Hands

Every now and then, you’ll hear someone say about a basketball player: “he’s got really good hands”. (Or she.) What they’re talking about when they’re talking about “hands” is the ability to catch the ball, especially the ability to catch a ball that’s not so easily in reach, or to come up with a ball that seems out of reach. Like you’ve got glue on your fingers or some magic, magnetic relation to the ball. Slurp! Whoosh! Ball’s in my hands. A cartoon character or animation figure whose arm and hands extend and there, like an apple picked from a tree, is the ball. 

Went to the “new Celtics’” game yesterday versus the Cavs at The Garden. About the only thing of interest (unless you call LeBron not playing interesting, which it is, but in the totally reverse way) was the play of Glenn “Big Baby” Davis, their rookie 2nd round pick. He was active on the boards, threw a couple good passes, leaned heavily on post defense, took a charge (and had another that was wrongly called a block) and even looked like he knew the plays better than Eddie House. He was enough of a force that Mike Brown, coach of the Cavs, was asked to comment on him. One of the things he said, of course, was that Big Baby has “great hands”. And he does. No fumbling, no passes lost streaming out-of-bounds.

So, how does he do it? Is it genetic? (And therefore if you seem to not have great hands you should give up?) Probably somewhat. But what it’s really about is vision, the coordination of hands and eyes, and the “feel” in your fingers. Your eyes determine the place in space that the ball, in flight, occupies. Your brain in coordination with your hands puts them in just the right place at just the right time to snare the ball. Does “Big Baby” think about all this? Of course not. He’s just playing, ‘havin’ fun’ (as they say)! He’s learned how to have great hands, through countless hours of ball games and throws and catches. His brain and eyes, arms and hands have gotten used to predicting it all.

What can you do to make your “hands” better? Play “wall ball“, for one. Another is practice catching a basketball thrown (or passed) from far away but catch it with just one hand, not allowing the ball to touch your body at all on the catch. Practice catching with each hand, concentrating on making soft contact with the padded parts of your fingers. This also forces you to watch the ball all the way into your hand, a good idea, a good fundamental to return to if you ever find yourself dropping a pass or two.

Now you can be a Big Baby, too!

To Stay Out of Court Get on the Court

UNITED STATES BASKETBALL COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
________________________________________________

JOSHUA R. KRATKA, in his Official Capacity as
Commissioner of Thursday Morning Hoops, JIM
“The Shot” AMSPACHER, RICHARD H., ADIA B.,
and THOMAS “Flash” F.,

Plaintiffs, Civil No. 5-ON-5

v.

“Iron” MIKE CHRISTIE, “Gunner” GREG HERR,
ERIC B., NATHAN P., PHINEAS B., “Dunkin’”
DAVID D., MICHAEL R., and CASSANDRA S.,

Defendants,

and

SARAH “Ice” BERGMAN, JOSEPH “Big” MANN,
JENNIFER B., SYLVIA B., PAUL S., DAVID R., COMPLAINT
EVAN G., “Jumpin’” JANINE P., JOHANNA N.
a.k.a. “Johanna the Janitor ‘Cuz She Cleans the Glass,”
and NOEL R.,

Unindicted Co-Conspirators.
_______________________________________________

NATURE OF THE CASE

1. This is a suit to enforce certain family support obligations.*
2. The individual and collective failures of the above-captioned Defendants and Unindicted Co-Conspirators to live up to the obligations of camaraderie, fraternity, and weak-side help defense imposed upon them by full-court, five-on-five, pickup basketball has caused direct and proximate injury to the above-captioned Plaintiffs. They now sue for relief.

*In basketball, “team” equals “family.”

THE PARTIES

3. Thursday Morning Hoops** is a joint enterprise consisting of running and sweating while shooting, rebounding, chasing, and, in some cases, passing a basketball at the Central Square YMCA (hereafter, “the Y”). Certain members of the joint enterprise also engage in jumping. In addition, the Commissioner of Thursday Morning Hoops is authorized to employ various forms of “trash-talking.”
4. Plaintiffs are natural persons who dutifully, willingly, and joyously perform the duties of pickup basketball players each and every Wednesday morning as members of Thursday Morning Hoops. They perform these duties individually and, more importantly, collectively. They most recently performed these duties on May 16, 2007.
5. Defendants are natural persons who, through their more or less regular participation, are also members of Thursday Morning Hoops. One hesitates to characterize them as “active” members. Defendants did not participate in Thursday Morning Hoops on May 16, 2007.
6. Unindicted Co-Conspirators are natural persons who, either by “talking a good game” or appearing naturally athletic, have enticed Plaintiffs into believing that they, too, are members of Thursday Morning Hoops. The Unindicted Co-Conspirators did not participate in Thursday Morning Hoops on May 16, 2007.

** Thursday Morning Hoops, also doing business as “MASSPIRG Basketball,” is, for historical reasons not relevant here, a trademark of Wednesday Morning Hoops.

COUNT I

7. The failure of Defendants and Unindicted Co-Conspirators to appear at the Y on May 16, 2007, caused Plaintiffs to play “2-on-3” basketball.

8. “2-on-3” is widely agreed to be the single worst form of basketball. While affording full opportunity for injury, it affords few, if any, of the benefits of “real” basketball, including but not limited to: fair competition between balanced teams, full-court exercise, and development of team concepts of offense and defense.***
9. Defendants’ and Unindicted Co-Conspirators’ “failure to show” on May 16 thus proximately caused both emotional and competitive harm to Plaintiffs.

***Plaintiff Kratka expressly reserves the right to file a cross-claim for defensive indifference against Plaintiff and fellow “shirt” Thomas “Flash” F. arising out of the transactions and occurrences of said May 16.

COUNT II

10. Plaintiffs incorporate paragraphs 1 through 9 as if set forth herein in full.
11. In general, Defendants’ and Unindicted Co-Conspirators’ sporadic attendance and unfulfilled promises to play, whether or not “well-intentioned,”**** have inflicted emotional distress on Plaintiffs.
12. “Occasional attendance” and “heartfelt promises” are considered aggravating factors under the Basketball Code, because they increase hope among the law-abiding and therefore magnify the inevitable disappointment, and must be taken into account when assessing individual penalties and fashioning injunctive relief.
13. Although “moved to the West Coast” and “I sprained my ankle” may be considered mitigating factors when assessing penalties and fashioning injunctive relief, they are precluded from being used as defenses to liability, under the common-law doctrine of “once in, always in.”

****See Hell, The Path To, 33 U.S. Bask. Code Ann. § 666(c).

RELIEF REQUESTED AS TO COUNTS I AND II, INCLUSIVE

Plaintiffs request that this honorable Basketball Court grant the following relief:

1. Declare Defendants and Unindicted Co-Conspirators to have abdicated, and to be in continuing dereliction of, the duties and obligations imposed upon them by Thursday Morning Hoops;
2. Issue an injunction ordering Defendants to fulfill such duties and obligations forthwith;
3. Order Unindicted Co-Conspirators to “shit or get off the pot”;
4. Order Defendants to pay civil penalties for each failure of support occurring on and after September 1, 2006, in an appropriate amount;
5. Order Defendants to pay reasonable court fees and costs (including remedial instruction fees);
6. Provide such other and further relief as may be just and proper.

Dated: May 16, 2007 Plaintiffs, by their Commissioner:

___________________
Joshua R. Kratka
National Basketball Law Center
44 Winter Street, 4th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02108

adidas Basketball, my trip to Portland, OR

Kevin Garnett, Flicker photo

Basketball is a game, basketball is a business. To the casual player, the kid and the rec player lacing ‘em up once or twice or more times a week, it’s a game, a place and time to run, cut, jump, sweat, dabble in skills, put the ball in the hoop more than they put the ball in the hoop. We’re touched by the business of it only when it’s time to buy some sneaks or dig into the wallet to get tickets to go down to The Garden, catch the Celts’ or some other local team somewhere else. But we all read that it’s a business, too. When Vince Carter is traded or Dallas doesn’t re-sign Nash or the Celts let go of Al Jefferson and half the team for KG (like a father ditching his kids), we hear the sad refrain from the departed: “it’s a business”, as if those words are the medicine that rids of them of some poison, the only way to survive, the only way to go on.

Business, from Roman times to the electron-quick 21st century, has been and is regarded by many (or most) as a necessary evil. I mean who wouldn’t rather lead a simpler life? At that intersection of game and mountains of money are corporations, the empires of evil-doing. The bottom line there is always “the bottom line”: return on the dollar, return for the investor, gaining market share and maximizing profit. Pounds of flesh and much more are given and gladly taken. But is there in that boneyard a beating heart, in that sewer a stream of fresh water, is there somewhere a new net and straight rim, a ball that bounces true and a team that plays the game right?

I just spent the last two days in Portland, Oregon at adidas running some skills’ clinics for their employees. I am telling you, the people there in the basketball arm of that company are into their hoops! As a game. Of course as a business, too, but as a game. As a place to run and cut and jump, make the extra pass, dig in and break up a 4-on-1 break, knockdown transition 3s, practice and play the game. From the head of their basketball operations to the some of the newest employees, they’re out there on the court, playing pick-up, playing in their soon-to-be formed adidas leagues, conducting and taking part in on-court clinics, hanging out long after the last screen leads to the last pass which leads to the winning bucket. Hanging out talkin’ hoops, tellin’ stories about what Bagley did to Manute on that Bridgeport playground, about what Majerus did to motivate players at a Runnin’ Utes’ practice, the smell of popcorn in The Palestra, off-season workouts at Loyola Marymount, about drills they did and drills they saw when they played or coached or hung-out at practices in high school and college and pro teams’ gyms, all over the world.

One of their top managers told me that at a recent meeting, Kevin Garnett (”KG”), perhaps their most visible endorser, said he wants to be and is associated with adidas because “adidas’s got soul”. If living and breathing and dreaming and playing the game gives you soul, then KG’s right, adidas has got it!

“The Jacek Duda Drill”

flickr.com/photos/vedia

One of the all-time favorite Never Too Late Basketball drills. I stole it, I guess that’s what I did, or appropriated it, from Rick Pitino when he was at Providence College. Tom Thibodeau (then a Harvard assistant with me and now with Jeff VanGundy and the Houston Rockets and Yao Ming’s personal post-play coach) and I used to high-tail it out of Cambridge after our practices or on days off and on down to Providence where Pitino used to let us sit in on his practices. We must have observed over a dozen of them in 1987, the year Pitino took them to the Final Four.

Pitino is a great coach. He has his foibles and maybe, I don’t know, maybe, he’s not as committed as he once was, but there were years when Pitino got more out his players than any college coach in history. 1987 was one of those years. You pay attention to a guy like that.

At Providence, the team that featured the reclamation of one-time chubby boy, Billy Donovan, to first team all-Big East honors, Pitino wanted to maximize the team and each player’s quickness, speed, stamina, fitness and mental toughness. This is one of the drills they used to meet those goals. I call it “The Jacek Duda” after one of the Friars who played then: a 6′10″, slow-footed recruit from Poland who, despite seeing limited action was, like every player on that team, a role player, an important piece of the puzzle. (Duda went on to play pro ball in Germany.)

The player lines up on the baseline with the ball. On the whistle, the player takes off dribbling for a full-court layup at the other end, grabs the ball quickly out of the net and comes back, fast as possible for another layup, grabs the ball again, transitioning quick as can be, and sprints out to the other end, and so on. Total of six layups. Rest by shooting five free throws (two, step-off, then three). Repeat the drill for a total of three “Jacek Dudas”. The coaching staff at PC then, included (incredibly): Gordie Chiesa, Stu Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and Sean Kearney. They would, dutifully, chart each player’s times with the goal of getting faster, fitter, competing with greater resolve. Pitino set goals for guards (28-30 secs), forwards (30 secs), big men (32-34 secs). And we’re talking an NBA/NCAA full 94 foot court!

Get out there with a friend and a stop-watch and try it. And then try it again next week and the week after. Let’s go, you gotta be faster than Jacek!

Technorati Tags: RickPitino, FullCourtBasketballDrills

“Listening to Rick Majerus”

Years ago, after leaving coaching at Harvard, I spent five days at the University of Utah as a guest of Majerus, watching the Utes practice, having lunches with him, even sitting in on staff meetings (except for those that involved recruiting). I learned as much in those several days as I had in all my basketball life. I’m constantly referencing him when I coach players and clinics. Now, I love listening to Rick Majerus commentate a basketball game. He did the Notre Dame at DePaul game last night and, though his style is somewhat halting, not much flow or rhythm and he doesn’t really hold a “conversation” with his partner, as is the way with many others (Raftery, Elmore), what he says is loaded with basketball wisdom and advice. It’s a clinic; it’s like he’s letting you inside the brain of a true basketball man. For instance, when defense didn’t get back he said, it’s fundamental that they first “point, talk and touch”. When a defender got beat on a backdoor cut because he turned his head away from the ball, Majerus reinforced my belief (that many coaches seem to have gotten away from): “keep vision on the ball when the cutter goes through”. He reacted to a hustle play by saying: ” give him the “atta boy award”! And, my favorite insightful, insider’s tip? After a player had dribbled and dribbled, looking for something that was not there, Majerus said, “The Celtics have a sign in their lockerroom that says ‘no dancing with the ball’”. I’m gonna use that one!

Majerus, of course, is also known for his quips, analogies, self-deprecation. Al McGuire, who famously said of the portly Majerus, “him losing twenty pounds would be like a deck chair blowing off the Queen Mary”, was, after all, his coach and mentor.

Technorati Tags: Raftery, LenElmore, AlMcGuire, RickMajerus

“What Exactly Does an Extra Pass Look Like?”

Passing and making the extra pass (and, if you think about it, shooting) is often a function of knowing what you will do with the ball even before you catch it. This, of course, requires good vision, both in the physical and in the mystical sense. If you believe that offensive basketball means finding the best shot for your team, you will be searching for that even before you catch, even before you get on the floor. This requires knowing what the weak side looks like, it requires that you be aware of your screener when you come off the screen, and it requires making the extra pass in a two-on-one, rather than turning it into a one-on-one. It’s simple: can you make a pass to someone who is more open than you and in scoring position? And, are you ready to do that? Head up, see the floor, ready to pass before you catch.

“An Overview: The Fourth of Three Things to Remember”

Trying to remember four things when there are only three enters the realm of “thinking too much”. Can you think too much on the basketball court? After all, you hear players say, “I’m thinking too much. I just gotta go out and play!” Which is, of course, just an excuse for playing poorly. If “just playing” means playing relaxed and playing confidently, then, yes, just play. But, not think? Of course you have to think and you have to think a lot and you have to think fast; THAT’S the fourth thing to remember: think! We want smart players and smart players think or, perhaps more accurately, they see and they react and decide accordingly. How do you know how to react? Understand the essence of the game (balance, spacing, movement) see it unfold it, then play it. Like everything else, it takes practice and the more you practice, the less you’ll have to remember.

“An Overview: The Third of Three Things to Remember”

Always see the ball. I don’t mean stare at the ball or even look at it all the time. I also don’t merely mean know where it is. Instead, have the ball in your field of vision, so if it does something, you know what that is. You know when a pass is made so that you can adjust your defensive position or step in to steal it. You know when a shot is taken so you can box out, go get it or sprint out on the break. And this does not just apply to defense. Always have the ball in your field of vision when your team has it. Always be ready to catch, even, and this is tricky, when your back is turned when you are screening because if there is a defensive breakdown and the ballhandler sees it, you have got to be ready for the play. The ball needs you to know where it is. Don’t let it (and the game) down.

“An Overview: The Second of Three Things to Remember”

Passing is more important than shooting. When you play a game, and it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing it, you are trying to get better. You learn things; you develop. In basketball, take care to develop your passing game. Most importantly, and I cannot overstate this, when you have the ball, see what’s going on at your hoop and see what movement is unfolding toward the hoop. Seeing what’s going on there means, in its simplest terms, “squaring up”. Seeing what movement is unfolding means, see where and when defense is out of position and vulnerable to: a basket cut, backdoor cut or any other move by your teammate that takes advantage of a defensive positioning lapse.

“An Overview: The First of Three Things to Remember”

Basketball is a running game. I mean, I didn’t personally know James Naismith, but I have to believe that at some point he said to himself, “this game here, this thing I invented is, at its core, a running game.” I don’t mean to suggest that it has to be fast break basketball all the time - though I’d tend to lean that way - nor do I mean to suggest there isn’t a time and place for arresting momentum - change of speed, after all, is crucial in hoops. What I mean is: get up the court. In transition from defense to offense, sprint, run, hurry up from foul line to foul line. If you do it and the defense doesn’t, it’s giving your team a big advantage. If you do it and the people you are playing with don’t, explain to them how the game is meant to be played and if they don’t run, go find someone to play with who will. And I’m not talking just to kids here: if you can run a step, run a lot of them and run them fast. It is so good for you and so good for the game! And if you’re in a wheelchair or something, get those wheels cranking! We’ll be looking for the skid marks!