Tom Izzo, men’s head basketball coach at Michigan State University on Keith Appling’s improved outside shooting:
“He did it the old-fashioned way. He locked himself in the gym all summer. He shot more than he’d ever shot in his life and tonight he got rewarded.”
HOOPS135@HOTMAIL.COM
TWITTER: @CoachFinamore
Over the weekend at the BCAM Coaches Clinic the shot clock in high school basketball came up during a discussion.
Tom Izzo of Michigan State mentioned that it would be a good idea and I have heard other basketball people say the same.
Here in Michigan, we do not have the shot clock.
Like everything else in society, we all have different opinions. The same can be said for putting in a shot clock.
To me, it doesn’t matter. The game is in great shape. In our league, teams do not sit on the ball; we play. Matter of fact, we would not need a shot clock because we push the ball and look to score quickly.
Not sure what will happen here in Michigan but to me, it doesn’t matter whether we have one or not.
A couple of issues off the top of my head would be where do we get the money to install them when many sports programs around the State are making cuts in their budgets?
Where do we place the clocks? On the floor? On the backboard above the basket?
Also, where do we get someone to keep the clock during the game. It’s not as easy as you think to keep it the clock. Plus we have to pay them for their time.
Shot clock in high school basketball? It really doesn’t matter to me.
Let’s just play!
Hoops135@hotmail.com
Twitter: @CoachFinamore
Bernard King’s Journey to Springfield: During his rookie season in New Jersey Bernard scored 24 points per game and pulled down eight rebounds. Some say the Nets were the worst team in the NBA; they may be right, New Jersey finished 24-58. Bernard set a New Jersey Nets franchise record for most points scored in a season with 1,909. Early in the season he exploded for 41 points against the Philadelphia 76ers. Walter Davis was named Rookie of the Year, King earned First Team All-Rookie honors.
1-Andy Katz of ESPN.com with Rhode Island head coach Danny Hurley.
2-Gary Bedore of KU Sportson the Jayhawks Boot Camp and how the young guys are feeling. There’s a four-letter word that best describes Bill Self’s Kansas University basketball Boot Camp. “Pain,” KU freshman guard Rio Adams said Thursday with a smile. “It’s pain you don’t mind going through,” the 6-foot-3 Seattle native quickly added.
3-Phil Zaroo of MLive on Michigan State’s Branden Dawson and his progress after his injury last season. Coach Tom Izzo: “His knee – he’s back doing drills almost 100 percent, but it’s the seven months he missed. How long it takes to make that up – as we’re learning from Peyton Manning there’ll be some ups and downs, I’m sure, in the early part of the season.”
4-Jerry ZGoda of the Star Tribune on Ricky Rubio. “There’s not a time because it depends on how the knee goes,” he said. “Now I start running and I feel good. In three, four weeks, I’m gonna start agility and if my knee swells a little bit, I have to stop. If not, I’m going to keep pushing it. I’m trying to do as much as I can do. They have to stop me sometimes because I want to do more. Sometimes it’s just bad for my knee to do more things.”
5-Harry Plumer of Mass Live.com on Derrick Kellogg and his message for the freshmen in Amherst. “They have to learn how hard you’ve got to play, how you’ve got to compete and get after it,” Kellogg said. It’s not an overnight process, either. Though all three freshmen were on campus participating in workouts this summer, Kellogg said it takes much longer to complete the adjustment from high school to college basketball.
“It can take a whole season at times,” Kellogg said. “I think young kids, they continue to learn and get better as the season goes on and really I’m not sure if they know how hard they have to play until halfway through the season.”
Today’s Birthday’s: Johnny Dawkins (49), Bonzi Wells (36), Jose Calderon (31), Emeka Okafor (30), Anderson Varejao (30) (Thanks to Camp Darryl)
There’s another story out there of a coach and an athlete involved in deviant behavior. How many times do I have to say – CUT IT OUT. YOU’RE RUINING YOUR CAREER…PLUS, YOU’RE EMBARRASSING YOUR FAMILY!
HOOPS135@HOTMAIL.COM
TWITTER: @CoachFinamore
Bernard King’s Journey to Springfield: Bleacher Report.com posted their All-Time New York Knicks team. Bernie made the cut; he gets the start at small forward. (Frazier, Monroe, Reed, and Ewing) So here you have a guy on the New York Knicks all-time team and he is NOT in the basketball Hall of Fame? What really separates King from Carmelo Anthony, though, is the multi-faceted, two-way nature of his game. Not only was he a deft and willing passer, but he didn’t shy away from responsibility on the defensive end. He was superb at defending the passing lanes, and when healthy, could keep even the most elusive of athletes in front him.
1-This day in hoops: September 26, 1973 the late, great Wilt Chamberlain signed to coach the San Diego Conquistadors of the ABA. ‘The Stilt’ coached just one season; the squad went 37-47.
2-Bleacher Report on Ohio State men’s basketball; mainly DeShaun Thomas.
3-Howard Beck of the New York Times on the Brooklyn Nets. “Our focus is not beating the Knicks or being better than the Knicks,” said Billy King, Nets general manager. He added, “I don’t consume myself with the Knicks and anything they do.”
4- SB Nation.com with their list of the Top 100 College basketball players in the nation. Cody Zeller of Indiana checks in at # 1. Do you agree?
5- MLive.com Scott DeCampsat down with Tom Izzo for a Q&A. Izzo on Social Media: I hate it (he smirked). I think it’s going to be the death of all of us. I know there’s a plus to it and communications people will be mad at me, corporately there will be people mad at me, because it is a good marketing tool in some respects but, again, we’ve done what we do so well – we throw something out at young kids. We said, “Here, deal with it,” and we forgot to educate them on how to use it and how critical it can for them and how damaging it can be. …
I try to tell my guys, “Anytime you text, tweet, Facebook, do any of those instant messaging (things),” — I’ve got ‘em all now, and I’ve got an 18-year-old daughter – “just make sure what you say on there, you can say it right here with the TV cameras live and well. If you feel comfortable with that, then cool. If you don’t, you’re in trouble.” It is a new animal to deal with, though.
HOOPS135@HOTMAIL.COM
TWITTER: @CoachFinamore
