Michael Curry has been fired by the Detroit Pistons. To me, this doens’t make sense. He didn’t have enough time. I watched the Pistons closely this year; they lacked a lot of passion. They never bought into Curry’s ‘team’ philosophy. He talked about hard work early in the season and it seemed like they didn’t care. Curry will bounce back.
Here’s another poor article on the so-called ‘flawed’ basketball system here in the Land of the Free. Tom Oates, a writer from the Wisconsin State Journal. A GM from Europe comments on Brandon Jennings.
“Like many of the Americans we see come to Europe, he just doesn’t have a great feel for the game,” the GM said. “No one ever taught him how or when to pass. Speed and athleticism are fine, but I want a point guard who puts the team above their own individual game. I don’t blame the young man for this. He is just the product of a corrupt development system that is ruining American basketball.”
HA! What a joke. What does this say about their scouting system? Did they do their homework on the kid? Or were they enamoured with an ‘American’ player? A product of a corrupt development system ruining American basketball? Yeah right, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Dewayne Wade, Lebron James…sure, they came from a corrupt system!
The Nike Skills Academy is going on right now across the country in at different venues. Coaches are there working with players. Where do these people come up with this information? Do they research or do they listen to people who know zero about the game.
Shoe companies sponsor teams as they try to nurture relationships with future NBA stars. Agents, flesh peddlers and college coaches flock to AAU games because there are fewer restrictions than there are in the winter. AAU coaches often are basketball know-nothings and coaching wannabes in search of a future payday.
Know nothings? Durand ‘Speedy’ Walker of the AAU program The Family based out of Detroit is a very good coach. Norm Oden of the Michigan Mustangs is not a coaching wannabe. The guy has been around for a long time and looks to help kids who need the exposure.
This time of year these types of stories pop up all over. The college coaches are about to hit the road on the recruiting trail and players are gearing up to compete. Like I have said in the past, there are a couple of AAU tournaments in July with nothing the past two months and nothing in August. They make it out like these kids are playing every day in the summer at some AAU venue.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com

The coverage back then was very small. The Daily News and Post had excellent coverage but that was it. No draft party’s, no interviews, no Green Room, no shaking hands in front of hundreds of fans with David Stern.