LEADERSHIP

Someone once said, “Leadership is lonely.”  I think they were right.

Another good piece on Ryan Saunders, head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Love what he says about leadership:

It comes from everybody.  We want to be a committee of leaders. It’s not coming from just one person and just the oldest player on the team or just the guy who makes the most money. I think that’s not a positive way of looking at it.

We don’t want it to be where a player is just told he’s a leader or given a leadership role just because of issues that don’t automatically qualify players to be leaders. We want guys to take it upon themselves. And we want servant leadership. Serve the team before you serve yourself. That’s a big thing we’ve been talking a lot about and that’s something we believe in.

http://www.startribune.com/q-amp-a-with-wolves-coach-ryan-saunders-ready-for-a-drama-free-beginning/561646552/?refresh=true

Special thanks to Ray LeBov of Basketball Intelligence for the assist: http://basketballintelligence.net/

Give a Good Day…

Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

 

HOT SAUCE AND SUGAR

Ryan Saunders, head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves is ready for the season.  He’s a huge note-taker.   https://www.twincities.com/2019/09/27/timberwolves-coach-ryan-saunders-has-been-preparing-for-this-job-since-college-and-has-the-notebooks-to-prove-it/

“I think everybody has a lot of room for growth, just in general,” Saunders said. “I understand that I have a number of things that I want to get better at, but I think that’s just the growth mindset.”

Give a Good Day

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

 

WHO’S THE BEST?

“If your mental state isn’t good enough, you can’t bring yourself to bigger and better things.”  –Carli Lloyd

Bleacher Report put out their Top 50 Basketball Players of All-Time.  Being in the game for many years I have come to one conclusion;  It’s almost impossible to rank the players, especially ones from different time periods.  For many years I got caught up in the conversation – it happens and at times can be fun.  But you have to shake your head when a guy says he would take Bob Cousy over Magic Johnson!  LOL…

Michael Jordan has been considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all-time – but even the old school heads debate that and the new school generation think LeBron James has passed MJ.  I don’t know…It’s tough, LeBron has been amazing.  But I think what will always keep MJ as top dog is not only his perfect record in the NBA finals (6 for 6) but Jordan was named MVP in all six finals.

Who really knows?

Here’s BR’s top 5.

1-Jordan, 2-LeBron, 3-Kareem, 4-Magic and Larry Bird at #5.

Hmmm…

The complete list is here: https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2854727-bleacher-reports-all-time-player-rankings-nbas-top-50-revealed.amp.html

By the way, not sure how they can leave Pistol Pete Maravich out of the Top 50? Kobe Bryant at 14?  Come on man…Kobe’s top 10 in my eyes.

Happy birthday Steve Kerr, Monte Towe and Chris Herren…

Give a Good Day

–Steve Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

 

A BRAND NEW SEASON

“I get upset when they say the coach doesn’t bring out the best in the player.   No, the player gotta accept coaching and he’s gotta want the best brought out in him.”

-Sam Mitchell

We are just a few days away from the start of the 2019-2020 NBA season.  Teams begin training camp this weekend.  There’s a million story lines across the league.

College hoops is right around the corner too.  And of course, in November, high school basketball begins.

The one thing about basketball that separates itself from the other sports is that for the serious player, there’s never an off-season.  Sure you take some time off to rest up and rehab injuries but the bottom line is you’re always doing something to improve;  especially with your mindset.  (Check out George Mumford’s book, “The Mindful Athlete.”)

Players are in the weight room, they’re working with their trainer on the court and maybe they’re catching up on some mindfulness reading.  (Hopefully the player is working on his own too.)

Open gym and pick-up ball is popular right now.  Guys and gals are flocking to their nearest gym to get in a good run.  I just read where Kyrie Irving sustained an injury playing pick-up ball at the Brooklyn Nets facility.

In late September, the bottom line is everyone gets a fresh start no matter what happened the previous season.   If the player has been working on their game the past few months now is the time to prove how much they have improved.

It’s not easy, but with a strong work ethic, perseverance, toughness and a positive attitude, all players can improve.

Happy birthday John Roche and Lucius Allen.

Give a Good Day…

–Steve Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Scottie Pippen, Bob McAdoo and Chauncey Billups.

Here’s a Q & A with Kareem Abdul-Jabber:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2019/09/25/kareem-abdul-jabbar-nba-clippers-lakers-ucla/2437812001/

“There’s one school of thought that says it’s horrible these superteams are being formed. But that’s what general managers try to do.”

Thanks to Ray LeBov for the assist.  BTW, if you want to subscribe to a very good e-mail service, go to http://basketballintelligence.net/

It’s free…

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

 

 

REEVALUATE-RECHARGE-REJUVENATE

This past August I resigned from my position of boys varsity head basketball coach at Lansing Sexton High School.  After one season leading the Big Reds, I decided to step down and take a break from coaching.

For the past 14 years I have been coaching at the collegiate and high school levels.   This past summer,  after coaching my team in the Lansing summer league and running the future Big Reds through a handful of practices, I did some deep thinking.   I felt there were a few areas I could improve in.  That’s when I decided to step away.

Coaching high school basketball has changed.   A lot of your time is consumed with your players both on and off the court.  There’s workouts, open gyms and monitoring academics in the off-season.  As the season begins there’s practice, games and scouting.  And don’t forget academics.

Coupled with a full-time job, coaching isn’t just rolling out the basketballs.  There’s a lot of work involved;  work some people on the outside do not see.

My time away from coaching is going to be spent watching other teams practice, talking with coaches, players and watching games.   Some of my time is going to be spent thinking back to how I did things, what worked and what didn’t work?

During this time I am going to keep a journal,  this way I can look back and study other coaching methods.   It’s going to be similar to attending to school.  Make that “Graduate school” in coaching and working on a masters degree.  My journal will be my coaching blueprint.  I will keep copious notes and form a manifesto.

Some of my new ideas are from Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.   While he was out of coaching he reinvented himself.   Carroll took notes and studied ways to improve as a coach.  He put a plan together.  His book “Win Forever” is a great read and in the beginning of the book Carroll talks about improving as a coach.

The game of basketball has not changed much over the years;  what’s changed is the people and things around the game.   I want to learn what makes players tick and what motivates them?

My goal will be to help my players reach their goal.

“Learn the Learner,”  will be the premise.

Learning is a lifelong continuous journey, all successful people know that.  We can always improve in our chosen profession, no matter what you do.

My love and energy for the game and the players is still strong.  This is a crusade I am looking forward to and my goal will be to learn something new every day.  I will be a sponge when people talk and hopefully become a better coach.  I will listen to everyone, but not use everyone’s information/opinion.

There’s always room for improvement.

-Coach Steve Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

GOING FOR GOLD

Spain and Argentina battled for the FIBA World Cup Gold medal and the Spaniards came out on top 95-75.

Ricky Rubio led the way for Spain with 20 points in 22 points.

Rudy Fernandez scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds

Spain’s defense was very good – Argentina shot 36% from the field and committed 14 turnovers.   Spain won the battle on the boards 47-27.

Marc Gasol added 14 points, 7 rebounds and dished out 7 assists while his teammate Sergio Llull poured in 15 points.

For Argentina, who will go home with the Silver, Gabriel Deck scored 24 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the field.  Luis Scola scored just 8 points on 1-10 shooting.

MARC GASOL

On playing for Spain’s National Team in China, who will face Argentina for the Gold Medal. 

“I’m very fortunate I committed to the national team this summer. It’s the responsibility of passing along the commitment and the loyalty to the team. Those values that we were taught so many years, now it is our turn to pass on the legacy to the next generation. That’s not talent, that’s just commitment.”

FINAL FOUR

The United States men’s basketball team lost to Serbia at the FIBA World Cup; their second loss in a row.

They are down to the Final 4 in China.

Spain vs Australia/France vs Argentina.

I’ve admired the Boomers style of play for a few years now, I’m pulling for Patty Mills and Co. – it looks like I will have to record Spain/Australia, it’s coming on Friday morning at 4am eastern standard time.

BONJOUR

France beat USA in the FIBA World Cup, 89-79.   With the loss, the Red, White and Blue lost their chance at the Gold medal.  They will finish up in the consolation bracket.

I have been toying with the idea of writing my thoughts on USA Basketball in international play.   

Before their loss to France, the United States had won 58 straight games in international competition.

For the next few days you will see stuff written about basketball here in America.

Things like, poor outside shooting, no effort, lack of commitment from the superstars, they haven’t played together, coaching, etc.

All of that can be debated but…It’s all garbage.  Play ball.  Play the right way.

Here’s Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich following the loss.

“Any loss hurts,” Popovich said. “This situation hurts more, but life goes on. This is very important. We would have loved to have won, just like any other team would love to win all their games in this tournament. But we’re all grown. We all have families, lives, and life goes on.”

-Hoops135@hotmail.com