IF - THEN

The mental models we use are bad.

The "if-then" model sucks. It doesn't matter what we plug into the "if" and "then" spots -- it's still flawed.

"I'D LIKE THIS OUTCOME TO HAPPEN!" Okay. Good. The actions to make that outcome come true are in my control. The outcome is not in my control.

Sometimes the outcome is the EXACT opposite of what we want.

Investing in outcomes makes life suck.

Investing in the process makes life great.

If you succeed great, if you don't still great.

Losing the ability to invest in the process drains your mind and energy.

The passion is in you somewhere. It's not in the job, or the money or the girl. It's your job to find it.

When you find it and starting living with passion, the external world starts to reorganize to suit the new you.

Patience.

LOB CITY

I think the LA Clippers are going to be in the NBA Finals this season, or fall just short. I haven't seen them play yet. I taped the exhibition game they played last night but didn't watch. I dunno if I will get around to it.

I just can't think of a reason (Vinny Del Negro, injuries) why they don't have a legitimate shot of going this year. The neighborhood they live in is a lot safer than it used to be. Especially with a shortened season.

Dallas, LAL, Memphis, Denver, Oklahoma City. Then the Clippers, where do they fit into that group? I would probably say 3rd or 4th.

I find it hard to argue with Paul, Billups Griffin, Butler, Jordan, Mo Williams, Ryan Gomes. They can potentially find a way to make a move for another big. That would mean possibly moving Mo Williams, which may be bad cause Caron Butler might not hold up. But if Billups invests, they can get a lot of work done in this first 20-30 games.

It's not as much the Clippers as it is the problems other big teams are experiencing. Kobe has big personal problems and a lot of miles on his legs. Pau Gasol hates the ownership and media and is checked out. Bynum gets hurt a lot. Jason Kapono is Jason Kapono. For the Mavs, they're older and lost Tyson Chandler, Peja and DeShawn Stevenson. Grizzles lost Darrell Arthur this week. Oklahoma City is great, but had a hard time figuring out what to do in the playoffs and had some issues with Russell Westbrook. Denver's super tough but lack that big time guy.

I think CP3 is ready to explode a little bit, and carry this team through the season and into the playoffs. He's ready to win. He's gonna have a lot of energy. And he's gonna lift up Blake and D Jordan to new heights.

Get ready. This is happening. LOB CITY.

Marquette - Washington Tuesday Night

Awesome ball game on last night. Washington and Marquette at MSG. Started a little late because the first game ran long. Ended late. But turned out to be a pretty well played, intense game.

There was a sparce crowd at MSG. It had a summer league type attendance. The fans that were there were into the game. I think the small crowd allowed guys to play a little more loose. And it showed.

Both coaches, Lo Romar and Buzz Williams. I really like them. They work their asses off. They don't get the five star recruits, but they find good tough players that stay in the program and grow into better players.

Darius Johnson-Odom is a beast. Clearly one of the best players in the Big East. He could have a chance to play 82.

Terrence Ross is rising up prospect boards with his first 7 games this season. He's a long active player, shoots the ball from range and can defend good players. They have played a tough schedule so far and his game has translated. He's a guy to keep an eye on.

One of the things that I noticed is that both benches seemed very into the game. And yes I know that all college benches are usually jumping out of their shoes cheering. But there was a maturity to the way they were watching and rooting. They were all very focused on the game and their respective game plans.

Carolina - Kentucky

Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway has a yearly shareholders meeting. It's become a must-attend meeting for the heavy hitters in the investment world. They call it "woodstock for capitalists."

On Saturday, Rupp Arena was woodstock for basketball executives and scouts. Over 40 credentialed NBA executives and staffers were in attendance, with many more having something come up over the weekend that kept them from attending. And everyone attending saw a clean well played game, that allowed the players to showcase their talent.

I liked Michael Kidd-Gilchrist the most. I thought he really showed up. He played physical and with courage and shot the ball well. He just keeps coming at you everywhere on the court and his physical dominance and energy level make him so versatile. All this allows you to project him doing many things for your ball club.

The man crush on Kendall Marshall continues. Let's be honest, he's been terrible in every aspect of the game this season aside from incredible push of the ball and incredible passing. His three point shooting and attacking of the basket for layups up to this point in the season has been awful. He attacked and shot with much more confidence last season. So he has work to do there. But gosh, some of those plays and passes he made in the full court were special. Some of those cross court passes to shooters in the corner right to their shooting pockets--are you kidding me?

Jon Henson is a guy I would love to have on my NBA team. The way he plays and carries himself in the game continues to improve. He has learned to compete with more courage, while at the same time, not forcing anything and letting the game come to him. His touch on the short corner/bank shot area of the court has improved, and hook shots with both hands look good. He defended without fouling and hung in there on the glass. He had some pussy moments on the defensive side, where Terrence Jones or MKG bullied him. But all in all I think he did well.

Anthony Davis ended up one of the big winners Saturday, but he was a missing in action for parts of the game. I wouldn't say he was timid, he was a little passive offensively and yielded to T. Jones, Gilchrist, and Lamb for most of the game. I love Davis. He still has to answer some questions for me. I would like to see him catch and shoot from range.

College Hoops

Here's a guy to tab: Mike Moser, UNLV. Watched him the other night when they beat North Carolina. 16 points, 18 rebounds. Incredible rebounder. Incredible rebounder. Boards translate to the next level kids. UNLV has had a great program the last five years. This year too.

Rick Majerus has loaded up the Saint Louis ship with his kind players and it's really start to pay dividends. 6-0, in the top 25. I caught snippets of a couple of their games this weekend. They really play a beautiful game. Fundamentally sound offense. Almost every bucket I saw came off 15 seconds of crisp old school motion offense, where the shooter was either shooting a wide open jumper or laying the ball in. I read an article Majerus a while ago, mostly describing how he's both a genius and the meanest person ever routinely calling his players MF'ing C*n**. But he knows his way around a court and develops players to do what he thinks is right.

With the start of the season, I forgot about all the little things that I hate about the college game. Then I saw 15 guys take fake charges that were called and I remembered what I hated the most. Yes, it punishes the shitty players. That's good. But there's still way too many bad charge calls. And they have to institute that little half circle box like the NBA.

Aaron Craft from Ohio State is such a monster. He's the best point guard in the Big Ten, and one of the three best in the country. He's so dominant defensively. Check out the Billy Donovan quotes about Craft after they lost to Ohio State last week. What a beast. I'd love to work out with him.

Hey Wake Forest, you guys sucks. And it serves you right. That's what happens when you hire a shitty coach and fire a hell of a guy. Although Coach Gaudio wasn't setting the world on fire, he was getting good players and going the NCAA tournament. Bizdelik is a joke. I wrote about how mad I was about that hire somewhere in my past writing two years ago. If I can link it, I will. Possibly the worst, unimaginative hire ever. But have fun being irrelevant this year again Wake.

Feel for Ben Howland and UCLA. See this kinda shit pisses me off: UCLA goes to 3 straight Final Four's. Wow. They produce guys like Kevin Love (1 year but who cares), Russ Westbrook, Darren Collison, Josh Shipp (Player, 3 Final Fours, No NBA), Aaron Afflalo, and whoever else I am missing. These guys were tough as nails, and won with defense and skill. Then Jrue Holiday comes in and people in his camp, and bloggers and writers start jabbering about how Howland is too tough and too defensive oriented and won't let him play in the offense. Now they can't get the right guys to come. They're stuck with 400 pound idiot Josh Smith, who someone is in worse shape than he was last year. And Reeves Nelson, a tatoo sleeved malcontent whose probably on the run for meth possession and robbery. Amazing how quick things turn. Losing Scott Duncan from the staff really hurts too.

Wouldn't want to get stuck guarding Missouri's Marcus Denomon in a pickup game. God, can that guy get to the rim, and shoot. Beast.

This Kentucky train is gonna be hard to stop.

Great guy to watch: Indiana State's Jake Odum. All league last year as a freshman. Very creative passer. Pushes the ball hard and leads his team. Indiana State is a nice team. Potential tournament team again this season.

Kentucky

Watched the Kentucky show last night. Came away impressed. Gonna be tough to beat with all those guys. There are some problems though. John Calipari has a hard job man. Doesn't look hard, but it is. Cause those players are ego freaking maniacs who just fly off the handle without a second's notice. They are so competitive and immature (and insane and unstable), all trying to be the alpha dog and do their best for themselves and their teammates. They have to prove themselves every second of every possession or else they are going to be left out of the mix. The culture there is the biggest and most productive alpha dog gets to play. Everybody else doesn't. And that sometimes becomes counterproductive. Some days it can be very tough to police. It's interesting.

You look at Marquis Teague last night against Kansas. He was a disaster. He couldn't go by anyone. He couldn't defend anyone. He threw the ball all over the court. He missed free throws. Yet he's so into the game and his teammates, that the second he hits a three he's taunting and screaming at Kansas guys, he's doing the "goosey" hand over the eye move. It's crazy. Terrance Jones too. Guys coming a long like a freight train. He looks bigger and more disciplined. He punked Thomas Robinson last night. He should have been focused on that and that alone. But he gets so excited, that every bucket, he's flexing and looking into the crowd. Every chance he has he's trying to show people how tough he is. It's just stupid. The only times he ever showed any maturity was when he was guarding Thomas Robinson 1 on 1 in the post. He did a good job for the most part. But if you're scout looking at his play last night, you're drooling but also still mystified by his unbalanced temperment.

The one thing Cal has going for him is that Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are professional business men. They go out there and play well. Mouths shut. They do what the coaches tell them to do for the most part. They don't get too high or low. They are quietly productive and can play without the ball. And they are incredible ball players which always helps. Anthony Davis is very efficient and has a Kevin Durant like ceiling. Gilchrist is an intense athlete who cares about winning. It's just a question of whether they're professionalism, along with the coaching staff can override the psychotic nature of Teague, Doron Lamb and T Jones.

They will be tough to beat as they continue to grow and mature. Just a question of whether they can mature quickly enough. And Kyle Wilter, a prominent versatile recruit might have picked the wrong spot. Doesn't fit right now. Hopefully they can find a role for him in the second half of the season and postseason.

CSU Vikings

Somebody tell the Ohio college basketball teams to take it easy on people. Geese. There's been some beastly performances by teams in our neck of the woods this first week. Akron dominates Mississippi State. Cleveland State crushes Vandy. Kent State rolls through West Virginia. Ohio State handles Florida. All done in a pretty matter of fact fashion. It's awesome to see.

I watched the Cleveland State/Vanderbilt game and came away very impressed with Cleveland State. They just punched Vandy in the mouth. They guarded the crap out of them, and did a pretty good job running offense to get good looks. But shit, the defense was an instructional video on ball pressure man to man defense. Gary Waters and his staff do a fantastic job drilling in defensive basics. Great closeouts. High hands. When they are denying the passing lanes, they are using the right hand and footwork. When guys penetrate in the key the bump with their lower body and rarely foul guys unless it's a clean layup. They are just in your face, taking up all your personal space at all times. Trevon Harmon did a great job on John Jenkins, the SEC coverboy. He's a good player, but wasn't ready for the level of defense CSU played. They ate him up, forced him into 5-14 shooting. Important to note: Vandy's 7'0 big, who has a chance to play at the next level sat out due to injury.

I loved the CSU freshman, Charles Lee and Anton Grady. I think you'll be hard pressed to find better freshman in the Horizon League than them. They're tough. Grady is a local guy, who I hated the 5 times I saw him play in person. He just didn't get it and played with no courage. Looks like that is changing. He's improved his upper body strength, and didn't try to force anything offensively. He has a knack for blocking shots. Credit to Waters and his great staff for changing his attitude with 2 months of work. Charles Lee is a 5'9 dynamo. He's lightning with the ball and can create space for himself in the half court offensively with jabs and step backs. He's a junkyard dog defensively. He can really pressure the ball. If he stays healthy, he'll be a cornerstone.

I have gained a lot of respect for Jeremy Montgomery and Tre Harmon. Those guys always seem to be ready to play. Montgomery especially has had a great little career. He is a little sleepy at times, but he's not afraid to play in big games. He takes big shots and makes them. Harmon is a solid two way player. Good shooter.

These guys will be tough to beat in the Horizon League. They have had a hard time stringing it together over these last few years. They've been outstanding for stretches, but have also blown big games. They have to continue to try to get over that hurdle and string together a great conference season. That will be a great race this year. A lot of good teams. Valpo, Detroit, CSU, Butler.

Teddy Sums It ALL Up

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs; who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

-Teddy Roosevelt

John Solves the Browns Problems

1. Ask Mike Holmgren to quietly resign his post.

2. Ask Bernie Kosar to quietly become the Browns President of Football Operations. His duties will strictly be football operations. He will also address the Cleveland media once a week, and hold a town hall meeting for ten Browns fans who won a weekly lottery once a week. He will be surrounded by diligent young business saavy interns at all times.

3. Fire Tom Heckert, Hire Michael Lombardi

4. Fire Pat Shurmur, Hire Les Miles

5. Hire Mike Leach as Offensive Coordinator

6. Trade for Brian Hoyer

7. Trade for Ben Tate

8. Draft Justin Blackmon and Barret Jones in the first round of the 2012 Draft


Pretty simple.

Real Quick on Andrew Luck and Kardashian Divorce

Andrew Luck is incredibly good. I have seen him. But I have never realized how amazing he is until I looked at 3 quarters and 3 overtimes against Southern Cal on Saturday night. He's phenomenal. In the words of Lil Wayne: "he's a monster, everyday is Halloween." For all the hype he's received, it's pretty hard to argue with. The guy is a force.

USC doesn't have their usual lineup of blue chippers, guys that are for sure gonna play on Sundays. But it doesn't matter. They are still loaded with talent, and have one of the best defensive coordinators whose ever lived. They were at home, at night, playing with a lot of confidence. They didn't have enough to stop Luck. Luck carved them. He threw it all over the yard. He's incredible accurate in the deep middle of the field. His spots on back shoulder fades, regular fades, flicks to full backs and tight ends who need the ball to be perfect, and throws over the linebackers but before the safeties were almost always perfect. He runs the ball aggressively. He's incredible with his teammates. Especially his defensive teammates. He throws guys open. Especially his stable of white tight ends. He makes those guys look like all world players. Maybe the biggest thing I saw is that he has an unbelievable ability to look off safeties and linebackers for an extended period of time, and then come back to his guy on the other side and put it on him with accuracy. He did it five or six times in the second half.

I said on Twitter yesterday, that he's the 6th best quarterback on the planet, behind Rogers, Brady, Manning, Brees, and Big Ben. Just one ahead of Cam Newton at 7.



The more you talk about Kim Kardashian, the more money she makes. They made 80-90 million as a family last year, depending on who you ask. They do not live in reality. It is incredibly frustrating. We can go on and on about how they are everything that is wrong with America right now and get into philosophical issues if we wanted to. I am fortunate to not really like them, so I don't think about them. In weak moments, I do think about the fact that they make more money in 3 months than I will ever make in my life.

Let's stick to a simple script here: the more we ignore the family, the less money they will make, the quicker they will go away. The less you watch the show, the less profitable it is for E! network. The less you show up and go ham at bars and clubs that they are appearing at, the less incentive there is for the restauranteur to pay her 150 grand to show up for 45 minutes (who am I kidding, it's 500 grand). The less you buy the magizine, the less she will on the cover. The less you shop at their ridiculous beauty supply stores, the less they can charge to be a franchisee. The less they will be written about. The less they will be talked about. It's a self fufilling prophecy.

And yea, you guessed it, Dateline is probably gonna interview in a special and ask what went wrong. E! is gonna do a special. They are gonna cue up a fresh new season of the TV show, writing episodes on how she is dealing with the heartache. They will hit every media news outlet with the level of focus and detail that Kobe Bryant attacks an NBA season. Nothing can stop them. It's what they do. The families writing team(s) are at their favorite LA bar right now celebrating. They have a new lease on life. They are gonna be able to make the rent payments on their $5000 dollar a month LA condos for a couple more months (read: years). They don't have to do spot work for Rihanna's song writing team anymore. They just got a raise.

I guess all good things come with time. Look at Britney Spears. Look at Lindsay Lohan. They are almost dead from a media perspective and will be dead in real life soon. I hope this will be a turning point in the love affair the public has with the sisters. It probably won't be. And yes, I am, by writing this note, doing exactly what I have just commanded you not to do. I am talking about them. Please do not hold that against me. It will be the last time I speak about them.

JFK

"THERE ARE RISKS AND COSTS TO ACTION. BUT THEY ARE FAR LESS THAN THE LONG RANGE RISKS OF COMFORTABLE INACTION."

MONDAY FUEL

Not dead, can't quit.

The conditions always suck.

Every second counts in stressful and pressure situations.

Performance is all about focus.

Doubt, second guessing, fear, personal shit, hesitation--How is that helping you?

Focus = clarity + concentration + action to create a specific result in the present

No excuse zone

Your last fuck up: DONE. Get rid of it.

Is personal shit with a guy gonna help you focus or get something done?

I know you'd much rather be at home in bed, but that's not what you chose.

The quitting conversation shows up when you're tired. It's a very reasonable conversation. It makes sense. And you can text or call or talk to your friends and they will probably agree with you.

Achieving your goal is very unreasonable. It goes against the odds. You said you would and you did.

Do you want the heads to turn to you when they need somebody to deliver when the going is tough? If not, why don't you?

Fixation: Getting caught up in the obstacles

What we fixate on limits our ability to produce the life we want

Fixation is stuck in the past and looking at the future. Focus is connecting to the present.

NBA NOTES

10 GUYS I WILL MISS WATCHING PLAY THIS SEASON:

Blake Griffin
Derrick Rose
Zach Randolph
Steve Nash
James Harden
Kevin Durant
Rajon Rondo
Kevin Love
Louis Scola
DeJuan Blair

10 GUYS I WILL NOT MISS MUCH

Chris Bosh
Everyone on the Hawks
Antawn Jamison
Mo Williams
Andrea Bargarini
Metta World Peace
Carlos Boozer
Everyone on the Magic
Andre Kirilenko
Kris Humphries

5 COACHES I WILL MISS

Stan Van Gundy
Doug Collins
Lawerence Frank
Frank Vogel
Tom Thibadeau

5 ROOKIES I WANTED TO SEE

Tristan Thompson
Enes Kanter
Marshon Brooks
Jan Vesely
Iman Shumphert

Jon Daniels

Jon Daniels is a pretty impressive guy. He's only 34, but he's been the GM of the Texas Rangers since he was 28. John Hart, who us Clevelanders know and like, (or at least we should), hand picked him as his successor and then retired early. Since then, Daniels has had his foot on the gas pedal, and has helped lead the Rangers to back to back World Series appearances.

He's done this through a lot of Moneyball, a lot of savvy old school talent scouting and some really good high risk, high reward gambling. His farm system is flush, arguably the best in the bigs, and he's managed to keep the payroll down just above 90 million.

My main point being: he doesn't get a ton of love. He probably should. Haha, losing to the San Francisco Giants notwithstanding. Guys in this business are so focused on Theo Epstein, the Yankees and the Phillies. Daniels is up there with anybody. And he's doing it in a more efficient way. And his re-design of the farm system and good drafting has created a minor league system full of guys who are great athletes and pitchers that throw the ball 98 with movement.

My last point being: You gotta win it when you have a chance. He and Nolan Ryan gotta cash this one in.

Quick Thing on the Lockout

This past weekend, TrueHoop editor and chief Henry Abbot wrote a great piece detailing the huge falling out that occurred in the labor talks late last week. He discussed how there was a deal in sight. Some of the big time owners were called and asked to board flights. Derek Fisher, and the rest of the player reps had worked their butts off and a deal that they thought was going to be good enough for the players was starting to take shape.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Paul Pierce, Kobe and KG came in and fucked the whole thing up. They strongarmed the whole operation and told Stern, Hunter, Fisher, Adam Silver etc. to go pound salt. The 50-50 split wasn't good enough. They were holding out for better.

WOW. Those three guys. Kobe and KG: 2 guys who from the age of 19 each had a bank account that would never ever run out. Guys who for the last 12 years have had a constant account balance of 9 figures. There hasn't been a day in their lives over the last decade where they didn't have 60 million dollars to loan to a friend and never miss the money. Those guys came in a messed the whole thing up. BECAUSE THOSE GUYS ARE IN TOUCH WITH REALITY. THOSE GUYS UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE ECONOMY. THEY UNDERSTAND MAIN STREET. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TWO GUYS WHO STUDIED HARD AT COLLEGE. 2 GUYS WHO ARE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT BUSINESS. AND WILL GO RIGHT INTO RETIREMENT AND GETS JOBS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? On top of that, throw in PP, who for some reason thinks his ability to hit big shots over the last few years makes him an authority on labor law. That just is incredible to me. Especially the Kevin Garnett thing, who apparently was the most adamant.

Obviously, there is a lot that has happened since. And a lot that will continue to happen. But I was floored when I heard about that threesome. Maybe 50-50 isn't fair. In fact it probably isn't. But Derek Fisher, guy whose made a lot of money and done things the right way thought it was shaping up to be a fair deal.

Let's hope 3 of the most out of touch people on the planet didn't ruin everything for everyone. Players, coaches, arena workers, trainers and fans alike.

Little Brownies Chatter

It was nice to see the Browns sneak out of Indy with a win. I can't even imagine the reaction if we had lost. It would not have been fun. But hey, now it is fun. Now we're getting ready for the tailgate Sunday morning. Now we're looking to beat the Fins at home to go 2-1.

I don't think Colt McCoy has been very good in these first 2 games. He's hung in there and made some great plays for his team. But from a fundamental stand point, he hasn't been great. He's locked on to guys too much instead of just taking what is in his progression. He hasn't been patient in the pocket and kept his eye level down the field. He reacts to pressure too quickly and ducks his head to get out of the pocket. That's not ideal, but what makes him a special player is his knack to make great plays when he's improvising. So you can live with it because once he gets out of there and has some space he makes great plays. I would like to see him keep being aggressive on the run, and hopefully the offensive line can make strides as well, so Colt can hang in there and make good throws from the pocket as much as possible.

Sheard and Taylor and Rubin really earned their game checks yesterday. They played great, hightlighted by Sheard's sack, strip, scoop play. He was winning his matchup all day. And Taylor brought his lunch pail too. He made some great stops. Both those guys really picked up Rubin, who had a unbelievable first quarter and stayed solid throughout the game.

AS ALWAYS, you just can't say enough about Josh Cribbs. He's just an insanely good player. We can't force it to him, but we have to continue to find opportunistic spots for him to touch the ball. And just continue to work our ass off to give him lanes when they don't kick the ball out of the endzone. The game changed on that 50 yard kickoff return.

Evan Moore is really the only guy who can win for us at receiver. You got that big play from Mo Mass, but really didn't have much else other than Greg Little on a couple option routes. For those wondering, I think Brian Robiskie played, and the only reason I know that is he made a great block on the Peyton Hillis long touchdown run. I know these guys aren't the most talented bunch, but they need to keep working and just being better and smarter.

Lastly, the play calling has been very uninspired. The two run calls the Hardesty on the goal line when the game was still in serious doubt was unbelievable. They were a fire-able offense if we had lost. I think it's just a combination of things: 1. young nervous coach grinding to get his first win, not thinking totally clearly due to the immensity of job 2. he's not totally in love with what Colt has been doing 3. Line play has been bad/injuries/musical chairs trying to settle on a lineup/trying to hide pinkston 4. no receivers can win on the outside Add all that up and it's not as easy as it used to be.

I expect it to keep getting better.

Monday

Growth must be chosen again and again. Fear must be overcome again and again. --H. Maslow

Your authentic self is your attractive self. It's the only thing attractive about you.

Ice Baths: 50 degree water for 15 minutes-- post workout

What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear a word you say. --R.W.Emerson

Hold yourself to an incredibly high standard and be gentle with everyone else.

Rehearse poverty frequently.

What you do, proves what you believe.

People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

Think about the man you plan on being in ten years and start doing some of those things today.

Tell a beautiful woman exactly what you like about her.

This is not a dress rehearsal.

80/20 rule.

Deadlifts and Kettle Bell swings

Invite people into a higher standard--the right people will show up

Come up with 25 ideas in 10 minutes

Tighten up your important online passwords

Pre-workout: 500mg of vitamin C, 250mg of vitamin E

e.ggtimer.com

Meet women.

NBA Bullets

Bulls-Heat Game 1



It's amazing how hard I am rooting against the Heat. I painted my face green and white for 5 games last week when they played the Celtics. Then last night, I threw a remote when Chris Bosh slipped a screen a screen for a dunk, only to then fall off the couch when Taj Gibson had that scary boom on D Wade. For a guy who doesn't root for anyone except the Indians and the Browns, I am somewhat invested in the "anybody but the Heat" team.

Many of you know my love for Jo Noah's game. He played very well all over the court last night. A hell of an effort, along with Boozer and Asik. My good friend Brian, a Noah hater, told me he would buy a Noah jersey if they beat the Heat. I told him to order it now cause the Bulls are gonna sweep these bums out! Just kiddin.

Both sides, Heat fans and Bulls fans can take some good and bad things out of the game. Bron and Wade were a little lethargic. Wade missed a couple layups early. Then got flustered after the Gibson incident. Bron got caught in a distributor mindset early in the game, and never really got to run the lane hard and get into a scoring rhythm. He did what he likes to do in game 1's. He likes to get the lay of the land and do his due diligence on players and how officials are calling the game. He'll come out gangbusters in game 2. I wouldn't want to be in a position to take a charge on him early in the first quarter.

For the Bulls, they have to be pleased with their glass work. They cut and bumped everybody out of that lane all night. Joel Anthony couldn't even play in that game. There were tons of plays where there was no one on the Heat in the key when Chicago would get the rebound. They were eating on the offensive glass too. Offensive boards that led to buckets or 3's. Deng stepped up and shot the ball beautifully. He's played well against the Heat in all 4 games this season. He gets up for them. Booze, a key in this series is 1 for 1. We'll see if he can sustain his energy. Rose was great.

Bottom line, I think the Bulls think they are better. I think they sit in the locker room and look each other in the eye and believe they can get this done. They are going to need all of that unwavering belief. Wade and Bron are not going to go quietly.

Thunder-Griz

The Thunder vs. Grizzles was a really good series. Great young players from both teams on the playoff stage for the first time. And all of them stepped up. Great veteran player leadership from both teams. Zach Randolph carried the best player in the whole playoffs torch for about a week and a half and then some. Tony Allen made the Boston Celtics brass regret not re-upping his deal with the team. Darrell Arthur, Sam Young and Greivis Vazquez played their asses off. James Harden showed that he has nifty little game, making dagger 3 after dagger 3 and setting up his teammates for great shots in the 4th quarter. Shane Battier put on a clinic of efficiency and individual defense. Mike Conley Jr. had a couple hiccups but was mostly fantastic. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook continued to show their top 15 players in the NBA status. And last but not least, Nick Collison put on a tutorial for all the undersized high school players to watch: rim to rim hustle, defending a great player without fouling, hunting offensive rebounds, finishing the layups he should finish.

Zach Randolph put on a footwork clinic all series. It was fun to watch. I kept watching him and kept thinking, "God, let's just teach this to high school guys. Let's put a video out of his footwork in this series." Unfortunately, it isn't that easy. He is a unique player. And a lot of what he's doing you can't teach. You can't teach his incredible stability and balance. He is so strong in his lower body, it's silly. He uses his butt and front shoulder to just move guys off his driving line, and just doesn't let them back in the play. And his multiple release points on his finishes and outstanding touch is awesome. That's just reps on the playground, open gym, hundreds of games. But gosh, he was a beast huh? How bout that face up rock back jumper he has after a couple jab steps. He had to have shot 70% on those shots. Made it look easy.

The Durant-Westbrook AM radio/NBA writers looking for something to talk/write about debate is interesting. It's mostly a non-issue though. Russ West is getting a lot of the heat when things go bad. Some deserved, some not.

I saw them play in December from a good seat and watched first hand some of the bad Westbrook. Not passing the ball ahead, him being the only guy on the Thunder to touch the ball on some possessions, settling for jumpers after he's pounded it 12 times (see LeBron on Cavaliers), etc. He definitely has his moments where he gets a little selfish.

BUT BUT, I think for the criticism to be so one sided is unfair. All these writers and analysts just throw him under the bus and kind of protect KD35 in my opinion. Westbrook is, without question, a top 15-20 player in the NBA. And borderline unstoppable, especially if he is dialed in from 3. WHAT DO YOU WANT HIM TO DO--THROW IT IN TO PERKINS AND WATCH HIM SHOOT A BRICK HOOK SHOT? Kevin Durant has a hard time getting open against physical defenders. He floats, glides around and doesn't create enough separation for one of his teammates to get him the ball. He's not innocent. He did however, make some great adjustments in game 7. He moved beautifully, and guess who found him for dunks and alley oops--Russell.

So, that's something to stay tuned on. These two guys love each other. They're friendship runs deep. And Durant doesn't care if Westbrook shoots 100 shots--as long as they win. It's on both of them to improve the things they need to against the Mavericks. For Westbrook, it's not settling for jumpers off the dribble late in the shot clock. For Durant, it's playing with strength and energy and separating himself from the barrage of defenders the Mavs are going to throw at him.

Should be a good series in the West.

Notes

Small is the new big.

Desire creates talent.

Talent requires grit.

There is no competition.

Approach the 10.

The habit of doing more than you're paid for.

To fly, we have to have resistance.

Create like a God, command like a king, work like a slave.

Be an execution machine.

Hardiness: the courage and motivation to do the hard work it takes to grow and develop

Action cures fear.

My attitudes are more important than my intelligence.

Refuse to talk or worry about your health.

She'll let you know when she likes you. You won't have to guess.

Relentless action. Relentless trial and error.

You gotta be starving to get better mentally and physically.

Get up at 5am.

Neediness is female kryptonite

Kendall Marshall and Intangibles

I remember the first time I saw Kendall Marshall. I was surfing around the internet and stumbled upon a blurb that a sophomore PG had committed to North Carolina. So I looked around to see if there was any highlights of him. If he committed his sophomore year to a super elite program that doesn't just give offers on a whim, he must have been super elite himself. I found a 2 minute video of him. It was a compilation of a very small, skinny left handed point guard throwing full court and transition passes to teammates in summer league games. Just pretty stock footage. A slick kid throwing alley oops for dunks in blowout AAU games.

But even in that footage, there was something about these passes. The timing, the precision, the unique delivery. There was something I intrinsically loved about the kid. The offer made sense from the first minute I saw him. His court savvy and deliberate pace was there. He saw the floor. He took risks. Great awareness and patience.

And he's carried that with him to Carolina, as we have seen him take his team to a much higher level. Great floor general. Every pass he makes is on time. He rarely puts a teammate in a bad spot. He throws the ball ahead better than any guard in the country. You never see him take one more dribble than he has to before he passes. The ball is out of his hands on time. He has a great relationship with Tyler Zeller and Jon Henson. He puts the ball on the hands of those guys exactly where they like it. He's made them much more effective, which has been an integral part of their growth as a team in January and February. And he's the player that guys on team are looking to when they're tired. He's instilled a toughness and a confidence in a lot of those guys. We all know Harrison Barnes is a stud, who had a tough adjustment period the first two months. Well, he's been a go to guy beast in 2011 and I don't think that's a coincidence. I think thats because he plays with much more confidence with Marshall calling the shots.

It'll be fun to watch them next week. I wouldn't want to see them on my side of the bracket if I was a coach. But Marshall and guys like him are just constant proof that there are a ton of ways to be a great hooper. Getting buckets and making 3's is great. But guys that play the floor game and do intangible things at a high level are in short supply. Think Chris Kramer of Purdue last year. Think D.J Byrd of Purdue this year. When you watch him, you see a guy hammering people with screens, moving the ball, offensive and defensive rebounding, talking to his teammates, helping and reconvering, making free throws, taking charges, etc. He's a guy you wanna be teammates with.

Worry about playing the floor game well, and the layups and jump shots will take care of themselves.

A Game of Imperfection

I got to see the St. Edward at Garfield Heights game last Thursday. It was a great high school game. Two really talented teams. The house was packed to the brim. The game was highly competitive and played at a very fast pace. The skill level and athletic ability of the players was very high. In the end, in a game that could have gone either way, Garfield Heights won the game. They executed a few great plays offensively in the last two minutes, and made some key defensive stops that allowed them to beat St. Eds.

While I was watching, I charted missed layups by both teams in 3 different phases. This is something I really like to keep track of and monitor. I keep track of it most nights when I am coaching at Brecksville. It's a pretty simple thing to keep track of. I think it's a great stat to keep at the high school level. The results are nothing groundbreaking, and in fact it probably creates un-needed headaches for coaches and players. BUT, concentrating and looking the ball all the way on layups is important.

I chart 3 different kinds:
1. missed layups
2. missed pressure layups
3. missed layups while fouled.

The first ones are pretty self explanatory. They are layups missed where you have a pretty clear path and no real defenders making it hard on you to finish. Pressure layups are any layups you shoot where there is noise and bodies flying around you. Good defense by your on ball defender. Good help by guys in the key. Foot steps from the guy guarding you and a help defender jumping to try to block your shot. You get the idea. Most all layups in a competitive game between good teams are pressure layups. The third category is when you get fouled and miss the layup. Now think about it, there are a lot of instances when guys feel they are gonna get fouled and give no effort and concentration to finish the shot. They have an excuse not to finish cause they got fouled. When in reality, if they play through the foul they can make most of them, and get three point plays. The good guys make sure they get 3when they can. The bad guys get 1, maybe 0. Legit hacks are different. So on these ones I chart if they the guy made both free throws, or if he split the pair of made none.

In the Eagles-Bulldogs game, I expected it to be very fast paced with a lot of possessions. With a hectic pace I also expected a lot of missed layups. The results were almost dead even:

Garfield: 1 missed layup, 18 missed pressure layups, missed 7 layups while fouled making 10 of the 14 free throws

St. Eds: 1 missed layup, 17 missed pressure layups, missed 5 layups while fouled making 6 of 10 free throws

Now this isn't rock solid stat keeping. I might have missed 1 or 2 here and there at times where I was watching the action. But I kept a pretty close eye on it.

Now my message here today from a coaching and player improvement standpoint is just the importance of concentrating and being fundamentally sound with our layups. It would be interesting to look back at that game film and see how many layups did guys deserve to miss because they were totally fundamentally unsound with their angles, footwork, balance, eyes, ball position etc. As a coach, I would like to be able to say, "Okay, we missed 11 layups and half of those I chalk up to just the heat of the game. BUT, we deserved to miss 5 of those because our fundamentals were shitty. Let's talk it through with our players and drill this today."

Things to think about:

Eyes make layups, feet make shots. Eyes make layups, feet make shots. Eyes make layups, feet make shots. Look the ball all the way. Get your eyes on your target (corner of the sqaure) as soon as you can and keep it there. Concentrate.

Square your shoulders to the basket. This is my number one rule. One of my favorite players ever, Steve Logan--his shoulders were square to the backboard almost every freaking time. That's why he was so soild and such a good scorer. By squaring your shoulders, help defenders have to come through more of your body, which means they are going to foul you more and block you less. The squaring your shoulders movement also gives you better balance going up. Whether you are driving from the baseline, at the top of the key, or from the block, the key is getting your shoulders square.

Know where you want to get to. This goes for when you're running a lane on the break, or driving into the key. Work hard to run to good angles on the break. Work hard to stay on a straight driving lane in the half court. Make sure you get to the angle you are comfortable with. Preferably, they are spots you have practiced and repped hundreds of time.

Get balanced as you get into your jump to the basket, explode and square your shoulders.

Be a finisher. Get the ball into the basket at a high percentage. Attack the basket, look the ball in, move on with your day--Go defend and get a stop!


Basketball is a game of imperfection. Missing shots and layups when there's pressure and heat on you is always going to be part of the game. The two best high school teams in the area missed about 40 layups combined. So you can imagine less talented teams miss their fair share too. It's important for coaches and players to make layups a priority. Find ways to practice them hard at game speed. Work on fundamentally sound finishes. Work on pressure layups--put live defense and help defense in drills. The better you can simulate it, the more prepared you will be in games. Find ways to let your guys know how important these things are. Getting rid of 4-5 botched layups a game can win a lot of games.

DIG AND DRIVE LOWER...OR CHARGE...IT'S YOUR CHOICE

Vlade Divac ruined it for the rest of us. So did Manu Ginobli. Andy Varejao. And last but not least, the biggest culprit in the history of basketball: The Duke Blue Devils. All of these players, as well as many of their contemporaries have changed the game through incessant flopping and trying to take charges that are not there. All the flops and pseudo-charges have added up over the years fractionally. Bit by bit. And as a result, coaches, players, and referees have all been hypnotized. The block/charge/no call decision is a big part of high school and college games. It's a game changer, almost every night no matter if you're in a high school gym in Texas or a Big East game in the Garden.

We don't have time to have a philosophical debate. I would imagine there is strong support on both sides. Either way, you just have to plan for some bad block/charge calls and hope for calls in your favor. The fact is that high school referees are not professionals. Nor are college refs. The block/charge/no call is a very hard area to officiate. There is a big human element. And some nights you are gonna have refs that "get it" and are consistent. Other nights (most nights) you are going to have morons with no clue who are stealing money from both teams.

I want to talk about the importance of driving the ball and attacking low with our head up. Bending our knees, not our backs, and driving the ball low with good leverage will not only make you a better driver but will help you avoid charges.

When we attack our man, we want to try to be low enough to where our shoulders are at our defender's hip level. Shoulders to hips. That's important when we beat the guy defending us on the perimeter, but I think it's just as important to still be as low as we can as we enter the paint. All players have a tendency to stand up a little once we get past the initial danger. I think the red flags go off when the offensive player hits the defensive players upper body. Anything higher than the belt buckle. That's when bad refs go on autopilot and call bad charges.

But if offensive players make contact with defenders on their legs and hips, I think it's more likely a no call or a block. The fact that it looks different, that it doesn't look like the obvious charge call is an advantage to the offensive player. And it's different for the floppers. They've trained themselves to go down like they were shot when they get chest contact. It's confusing for them if the contact is on the legs.

Drive the ball shoulders to hips with your head up. We are strongest when we bend our knees and dig in low. Don't stand up once we beat our initial defender. Stay low on our driving line and keep our head up as other players come to help. Explode up into our finish only when we get to our best angle for a solid finish.

A Quick Word on Jimmer

In a marquee college game that wasn't on TV anywhere in the midwest, Jimmer Fredette lit the gym on fire, as BYU handed San Diego State its first loss. With Danny Ainge, Daryl Morey and over 20 NBA scouts in attendance, he dropped 43 on 14-24 shooting, with 5 treys. In the extended highlights that I saw, it was an unbelievable atmosphere and an even more unbelievable individual effort by Jimmer. For a lot of players, it's really hard to play at home when the stakes are high and there are eyeballs on you. Well, Jimmer didn't seem to notice. He was comfortable right from the tip. He put the team on his back and just dominated a pretty good defensive team in San Diego State.

With Jimmer fever spreading, conversations move to whether or not Jimmer can score and excel in the NBA. Bottom line: there's a long way to go until the guys in charge have to figure that out. The good news: in the meantime, I think we are going to get to see more of him. I think that ESPN and other networks will look to pick up a few BYU games down this home stretch in the season. That's good for all of us because none of us have seen enough of him to have a good feel on his game night to night. I can't wait to see if they can ride this confidence wave and make an impact in the NCAA tournament.

But since you come to my blog for a take, I'll offer a few bullet points.

I think he's a first round pick. I like him in that 18-25 range. It's potentially a deep draft but lot depends on who decides to come out and who decides to stay. With a lockout looming, who knows what the thought process will be.

When I watch him and then try to visualize him in an NBA game, I can see him really doing some damage making plays off a high ball screen. He can really shoot it off the dribble. And he doesn't need a ton of room. He can make contested 3s. Million dollar question is whether he will have the patience and savvy to really make the pick and roll his weapon. Is he going to be able to make the creative decisions necessary to be dangerous turning the corner? Because at BYU he hasn't really done that. They just kind of give him space and time to break his defender down. They also take him off the ball and bring him off screens to catch and shoot. But to simplify, I think he has a lot of Mark Price and JJ Barea in him.

On a negative note, in the highlights last night he was breaking his guys down with long, wide, high crossovers. That's an "absolutely not" for me. And although his deadly crosses bring the Mormons in Provo to their feet, those aren't an option in the NBA. Can you imagine him trying to break down Tyreke Evans with that garbage? Or any wing player with a long wing span (which is everyone)?

Jimmer has shown that he can be very creative when he gets into the lane. He has shown a variety of finishes, ranging from creative to really awesome. All below the rim. Unfortunately, the NBA is where really creative below the rim finishes go to die. He is going to have to simplify his takes to the rim and really use his body. And learn to sit down in that intermediate key area and lace short jumpers. His strength and his ability to change direction with strength and stop and pullup is one of his great attributes.

Defensively, there is a laundry list of issues. There's not enough time. Put it this way: is there any guard in the league you can name off the top of your head that he can guard? He has rebounding issues as well. Those two points alone are enough to take a pass on him, despite his awesome ability to get buckets.

Jimmer is a show. He's a great talent. I want to see more of him. A lot more. Time will tell whether he has a place in the NBA. But for now, let's hope BYU embraces the moment and makes a deep run in the NCAA tourney.

Happy Thursday.

DRIBBLE DRIVE NATION

It's no secret that the game of hoops has moved to a dribble drive, spread it out and attack the basket focus over the last few seasons. Vance Wahlberg and John Calipari's DVDs on the DDM offense are well circulated, and more and more people are falling in love with the philosophy each season.

When too many people buy into a hot stock, a bubble is created. I believe the same has begun to happen for the dribble drive motion offense. Too many teams, who do not have the skill level or the kind of players capable of excelling in a dribble drive focused offense are trying to ride this wave and keep up with the joneses.

There is a great opportunity for smart coaches to get back to working hard on a traditional motion offense in the half court. Focus on things like:

Cutting really, really hard to high percentage scoring areas
Constant motion on the perimeter
Moving with a purpose
Screening angles
Moving the ball side to side quickly
Reading and using screens on the perimeter
Cross screening with your post players
Back screening

Just to name a few.

There is a buying opportunity for these basketball principles in every market: grade school, high school, college.

Dribble drive motion: using great spacing to murder teams off the dribble isn't going away. But neither are the teams and players that do the fundamental things great.