NBA East

The NBA regular season is just under way but already some interesting things are happening. The NBA season is looooooong, Take it from someone who knows both as a player and a coach. However there are trends already appearing. Number one is the Miami Heat. Just know that EVERY NBA team has talent, obviously some more than others and the Heat have the "Big Three". Wait a minute I thought Boston had the "Big Three" and won a championship with them? Or was I dreaming? (We saw the real big three the other night). But it takes more than just talent to win in the NBA. You have to have talent at ALL the positions. Not superstars but NBA quality talent, players that do what they are suppose to do when they are suppose to do it. On our board in the coaches office here with the Vipers we have written.

We do not want the 10 best players

We want the 10 best players that give us the best TEAM.

Miami will be a very good basketball team, no doubt. They have great players, a great organization, with Pat Riley at the top and a good coaching staff. They will figure it out. But it takes time to become a Team. They are 5-4 right now but they should be one of the top teams in the east by the end of the season. they will not win 70 games and blow away the league. Boston is the team too beat in the East right now. They have the "Big Four" now with Rondo passing out assists like they ate going out of style. the Celtics are a veteran team that also added the ultimate veteran in the off season in Shaq. They have been through the wars together and have one of the best coaches in the game today in Doc Rivers. Orlando is once again a very talented team that has not really figured it all out yet but if they do they can make another run at the NBA finals. Atlanta has talent and athleticism but not all the pieces in all the right places. They will be scary to face early in the playoffs but I don't think they have what they need to get farther than the second round. Milwaukee has Bogut back from that horrible injury and he is my new favorite player. He is old school physical and does all the little things. With Skiles as their coach they will play tough, physical basketball and could do some damage in the early rounds of the playoffs this year. Chicago is young and explosive with Rose running the show but a little too inconsistent for my taste. Those are my top 6 teams in the east with the other teams fighting for the last two spots in the playoffs and a quick first round exit.

The West is next.......................

Tryout camp

Sorry it has been awhile but I have been busy preparing for the RGV Vipers/Houston Rockets tryout camp this weekend. We will have 60-70 players from all over the country coming into McAllen, Texas to try and get an invite to the Vipers training camp Nov. 6th. We have been sending out info to agents and players and coordinating the logistics of having a quality tryout camp. We want to make sure that everyone coming to the camp gets a fair look by all the coaches. We will have drills that cover ball handling, shooting, passing and all aspects of offense as well as drills to see what kind defenders these players are. We will also give them a "beep" test to gauge their conditioning level. In this test players sprint 20 meters and back using a timer that beeps at the halfway mark and when they finish. It starts at 11 seconds and gets faster and faster. Sounds like fun but it is a killer. We will have them play 4 on 4 half court basketball to see who has a good basketball IQ. There is nowhere to hide in 4 on 4 basketball. We will have some controlled scrimmaging, as well as games with refs Sunday morning.

I have run many of these tryout camps over the years and it always amazes me the wide variety of players that show up. You will see a 6'9" player who went to a major college and plays overseas making good money on the same court as a former high school back up point guard who is a bartender at Hooters at night and plays at the local YMCA on weekends. When we say "open" tryout- we mean it! The cool part is everyone has a different story and for one weekend they are all playing on the same court. Basketball is truly a great game!

After this weekend is over and things quiet down a little, I will give you my predictions on the upcoming NBA season. NBA training camps are going on all over the country and every team is undefeated with visions of championships in their heads. But really. How many teams have a legit chance at winning the ring of all rings (that binds them all)? Sorry a flashback to the Lord of the Rings. Can the Lakers repeat? Are the Celtics too old? Can Lebron and Wade survive with only one basketball? Who would you want to take the last shot to win a game on that team.........Bosh? More to come, soon.

World Champs!

USA USA USA USA.......... This is a big deal! The World Championships just finished up and team USA came away with the gold. People here in the States don't know how big of a deal that is. To show where the USA sports fans minds are let me give you an example. The gold medal game of the Worlds between USA and the home team Turkey was played last weekend and was shown live on ESPN 2 at 1:30pm Sunday afternoon. My wife Linda, son Michael and I went to a sports bar in Padre Island to watch the game and get some Nachos and a burger. When we walked in the bar all the TV's, all 2o of them, were turned on to football or Nascar. We asked the manager if we could get one of the TV's tuned to the World Championship basketball game that team USA was playing in. They looked at us like WHAT?????? They had no idea the game was taking place. They were very nice about it, finding a corner of the bar where we could sit, eat and watch the game. After going through about 100 channels we found the game and settled in to watch what turned out to be a good but not too competitive game. What was even a more telling sign that America's sports audience doesn't get World basketball is during the 2nd quarter a guy comes over, stands next to our table for about 5 minutes watching the game and looks at us and asks. Is this live? We say yes it's the World Championships and USA is playing well. Then he says, "they should have picked a better time to play the game. Not during NFL football games." WOW! First, it is the WORLD games. Believe it or not the world does not revolve around what is on TV in America. Second, the game is being played in Turkey. It was 8:30 pm in Turkey. If we want to watch it live the time will be what the time will be here.

Anyway.........USA won with a world class (young) team and a great coaching staff. They beat some very good basketball teams from around the world and qualified for the 2012 Olympics. That really takes the pressure off of USA Basketball for next summer. FYI Kevin Durant is becoming one of the best basketball players in the world. Yes even counting Kobe, Lebron and the other top NBA players.

International basketball

I hope everyone is watching the great basketball that is being played in the World Championships in Turkey this summer. Having spent the last 6 weeks with the British National Basketball team I have seen first hand the difference between basketball being played in the States (NCAA,NBA) and the international game. Watching the World championships you can see that there is quality basketball being played all over the world. there are some great games being played. On ESPN2 watched a great game between Spain and Serbia, two power house teams. Serbia had control of the game until the last 3 minutes of the game then Spain made a run and tied it up with 25 seconds left. It took a last second 30 foot shot from serbia to win the game! Team USA also had it's hands full against Russia but came away with a hard fought 10 point win. In the States we are use to a lot of spread the floor one on one, breakdown your man and get to the basket basketball. There is a lot of that in International basketball too but there is a lot more movement away from the ball. Cuts to the basket and flare (back) picks to get shooters open. That is a big difference in the two games. There are a lot more shooters (makers) on the court at the same time. It is very difficult to defend ball penetration when there are shooters all over the court, even the bigs in international play can shoot from the outside. It also helps those shooters when the 3pt line is so much closer in international basketball.

Another thing to watch when you watch the games this weekend (USA vs Lithuania and Turkey vs Serbia) is the FIBA refs. The international game tend to be more physical than the American game. They let the guards bang the player with the ball and it turns into a wrestling match in the post. There is also a lot of flopping (acting) going on during the games. If you are a basketball fan do yourself a favor and watch these games this weekend you will get a good look at a different kind of basketball. I know you will enjoy it.

Recap

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a summer! My 3 month, 90 day adventure, with the Jamaican and British National Teams kept me on the road for 88 days, with a 2 day turnaround at home to unpack, wash and re pack my clothes and get to the airport. It took me to 7 countries:

1) Dominican Republic

2) England

3) Israel

4) Hungary

5) Bosnia and Herzegovina

6) F.R.Y. Macedonia

7) Ukraine

Coached a total of 17 games

Jamaica 2-2 Wins vs British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands

Losses vs Dominican Republic and Panama

The 6 point loss to Panama cost us the Tournament of Americas next year

Great Britain 7-6 Losses vs Canada, Finland, Israel, Netherlands, Macedonia and Ukraine

Wins vs Belgium, Macedonia, Ukraine, Macedonia, 2 Hungary, 2 Bosnia

GB Finished 6-2 in group play, first place and qualified for next years EuroBasket Championships.

I had so much fun working with all the coaches and the players on both teams. After coaching the Jamaican National team last year and winning the Caribbean Championships I had a feel for international basketball but coaching in "Europe" really opened my eyes to another kind of game. Very Physical, moving pick setting, open court draw and kick playing, Seven footer 3pt shooting type basketball. In college, NBA Development League and the NBA basketball you usually have to defend against one, two or sometimes three, 3pt shooters on the court at the same time. In Europe, you often have to defend against four and sometimes five 3pt shooters. That combined with the closer 3pt line really changes way you you can play defense. You really have to "stay home" Be aware of the man you are guarding and can't help out your teammates as their men try to drive to the basket. The other thing that is really different is they let you set "old school" physical picks on the ball. This makes it very hard for the guards to fight through the picks so you really have to keep changing the ways you defend the P/R and keep the offense on it's toes. On the offensive end there is so much more movement especially off the ball. Players are constantly cutting, picking and moving. That, along with the good shooting really opens up the court. This is the type of basketball that Team USA will face in the medal rounds of the World Championship next week. They will also face a lot more zone defense which they are not use to seeing. That, coupled with the good shooters other teams will put on the court, is why sometimes even though US teams tend to be more talented than their opponents it's a struggle at times. And now the talent gap between the US and the rest of the world is not very wide any more. The goal of FIBA and the NBA is coming true. Basketball is truly a GLOBAL game. It is played all around the world and over the last few years I have seen it first hand. From camps in China to practice courts in Bosnia and outdoor courts filled with young players playing pick up games in Dominican Republic and the British Virgin Islands the great game of basketball is alive and well. All you need is a basketball and some kind of hoop and you have a game!

There are soooooooo many people I have to thank and I am going to try and thank them but if I miss someone don't be too mad at me you know I am getting older and my memory is not what it use to be.

Sam Vincent, Head Coach Jamaican National Team. A good friend who has given me many opportunities. He hired me as his asst. coach for the Charlotte Bobcats and although we were only given one year there it was a great year, being on an NBA bench and working for him was a thrill. Then 2 years ago bringing me on the staff in Anaheim (NBDL) and the Jamaican National team. Our 2 years with the Jamaican National team has taken it to new heights.

Ajani Williams, President of Jamaican Basketball. He took over the National Team two years ago and guided it to the brink of The Tournament of Americas where it has never been before. Thanks for having the vision and bringing coach Vincent and myself on board.

Chris Finch, Head Coach of the British National Team and the NBDL Champs Rio Grande Valley Vipers. It was a thrill to work with you at both places. Bringing a championship to McAllen and a first place finish in group B, qualifying for next year's EuroBasket Championships with GB Basketball, a step closer to the 2012 Olympics! I look forward to continuing our success and being a part of your coaching staff.

All the staff with GB Basketball:

Roger Moreland Chairman BPB. Thanks for all you do to bring British basketball up to the level it is and your continued effort to take it to the next level.

Chris Spice Performance Director. Thanks for all your work to get GB Basketball to the next level. I told you 6-2 would win the group. Lol

Ron Wuotila Team and High Performance Manager and do everything/get it done guy. Thanks for everything you do especially wheeling and dealing to get me emergency exit rows on all the flights! You made the travel for this 7 footer a lot easier.

Virginia Tuckey (Queen V) Operations Manager and maybe future daughter in law-lol. Thanks for making everything easier. Good luck in your new job this year. Show Michael the ropes when he gets over there in a couple weeks. Remember he is there to play basketball.

Nick Nurse asst. coach. Thanks for being a giver not a taker. Enjoyed your energy and your piano playing.

Monte Shubik Video and game plans. Hope you didn't get to wiped out in those hot, crowded gyms in Hungary, Israel and Bosnia. Remember those places when you are up until 3am at the Four Seasons getting the video ready for the coaches meeting with the Sixers staff the next morning. You did a great job.

Phil Waghorn Equipment. You know you are more than that. You were another coaches voice for us. Also the ever important carrier of the gum for the games.

Fraser McKinney Physiotherapist-We won a lot of games in the fourth quarter and OT because we were in better shape than all our opponents and you keep the team in top shape. Don't know if I could have made it through the trip without your work on my hip.

All the players on both teams that made it a pleasure to coach and be around them. National teams are different than all other teams. They are made up of players from a lot of different teams and different situations that are asked to come together in a short period of time and perform at a very high level to represent their country. All of them are stars on the teams they play for during the year and they are asked to blend into a team and a lot of time give up their starter spot to take a lesser role on the National Team. They are also asked to give up a lot of their off season to train and perform for the national team. All the players on both the Jamaican and British National Teams were very open to taking instruction and doing what we asked them to do. It was a pleasure working with all of them. Good luck to all of them as they go back to their college, overseas, NBDL or NBA teams.

It has been an unbelievable summer for me both on the basketball court and getting to see so many different parts of the world. It was a summer I will never forget. I hope you all enjoyed following me along on this journey. I would appreciate any feed back you would give me in the comments section. I am deciding if I should keep up this blog as I go though the next season in the NBA Development League. Thanks again for joining me on this basketball journey around the world. Coach Mo

I promised you pictures and I am working on it. Stay tuned.

Loss=Win?

When is a loss a win? Sometimes in FIBA play. We played Ukraine in Ukraine last night with a win assuring GB a first place finish in group B. It would give us a 7-1 record best in all three groups and a spot in the third tier in next years EuroBasket tournament in Lithuania (See last blog for more info about tiers). However Ukraine had others ideas as they were fighting to stay out of last place. They got up on us by 10 points at halftime and we had an up hill battle the rest of the night. We made a run in the second half cutting the lead too two points but we could never get over the hump. It was a tough loss, even though we had accomplished our goal of qualifying for next years EuroBasket we wanted to end on a high note and win our group.

But wait...............There was still one more game to be played that night. Macedonia at Bosnia. If Macedonia wins they will be 6-2 just like us but because we had both beaten each other in group play the tie would be broken by the point difference in the Losses. We beat Macedonia by 8 point but they beat us by 18 points. They would win the tie breaker. Macedonia is a very good team so it was interesting to see them get behind to Bosnia while I watched on my computer in my hotel room in Ukraine. As the game went on the lead grew and by the end Bosnia had a big win and Great Britain was first place in the group! In FIBA basketball not only does one game make a difference but every point matters. On the last night of group play we were the only team with a spot for next years EuroBasket rapped up. One 3Pt shot, one tip in, one bad call and all your hopes could be dashed.

Here is how everything worked out:

Already in next years EuroBasket Tournament are the 10 European teams playing in the Worlds in Turkey this summer. In no particular order.

Spain

Serbia

Greece

Slovenia

France

Croatia

Germany

Lithuania

Russia

Turkey

Teams getting in from our group play:

First place teams in their groups

Belgium 6-2

Montenegro 6-2

Great Britain 6-2

Belgium and Montenegro get the top two spots over us because of "goal coefficient" what ever that is. I told you ALL points matter.

And the two top second place teams

Macedonia 5-3

Israel 5-3

Georgia 5-3 loss out because of the "goal coefficient"

Next year will be a huge year for GB basketball. Looking to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

I have been on the road for 88 of the last 90 days and can't wait to get back to the good old US of A! Nachos, ESPN, my own bed. After I get back and catch my breath I will put together a re cap of this crazy summer. And hopefully if our son Michael helps me pictures. So stay tuned.

QUALIFIED!

Big,Big,Big...............Big win for GB basketball Last night! What turned out to be one of the most exciting wins for GB Basketball is one of the biggest wins for GB Basketball. Playing in front of a good home crowd that just saw the GB women qualify for next years EuroBasket play with a big win over Germany we were ready to roll. However we could never get total control over our game against Bosnia. Bosnia is a team fighting to stay out of the bottom of our group so it does not move down to a lower division next year. They have a tough team that never gives up and we had out hands full. Every time we made a run and got up eight or nine points they would come back at us hard and make a push to keep the game close. We did tend to shoot ourselves in the foot at times by making unforced errors. A silly foul here a bad shot there and even at times dribbling the ball off our own foot. Only monster games from Loul Deng and Pops Mensu-Bonsu who combined for 70 points and 35 redounds got us over the top in a scary overtime win. Sometimes you never know how you will win a game and this summer we have won games in a variety of ways. Tonight it took a missed free throw and an offensive rebound and foul to give Pops an opportunity to shoot two free throws to tie the game up. We have told the team all summer an opportunity means nothing unless you take advantage of it. And like all summer we did! Pops made his free throws, got us to overtime and we got another hard fought victory in the books. It has never been easy but we just keep fighting and find a way to win. That is a sign of a good team in any sport. With the win we are assured a spot in next years EuroBasket Championships and a chance to qualify for the 2012 Olympics! But first we have one more game to play. If we win we will be 7-1 in our group and get a better spot for next years play. Coach Finch will take it from here:

Sixteen teams from Europe qualify for next summer's EuroBasket Championships in Lithuania. The 16 will be comprised of the 10 European teams currently playing in this summer's World Championship which begin today in Turkey. Five more teams qualify from this summer's Qualifying Round which is what we are competing in and the final team gains entry after winning an additional qualifying tournament made up of the squads that missed out on qualifying this campaign. 10+5+1 adds up to 16 for next summer.

The draw for that tournament will be held in November and just prior to the draw FIBA Europe will rank the teams from 1 to 16 based on this year's performances. Those 16 will be divided into 4 tiers of 4 teams each. The 10 European teams from the World's Championships will be ranked 1 through 10 based on how they performed in Turkey. The top 4 will all be grouped into the top tier (Number 1 seeds), the next four (places 5 through 8) will make up the second tier (number 2 seeds) and the final two (teams 9 and 10 in the ranking) from Turkey along with the top two teams from this year's qualifying tournament (which is what we are competing in) will make up the third tier (number 3 seeds) and the remaining 3 teams plus the winning of next summer's additional qualifying round make up the final tier (bottom seeds).

What were are trying to secure is one of the two open spots in that third tier. The reason for this is because when FIBA Europe makes the draw to form 4 groups of 4 teams they will draw one team from each tier. Being ranked in the higher tier significantly reduces the chance you will draw the tougher teams. We learned this first-hand last summer when the draw gave us Spain, Slovenia and Serbia - quite possibly the toughest group ever to be assembled at the Euros. Spain won gold, Serbia won silver and Slovenia finished fourth last summer in Poland. So, as you can hopefully better see.....there is still a lot to play for tomorrow.

That explanation comes to you from our head coach, Chris Finch who has been through this many times before. Thank you coach. As you can see the higher seed you get the better chances you have of moving on next summer and getting into the 2012 Olympics.

First Loss

Tough loss last night to a good Macedonia team in front of a VERY loud, cheering, whistling (booing), singing crowd of 9,000. The atmosphere in the arena was electric even an hour before the game. Most of the crowd wearing team (red) color and waving their country flag. Macedonia was on top of their game from the beginning and we could not get on track, struggling to score for most of the game. Couple that with 25 turnovers and we hand our hands full all game. Ending with a very tough to take 75-56 loss.

We will have to put this loss behind us and move on quickly as we have a very busy week ahead of us. We travel back to England today and play Bosnia Thursday then go back on the road to end group play in the Ukraine over the weekend. If we win one of the last two games we will qualify for play next summer.

Showdown

After a long (12 hours) of travel yesterday Team GB gets ready for a showdown with the second place team in our group tomorrow, Macedonia. We were delayed out of London for a couple hours but finally got on our Croatia Airlines flight and after a short stop in Zagreb we landed in Macedonia and got to our hotel a little after 1am. Our hotel, Hotel Aleksandar Palace, here in Skopje is very nice. It is new and is located right next to the Arena we play in which is also new and holds about 9,000. Tomorrow night we expect a packed, loud and pumped up crowd. We are 5-0 in our group and in first place. Macedonia is 4-2 alone in second place after a slip up earlier in the week, losing to Hungary in Hungary 85-82. It is a must win for them because if we win we will lock up first place in our group with no one able to catch us! We have had some big win so far this summer but this will be the biggest challenge for us and would be our biggest win. They are a very good team with their star player, Bo Mccalebb a 6'4" high level guard in Europe averaging 25 points a game. They also have 6'11" veteran center Pero Antic who averages 16 points and 7 rebounds a game. He is a classic big for Europe shooting 45% from the 3Pt line. Looking forward to a great game tomorrow night and a big win for GB basketball!

5-0........Barely

We just avoided a major set back with a sloppy 66-64 home win vs Hungary last night. I know all the sayings, "a win is a win", "take it anyway you can get it" and "there are no ugly wins". But after the game last night were we just escaped a horrible loss those sayings really don't seem true. It WAS an ugly win. We had control of the game early having a 15 point lead at halftime 37-22. We should have been up by 20 points or more but we failed to put our foot on the gas when we had Hungary on the ropes. We held them to only 22 point at the half but that was fools gold as they missed 10 layups and they had 8 unforced errors turning the ball over for no real reason. We let them go on a 7-0 run to start the second half and now we had our hands full.

As I have said before basketball is a game of runs and confidence. Anytime you have the chance to put away a team early you need to take advantage of it. Let them know that there is absolutely NO way they can get back into the game! Because in the game of basketball if you give a team hope or a reason to play it will more than likely come back to haunt you. And we were one lucky shot away from that happening. We were up by 2 points with 5 seconds left as they came down the floor with the ball. One of their guards was dribbling the length of the court and I had visions of him pulling up for a 3pt, one leg, bank in jump shot to win the game. But he dribbled too deep and took an off balance 2pt shot that hit the side of the rim and fell harmlessly to the ground. After we all took a deep breath we looked up and we were 5-0! The only undefeated team in our group and in the whole competition.

I am not one of those people who think you can learn more from a loss than a win. I think you can do just as effective teaching after a win as after a loss. Especially after a scare like we had last night. Coach Finch did just that as he talked in the very quiet locker room after the game about how we have a once in a lifetime opportunity, playing for your country and working hard to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in you home country. We cannot afford to take anything for granted. We must play every possession of every game like it was the most important play of your life. We have 3 games left and they will be the toughest games of the group. It's starts with our next game on the road against Macedonia the second place team in our group at 4-1.

One last point to make that was brought up at our team meeting today. In FIBA competition all points can count. What I mean by that is if there are any ties in the group the team with the best point differential moves on. That means that our 2 point win last night can come back and cost us. There is a huge impact of 20 point blow out wins in group play. If we take care of business in our next game there will be no worries.

English/American

From our all knowing, (Queen V) Virginia Tuckey. Operations Manager of GB Basketball, some English sayings and American meanings:

"half past"- 30 minutes after- "Half past 9"= 9:30

"Tube"- the underground subway in London ( shaped like a tube)

"Mind the gap"- Watch your step as you get on the Tub or a train. The gap between the train and the station.

"Dodgey"- Dicey, shady,unpredictable.

"Cheers"- Good bye or thank you

"Queue"- A line

"Loo"-Bathroom

There is a queue for the loo. Line for the bathroom.

"bangers and mash"- Sausage and mashed potatoes

"biscuit"-Cookies

"Blow off"- Fart

"Bobby"-Policeman

"Bonnet"-Car hood

"Boot"-car trunk

"Bubble and squeak"- Cabbage and potatoes fried together

"car-boot sale"-Flea market

"chips"-French fries

"coach"-Bus

"Cotton buds"-Q-tips

"Crisps"-Potato chips

"Elevenses"- Coffee-and-biscuits before lunch break

"Fell"-Hill

"Fortnight"-Two weeks

"Geezer"-Dude

"Holiday"-Vacation

"Ice Lolly"-Popsicle

"Jacket potato"- Baked potato

"Let"-Rent

"Lift"-Elevator

"Moggie"_cat

"Noughts and Crosses"-Tic- tac- toe

"Pissed, bevvied, wellied, popped up, merry, trollied, ratted, rat arsed, pissed as a newt"

I hope you guessed it..................................Drunk

More to come later.

We play Hungary tonight looking to go 5-0 in group play!

4-0 and rolling

Another tough game and another hard fought victory! Playing at our home for the next 7 days in Birmingham England, before a good/loud crowd against a very talented but inconsistent Ukraine team was quite a challenge. Like all the teams in our group Ukraine is a team that loves to drive the basketball, keep the floor spread with good 3Pt shooters all over and play the "draw and Kick" game to perfection. They want your defense to collapse in on the man driving so they can "kick" pass the ball out to players at the 3Pt line. Ukraine started the game this way and took an early 12 point lead by going 5-5 from the 3Pt line and scoring 27 points in the first quarter. We settled down as the game went on and with better defense, going to a lot of zone we limited them to 30 points in the whole second half we got a solid 90-76 home victory. After going 5-5 from the three in the first quarter the ended up shooting 7-22 for the game from the three, 31%.

Luol Deng had a big game 28Pts, 7 reb 4-8 from the three

Pops 15pts 8 reb

Nate Reinking 14pts

Dan Clark 13 pts 9 reb

Ogo Adegboye 10pts

Solid team effort

We have a day off today, Sunday and I am going to use it to do some site seeing. My wife Linda and I are taking a train to Stratford Upon Avon the home of Shakespeare. Even though it is still summer here the weather has not been great. 60's and rain but it looks like we will have a nice day to take in the sites today. Still may have to invest in an umbrella though.

3-0!

YESSSSSSSSS......... We are 3-0 in group play! Another big road win for GB basketball. Road wins are hard to come by in the Euro basketball world and we have two of them in the first three games of group play. They are hard to come by because of a lot of factors. Tough travel to some of these countries (you can't get there from here), Hotels and food are not what most of the players and coaches are use too, older/hot/crowded/small gyms to play in with very loud aggressive crowds and we will not get into referees. Team GB has shown a toughness and determination to fight through all that and keep our focus on the prize. Winning the game. The arena in Bosnia was a good size holding about 6,000 and although it wasn't completely full it was a loud, excited crowd that greeted us as we came out for warmups. The building is very old with seats that go almost straight up from the court. It seems at times that the crowd is right on top of you. They also have the "old school" benches with plastic shields behind you to protect the team from any flying objects. That wasn't really a problem until late in the game when an object that looked like a lighter was thrown on to the court after what the crowd thought was a bad call by the refs. Fortunately no one was hit and the game went on.

Bosnia jumped on us early with some tough shots made by their Bosnian/American Henry Domercant, the only player who's name does not end in vic. Nesovic, Dedovic, Milosevic....... He is a 6'4" guard who is a very good Euro player who has played at the highest levels over here. Greece,Russia and Spain making about $1,000,000 a year. We clamped down on him defensively after he scored the first 8 points of the game and he only ended up with 16 points for the game. Luol Deng did a great job defending him most of the game. We came back at them in the second half as our defense really picked up, allowing only 32 point in the second half! We came away with a hard fought, very rewarding 84-80 road victory.

Luol Deng had a solid game with 16 points and 7 rebounds.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu had another solid game with 16 points and 12 rebounds (5 offensive)

Flinder Boyd gave a solid minutes at the point guard position

But the two stars of the game were:

Dan Clark, 23 points 8-10Fg and 5-5 from 3Pt line

Nate Reinking, 21 points, 3-6 from 3Pt line

Now it back home for 2 games against Ukraine and our second game against Hungary. We are close to taking control of the group but we must stay focused and not be satisfied. The games do not get any easier. All the teams in our group are capable of beating every team in the group.

Bosnia

I have a few hours before our game tonight (very late 8:45PM start) so I thought I would share some comments. Besides, It is warm here and there is no real air conditioning or internet in my room. So I have taken refuge in the lobby where it is cooler and I can get on the internet. It is kind of weird though, seeing ash trays on the tables in the lobby. Yes there is smoking in the hotel. I guess I got spoiled in America with all the no smoking areas. Our staff here at GB has started calling the lobby the internet cafe as we all gather here in one area to get on the internet. Landing here yesterday took me a little by surprise. We are up in the mountains and they are very green looking very much like the mountains in Colorado. We are playing in Sarajevo home of the 1984 Winter Olympics. The city is full of life with lots of young people walking through the streets either on their way to work or window shopping. The traffic is not too bad but we have a police escort anyway as it is a little drive to the arena. On our drive to the arena for practice yesterday it brought us all down to earth seeing the bullet holes still remaining in the building walls from years of fighting in this area. All sizes of holes from single rifle holes to bigger machine gun fire holes. On all kinds of buildings. Government buildings, store fronts and residents. No matter how important the game is tonight, and it is a big game for us, it puts everything in perspective. We all have the opportunity to represent Great Britain and the game of basketball all over the world. Well it's time to go upstairs and get ready to go to the game.

Game two group play

We are now 2-0 in group play! We had a big home game (our first) here in Newcastle today against a very good team from Macedonia. Playing before a good crowd of over 3,000 we gave them a game to remember. We jumped out to a nice 11 point led in the first quarter with some good fast break basketball and some flying dunks by Pops Mensah-Bonsu! We tripped up a little at the end of the second quarter but still had a solid 4 point lead going in at halftime. the second half was a wild ride with both teams going on runs and the lead changing leads over and over. With the game looking like it might be out of reach, with less then two minutes left and being down by seven points some crazy things happened. We got what turned out to be a 5 point turn around when a player macedonia fouled Dan Clark intentionally. He made both free throws and we got the ball out of bounds. We ran a misdirection play and knocked down a open 3pt shot to pull within two points. With 6 seconds left in the game we were down by 3 points with two free throws to shoot. Pops missed the first free throw then intentionally missed the second free throw, Dan Clark tipped the ball back to Luol Deng who calmly swished a 3pt shot to tie the game! We got a big defensive stop in the last 5 seconds of the game to send it into overtime. Once in overtime with momentum and a very loud crowd on our side we took over in the 5 minute overtime period and out scored them 17-9 and came away with a spectacular 104-96 home win!

Great team win with a lot of players stepping up. Our big two Mensah-Bonsu and Deng had 27 and 23 points. Now it is on to Bosnia to play game 3 in group play Wed.

Newcastle

After our victory on the road in Hungary we flew back to London and then on to Newcastle. We have a bye this week so we set up camp here at the Hilton. Great city and great hotel. We will practice here for the next few days then play Macedonia. We are practicing and will play our game at Northumbra University. It is a classic looking college with Red brick buildings and about 18,000 students. The Gym and athletic buildings are brand new. You can still smell the wet paint. It reminds me of a big Division 2 school or small division 1 college in the States. Nice size gym holds about 3,500 people. I hope we can fill it for our game and stir up some interest in the basketball team here at home. We are going to play a very good veteran team, FYROM or Former Yugoslovia Republic of Macedonia. They have a team full of SHOOTERS or more to the point MAKERS. When a coach says he needs a "shooter" he really means he wants a "maker"! There are a lot of "shooters" out there but not many "makers". I am finding that a lot of the "shooters" and "makers" are playing here, overseas. They have 2 big players that really shoot the ball well from 3pt range. Pero Antic and Todor Gecevski, both are 6'11" And very skilled basketball players. It's kind of crazy but I remember sees both of them workout 6 years ago at the Euro basketball camp in Treviso Italy. It was a workout for all the NBA GMs and scouts. I was one of the coaches that worked them out and I remember thinking afterwards.... These two could be good back up bigs in the NBA in a couple years. It will be interesting to see them years later. It looks like they have become good players overseas.

Newcastle is a pretty city on a river. It reminds me a lot of Portland. Nice downtown but not too busy with lots of shops and pubs. The weather has been cool, in the 60's and it is starting to rain a little today. Kind of weird for August. It fells like we should be going to a college football game. Maybe Kansas vs Kansas State in Memorial Stadium on a nice cool Saturday. Memories........ Well back to watching tape and working on my scouting report.

P.S. To let me know anyone is reading this feel free to add any and all comments. I would love any feedback. Please no comments on my spelling I get enough hassle from my family. Hi Michael and Bryan. Your mom is having a great time site seeing while I am stuck in a gym.

Group play

We won game 1 vs Hungary on the road 91-82! It was our first game in group play as we try to qualify for the World Championships next year on the road to the Olympics. Playing on the road in a hostile environment and getting a win for a young team like us was huge. We landed in Budapest Hungary on Sunday and took a 45 minute bus ride to the small town of Szolnok. It is a beautiful little city on a river in the country. Very green, with rolling hills. The ride there reminded me of the fields in Iowa. The reason they played our game there is because they wanted a real home court advantage. They could play in a bigger gym in Budapest but the small (2,500) seat arena with no air conditioning is a better home court advantage. And wow was it! It was packed in the gym. I think they crammed 3,000 in there. They were chanting, singing and banging drums for most of the game. What a great atmosphere!

We quieted the crown a bit early by jumping out to a quick 8 point lead but their hot 3pt shooting in the first half 5-10 50% kept them in the game. We battled shot for shot in the second half and although they got a short lived 4pt lead we fought them off and came up with a huge win. Any win on the road is big in group play. It was great seeing how passionate the people of Hungary are about basketball. They take the game very seriously and appreciate good basketball. They have a good young basketball team. Adam Hanga is a good penetrating 6'5" point guard who had 20pts and 10 rebounds.

We got a big game from Loul Deng playing for the first time this summer, 32pts and 9 rebounds. Most of you know he plays in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls. He has been practicing with us for a few weeks but because of insurance reasons he didn't play until this week or first game in group play. It was great seeing him in a GAME uniform! We also got a good game from Pops Mensah-Bonsu 14pts and 18 rebounds. Nate Reinking and Dan Sullivan also had solid games but it was a team win with everyone chipping in.

Playing the home team

What a great atmosphere! We are playing at the practice gym of the pro team here. It holds about 3,000 but they put in extra seats and let the fans sit up above us on walkways. Packed, screaming fans everywhere. Very cool! They jumped on us early by pushing the ball and scoring in transition an had a 10pt lead after 1 quarter but we cut it to 4pts at the end of the first half. We came out strong in the second half and got a lead for a few minutes in the 4th quarter but Israel's 3pt shooting got us in the end and we lost 86-82. Omri Casspi the first player from Israel to play in the NBA had a great game scoring 27pts, 4-6 from the 3pt line. Pops Mensah Bonsu had a great game for us scoring 25pts and grabbing 15 rebounds. He wowed the crowd with some unbelievable dunks over 2 or 3 of their players. They were so good even the home crowd cheered for them.

We played our 3rd game in 3 nights next against a very motivated team from the Netherlands. We chose to rest some of our starters, Pops and Nate Reinking and play some of the younger players extended minutes. They played a solid second half but could not overcome a poor first half and we lost by 11pts, 94-83. Although we were only 1-2 on the trip we accomplished what we wanted. We played some combinations of players we wanted to look at, played some of the younger players, rested some of the veterans and no one got hurt.

After getting back to London we got to do something pretty special. We got to take a tour of the 2012 site of the Olympic Games! It was some site. All the work that goes into putting together something like the Olympics is amazing.

Some facts: There will be over 16,000 athletes staying in the Olympic Village during the Olympics. The basketball arena will hold 10,000-12,000 and will be dismantled and moved after the games. There will be 7.7 million tickets available for the London games. 800,000 people expected to use public transportation to the games on the busiest day. Around 260,000 loaves of bread expected to be consumed at the London 2012 Games. they better start baking the bread NOW.

Basketball update

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. After we played our last game here in London against Finland we had and early 4:30 am bus to leave for the airport to go to Tel Aviv. I thought I would be able to catch up once we got there but when I tried the directions were in hebrew so I had trouble getting onto my blog.

A lot has happened since then, too much to cover tonight. Just got back to London and a little jet lagged. But wanted to share the basketball things that have happened. Then in the next couple days I will fill you in on my visit to the Holy Land. It was powerful and worth the wait.

Basketball update. We lost our last game in London to a good Finland team. They have been together for a long time and play like it. They run their offense like a well oiled machine and they shoot the ball very good from the 3 point line. We played well at times but not consistent enough to win the game. We went to Tel Aviv for three games. Game one was against Belgium. Good team with a player with NBA experience, Hervelle Axel who had 23pts and 7 rebounds. We were lead by Pops Mensah Bonsu with 26pts and our young point guard Ogo Adegboye with 20pts. we got a well deserved 84-80 victory. It was good to see us play well for 40 minutes. The next night we were going to have a big challenge playing the home team Israel in a packet, loud gym.

Game one with British Basketball "Game On"

Our first friendly game against the Canadian National team last night had lots of good and lots of bad. The problem was the bad out weighed the good. We lost the game by four 82-78. We came out ready to play and jumped all over them with defensive pressure and got out to a nice lead in the first quarter 26-12. Then we let down our guard and lost some of our intensity and let them get right back in the game by being outscored 24-12 in the second quarter. Basketball is such a game of runs and shifting momentum and not many players realise how important every possession is. Silly turnovers or not blocking out and giving up second chance points at ANY time in the game matters. Even in the first or second quarter. It all adds up. Well, like what happens so often in basketball, a big lead and a chance at a blow out was gone and we were now in for a tough game. The game went back and forth for the rest of the game and then Canada (Casey Archibald) hit two back to back three pointers and sealed the game.

Both teams are very young and playing without some of their "star" players but over all it was a well played game. We are without Pops Mensah-Bonsu a very good player who has played in the NBA and with top overseas teams and Luol Deng the Chicago Bull. They both got into town today. We are excited to have them both in camp! We had one of our young players step up. Matthew Bryan-Amaning who plays at the University of Washington had a solid 17pts. We will look to build on the good things we did in the game and have a better showing against a very good Finland National team tomorrow night in game two of our friendly games. I watched them play Canada and beat them by 24pts. They are a very good outside shooting team that executes their offense all game long. We will have to be at the top of our game to get our first victory.

The weather here has been outstanding low 80's during the day high 60's in the evening. Feels like fall. Found another sport to watch on TV last night........lawn bowling. lol

Sports in England

Got a chance to watch the end of the British open today in between practices. Tiger is driving the ball better but man he just doesn't have that swagger he had for all those years. Golf is a big sport here in England but I also found myself watching some other popular sports.........Rugby, Cricket and believe it or not darts. Yep a couple thousand people watching two dudes throw darts. On national TV with slow motion replays and everything. What is scary is I kind of liked watching it. The dart flying through the air in slow motion then hitting the bullseye, kind of cool.

British Basketball "GAME ON"

London this time of year is very nice.......... so far. Sunny and clear, nice fall weather, the opposite of what we had in the Dominican Republic (hot and humid). We are staying about 30 minutes from downtown London in a nice old hotel that looks like what you would picture a country hotel would look like. Big brick structure outside, cozy lobby complete with big fireplace and rustic furniture inside. The first day while waiting in the lobby I got the opportunity to observe a classic afternoon tea time shared by a group of older couples. Just relaxing, drinking tea and having great conversation.

We are practicing at a private High School about 10 minutes away. Nice gym, good floor and space to practice. It's similar to many High Schools in the US. After day one we threw alot at the team. We have to play our first friendly game in only four days. We are a young team that will be tested early. We will be working a lot on our defense as that is something we will hang our hat night in and night out. We have 5 games to help prepare us for group play. we will play Canada, Finland, Belgium, Israel and Holland. then we go into group play. In group play we will play 4 teams, 2 times (home and away). The other teams in our group are Hungry, Ukraine, Macedonia and Bosnia. we must finish top 2 in our group to qualify to move on next summer, 1 step closer to the Olympics!

Learned that the best was to get over jet lag is to not sleep the first day. The time change will really get you if you give in and take a nap that first day. I left Dallas at 5pm and arrived in London at 8:30am. I have trouble sleeping on a plane so I only got maybe 2 hours of sleep. I forced myself to stay awake until 10:30pm and got a great night sleep and felt rested today.

Heading across the Pond

Phase 1 of the summer schedule is over now on to phase 2. I am in the Dallas airport waiting for my flight to London in 3 hours. Getting my last "American" meal for the next 6 weeks. Nachos and a cheese burger.

Looking back to the CenroBasket Tournament is very frustrating. Even though we were a little depleted as a team I still feel that we could have played a little better and made the next step for Jamaican basketball, qualifying for the Tournament of Americas. It is tough to look at the standings of the tournament and seeing us tied for 4th place. Losing that tie knocked us out of qualifying. Down by 2pts with 29 seconds left Panama takes the ball out of bounds. We need one good defensive stop, grab a rebound and we have 5 seconds to set up a play for the tying or winning basket! But no! Some how the 24 second shot clock is turned off. They inbound the ball and now we are forced to foul. 5 missing seconds and no chance to get a shot to win or tie. Wow! You know it is bad when you are on the 6:30am bus to the airport and a coach from another team say "coach I saw your game yesterday, you got screwed". Feel bad for our players who played their hearts out.

Well, life goes on. Getting on a plane for the 9 hour flight to London. Looking forward to the next 6 weeks of international basketball. I can't wait to get back with head coach Chris Finch and try and help the British National team qualify for the Olympics!

When I get back maybe all the NBA teams will be done moving and shaking and have their rosters set so I can talk about how I see next years NBA season shaping up.

Team Jamaica

Team Jamaica has best showing ever! Doing it with more than a few of our best players not here is even more amazing. But it was not enough to qualify for next summers Tournament of Americas. What a week. After going 1-1 in the first two games we played our best game of the tournament beating US Virgin Islands and taking control of second place in our group. One step closer to making Jamaican Basketball history by qualifying for the Tournament of Americas. The team was dealt a big blow when Roy Hibbert hurt his knee in the first game and had to go back to the States to get an MRI. It turned out not to be that bad, but he was done for the tournament. Losing a 7'0" NBA center is tough to overcome. We did just that, winning the next two games but it really took it's toll when we played a very physical team from Panama in the third game in three days. Losing the Panama game put us in a tie with them for second place in our group but because they beat us (4pts) they won the tie breaker, qualifying for next year's Tournament of Americas and the right to play Puerto Rico in the medal rounds. Which is an Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

It's heartbreaking. Being so close to doing something that no team in Jamaica has EVER done. We seemed to just run out of gas at the end. It really hits home how important it is playing for your country when you see the tears of grown men who have given their all on the court in a dead silent locker room. Sports can bring such adrenaline highs and such gut wrenching lows. But life goes on. The players will go home and look for their next team. they will being playing basketball all over the world, China, Germany, Mexico just to name a few of the places these players will call home for the next 8 month season.

And coach Mo? I will be getting on an early morning flight to Orlando then getting in my SUV and make that 2o hour drive back to McAllen, Texas. Then I get 2 days to do my laundry and catch my breath before I get on a flight to London and join the British National team for 6 weeks.

Centobasket Championships 2010

We are now 1-1 in the tournament. We opened up the tournament playing the home team Dominican Republic, in a packed, noisy, HOT gym. We will get back to the heat. We played a solid first half and ended up with an 8pt lead that should have been 12 or 14pts but we made some silly turnovers at the end of the 2nd quarter. Basketball is such a game of runs and momentum that how a team ends quarters and the half is so important. When you are playing a team on their own home court with a wild crowd it is even more important. We learned that the hard way that night. We played a below average 2nd half (that's putting in mildly) and ended up losing a game that we could have very easily won. In a tournament like this losing the first game really puts a team behind the eight ball. It was so hot in the Arena that players where slipping all over the floor. The 4th quarter was like playing basketball on ice skates. It's 90 degrees outside and 100 degrees in the Arena. No air conditioning! It's crazy that a big FIBA tournament has NBA players and European players that make millions of dollars that are now representing their countries slipping and sliding around risking injury!

On day two we had the second game at 3:30pm in the afternoon against British Virgin Islands a team we beat last year on their home court in the gold medal game to win the Caribbean Championships. I went to scout the first, 1:00pm game, US Virgin Islands vs Panama and as the night before it was very hot in the Arena and the floor was getting worse. It was so bad that with 4:47 left in the game and players sliding all over the floor the Panama coach with his team down by 17pts stopped the game and gave the other team the victory. We had been waiting in our locker room to take the court when I saw something I had never seen before in over 35 years of playing or coaching basketball. They brought buckets of saw dust out on to the court and spread it over the key areas which were the slickest part of the court. Then they wiped it off and we waited on the court or in our locker room until 6pm while the reps for all the teams met with the FIBA reps and finally decided the floor was not safe for the players to play on and the remaining games of the day were postponed until the next day. BUT not until they made the Panama and US Virgin Island teams get off their buses, get their uniforms back on and play the last 4:47 minutes of their game on an unsafe floor! Which Panama ended up still losing but only by 9pts.

SOOOO, They got some big movable air conditioning units today and piped in cool air into the arena through huge tubes that looked like clothes dryer vent tubes and rigged up a make shift air conditioning unit. We ended up playing British Virgin Islands at 3:30pm and played a very good FULL game and came away with a rewarding 17pt victory! We play US Virgin Islands tomorrow at 1:00pm to try and get to 2-1 and closer to our goal of qualifying for next years Tournament of Americas.

Oh, by the way King James made the oh so tough desicion of going to Miami, living in South Beach, playing with Wade and Bosh and making millions of dollars today in case you haven't heard yet. The only way you have not heard yet is if you don't watch TV, use the internet or read a paper or a magazine. Finally the wait is over.

Heading to Dominican Republic! Centro Basketball Tournament

We leave today and tomorrow for the Centro Basketball Tournament. You would think it would be easy to get to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic from Orlando Florida but it is not as easy as it looks. There are only 2 direct flights out a day. The other flight end up with one or two connections with usually a 10-14 hour layover. Not good. As a result the whole team could not get on one flight. We will be taking different flights starting tonight Friday at 11:55pm with a 3:00am arrival. Guess who is on this wonderful flight? yep, yours truly. We do what we have to to get it done. The rest of the team will be going in shifts, 3-5 at a time. When we get there we should have a couple days of practice before we play our first game on July 6th against the home team, Dominican Republic. We will not know who is on the teams we play until we arrive and we get to scout the first day of games on July 5th. National team rosters fluctuate a lot from year to year. Even more than NBA Development team rosters. Our roster has changed in the 2 weeks we have been training here in Orlando. Samardo Samuels, a very good forward from University of Louisville is not coming. He was not drafted in this years NBA draft but it looks like he going to summer league with the Chicago Bulls. He should have a good chance to make that team. Patrick Ewing Jr. will not be coming. He is going to summer league with two teams. The Orlando Magic and the NY Knicks. We will miss them but will do our best to finish top four and qualify for the Tournament of Americas next summer!
The Lebron James sweepstakes. 2010, what a free agent class! With all the rumors and talk of who is going where, it starting to look like a lot of the free agents are going to take the more money and more years and stay with their teams. Rudy Gay staying in Memphis, looks like Joe Johnson will stay in Atlanta and I don't see Paul Pierce leaving the Celtics or Dirk leaving the Mavs. Have a feeling that Bosh will leave Toronto and Stoudamire will leave Suns for greener pastures. And King James......... Only time will tell. It must be nice to have so many teams begging you to take their hundreds of millions of dollars to play for their teams! Lebron, don't make this all about the money. A lot of players say they want to go to a winner and do "whatever it takes" to win but very few players really back that up with their actions. No matter where you go you will make enough money to have you, your kids, your kids kids and their kids kids set for life. Take this opportunity and take less money and go to the team that gives you the best chance at winning a Ring. Take it from a guy that played 12 years in the NBA and came close but never got there. Talk to Karl Malone, John Stockton, Bob Lanier or Sidney Moncrief. All great players who never got a ring. Ask them what is more important, Money or a championship! Pick your team wisely.

Draft

Sorry its been a little while since my last post. We (Jamaican National Team) have been practicing twice a day for the last week getting ready to go to Dominican Republic for the Cento Basketball Tournament on the 5th of July. Practice has been going well. We got to work with our new addition to the team, Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers for the first time. He is a talented young "big" who can help us in a lot of ways! He blocks shots and rebounds on the defensive end and is a good low post presence that has good hands, good passer and can score around the basket. We are very happy to have Roy on board!
The NBA draft was last night and what an exciting night for all the players that got drafted. I remember when I got drafted in the second round about one hundred years ago by the Houston Rockets. It was not the "Event' it is today but it was still a great night for me and my family. Little did I know then that I would have a 12 year NBA career and play with and against some of the best players in NBA history. Sid Moncrief, Jack Sikma, Bob Lanier to name a few of my Milwaukee Bucks teammates. I played against a lot of players that only need one name or initials. Kareem, Bird, Magic, Dr J, Hakeem, StocktonMalone (they played together so long the 2 became 1 so I gave them one name), Parrish, McHale (probably the hardest guy to guard. Never knew what kind of shot he was going to throw up and make), Walton, Moses (like McHale but a relentless offensive rebounder), Pippen (very under rated but great all around game) and of course MJ. Wow, sorry just going through memory lane for a minute. I fouled a lot of NBA top 50 players.
Anyway..... This years NBA draft was so interesting because of all the moves and movement that went on with teams trying to open up room to attempt to lure what might be the most talented free agent group ever, to come to their teams. Lebron is getting most of the attention but there are soo many good players that can move. Bosh, very good and hard wotking forward that can score both in the low/high post areas. Boozer, undersized power forward who is a beast around the basket to name a few. It seems to me that Wade in Miami would appeal to many of these players as a guy I would want to play with.

One more thing. To all those players that didn't get drafted last night. There are a lot of different ways to get to the NBA or have a long and productive basketball career. You can try and get into the NBA Development League. The money is not great but it has proven to be the best and most direct way to get to the NBA. This year there was a record amount of players called up from the NBADL to the NBA. We had 5 players called up from our Team alone this year in the Rio Grande Valley with the Vipers. There also is overseas basketball. There are leagues all over the world where you can play the game you love, make some good money and travel the world! It will not be easy! You have to work harder than you ever have before on your game and being a "Pro" on and off the court but it is well worth it. If you have the game and desire don't give up your dream!

made it

I made it to Orlando! It took 19 hours but it was well worth it. Joined the Jamaican National Team and we are working hard getting ready for the Centro Basketball Tournament in 3 weeks. Staying at the Westgate Lakes Resort, right by Universal Studios. What a wonderful place to stay! 3 pools and Whirlpools, Kitchens and nice living area. Great place for the players to relax in between practices. We have 14 players in right now and are waiting for another 3 or 4 to join us soon. I will give a full report on who we have in when we get everyone here but we have some good talent that we hope will turn into a very competitive, successful "TEAM". It's very exciting being part of Team Jamaica and helping them prepare to represent their country. I have played and coached on very successful NCAA, NBA Dleague and NBA teams but nothing compares to putting on the uniform of your country. I can see it in their eyes. Just ask all the great NBA players that put their egos aside and play for team USA.

Road Warrior

In a Holiday Inn in Slidell LA. half way to Orlando. Long day on the road but I am excited to get down to Orlando and start working with the Jamaican National Team players! Now I know where all the old rock and R&B groups go when they can't fill big arenas anymore... Lake Charles LA. I wish I was going to be around to see them! In Late June the following will be at different casinos in Lake Charles. Peter Frampton, Earth Wind and Fire and THE Commandors. For us "older" people we already know how great they were. For you younger people get on your computers, IPhones, Itunes, Ipads or whatever you use and check them out. That is real music.
Watched game 3 of NBA finals tonight. Big win for the Lakers. What a turn around for ray Allen! Could not make a shot tonight. Sometimes it goes that way. I KNOW he will have a big game in game 4.

Here we go

Tomorrow I start my 12 week journey of basketball around the world. The first round will be as an assistant coach with the Jamaican National team. In the morning I start a 20 hour drive to Orlando to start training Team Jamaica. I am driving for two reasons. One: I will have a way to get around when I am down there. Two: I can bring my golf clubs. We will be in Orlando for about 4 weeks practicing and playing some friendly games (that's what practice games are called in international play) getting ready to head to the Dominican Republic for the Centro Basketball Tour. We must finish top 4 to qualify for the Tour of Americas next summer. Then it is off to London to meet up with the British National team.
Side note: Really enjoyed game 2 of the NBA finals last night. Ray Allen was on fire in the first half! I feel great for him. He is such a pro and a good guy. He has a routine he does 3 hours before every game that is unbelievable. He has a picture perfect jumpshot with such a quick release. It's funny how you become an even better shooter the more you WORK at it. Remember that at home kids.
On a sad note Coach John Wooden, The Wizard of Westwood, passed away over the weekend. I grew up outside of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley and remember spending many hours watching his great UCLA teams play on TV. I am actually in the middle of reading a book on him right now. How to be Like Coach Wooden. What a great coach and even better human being!

getting ready for a busy summer

Wow! what a year. I have been around basketball all my life. Played and coached in the NBA and college but this years ride in the NBA Development League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers was one of the craziest and most succsessful. We had a great record 36-14 and won the championship on a last second banked in 3Pt shot. And yes Craig Winders swears he called bank. And yes the play went just the way coach Finch drew it up in the huddle. Actually it was the second time craig saved our season. He took a last play charge in game 3 against the Austin toros getting us to the finals. Proving what I have been saying all year to the players, "Defense Wins Championships!"