CHECK UP

Last night I watched NBA TV’s Real Training Camp.  For the next few nights we get a look at NBA teams going through their workouts/practice.  The Denver Nuggets were up first and I was very impressed with the energy displayed by the players and coaches.  I especially enjoyed the defense that was being shown by Carmelo Anthony.  There were a few trips down the floor where the former Syracuse Orangeman was down in his stance pressuring the ball on the perimeter.

My only problem last night with the two hour feature was the announcers, Rick Kamla and Bill Hanzlick. These guys talked way too much. Hanzlick had some good things to say, like explaining what Nuggets head coach George Karl was talking about but the other guy Kamla, he was working like he was getting paid by the word.   They had a few guys on the floor mic’d up and we barely had a chance to hear those guys.   Memo to NBA TV producers, mic up assistant coaches too, those guys get after it.  Speaking of defense…

Detroit Free Press on new Detroit Pistons head coach John Kuester and what his team worked on in their first practice of the season.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time, and it’s like anything — you’re going to have progression,” said Kuester, 54. “Once you get in between the lines, you are ready to get what you want accomplished. I was very confident going into this.”

Albany Times Union on coaches from outside the NY Knicks organization getting a chance to sit in, take notes and watch the Knickerbockers practice.

“I love it,” D’Antoni said. “If we can help them, or if they have a play or two they’re excited about, that’s great. That’s what it’s for. We don’t have any secrets. Everybody knows how to play basketball.”

JS Online on Milwaukee Bucks head coach Scott Skiles working on the defensive end of the floor.

“We were trending at one point last year to be a high-level defensive team, and along the way we lost it a little bit. I’d like to see us be a top five defensive field-goal percentage team. I’d like to see us holding our opponents to a low number and rebound the ball; that’s where I’m focused on right now. Because I know if you do those things, you will win.”

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“Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.”

- Zig Ziglar

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

START ME UP

NBA teams begin their training camps today.  Everyone is rejuvenated, recharged and ready to go.  (How about that, the 3 R’s). Guys are lacing up brand new sneakers, head coaches telling everyone how excited they are about the new season; rookies are finding their way, recently signed free-agents have a new mailman, vets are pumped at another chance to possibly win a ring and the older guys, well, let’s just say their career’s on the hardwood are winding down.

Basketball magazines have their annual pre-season previews, (BTW, Check out Yahoo Sports NBA Preview, it’s one of the best out there) Bloggers are up late into the night going over the teams for their entry in the morning and the fans try and consume as much information as possible on their favorite players and teams.   Same thing in college basketball-teams start October 15, their first official day of practice, as for us at the Junior College level, we start tomorrow.  The start of a new season is always exciting…

Canada.Com on Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh, who will be a free-agent after this season.

“It’s all about the feeling of being happy. That’s what it is for me,” Bosh said. “You have to be happy to do your job the right way, to maximize your potential. If you’re not happy, it’s just not going to work. It’s just more of a feeling. I’m really not expecting anything at all.”

JS Online.com on Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings. Bucks head coach Scott Skiles on the ‘rook’.

“I try not to pre-judge any of that,” Skiles said. “When you suit up for practice, you’re not looking for rookies. You’re looking for the best guys you can find and trying to put ‘em out there. I let my eyes and ears tell me what’s going to happen, and that’s what I’ll do with him.”

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“There is a tendency for players to believe that because the coach is talking to someone else, they don’t have to listen.”

-Unknown

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

GREG ODEN

Oregon Live.com Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard was at the practice facility in the late afternoon Sunday. He said nine players reported early this season. They show up in the morning, lift weights, get treatment, work on their game, and then organize scrimmages.  Said Pritchard: “Getting here (early) has just become what the players do around here now.”

I really hope Oden can get past all these injuries. I like the guy, he does things the right way.  It reminds me of Bill Walton and Sam Bowie all over again.

New York Post is reporting that Stephen Jackson, Golden State Warriors swingman may get traded to the New York Knicks.

Orlando Sentinel on Jameer Nelson-he’s back!

“I feel good — normal now,” he said. “I worked harder this summer than I did any summer ever because I had to. I wanted to get back to the level I was at. I didn’t want to become just one of the guys.”

Deseret News on the Utah Jazz with playing time available up front.

“If they don’t understand that and can’t see that there’s an opportunity there for them maybe to get some minutes, then I’m not going to tell them,” Sloan said at practice this weekend. “I think they should know enough on their own maybe there’s opportunities if they’re willing to work at it, be ready when they’re called on, keep a good, positive attitude.”

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“A world title is what you strive for,we need to win, anything else is unsatisfactory.”

-Johnny Damon

-Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter – @CoachFinamore

PATRICK MILLS

Remember the basketball player for the Australian National team who played well against Team USA in the Olympics last summer? It led USA and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to say “I’m just glad my Duke team doesn’t have to play Saint Mary’s. He’ll be an NBA guard.”  Patrick Mills, The  St. Mary’s College point guard, who Coach K was talking about broke his foot July 9th, the first day of training camp and is trying to make it in the NBA.  Mills broke his hand during the college season.  ”They’ve kept in regular contact to see how my foot is going so at least I know they’re still keen and interested. The goal is to play in the NBA not Europe. There are some offers from overseas clubs, but Portland haven’t got rid of me yet so that’s good signs and that’s where I want to be. It’s certainly going to be challenging and ideally Europe is out of the question … it’s more about me marking myself in the NBA and cementing my spot there.”  The Canberra Times

Pat Graham of the AP Can the Denver Nuggets make another run? J.R. Smith spent 24 days in jail.

For Smith, it was a tumultuous offseason. He spent 24 days in a New Jersey correctional facility after pleading guilty to reckless driving.

He said it was a sobering experience, and he wants to prove he’s grown up.

“I’ve said in the past that I’ve matured,” said Smith, who was suspended by the league for the first seven games of the season. “Now it’s not about saying, it’s about showing.”

While in jail, Smith said he did sit-ups, push-ups, some reading and lots of thinking — like what he wanted to learn from the incident.

“Wake up with a purpose, have a goal,” Smith said. “Know every time that I do something it doesn’t affect just me. It affects my family, my friends, my team, players and coaches.”

The first thing he did after getting out? Head to a gym to shoot hoops.

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“The road to success is always under construction and filled with potholes.”

-Carolyn Rutherford

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

2ND TIME AROUND

Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini on his second time around as head coach in the National Football League.  If you recall, Mangini was fired after three seasons in New York where he took the Jets to the playoffs 2 out of 3 years.  ”What I learned early on is it doesn’t matter how old you are, what you look like, any of those things. If you can show the players you can help them be successful, they they listen and they respect you.” (Sporting News Today 9/24/09)

Looks like we may have Michael Jordan going up against Bryon Russell in a one-on-one showdown.  Chicago Sun-Times has the story

ESPN on Jim Crews, men’s basketball coach fired from Army.

“There was a series of events that led me down the path to determine that I needed to make a change in leadership of the men’s basketball program and terminate coach Crews’ contract,” athletic director Kevin Anderson said in a statement. “I am very disappointed with some things that have come to my attention in recent days and I have decided that it is in the best interests of the basketball program and the institution to terminate our relationship.”

More ESPN on a College basketball player from Binghamton arrested for selling cocaine.

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“To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your heart is true for all men – that is genius.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com