THE DECISION

Please keep in mind in no way am I questioning anyone’s strategy or philosophy on the following study. There are way better coaches than me out there who do what they feel is best for their team. This is just a research study to see what coaches prefer to do in this late game situation.

Last night in high school, college and the NBA we had eight Foul or Defend situations. (If I missed one, please let me know)

Let’s start in the Big Ten with the Michigan State Spartans. This is the third time this season MSU has found themselves with a Foul or Defend.

Tom Izzo, one of the best we have seen the past 20 years decided to defend and it worked…once again. MSU has always been a tough defensive club. Izzo’s decision to “check” worked.

In the “League” the Dallas Mavericks were up three on the Sacramento Kings. Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle decided to defend. Well Isaiah Thomas made them pay with a three pointer off the glass with :09 to play. Some may think that is too much time to foul but…The game went to overtime and Carlisle found himself in the same position, again with :09 to play. What’s he do? Well he relies on his defense. “Flipper” was a very good defender at Virginia. This time Thomas came up short with his three-point attempt.

There were two other men’s college games in which Montana State elected to defend against Northern Colorado and they got the stop. Also Seattle was up three on New Mexico State, decided to defend and BOOM! New Mexico State makes a three to force the extra session.

Here’s something interesting; New Mexico State, who made a three to force a second OT is on defense, up three with :03 decides to defend. Seattle misses a three.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the ladies. (I wish more women’s coaches would contact me with their Foul Or Defend situations). Last night Kentucky had a situation where they defended against Texas A&M. The Wildcats got the stop and in girls high school basketball, St. Clair FOULED! Yes, they tried out the situation that has worked 27 out of 28 times this season against Port Huron and what do you know; it worked!

Numbers:

263 total “Foul Or Defend” situations

Teams that have fouled have won 27 of the 28 games.

235 times a team has defended and 44 have given up a three-point shot. (18% success rate)

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Twitter: @CoachFinamore

MONDAY’S MOTION OFFENSE

1-Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports on Lance Thomas, Duke, NCAA, Lawsuits and some Ice.

2-Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports on Kentucky’s men’s basketball team and their living arrangements.

3-Nick Baumgardner of M-Live on Michigan men’s basketball and John Beilein’s thoughts about his program.

4-My guy Danny Mulhern with his weekly blog entry on Leadership writes about “energy.”

5-Nick Kosmider of the Avalance Journal on the mess at Texas Tech with head coach Billy Gillispie.

Hoops135@hotmail.com

TWITTER: @CoachFinamore

1 AND DONE

Lots of talk in the sports world about the “1 and Done” college basketball player.

William C. Rhoden of the NY Times with an interesting article on the topic. Included are a couple of quotes from Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo.

Last week, I asked Tom Izzo, the basketball coach at Michigan State, if he thought a highly talented, highly athletic team of white players would be viewed differently.

“I want to answer that as honestly as I can,” Izzo said. “I think it would be different. I hate to say that.”

The perception is that these five black players are not serious students and don’t belong at the university. If they were white, there would be more acceptance that they belong at the university.

“It’s sad for me to say, but it’s probably the truth,” Izzo said. Perception or not, the reality is that the sports industry has done its part preparing young men and women for their careers as professional athletes. Only a small percentage will succeed, but only a fraction succeed at the highest level in any profession.

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Twitter: @CoachFinamore

 

THE REAL “BIG 3″

This morning over coffee (milk and 2 Truvia’s) I heard one of the most popular terms used in basketball when describing the top 3 players on a team.

Only problem is I heard it while a sports talk radio host was describing 3 golfers at the Masters.

Here’s the REAL definition of  ’The Big 3′:

PASSION: Playing with all your heart and playing with a ton of energy.

UNITY: Team first.

HUMILITY: Knowing what you are good at (Strengths)

After watching the Kentucky Wildcats beat Kansas Monday night for the NCAA championship, I witnessed the ‘Big 3′ in action from the Wildcats:

Passion – The entire WIldcats left it all on the floor, every single possession they were competitors.

Unity – Each star put the team first. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Terrence Jones each attempted 7 shots each.

Humility – “‘‘It’s not me, it’s these guys behind me. I told them: ‘Y’all score the ball. I’m going to defend and rebound.’ ’’ -Anthony Davis.

If every basketball player concentrates on the ‘The Big 3′ the game and their own game will be much improved.

HOOPS135@HOTMAIL.COM

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

WE’RE # 1

Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats as they defeated Kansas in the National Championship 67-59.

But let’s get one thing straight; they’re not the greatest college basketball team ever.

John Calipari’s team is great; there’s no question. They play hard, they defend, they share the ball and most of all, hey play the right way.

Greatest quote of the night came from freshman center Anthony Davis who shot 1-10 from the field but was named M.O.P of the tournament.

To his teammates: “Ya’ll score the ball – I’m gonna rebound and play defense.”

16 rebounds and 5 assists for Davis.

The guy was the most feared player on the floor.

Wouldn’t that be great if we had more guys like that in basketball?

Important lesson for all; it doesn’t matter about how many points you score or how many shots you take!

Greg Bishop of the New York Times on Davis and the game he played.

“I said this about a month ago,” Coach John Calipari said. “What do you do to help us win when you’re not scoring baskets. He does about 50 things.”

Frank Burlison on the championship game.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports on the program that John Calipari has built.

Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News on ‘what we learned’.

What I enjoyed about the Wildcats is that they don’t act like jerks on the court. They don’t hang on the rim after dunks, they don’t puff their chest out and stretch their jersey out so everyone can see the name on the front and they don’t bicker with the refs or with each other. In Lexington it’s all about the “we” and the “me”.

I hope all the pundits in basketball here in America step forward and admit that the game here in our country is fine. With the crop of college players let’s not forget about Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook and many others.

Bill McClean of the Lincolnshire Review on 3 D-3 basketball who have declared for the NBA Draft. One guy is doing it as a joke.

Declaring just for the fun of it was so Dylan Richter, whom Stevenson boys basketball coach Pat Ambrose described as, “personable, funny and kind of a jokester.” No wonder Richter will likely work for the Phoenix, Ariz.-based Harlem Globetrotters as a full-time digital marketing manager after completing a recent internship for the entertaining hoopsters at Washington University in St. Louis. Richter expects to receive a contract from the Globetrotters any day now.

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore