A great piece written by Terry Foster of the Detroit News on Detroit Titans forward Nick Minnerath.
“I was taking everything for granted,” Minnerath said. “After a long time of you realizing your life is going nowhere — I was 19 years old and I felt my life was over — I realized I had to make a change or I was going to regret it.”
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Twitter: @CoachFinamore
Nice story on a former player of mine at Jackson Community College.
FOX Detroit with a piece on Nick Minnerath, power forward at the University of Detroit.
Hoops135@hotmail.com
Twitter: @CoachFinamore
Bernard King’s Journey to Springfield: Mike Geary, women’s assistant basketball coach at the University of Detroit, “He (King) put the ball in the basket before his defender knew he had the ball.” Here’s all you need to know about Coach Geary; I’ve talked to thousands of people over the years regarding basketball. No one, and I mean no one, knows more about the roundball than the Titans women’s coach.
1- Wire staff at the LA Times on Billy Gillispie, ex-head coach at Texas Tech. He resigned citing health issues. It’s going to be interesting to see who gets this gig. If I’m the athletic director at Texas Tech, I’d call Fran Fraschilla at ESPN.
2-Press Connects.com on Tommy Dempsey, the new head coach at Binghamton. Dempsey is in his first season after coming over from Rider.
3-Larry Celona of the NY Post on three LIU players charged in dorm brawl on the Brooklyn campus.
4-Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News on Marv Kessler who passed away at the age of 82.
5-Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe on Keyon Dooling who has decided to retire. I recall watching Dooling as a senior in high school; he had a nice battle with Marcus Taylor.
Today’s Birthday’s: (Thanks to Darryl Matthews, A.K.A., “Camp Darryl.”) Doug Moe (’38), Artis Gilmore (’48) Bob Huggins (’53), Sidney Moncrief (’57), Rick Mahorn (’58), Bryce Drew (’74)
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TWITTER: @CoachFinamore
Congratulations to the Detroit Titans men’s basketball team. They beat Valpo last night in the Horizon League Championship 70-50.
To make it more impressive, Ray McCallum’s team did it on Valpo’s home floor in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
It’s the first trip to the Big Dance since 1999 for Detroit.
Ray McCallum Jr. led the way with 21 points on 10-16 shooting from the field.
A big key in the game was Detroit’s defense; they forced Valpo into 18 turnovers on the night.
A couple of years ago when Titans point guard Ray Jr. was being recruited out of Detroit Country Day I told someone that follows the game the outstanding point guard will go to U of D and play for his father. The guy looked at me and said it was a mistake if he did that, that the kid should go off on his own and make his own name and play big time basketball somewhere else. Hate to say it but this guy was wrong.
Give credit to the Detroit fans that showed up at Valpo to support their guys. Loved their passion and enthusiasm in the stands.
What is it with NBA players that drive into the lane and scream? Jeremy Lin is now officially an NBA player. When he drives to the goal and gets bumped, he screams, “AAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY”
Congratulations to Stan Heath of South Florida; he was named Big East Coach of the Year.
Speaking of the Big East, ESPN makes a crucial turnover by not having Fran Fraschilla on their telecasts for the tournament at Madison Square Garden.
I also have to send congrats to Harvard, they are dancing for the first time since 1946. Tommy Amaker has done a great job.
Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com on Western Kentucky, after firing their head coach earlier this year and their record at 5-14 at one point will be playing in the NCAA tournament, they are the Sun Belt Champs. The Hilltoppers are 15-18 on the season.
John Supinie of the Lincoln Courier on a college basketball player, Meyers Leonard not voted to the Big Ten all-conference team; his coach, Bruce Weber has pumped him up for the up coming conference tournament.
“You have something to prove. Go to Indianapolis, help us be successful. You finish on a great note and make all-tournament. The only way to make all-tournament is to win. You have to play more than one game. It’s something I’ve told them all the time. The guys that make all-conference come from the teams that have success.’’
Mike Cassazza of the Charleston Daily Mail on Bob Huggins of West Virginia and his thoughts on his guy, Kevin Jones not being named Player of the Year in the Big East.
“It doesn’t bother me as much as whoever it was that didn’t deem him as first-team,” Huggins said. “I mean, how could he not be a unanimous pick for the first team? Who can name six players in this league who are better than he is? ”Someone didn’t think he was nearly as good as obviously we think he is, or that he didn’t have the year we thought he did. But I couldn’t imagine who didn’t put him on the first team.”
Speaking of awards, The Sporting News named Bill Self Coach of the Year. I’m not a big fan of this award, it could have gone to guys like Tom Crean, Frank Haith, John Beilein, Tom Izzo or Mike Brey.
Raymond Rolak of the Boxscore with MAC hoops notes reports that Charlie Coles at Miami of Ohio will retire. Coles is one of the nicest guys you can ever meet in the coaching business.
LIU and Robert Morris tonight for the NEC Championship.
Still looking for everyone’s help during the next few weeks. Keep an eye out for a late game situation at the HS or college level. Up 3, on defense, less than 7 seconds left in the game. Do you foul or just defend?
Quote of the Day: “When it comes to the NBA, it’s not about getting there, it’s staying there.’’ -Bruce Weber
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This morning over coffee and the New York Times, I was listening to WFAN 660 Sports Talk Radio out of New York City (thanks i-tunes). Robbie Weingard, a former basketball player at Hofstra University was the guest. Weingard is filming a documentary on youth sports. The film is called, ’3 Teams’. The film covers youth basketball. It touches on how kids play the game and how they are being taught to play.
Visit their website for more information.
Patrick Reusse of the Star-Tribune on ‘What’s Wrong with College Basketball’? Included is some insight from Rick Majerus.
“We’ve taken some good things from the NBA – shot clock, three-pointer, now the charge-block cup painted on the floor – but we’ve also taken things that make it not as pretty of a game. It’s more a one-on-one game, more a pick-and-roll game, and that’s the pro influence. There are also very few big men, and we have more of a premium on the three-ball than ever.
“Overall, the three has been good for our game, but that’s only when the right guys are taking those shots. You go into any gym now, and watch kids from 7 to 17, and they all gravitate to the three-point line. Even the kids that can’t shoot are out there throwing up threes.
“The middle (-range) game is gone. The players we get in college – it’s about the dunk, the three and, more subliminally, about me as an individual. No bad intentions, just kids that want to do it by themselves.”
Brandon Shields of the Jackson Sun on the Memphis Tigers victory over Xavier.
“I’m so proud of our players,” said Memphis coach Josh Pastner after the win. “We got down 11 with about six minutes to go. I think we were down 10 with four or five minutes to go.
“We just stayed the course. We didn’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. We stayed sound and solid. We just gutted that out. We just had to grind that out.”
Tim Booth, an AP writer by way of USA Today on former basketball player Bo Kimble, looking to get into coaching. He’s now teaching the system he played in at Loyola Marymount at the Community College level.
Detroit Free Press on the U of D Titans road win over Butler.
Seth Walder of the New York Daily News on a high school athletic director at Christ the King tossing a reporter from the gym.
I have numerous conversations about the so-called, ‘do you foul when you are up 3, on defense and less than 5 seconds to play‘? I hear people go different ways with this; some even have facts/stats/data to prove that you should foul. I have thought about fouling, and have asked my players – they want to defend. Yesterday UNI was in this situation against Creighton. UNI decided to defend, Creighton banged a 3 with 4.6 seconds left to tie the game. UNI took the ball coast to coast and banged a 3 of their own. One thing is certain, it’s easy to sit behind a computer or behind a microphone and give your opinion on this situation; it’s totally different if you are the coach in that situation.
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