Mike Pettine from Baltimore, who’s been with me forever … All those guys are rising stars in this league. You always hear that quote, but it’s true. Bill Callahan, to me, is one of the premier offensive lines coaches in the league. Then Mike Westhoff comes on board. I talked to John Harbaugh about him and I said, ‘This Mike Westhoff guy, I can’t believe his resume.’ He said, ‘Keep him. Whatever you do, keep him.’ So he came in, we met, we hit it off right away and I was fortunate Mike wanted to stay. I tried to extend everybody, so they’re not on their remaining contracts. Just to let them know, if they were out there, they’d be treated no differently than the new coaches coming in.

It was a long process, selecting your coaches. To add an Anthony Lynn and a Henry Ellard on the offensive staff, with the reputations they have, it was great. That was a great hire. And with Anthony Lynn, we feel we got the best running-back coach that was available. Matt Cavanaugh, our former coordinator in Baltimore in 2000, gets on board to coach the quarterbacks. Then, on defense, obviously I was very familiar with Mike Pettine and Dennis Thurman. Then, to add Kerry Locklin on the defensive line and Jeff Weeks, who was actually a college roommate of mine … it’s going to be a great staff and I feel very fortunate. I’m confident in my abilities, but I’m a lot more confident in the abilities of these men. These guys aren’t working for me, they’re working with me. Our collective efforts are going to lead this football team. We put together a group of great teachers. With that being said, that was my phase one of taking over this new job.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com