Greetings Earthlings:
Before I get started.....Here We Go Steelers Here We Go!!!
Has everyone returned safely from DC, or were you a mere mortal who had to watch from your office via CNN/Facebook? In a society that seems to be trying to get back to core values and principles of honor and integrity we have found a few that aren't down with the program, shame on you.
Full Story and Details Here
I return to positivity. Is it me or is this basketball season flying by.....I can't believe it's almost February. Many of you are starting to get banged up and bruised up for a myriad of reasons. If you're feeling a little tired and worn down might I suggest the following:
I don't necessarily condone the junk food and excessive video games, but he's in the league and I'm not so go figure...
It's About Time
For years I have advocated testing, training and drill work in lieu of meaningless games and baby-sitting camps disguised as instruction. Many have looked at me and laughed as they went off to play in more meaningless games. Well, well, well it looks as if the basketball higher ups agree with me. Hopefully now when I say things people will be more willing to listen. I'm just saying.....
NBA to overhaul predraft camp
by Geoffrey C. Arnold, The Oregonian
Friday November 21, 2008, 10:47 AM
With the start of the college basketball season, NBA scouting departments shift into high gear. This season, the player-evaluation process will have a different conclusion.
The NBA told general managers this month that the league has decided to overhaul its predraft camp to try to encourage more top players to attend its showcase player-evaluation event.
The biggest change is the league's plan to no longer conduct the official games and workouts during the four-day camp, which is scheduled to begin in late May. Player agents in recent years encouraged their clients to skip those competitions.
"If a player knows he's definitely one of the top picks, there was no point in taking any risks (at the camp)," said Bernie Bickerstaff, an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls.
To ensure greater participation of the players, the NBA is going to experiment with changing the look of the predraft camp to more closely resemble the National Football League's combine camp: no competitive games, just drills, skill evaluation, physicals and interviews. It's an attempt to increase the likelihood that all players, from lottery selections to free-agent candidates, will face the same evaluation conditions and criteria.
"The more access we can get to players, the better it's going to be for us," said Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard . "We will be able to make better decisions.
As recently as a few years ago, only a handful of players -- normally potentially high draft picks -- would skip competing in games at the camp. But last year, just two (George Hill, 26th pick, and J.R. Giddens, 30th) of the 64 players who competed in games during the 2008 predraft camp were first round selections in the 2008 draft.
With most top picks skipping competition and choosing only to participate in drills and interviews, the games served only to evaluate players who were likely second round picks or not drafted at all. "These days, most of the guys who did play were guys who might not have been in the draft and were trying to raise their stock so they might get drafted," Bickerstaff said.
Individual workouts have supplanted the predraft camp in terms of importance. These team-sponsored workouts allowed players to compete in a much more controlled environment, reducing the risk of a poor performance that could hurt a player's draft position.
"All we see is the individual workouts, and people are judging players on that," Bickerstaff said. "That's not really a good barometer."
Having a combinelike camp could give league executives more opportunities for evaluation and greater knowledge of players.
"We try to get as much information as possible," Pritchard said. "The more information, the better."
Also, the camp will return to Chicago after being held the past two years in Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. No final decision has been made on where the camp will be held, but speculation is focusing on training guru Tim Grover's Attack Athletics training facility, instead of the Moody Bible Institute, where the four-day camp was held before moving to Orlando. Chicago is regarded as more centrally located and accessible for NBA personnel than Orlando.
"Both markets are good, but they're just looking at results and decided to go back to Chicago," said Maureen Coyle, the NBA's vice president of communications.
Bickerstaff said regardless of where and how the predraft camp would be conducted in 2009, nothing will change in how league executives evaluate players. Any final decisions on whom to draft -- particularly lottery picks -- are unlikely to be made during the predraft camp.
"It doesn't get down to those four or five days at the camp. You should be very familiar with the players you're interested in long before the camp," Bickerstaff said. "If you're doing your job and done your due diligence, you've seen them play in situations where their team was supposed to win to see how they play. You've seen them play in pressure situations where they were underdogs. You're in a position where you have seen them play in all kinds of situations.
"The bottom line in those situations in that you have to have done your homework. So that one week shouldn't make or break your decision."
My All Character Team:
RIP
We lost a legend in Women's Coaching on Saturday and I just wanted to take a moment to recognize Kay Yow for all her efforts and contributions to the game of basketball. She touched many lives and was a positive inspiration to so many young women. Her hard work and efforts were not in vain. May she rest comfortably and peacefully.
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