Sometimes, you have to avoid the easy play early in the possession (bad switches) so you aren’t under the gun later (mismatches). Sometimes, you have to anticipate what will happen next so you can prioritize what to guard. Sometimes, you have to closeout better than Courtney Kirkland. BTW: Joe Johnson hit one of his four threes on this play.
Bad Habits on Defense
The Toronto Raptors have some bad habits which have really hurt their performance this year. A lack of ball pressure is allowing penetration into the paint (drive and pass) and demanding help. These shots close to the basket and open looks become high performance scoring chances for the opportunity. On the ball, players could improve their quickness (footwork and hands). Away from the ball, team members could be in better position, be more aware of the opponents around them and rotate in anticipation, not reaction. Screen and roll defense is very passive. A ballscreen can be an opportunity for the …
What’s Wrong with the Raptors?
The Toronto Raptors have started the season off 3-13, alienating many fans. Compared to last year, offense is a little better and defense is a few points worse but the record is a disappointment. The difference comes down to a few minor points: conceding open baskets, allowing a little more penetration and needing too much help while rotating too slowly.
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Homer vs. Flanders
When Springfield experiences an epidemic of childhood obesity (again), the town turns to Pop Warner football to encourage kids to exercise more. Like they previously did with minor hockey, the adults abuse their positions of responsibility and monopolize the activity. Homer and Flanders take turns coaching the team and offer two contrasting coaching philosophies. While the team wins the championship at the conclusion of the season, it can be attributed more to the talent of the players involved than their coaches. The team is initially coached by Ned Flanders – who is motivated by his community spirit and his desire …
Before and After Mike Brown
6 Changes the Los Angeles Lakers have made since the start of the season: After Mike Brown was fired after five games and a 1-4 start, the Lakers have gone 4-1. Early reviews of Mike D’Antoni in practice have been positive but his offensive philosophy has not really changed how Los Angeles has performed. Offensive Efficiency and Effective Field Goal Percentage are about the same (still better than the league average) but defensive effort is much improved. The team is allowing less penetration into the paint and has committed fewer fouls. Turnover rate, perhaps because of new players, lack of …
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 …
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 …
Building and Developing Great Teams
As the season ends for the Toronto Raptors, they are faced with the fact that success may be multiple drafts away. Consistent winners have built their teams through the draft, selecting talented athletes and developing them into great players.
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After Timeouts
When they lose, the Toronto Raptors do very poorly after timeouts. They do not score enough and they do not get enough possessions in the paint. On Friday, they scored on 5/13 post-timeout shots and only got into the paint five times. The Raptors lost to the Cavs 80-84.