THE COORDINATOR

Alabama.com on Alabama head coach Anthony Grant on the idea of having an offensive and defensive coordinator.

“You know, basketball is completely different than football,” he said. “We don’t do offense and defense. I can’t sub for offense and defense. We’re all basketball coaches. We have to do both sides of the ball.”

Ultimately, Grant said, “it’s about the results and it’s about winning.”

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THE CHAMP IS HERE

A few quotes from Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban following their 42-14 win over Notre Dame in last night’s championship game.

“We’re interested in accomplishment, consistency and performance.”

“The process is ongoing…and if you don’t pay attention to that, you won’t stay up.”

“I’m proud of what this team accomplished but in two days well start working for next year”

“This team never felt entitled”… No athlete should feel entitled to anything.”

“Tremendous work ethic, mental and physical toughness is the key to our success.” On what people don’t know about Alabama football.

“When are you satisfied?” asked an ESPN sideline reporter. “I’m never satisfied…” said the coach.

“One focus: I think a team’s ability to do that, to stay focused on the things that are going to affect the outcome of the game, are critical in games like this.”

“We have a team meeting on Thursday, so I expect him (Saban) to address the new team and say it hasn’t accomplished anything yet,” A.J. McCarron said.

“There’s no question,” said Kirby Smart, his defensive coordinator. “There’s no question he is driven to be the greatest coach in the game.”

 

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TWITTER: @CoachFinamore

SUNDAY SPORTS

I can’t mention it enough; This is an amazing weekend of sports.

College football is here and Major League Baseball pennant races are heating up.

Alabama showed why they are the best team in college football by pounding Michigan 41-14 last night.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports on the Tide’s victory.

The Detroit Tigers beat the first place Chicago White Sox once again to pull within one game of the Chisox.

John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press on the Tigers 5-1 victory over the White Sox.

Penn State lost to Ohio U in their opening game.

The Lancaster Eagle Gazette on OU’s win over PSU.

The Yankees finally got a victory, beating the second place Baltimore Orioles 4-3.

George King of the New York Post on the Bombers-O’s game.

FRIDAY’S FOUL SHOTS

Dwight Howard broke Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record for the most free-throw attempts in a game, making 21 of 39 in Orlando Magic’s 117-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors played ‘Hack-a-Howard’, sending the notoriously poor foul shooter to the line on his way to the record. Chamberlain had 34 free throws for the Philadelphia Warriors against St. Louis on February 22, 1962.

Howard finished with 45 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Magic to their third straight victory. But Dwight, 21 for 39?

Terry Hutchens of the Indy-Star on Minnesota handing Indiana a loss in Bloomington.

A few stories on the coaching profession…

Dave Goricki of the Detroit News on a girls high basketball coach that quit in the middle of the season. The coach blamed, “too much parental interference” on the reason he stepped away.

“There can only be one voice, and that has to be the coach. You can’t have kids looking up in the stands for instructions. It’s too much of a disruption. Dad needs to be up in the stands supporting his kids, not coaching them. This had been building up a bit and it was just time.

NEWS 7 in Denver on a high school boys coach suing the school that fired him.

A two-time Colorado State High School Coach of the Year is suing Mullen High School for firing him in 2010, saying he was a victim of disability and age discrimination, according to a lawsuit obtained by the CALL7 Investigators.

Chicago Tribune on a boys high school coach in Chicago charged with instigating a fight.

Michael Marot an AP writer on NCAA President looking to clean up college athletics. Good luck with that…

Emmert wants to restore some of college sports’ core principles — choosing education over money, amateurism over professionalism and abiding by the rules rather than ignoring them.

“What we have to do is work together to act on those values, to let the world know which fork in the road we’ve taken so we don’t have the same story line this year that we had last year,” he told about 2,000 delegates at the annual convention, just a few blocks from the NCAA headquarters. “I know we can do it. We can do it in 2012.”

Kelly Lyell of the Coloradoan on the Mountain West; they are playing good basketball. No Jimmer, no problem.

All eight Mountain West Conference teams not only have winning records entering the start of league play this weekend, all have 10 or more victories.

The expected down year following the graduation of Brigham Young star Jimmer Fredette and his team’s defection to the West Coast Conference, and the decision by San Diego State’s Kawhi Leonard to leave early for the NBA hasn’t materialized.

LSU’s football team had troubles passing midfield in their national championship game against Alabama, last night the Tide fans cheered LSU’s men’s basketball team when they got the ball over half-court.  The cheers were in reference to the struggles LSU’s football team had crossing the 50-yard line during Monday’s game, which they were only able to do once and not until after the game was out of hand.

Iowa head Coach Fran McCaffery says he has no regrets about slamming a chair during an outburst during Tuesday’s blowout loss at Michigan State. McCaffery told reporters Thursday he had no apologies for the tirade, which started after he was whistled for a tech while Iowa was losing 69-41. During a timeout McCaffery picked up an empty folding chair and slammed it on the court. McCaffery says he’s going to continue to “coach with passion” and fight for his players.

Quote of the Night: ”Every team has their own makeup and ours is not the same as everybody else’s.” -Chrishawn Hopkins, Butler Bulldogs.

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WEDNESDAY’S SCOUT

As a coach, I love to scout the opponents on our schedule.

If we happen to have the night off, I check the schedule to see if any of our future opponents are in action that night.

We practice after school, I head home for a quick bite then it’s off to my destination.

I get to the gym, find an empty spot and go to work for the next 2 hours.

You have to see some of the funny looks I get from the fans when I enter the building.

It’s like, “what is he doing here?”

Getting the teams offensive sets are key. As is getting their players tendencies.

What they like to play on defense is also very important.

Late game plays, what they like to do out of time-outs and of course the stats; I like to keep assists, rebounds and turnovers.

Also, when out scouting, you can pick up a play or two from the team you’re not scouting.

Last night I went out and watched a future opponent. Their opponent, ran some good stuff which I quickly copied down.

Scouting doesn’t guarantee a win when you face the opponent down the road, players still have to execute, but as a coach you prepare best as possible.

Lynn Zinser of the New York Times on athletes who quit while on the playing field. Seems like a New York Jets football player was accused of giving up during their last game of the season.

“Professional athletes always talk about the importance of winning championships and how it’s the biggest thing, but you sort of have to wonder if that’s really the case,” saidChris Stankovich, a sports psychologist in Columbus, Ohio, who works with a range of athletes. “You put a ring on one side and a $100 million contract on the other, and which is more important? We’d all like to believe the players would die for their team, but in reality, they’re not all like that.”

Diane Pucin of the LA Times on the death of former college basketball coach Gene Bartow.

“He was a sensitive person,” Johnson said Tuesday. “He was used to being totally embraced as a coach and a person and he was just not ready for the kind of vitriol thrown at him when he took Coach Wooden’s place. He never came to grips with it, and it bothered him more than anything.

“After two years, he was gaunt and pale and he refused to read the Los Angeles newspapers or listen to the radio because there was so much negativity.

“But he was a wonderful human being, a super nice guy and a great coach.”

Johnson said he still has a vivid memory of the end of Bartow’s UCLA career.

“He was under an enormous amount of pressure when my father and I and Coach Bartow were in New York City for a player-of-the-year award,” Johnson said, recalling his honor as 1977 college basketball player of the year.

“Coach Bartow knocked on our door at the Plaza Hotel about midnight and said he had the opportunity to start a program at UAB. My dad told him his health and family were No. 1 and if this UCLA thing was too much grief, he should do it.

“He was 52-9 at UCLA, won two league championships and that looks pretty good right now. I had a chance to talk to him about three weeks ago when it was apparent he wasn’t doing well and it still was apparent he never came to grips totally with what happened at UCLA and that bothered him. No one appreciated at the time the pressure he was under.”

C.L.Brown of the Courier-Journal on Louisville’s win over St. John’s. I heard Seth Davis of CBS mention that the Cards are not talented, that they are tough.

U of L (13-2, 1-1 Big East Conference) held the Red Storm (7-7, 1-2) to 14 percent shooting and a season-low 18 points in the first half and 28.1 percent shooting for the game. St. John’s, which has five freshmen in its seven-man rotation, went nearly 10 minutes without making a shot. The Johnnies were mired in shot-clock violations and several times took bad shots right before the 35-second clock expired.

Mike Baldwin of News-OK on Missouri’s victory over Oklahoma, 87-49. Frank Haith is doing an unbelievable job.

SHU Pirates.com on Seton Hall’s victory over UConn, 75-63. Great win for Kevin Willard.

John Mitchell of isportsweb.com on Alabama’s victory over Georgia Tech, 73-48. Anthony Grant with another nice win.

Couple of writers, Sam Khan and Joe Duarte from the Houston Chronicle with their capsule of Conference USA.

Graham Couch of M-Live on MSU’s victory in Madison. Their first in a long time.

“I keep telling people we’re 13-0 (since a Nov. 15 loss at Duke) but we’re a good team not a great team,” Izzo said after the Spartans’ 68-55 win at Nebraska. “You get to be a great team by winning on the road.”

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