THE RING’S THE THING

Game 1 of the NBA Championship takes place Thursday night.  The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers will tip it off at Staples. This will be the 12th time these two organizations have squared off against each other for all the marbles. The Lakers and Celtics have won 32 titles combined.

We can all agree there are many traits involved when talking the best from the East and the best from the West.

This week I’ll focus on the traits I feel have been most important in both teams success.

TEAM:

The Celtics have pulled together and have been able to get contributions from everyone including seldom used reserve point guard Nate Robinson.

Without a group of players buying into the team concept; there’s no shot at the ring.

“This starting five has never lost a series, ever.” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after his team eliminated the Orlando Magic

The team player knows that the team comes first.  It doesn’t matter who gets the credit as long as the job gets done.

An offensive rebound, an extra pass around the perimeter to the open man, a defensive stop, finishing strong at the rim on the fast break, energy, passion… all key elements of the game that the Celtics have displayed in the playoffs.

“I don’t get a big charge out of being the leading scorer. The object of competing is winning. I just try to do what has to be done for us to win.  That might be anything at any time – defense, rebounding, passing.  I get satisfaction out of being a team player.”

-Kareem Abdul-Jabber

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

HANDSHAKE

There’s a beer commercial describing all the different ways to greet a friend.

We see NBA players before games slapping hands, hugging and going through all kinds of greeting rituals right before the tip-off.

But for some reason shaking hands after a long playoff series between two teams in the Western Conference Finals is a ‘no-no’ for one player.

Last night after the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference finals, Suns big man Amar’e Stoudemire refused to shake hands with the Laker players.

All the other players on the court could be seen hugging and passing along congratulations.

Amar’e was walking away, to the locker room. (Someone came up to him and started talking to him, I think it was Cedric Ceballos) This situation will not attract too much media attention because Amar’e is not as popular as a LeBron James or even Peyton Manning who didn’t shake hands after the New Orleans Saints beat his Colts in the Super Bowl.

Look, I understand displaying good sportsmanship after a game isn’t always easy. It can be tough to congratulate the opposing team after losing a playoff series, but I thought the NBA was a brotherhood? I thought these guys were a huge fraternity?

Shaking hands after a contest with the opponent; how do you as a coach, athletes or even fan think about it?

As an athlete, are you so ticked off after losing that you think walking to the locker room without shaking the opponents hands is the right thing to do?

As a coach, do you show professionalism by shaking your opponents hand after they have just sent your team home with a loss? Do you teach good sportsmanship to your athletes?

Besides James not shaking hands last year when his Cavaliers lost to the Magic, in 1991 the Detroit Pistons walked off the court with a few seconds still on the clock when they were ousted by the Chicago Bulls in the play-offs. Piston players walked off the court, passing right by the Bulls bench. (John Salley, who played for the Pistons at the time and a good dude, stayed on the floor and exchanged handshakes with the Bulls players)

Interesting debate on Twitter last night over Stoudemire’s reaction; one person thought that since Amar’e is an adult he is free to choose to do whatever he likes. I don’t agree with that theory; young kids are watching professional athletes, they try and emulate everything they do.  So Amar’e refuses to shake hands, kids see it and think it’s ok to act that way.

There’s nothing wrong with shaking hands after a game; in hockey after a long-hard fought playoff series, players line up and shake hands.  In football, after a physical game where we see players beat each other up for 60 minutes, they hug it out at midfield.  And in boxing, one of the toughest sports in the world, two men who beat the crap out of each other for 12 rounds, come together and hug after the final bell.

We preach human compassion and ask ourselves ‘why we all can’t along’ in this world but after a basketball game we don’t want to shake hands with the opponent?

“A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.”

-Benjamin Franklin

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

SPACE THE FLOOR

Random thoughts this morning…

Congrats to the Boston Celtics, they are going to the NBA finals once again.  Big home win last night over the Orlando Magic. Huge thanks to Nate Robinson who came off the bench while Rajon Rondo was resting his back after a scary fall and exploded in the second quarter.  I’m not a big Robinson fan but he brought the energy last night, shared the ball and made shots. Have to respect that. He also put some serious defensive pressure on the Magic point guards.

Dwight Howard played well last night for the Magic (28 and 12). But for some reason he’ll get blamed for this series.  On the other hand, you really need to look at the film and the stats-it wasn’t his fault.

Props to Timmy Legler of ESPN. He’s the only guy from Bristol who picked the C’s to win the series in six games.

Ron Artest after taking an ill-advised shot redeemed himself with an offensive rebound put back at the buzzer to give the Lakers the 3-2 series lead as they resume tonight in Phoenix.  ”Say Queensbridge,” Artest said to TNT’s Craig Sager after the post game interview…”Queensbridge” replied Sager. “Where they don’t play with a shot-clock”. A great finish by Saeger.

“Everything can be taken from a person except one thing…the ability to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

-Victor Frankl

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

BODY LANGUAGE

Thanks to my man Mike Geary, women’s assistant basketball coach at the University of Detroit for his discussion this morning on body language-it inspired this blog entry.

It’s not hard to pick out basketball players with bad attitudes. It usually is a reflection of their body language.

Basketball players who play the right way have great body language.

Throwing their arms up in the air, slumping shoulders, sitting at the end of the bench with a towel over your head, making faces when things don’t go your way, having that “come on man, I didn’t touch him” look on your face after being called for the foul…just a few examples of poor body language.

Where and when does this behavior start?

How come you rarely see any technical fouls handed out in college basketball? Come to think of it, I can’t recall when I last saw an official whistle a college player for a tech because he was arguing with the ref or arguing with another player. But, as soon as players enter the NBA, they’re assessed technical fouls often?

I understand players have been complaining for many years in the game of basketball.  When a call goes against them or they disagree with something, all hell breaks loose.

Where does this type of behavior start?

Do coaches at the youth level do anything when a 13 year-old basketball player complains or whines during the game?

Are our high school coaches making sure kids don’t pout during games while they sit at the end of the bench…in clear view for everyone to see?

One of my players was complaining in the huddle during a game so I took him out of the game.  The same player was causing a disturbance in the locker room at half-time of a game we trailed by 20 points.  I sat him on the bench to begin the second half.

It’s our job as coaches and parents to stomp out this childish behavior

Why do athletes get away with this?

Pouting and whining need to be eliminated from basketball.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

HOOP-LESS IN LANSING

I came across a story on Monday about a few basketball players at a local park who decided to go after, and beat one of the neighbor’s who asked them to tone down their language a bit.  Now obviously I wasn’t there so I have no idea as to what went down except for the newspaper report in which you can read about here thanks to the Lansing State Journal.

Police say 57-year-old Larry Ruble was beaten by several players who had been using the basketball court at Bluebell Park.

Ruble, whose Sunrose Avenue backyard borders the park, had asked a bystander shouting obscenities to tame his language. The man, along with several basketball players, then jumped the fence. ”We’ve been asking for a long time” that the hoops be removed permanently, Ruble said before tonight’s community meeting started. He had an injured neck, black eye and knot on his forehead. “I know that’s going to move the problem someplace else. At least it moves it out of here,” Ruble said. According to Maureen Ruble, the assailants knocked her to the ground and physically attacked her husband. Other players cheered the assailants.

Often times I ask myself why many of our local playgrounds/school yards are empty? I ask you, the reader, is violence at basketball courts one of the reasons why parents will not allow their children go to a park?

Also, is taking down the goals and backboards a good thing? Is it the right solution? I’m not condoning what happened to the local resident, but is it fair to punish the ‘good’ kids that do play there…if any kids actually play there on a regular basis?