With the NCAA Tourament upon us, it seems like as good a time as any to remind everyone that there is a canyon between coaching in college and coaching in the NBA. There is more than a generation of evidence which clearly illustrates that any NBA team hiring a head coach directly from college is making a huge mistake. P.J. Carlesimo. Tim Floyd. Leonard Hamilton. Lon Kruger. Mike Montgomery. Jerry Tarkanian. Rick Pitino, who failed twice. Even John Calipari, who is
In all their years in the NBA, the Boston Celtics had only put together six seasons worse than the one they muddled through in 2013-14. The shattered remains of their former glory were cobbled into a team built to lose games and win ping pong balls in a draft allegedly top-heavy with potential franchise players. But 25 wins and the sixth pick later, the Celtics are setting forth on the slow journey upward. Their coach, Brad Stevens, having suffered through the
We are all familiar with the Spurs and their uncanny efficiency. Are you familiar with AAU basketball? I have coached it at the high school level for the last three years. And one thing I have learned is that with just four hours of weekly practice time followed by four games every weekend, if you don’t have definitive, well-drilled schemes on both offense and defense, you have no chance to compete. However, if you have a group that is committed to a
The season is a little over a week from starting, but it’s never too early to start thinking about the draft, at least if you’re a Sixers fan. Or a Canadian who can’t wait for the dominance that Andrew Wiggins will surely bring on the international scene. Wiggins, of course, is #1 on our first (very early) mock draft. The real fun comes with #2, or maybe #3. Suns, Kings, Celtics fans: get to know these names. It’s never too early. Now
Over the last few years, the point guard crop in the NBA Draft has been weak. While budding superstars like Kyrie Irving and Damien Lillard have been lottery picks, most teams have opted to pursue other needs and prospects rather than select their floor general. While general managers league-wide prefer bigs over point guards when it comes to drafting philosophy, it’s undeniable that the NBA is a point guard driven league now. [Read more…]
In an extremely loaded four-team preseason tournament, the Legends Classic in Atlanta tonight will place No. 7 Kansas against No. 14 Michigan State on one side of the bracket while the defending national champion No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats will face the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils. Although Kentucky escaped its matchup with the Maryland Terrapins on Friday at the Barclays Center, it’s clear that this Kentucky team is a work in progress and will try to find itself as the season