TOUGH SLEDDING

What in the world is going on in the game of basketball?

Players, coaches, fans and of course the media; people have lost their minds.

Let’s start with Rick Pitino going off on his team and than a couple of days later apologizing? I don’t get it. Seems weird to me. An apology for ripping his own players?

Phil Martelli, assistant coach at Michigan recently talked about the situation in Ann Arbor.

Do you think ball players walk into a schoolyard and say, “WHO GOT NEXT?”

The Wolverines went out Thursday night and lost to Northwestern, 76-62. They’re now 8-19 on the year, 3-13 in the Big Ten. And will miss the NCAA tournament for a second straight season. Chris Collins has done a good job in Evanston. The Wildcats are 19-8, 10-6 in league play.

How about the Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks talking about his current team? “My expectations should be to hold each other accountable to do little things. The effort plays, the looses balls, the contested shots and so forth, diving on the floor.”

Wait a minute. Hold up. Now we have to tell grown men making millions of dollars to play a game to play with effort? What a joke.

“The level of effort and the level to compete has not always been there,” Marks added.

Could you imagine going to work and not putting in the effort. You’d be fired.

Nets went out with a new head coach, Kevin Ollie and got smoked by the Raptors, 121-93.

Someone mentioned to get rid of the 3-point line in the NBA all-star game. Not a bad idea. How about getting rid of the 3-point shot completely? Which brings me to Caitlin Clark of Iowa. You can talk about her all you want but please don’t put her in the same sentence as “Pistol” Pete Maravich. There wasn’t a 3-point shot in college basketball when Pistol played. As of this entry, Clark has played 127 games and scored 3,593 points. Maravich played 83 games and scored 3,667 points.

How about the Creighton fans going after Danny Hurley? And Hurley not backing down.

I’m sitting in Starbucks Friday night enjoying an Iced Shaken Espresso and the Baristas are chopping it up with each other talking about their personal lives. I don’t get how they can air out their dirty laundry in front of other people. All the while they are on their phones acting the fool. We need more professionalism in this world.

Happy National Banana Bread Day…

Always play the right way.

LAYUP LINE

My main man Stephen Borelli of USA Today with an informative article on “try-outs for the team.” Good tips to help give you chance of making the squad. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/02/17/spring-sports-tryout-tips-athletes/72611313007/

Tryouts can cause trepidation among athletes and their parents, but they don’t have to if you are prepared and have the right attitude going into them. They also represent a terrific opportunity to learn about ourselves.

Tuesday night I went out to watch a girls high school varsity basketball game. Solid play all-around. Loved the passing and communication.

Brooklyn Nets fired their head coach Jacque Vaughn. How about firing the GM and cutting some of the players.

Adam Silver should add a 1-on-1 contest to all-star weekend. Maybe a 3-on-3? And while we’re at it, get rid of the Slam Dunk contest. I tried to watch it, boy was it bad. The winner was Mac McClung, it’s his second straight year winning it. He’s not even in the NBA. One of the announcers said, “a team should give him a chance.” LOL. Bulls, Lakers and 76ers have all given him a chance; did they not know that?

Rick Pitino ripped his team after a loss to Seton Hall. Have to be careful how you talk about the players. Let’s see how many guys transfer after being called out. https://nypost.com/2024/02/18/sports/dont-overreact-to-rick-pitinos-first-year-failure-at-st-johns/

“Do we have s—y facilities? Yes, we do,” he said. “Having s—y facilities has nothing to do with not guarding. … Look, Joel (Soriano)’s slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court; Chris Ledlum is slow laterally; Sean Conway’s slow laterally; Brady (Dunlap)’s physically weak; Drissa (Traore) is slow laterally.”

RIP Robert Reid. He was 68.

How about the rumble in men’s college basketball that started during the handshake line? Need to suspend some of these guys. I’m not a fan of the handshake line. Get rid of it. https://youtu.be/8-zeQAql95g?si=753RayqyNT5mvLRn

WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK

The Detroit Pistons lost to the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night for their 27th consecutive loss, setting a new NBA single-season record. 

When a team is going through a rough time everyone wants to point fingers. Blame him, blame her, blame whoever.  It’s easy to do that, it’s the easy way out. 

The last four days days I have watched the Pistons against the Brooklyn Nets twice. On Saturday the teams squared off in Brooklyn with the Nets winning 126-115.  Three nights later they met again this time in Detroit. Nets won 118-112. 

I’ve been watching basketball for 50 years, this Pistons situation is crazy.

Chuck Daly is rolling over in his grave. 

If we’re going to place blame, it falls on everyone. Coach, players, GM, owner, and announcers. 

After watching both games, here’s what I came away with:

The Nets played harder. That’s right, I said it. No one else will admit it publicly, especially Greg Kelser, Johnny Kane and George Blaha. Throw James Edwards in there too. 

The Pistons have talent, don’t sit here and tell me they don’t. They are young and seem to have lost confidence. 

Matter of fact, the Nets don’t have much more talent that Detroit.  And if they do, it’s not too wide of a margin. 

Let’s start with 3-point shooting. The Pistons are the worst shooting team in the league at 33%. Against the Nets they were 24 for 60. Brooklyn was 19 for 46. 

The Pistons turned it over 13 times in each game. Nets had 10 and 7 turnovers.  Pistons are tied with the Utah Jazz for most turnovers per game with 16. 

At the defensive end of the floor Detroit is giving up 120 points per game.  4th worst in the East. Washington Wizards give up 126 per game. Wizards are 5-24 on the year, Pistons are 2-28. 

Pistons defense is awful. Who’s their D.C.?  Hire Longo. 

Is the Pistons problems coaching? All I know is Monty Williams stands still on the sidelines looking like a statue. There’s no passion, no energy, no direction.  “It’s probably the most on me than anybody,” said Williams after last night’s game. 

Yeah, no shit. 

A college basketball coach texted me last night following the game: ”Can’t lose 27 in a row and keep your job.”

Jacque Vaughn, the Nets head coach seems to be engaged in every play.  He’s barking out instructions and cheering his team on. Much more juice than Williams. Not sure what all that means but we might as well use it.

“10 outta 10” sat down and watched Tuesday night’s game with me and said, “Pistons look like they don’t care.”

Hmmm…

Not sure if I agree with that but it could be true.

In the two games, the Nets played with more toughness, energy and hustle. And yeah, maybe 10 outta 10 was right, the Nets seemed to care a little more. 

Not sure what the solution is but I told a guy in Starbucks this morning, “Trade a couple of players, get rid of the coach and G.M.”  It’s harsh but that’s what it’s going to take to turn it around. 

I keep hearing people say Monty Williams is a good guy. Maybe he is but that doesn’t make him the guy to coach the Pistons. He was 45-37 last year in Phoenix but got fired. He was Coach-of-The-Year in 2022.  His career record with the Suns and Pelicans is 367-336. He was let go after 5 years in New Orleans. 

It’s on the players first to get it done. Cade Cunningham is a hell of a player. He scored 41 points on 15 for 21 shooting last night with 9 rebounds and 5 assists.  He had 35 in the second half.  Wonder if Becky Hammon thinks he’s an A1 player?  

Who else on the Pistons roster can help? 

And how in the hell did Alec Burks not get the ball to Cunningham with :32 left in the game down 5? Burks took a contested three, SMH. It must be mentioned, Burks was a -25 last night. 

Pistons haven’t won a game since October 28 (they started the season 2-1) Celtics are sitting home waiting for them Thursday.  It’s a tough business. You gotta produce.  If you don’t, you usually get cut, traded or fired. 

Last night Pistons fans were chanting, “Sell the team. Sell the team.” 

Johnny Point Spread added, “they should move to Vegas.” 

Hey, at least Detroit covered the spread last night. And you gotta give it to their fans, Little Caesars Arena was packed last night. 

Isiah Thomas said the Pistons players shouldn’t shake hands with the opponent after the game. 

Happy birthday to former Detroit Pistons Luka Garza and Kent Benson. 

NETS-LAKERS

Was looking forward to the game Monday night from Brooklyn.

But…

No KD, no Ben Simmons.

No LeBron, no A.D.

So I didn’t watch.

ONE MORE

On Saturday I watched a lot of basketball on television. College and pro games all over the place. Some good play, some not so good. But it’s all good. You know if you have ever played or coached, good and bad comes and goes throughout the course of the game.

One thing that is certain, when you play basketball, you better be selfless. It’s all about playing the right way.

Last night watching Knicks-Nets there were two possessions that stood out for me. The Knicks were down 10, six and change to go in the game. Julius Randle on the break, pushed it up and hit Quentin Grimes on the left wing. Soon as he caught the ball, he jacked up a long 3. Standing in the left corner was his wide-open teammate Immanuel Quickley. Grimes missed the shot, luckily for him Randle grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back up for two. Quickley looked mad.

The Nets, with three minutes to go, up 3, in their half-court offense, Kyrie Irving went to the left corner with the ball, kicked it cross court to an open Joe Harris who, instead of jacking up a 3, hit his teammate Seth Curry wide open in the right corner for a knock-down 3.

Would love to be sitting in the Knicks and Nets film session this morning hearing what they have to say about these two plays.

Hit the open man. Share the ball. Be a selfless teammate.

NETS 102 HEAT 101

“Never surrender no matter what the odds.”

-Bill Fitch

Sunday night we were treated to a very good game in Miami.

The Nets are the hottest team in the NBA, winning 18 of their last 20.

Why in the world do the officials let Jimmy Butler get away with dunking, hanging on the rim and yanking it? That should be a “T.” Hasn’t the league learned from the Denver situation?

Dance routines and t-shirt tosses during timeouts and between quarters are played out. Can we just stop. And when the camera goes around the arena showing fans dancing, so stupid.

What’s up with Patty Mills? Not much burn as of late.

On the last play of the game, Miami down one, Butler drove to the basket, missed the layup giving the Nets the win. Miami Heat announcer screaming for a foul. Now I know there was a little contact but come on.

Speaking of the Heat announcer, he called Kyrie Irving’s long jump-shot with :07 left “ill-advised.” No it wasn’t. Irving was giving his teammates a chance to grab an offensive rebound. Sure enough, the Nets got the rebound and scored giving Brooklyn a one point lead with 3.2 to play. Ill-advised?

Irving finished with 29 points. Kevin Durant was injured in the third quarter. He sprained his MCL and may miss one month. Time for Ben Simmons to step up; last night he scored 8 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 7 assists.

Brooklyn plays Boston on Thursday.

SWING THE BALL

Wednesday night I watched Davidson (7-5) visit Fordham (12-1) on CBSSN. Fordham’s only loss this season was at Arkansas by 26. The Rams entered the night on a 15-game win streak at Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx.

It was the A-10 opener for both schools. Davidson came out on top 57-43. The Rams shot 3-31 from downtown. Cats weren’t much better, 3-12. Tom Penders rolling over in his grave.

Did you know Denzel Washington played for Fordham’s JV team back in the day?

Tempers flaring in the D. Pistons and Magic in a light skirmish in the second quarter that saw 3 players ejected. Moe Wagner pushed Killian Hayes out of bounds so Hayes went after Wagner. Both players were ejected as well as Hamidou Diallo and Pistons head coach Dwane Casey. As for the game, the Pistons came out on top 121-101.

UConn stayed undefeated (14-0) with a win over Villanova, 74-66. Huskies, Purdue and New Mexico the only schools without a loss in men’s division one basketball.

Brooklyn Nets keep on rolling – they went to the ATL and beat the Hawks 108-107. Kyrie Irving led the way with 28 points. Kevin Durant added 26. Nets have won 10 straight. Hawks played without Trae Young and Clint Capela. They’ve lost 3 of their last 4.

While the Nets are moving up the ladder, the Milwaukee Bucks continue to struggle. In Chicago they blew a 15-point lead with 8:08 left in the game and lost in OT 119-113. Milwaukee has now lost 4 straight. Bulls showing some life have now won 4 of their last 5. DeMar DeRozan scored 42 points for Chicago on 15-25 from the field while Giannis led the Bucks with 45. DeRozan, who is a master at the mid-range pull-up did not attempt a single three-point shot. The Bucks meanwhile shot 9-44 from deep.

Funny question from the Milwaukee Bucks play-by-play person to the color analyst during the game. Bucks have the ball, tie game, :07.8 left in the game. “What do you think they do here?”

E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com

IT’S ALL ABOUT BASKETBALL

How about the Brooklyn Nets?

WOW!

Fritz Massmann is in basketball heaven with a smile…

I didn’t see this success coming at all.

Matter of fact I’ll be honest, I thought they were going to be a mess. Which they were on November 1st when they were 2-6.

All the drama going on on Atlantic and Flatbush. TMZ had their vans and street hustlers outside Barclays looking for the latest gossip.

Steve Nash, Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden’s comments about there being no structure. It was a basketball soap opera. A bad one at that.

Last night the Nets traveled to Ohio and beat the Cavaliers 125-117. Durant and Irving each dropped 32 points combining for 12 of 19 from distance. Brooklyn has now won 9 straight games.

Give Jacque Vaughn credit – he’s pulled them together.

“I am a simple person,” Vaughn said after Monday’s game. “And really try to keep things simple. And so really stressed what was going to be beneficial for our team. And whether that was the amount of time we spent in shoot-arounds, the amount of time we shaved [off] and kept our guys fresh, in order to give an extreme amount of effort when we play. And that was kind of the goal, we created a little momentum that way.

“We stripped our playbook down a little bit, we are simple in what we do … have our guys play extremely free of mind. I think there’s something important in that if you’re going to ask your guys to play hard.”

Simmons has been a huge lift. In the past four games he’s had 32 assists and just 5 turnovers. He’s a +65 the past three games.

“Basketball,” Vaughn said before the game. “We have not steered away from today is today. The most important part of today is we’re trying to win this ballgame. When we step into the gym every single day it’s about basketball. How we’re going to take care of each other on the floor, cover for each other on the floor, it’s about basketball.”

Nets visit Atlanta Wednesday night.

Top 3 Teams in the East: Celtics, Nets, 76ers

Top 3 Teams in the West: Nuggets, Pelicans and Grizzlies

Have a positive day and always play the right way…

E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Big games Sunday night in Brooklyn and Manhattan; Celtics-Nets. Knicks-Cavs.

Boston beats Brooklyn 103-92.

Kevin Durant turned the ball over 8 times, 5 times in the last six minutes of the game. He plays with zero urgency. Too cool.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown play so much harder than Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Brown had 34 points, Tatum scored 29. Celtics made 15 3’s. Nets 9

C’s played without Marcus Smart.

Celtics are the best team in the NBA right now.

Cavaliers were at the Garden taking on the struggling Knicks. New York was playing their second game in two days.

Gut-check win for the Knicks, 92-81. Fewest points Knicks have allowed this season.

Pride and character were words being tossed around 33rd and 8th. Five game home losing streak comes to an end. Maybe the Knicks can go on some sort of run?

“This can’t happen again,” said Jalen Brunson on the MSG losing streak.

Kevin Love leads the league in charges drawn with 12.

Tom Thibodeau picked up his second T on the season. That’s two T’s in two nights.

13 traveling violations called in the game. Do players work on their footwork?

Knicks turned the ball over 20 times the first three quarters, had only 1 in the final quarter.

Fransisco Lindor of the New York Mets was at the game.

Donovan Mitchell had an off night. 8-22 for 23 points.

Brunson with 23 points. 7-16 FG. 4 assists.

RJ Barrett and Julius Randle shot a combined 3-14 from downtown.

Cavs 8-35 from deep. Knicks were worse at 5-29.

Have a positive day and always play the right way…

LUKA, KD AND STEPH

Last night there were 15 games scheduled in the NBA. Every team was in action. Basketball paradise. Great night for a hoops junkie.

Luka Doncic dropped 36 on the Brooklyn Nets leading the Mavericks to the 96-94 win. Luka has now scored 30 or more points nine straight games to start the season. He joins Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to record nine consecutive 30-point games to start the season.

It must be noted “The Big Dipper” opened the 1962-63 season with 23 straight consecutive 30-point games. Luka has a long way to go for that one.

Kevin Durant’s consecutive free-throw streak ended at 62 when he missed the 2nd of 3 down the stretch.

Steph Curry scored 47 points last night on 17-24 shooting. He added 8 rebounds and 8 assists. 7-12 from downtown as the Warriors beat the Kings 116-113.

College basketball is back. High school basketball just around the corner. It’s a wonderful time of year.

I am officially off Twitter. This is the second time I have deactivated my account. I am never going back. Social media is a waste of time.

Hope all is well and always play the right way.

-Coach Finamore

E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com