DEAN THE DREAM

Sad news out of New York City.  Former NY Knicks guard Dean Meminger was caught in a fire at his home.  NY Daily News has the story.

A far different Meminger, now 62 and plagued by years of drug addiction, was recovering Tuesday in a Bronx hospital after a fire possibly started by a crack pipe. Meminger, a key backup on the 1973 championship Knicks, was found unconscious near the bed in his room at a dilapidated SRO on Sunday night. Several crack pipes were found in the room and the hallway of the building on Findlay Ave. in Claremont, FDNY sources said. The drug paraphernalia remained the suspected cause of the four-alarm blaze, although fire marshals were still investigating.

I recall meeting Meminger while I worked on a newsstand in Penn Station. He would stop by to talk basketball before he boarded his train out to the Island. It’d be 9:00AM and my man was eating M & M’s. I hope he recovers.

Lawrence Frank’s NJ Nets team is 0-16 as they get ready to play the LA Lakers tonight in LA. Published reports state (yahoo sports) Frank is going to get fired.  It’s a shame because Frank is one of the hardest working coach’s in the profession. While going through security at Newark airport Saturday afternoon I heard some TSA guys talking about how bad the Nets are in between screening passengers.

“The Nets stink.” one guy said.  “Yeah, but it’s not the coach’s fault, he don’t shoot the ball.” another countered as he observed us loading our belongings in those plastic tubs.

Frank is a New Jersey guy too.

How about two books being on the NY Times bestseller list this week? Bill Simmons ‘The Book of Basketball” and Jackie MacMullan’s, “When the Game was Ours.”

-Coach Finamore

hoops135@hotmail.com

YOUR “A+” GAME

Have you ever heard people say, ‘they brought their A game’? Or a coach will demand, ‘you need to bring your A game’? Better yet, someone in the losing locker-room explaining to a reporter, ‘we just didn’t bring our A game’.

To me, that’s all wrong.  You need to bring something stronger. Something much better. Something that gives you a better chance of winning.  How about your A+ game!

In big games, your A game will not cut it. In any game, your A game may help you stay close, but in order to win the big games, you need to bring your A+ game.

Every possession matters.  Every shot, every pass and every rebound…matters! Each time you step between the lines, play with energy, defend and take care of the ball.

Step up your game and bring your A+ game!

Observations:

I watched the Denver Nuggets go into LA to play the Clippers Friday night. Bad news for the Nuggets. LA decided to play.  Play hard that is.  Carmelo Anthony started off the game scoring 17 points helping Denver to a 12 point lead early.  He was scoring from all angles.  But Chris Kaman, by way of Central Michigan University took it upon himself to dominate the low post.

The Clippers bench also did a great job led by Sebastian Telfair who thought he was back in Coney Island pushing the ball in transition and dribbling like he was auditioning for the latest And 1 Mix Tour.  Rasul Butler chipped in with 27. Clipper came out on top 106-99.  Do you think Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy and Telfair sit down and talk Brooklyn Hoops? Dunleavy played at Nazareth High School, Telfair at Lincoln.  Would love to hear those two debate which is better, the CHSAA or PSAL?

“We have to somehow realize that we are everybody’s big game,” said Denver guard Chauncey Billups. “It’s not like a few years ago where you play the Clippers or somebody and it is just another game.”

That’s right CB, you guys are being hunted now!

Speaking of another ‘CB’, Charlie Bell of the Milwaukee Bucks (formerly of Flint Southwestern High School) has filled in for Michael Redd at the shooting guard position and has done a solid job. Last night he scored 19 points on 7-15 shooting including 5-11 from way downtown in leading the Bucks to a 103-98 win over Memphis. Milwaukee is now 8-3.

The New Jersey Nets are now 0-13 after losing to the Knicks on Saturday 98-91. Bring back Foots Walker, Mike Newlin and Mike Gminski!

Rasheed Wallace of the Boston Celtics is shooting 22 of 70 on the season from way downtown. Including 0-8 Friday night against the Orlando Magic.  What, him worry?

“I ain’t worried about it, honestly,’’ said Wallace, after he missed all eight 3-point attempts. “I probably rushed about two or three of them. Other than that, it’s good looks, they’re just not going for me. I’m not worried about my offense now. It’s still early in the season, I know I won’t be shooting like this for the duration of the season.

“It’s just a matter of making some shots. Everybody goes through it, no matter if it’s 2-pointers, 3-pointers, or foul shots – everybody goes through slumps every now and then. But the key, or the heart of that player will determine how he plays. I’m not the type to let the threes get me down. I’m missing a couple threes so I don’t want to do this any more – no. I’m out there playing basketball.’’

I hear ya ‘Sheed. Like Kevin Loughery once said, ‘Shoot ‘em up and sleep on the streets!”

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

INVERT

New York Times on the pick- and- roll.  It’s been around for many years, it’s something that will never go away. I wish the officials would watch it carefully, they tend to call moving screens on bigs when the defender smashes into the screen and falls down.

“When it comes down to it, that’s what we’re going to be in when the game’s on the line,” Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said of basketball’s most reliable play. “I say it all the time: I don’t care how good you are, you can’t take away everything.”

So all the talk in the basketball world today is Allen Iverson.  Will he sign with the Knicks or not? I’m on the fence about this (which I wasn’t on the Grizzlies signing Iverson, I knew that wasn’t going to work). Iverson may be able to help the Knicks-but he needs to play hard, share the ball and listen to the coaching staff.  He has a chance to help New York; and you know if he does, he’ll be on billboards in Times Square (shoot, a poster on a bus stop by West 4th street may be possible) I would love to sit down with him and explain to him how important it is to play the right way.

Peter Vecsey of the New York Post on Iverson.

Sad to say, in actuality, Iverson quit his last two pit stops. The same stubborn snag — an unbecoming, uncompromising repudiation to accept reservist duty — has served to reinforce the popular perception he’s a bad guy.

I know different, as in completely the opposite. During his 10 years as a 76er, never once wasn’t Iverson straight up with me, never once did he lead me astray, as so many other NBA people are inclined to do, never once was he remotely disrespectful to my wife and children, who were often around the team on and off the court.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports on Tracy McGrady.

After months of growing discord and mistrust between the Houston Rockets and their once-franchise player,Tracy McGrady(notes) and coach Rick Adelman engaged in an emotional and sometimes loud closed-door confrontation about the star’s uncertain status on Wednesday night, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Do you see anything in-common with Iverson and McGrady? Come on, tell me…try and figure it out, I dare you!

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

SET PLAY

Watched the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs last night on ESPN and was able to catch the end of the Blazers-Pistons game on Fox Detroit live from Portland; this after doing some advance scouting at Lansing Community College (The Stars played the Mott Bears) two tough teams that we have to play against twice this year.

Dirk Nowitzki went off for 41 points last night in leading the Mavs to a 99-94 overtime win. (Dirk dropped 11 of the Mavs 15 points in the extra session)  The one area that caught my eye after reading the boxscore was in 44 minutes of burn, Dirk didn’t record a single assist.  Maybe it was because Jason Terry and Jason Kidd shot a combined 5-25. Upon further review, when you can score like that, who needs to share the ball.  Dirk likes to catch the ball on the high post, face up to the basket and score on his man.  At times he will take the ball to the basket and finish with either hand. I’ve never been a big Nowitzki fan in the past but after watching him the past few nights, I’m starting to warm up to him.  It boggles my mind as to why the Spurs didn’t double team him more often? Make someone else beat you.  If the Mavs only had a decent center, they would make a run at the Western conference championship.

(Courtesy of NBA.Com)

Dallas only turned the ball over five times in the game; as opposed to Richard Jefferson of the Spurs who committed five himself.  Spurs coach Greg Popovich was calling for more ball movement and people movement in the huddle.  That makes sense.  You get the defense moving and possibly breaking down.

Is the Mavs shooting coach on vacation? They shot 3-17 from distance last night. Time to get some extra shots up…

ESPN’s Mark Jackson made a good point during the telecast, ‘You’re the fastest player on the floor, act like it.” Not really sure who is was talking about though.  Speaking of Action Jackson, the former Loughlin Lion CHSAA all-star, seems out of place without his buddy Jeff Van Gundy.

I noticed Monte Mathis behind Mavs bench, clipboard in hand.  Mathis used to be a college assistant and one day we were sitting together at the Nike camp watching high school players go through drills in Indy. While Herb Livsey (NBA scout and basketball trainer) was lecturing the kids on footwork, Monte was a bit too loud for Herb, who proceeded to yell at us…Sorry Herb.

This has nothing to do with the game but why must ESPN show Mark Cuban after every single play? Does he really make a difference? He’s got some entourage huh? Does he get his t-shirts at baby Gap?

Brandon Roy had a great comment last night after Portland’s win over Detroit.  He was asked about his team, “Our defense is better, we’re making the effort on defense.”

Interesting question asked during Pistons telecast on Fox last night during game about Blazers center Greg Oden’s future. 12% of Pistons fans said he is going to the Hall of Fame. Huh?

Pistons assistant coach Darryl Walker was a good defensive player in his day-Quick hands, got down in a stance and was a tough son-of-a-bitch. Did you know he was one of Hubie Brown’s favorite players in New York when Hubie was the coach?

Memo to NBA Marketing people; If there happen to be open seats courtside, and by half-time those ‘rich’ folks have not arrived, teams should send their interns up (or even Dance squads) top and bring down the real fans to fill them at half-time. Can you imagine how a father of two kids would feel sitting way up top in the nose bleed seats to be asked to come down to courtside and get a close up look of their favorite players? Which takes me back to the 80′s when I would buy a ticket at Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks for $4 only to sneak way down to courtside and listen to Hubie Brown coach his team. “POWER RIGHT, POWER RIGHT!”, was the usual call coming from the Knicks bench.

For what it’s worth, Lebron James WOULD make a very good NFL player despite what Jeremy Shockey thinks/says…James has strength, speed and most of all, courage.  If Antonio Gates can be a success in the NFL after playing college basketball, James would be all-pro.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

VOCALIZE

Have you ever heard the saying, “Talk is cheap?” Well that may be true for some things in sports like self-promoting but when you’re on the basketball court, talk is worth a lot!

I’m not ‘talking’ trash talk either-I’m talking about solid, useful communication. Too many players play this wonderful game with their mouths wired shut; unless of course they happen to dunk on someone or block a shot.  It takes a special player to display intelligent communication amongst his teammates and coach; especially on the defensive end of the floor.

“SCREEN RIGHT, SCREEN RIGHT!”

“SWITCH IT, SWITCH IT!”

“BY YOURSELF, BY YOURSELF.”

“I GOT BALL, I GOT BALL!”

Just a few of commands you should hear when a team is playing defense.

I love when guys talk on defense.  It shows they have an understanding of the game and it usually means they are a good defensive team. It also proves they are active and alert. Action speaks louder than words…Get into action, talk on defense!

**********

I watched the Dallas Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons this past weekend and one player stood out to me.  Rodrigue Beaubois of the Mavericks.  Yes, I said Rodrigue Beaubois. This kid was tough.  He’s a six-foot guard from Pointe-A-Pitre Guadeloupe. He lit the Pistons up on the offensive end of the floor by scoring 14 points on 6 for 6 shooting (including two three’s). He also added 4 assists in only 19 minutes of action.  I could’ve sworn I saw Pistons head coach John Kuester turn to his assistant coach after Beaubois made a bucket and ask, ‘How come this guy wasn’t in the scouting report’?

(Courtesy of Draft Express)

Here’s Tim MacMahon, blogging for ESPN/Dallas Mavericks (Hey, wonder if I can get one of these gigs?)

Beaubois is one of a handful of players in the league who can match Jennings’ quickness. That, along with his 6-10 wingspan, made the Mavs believe that Beaubois could develop into a lockdown defender. We got a glimpse of that against Jennings, who had only one field goal in Beaubois’ 24 minutes, a transition 3-pointer in the first quarter. The Mavs outscored the Bucks by 13 with Beaubois on the floor.

I like this dude…He was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 25th pick in this year’s draft but quickly traded to the Mavs in exchange for B.J. Mullens.  Against the Pistons he started in place of the injured Josh Howard and took a back seat to Jason Terry late in the game.  The first 13 minutes of the game he had 11 points! I like the way he pushes the ball in transition and looks to give it up to the open man.  Keep an eye on this cat, you’ll be hearing a lot from him.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore