“Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is OK. You are OK.” – Don Draper Smart move for a small market, catastrophe for a contender, reality in the new collective bargaining agreement … Oklahoma City’s trade of James Harden in order to avoid harsh luxury tax penalties sparked debate (and a copious number of players who simply tweeted “wow” or “is this for real?”). The Thunder traded the Sixth Man of the Year – who is also an …
Weak Side Duck-In
In the 2002 Euroleague Championship Game, Dejan Bodiroga backs down his defender in the post and pivots to the middle. A quick ball fake gets the help defender in the air so Bodiroga dishes to Lazaros Papadopoulos for the dunk. Often, players crowd the post player with the ball, bringing an extra defender into the paint. Papadopoulos keeps his distance and waits until the defender shifts before ducking in to receive the ball.
Peyton Manning and Leadership
In addition to improved passing statistics and a more efficient offense, Peyton Manning has contributed to the Denver Broncos with his leadership, making for a harder working, more professional and more focused team.
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If
If by Rudyard Kipling (and Recent Observations from the Wide World of Sports) If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;
Yunel Escobar and the Blue Jays Culture
Yunel Escobar’s decision to print a homophobic slur on his eye-black is an example of a team that is not sufficiently focused on professionalism and athlete development to win.
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Three Ways to Reach Goals (at School and on the Court)
Canada Basketball’s new approach to the Senior Men’s National Team follows three successful approaches from the recent 2012 Olympics (Spain/Argentina, the United States and Russia). High school teacher-coaches can create a family environment, an elite organization and a resilient work ethic to help student-athletes buy in and reach their goals.
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Courage, Adversity and Things We Can Control
When faced with a situation that is less than ideal – a disruptive classroom, a challenging timetable, a coach with a different style, a team that is short on talent and ability or a slacker blogger who only posts once per month – student-athletes can choose to remedy the situation or wallow in the status quo until it worsens. The perceptive individual separates the domains that they can control from those that they cannot and focuses solely on the latter. The outcome may be out of their hands but they can always change the process. Don’t wait for a sudden …
Youth Basketball Comparison
It seems that clips of North American basketball players when they were young shows some sort of fast break that uses athleticism and ends in a dunk (Chris Webber from the Fab Five Documentary) but International players tend to make decisions and set up their teammates (Rudy Fernández from Raising an Olympian). Obviously, Webber experienced a higher scoring and more lucrative career than Fernández but from countries other than the U.S., we should be trying to produce players who had careers like Fernández because it is a more likely outcome than a first overall N.B.A. pick so shouldn’t our process …
Little Things in the League
In the N.B.A., the small details make a difference in whether a play is successful or not. Offensive Rebounding Amar’e Stoudamire gets to the weak-side of the rim and grabs the offensive rebound in traffic. He chins the ball, takes a front pivot and goes up for the putback. Post Defense Tyson Chandler uses his size to move the offensive player away from the hoop and towards the hash mark on the baseline. He remains balanced and uses his hands on contest the shot. Pick & Roll Defense Kevin Garnett hedges the screen and roll and recovers to his man. …
Basketball and Rowing
Rowing – as chronicled in books like The Amateurs and The Eight – is a peculiar sport. Only a select few have a chance for glory every four years at the Olympics, a few more experience successful international careers, some compete at the collegiate level in the spring yet many toil year-round in complete obscurity. Workouts on the water, in the tank, on the erg machine or on the stadium steps have been described “pain” and “hell” yet they are completed nonetheless. In the midst of a mediocre 2008 campaign, the Harvard Men’s Varsity Eight falls short at the Eastern …
Game 5 Preview
Hopefully, OKC makes some adjustments in terms of sharing the ball more and playing with more tenacity on the glass and at the defensive end. All four of the games have been close so far and although no team has come back from a 3-1 deficit in the N.B.A. Finals, the Thunder can send the series back home by turning a few small disadvantages in the box score into advantages.
Clouds Forming in the N.B.A. Finals
Game 1 showed that Oklahoma City had the talent to pressure Miami on defense and score explosively at the other end as the Thunder overwhelmed the Heat in the second half. Game 2 showed that OKC had yet to overcome some of their mental errors as they were not ready to compete and gave up a 16-2 run to start the game. The postseason has shown that they have the talent to win, but Game 3 showed that championship basketball is played in a very narrow zone, between too much or too little intensity. Oklahoma City played like a dysfunctional …
Good Shooters
Don’t give a great shooter time and space to get a good shot off and don’t help off a great shooter and let them take an open shot. It seems as if the Lakers had not read the scouting report – as not only did Metta World Peace give Kevin Durant enough room to do whatever he wanted but left other viable options like James Harden and Russell Westbrook open – but were unaware of the time and the score. World Peace could have lowered Durant’s shooting percentage by making him dribble and rush a shot, or, even better, made …
What Metta Saw
Given the time (five seconds running down), space (defender six feet away, not looking) and difficulty of the pass (open passing lane), hitting Steve Blake was Metta World Peace’s best option. Unfortunately, Blake didn’t hit the shot like Steve Kerr or John Paxson did. The lob to Andrew Bynum or skip to Bryant (who had turned his back to the inbounder) would have required challenging passes.
Zen and the Art of the Playoffs
Playoff reality is fleeting: one moment a team is poised for Linsane success defined by fluid ball movement and excitement, before they have realized what has happened, a broken fire extinguisher case symbolizes the lost promise of another failure defined by selfish play and ball-stopping. One moment a team is first overall, the next last season’s Most Valuable Player is felled by another step in a series of unfortunate injuries. Teams which win – especially those who win consistently over the long-term – are those who remain true to their philosophies and rise above the fray. Acting without Thinking: Some …
Pick & Roll Defense
Despite the trouble that the Grizzlies had with this play, it is not that difficult to defend. The Spurs gave up 47% in the paint and 44% mid-range to the Clippers during the year.