World Championships

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Top blocks from 2009-2010

Posted by Tim on September 22, 2010
Posted in: Coaching, College Hoops, Contemporary Sports, European Hoops, FIBA, NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

As we are waiting for the 2010-2011 season to get underway, which is starting to get underway in Europe and still a little over a month away for the NBA, it is a good time to have a look back at some of the top plays from the 2009-2010 season.

Here are the top 10 blocks in the NBA from the 2009-2010 NBA season provided by nba.com.  A few of these blocks are so incredible because they took place in the closing seconds of a close game.  So much attention is given to a game-winning shot but not nearly enough attention is given to a game winning block.  As coaches a game winning block is like a dream come true.  It is one of the few moments in the game where a defender is playing with the necessary “sense of urgency.”  The majority of defenders at the end of the game are trying to prevent things, while someone that makes a last second block or takes a charge or makes a good block out in the closing seconds has the attitude that coaches strive to instill in our players on every posession: I’M GOING TO DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY SO THAT YOU GUYS DON’T SCORE UNTIL WE HAVE THE BALL IN OUR POSESSION.

A game winning block (or charge or block out) is one of the few moments in the game where a defender is playing with the necessary “sense of urgency.”

Nate Robinson’s block on Shaq brings back memories of Jordan’s legendary block on Patrick Ewing.  A few differences (1) Shaq right now is no match for Patrick Ewing in his prime and (2) Robinson drops down from the strong side to make the block, see if you can find Jordan on this play…he comes in from the weak side wing…

Why was Jordan one of the best all time on D???? ANTICIPATION (check out where he comes from…)

Kevin Durant learned first hand in 2009-2010 about the importance of blocked shots at the end of games and put those lessons to work this summer in a game that I think was huge in terms of the US gaining confidence heading into the World Championships

Wait a second…I’ve seen that play before at the end of the game coming from a Boeheim 2-3 zone…

Let’s take a look at what almost always happens at the end of games.  The offense goes to the glass and the defense watches…You think Sergi Ibaka (#9) would have been a little more focused if the last play involved him shooting the ball instead of making a solid box-out on Gasol?

So much emphasis is placed on making the game winning shot that many times we forget to emphasize the game winning rebound, steal, charge or block.

No "What If's" with Kevin Durant

Posted by Tim on September 15, 2010
Posted in: Contemporary Sports, FIBA, NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Durant made play after play on both ends of the court while leading USA to it's first World Championship since 1994

In basketball as in life there are many “what if” situations where you think that everything would have been different if just one little thing would have happened differently.  Wether this is true or not is impossible to decide but it is true that basketball is a game full of momentum and 1 play can change the momentum of the game, and mometnum can definitely change the outcome.  Two baskets in your favor in a situation of positive momentum versus 2 baskets by an opponent can be a difference of up to 12 points (+6 vs -6).

As I was watching the highlights of the Team USA victory versus Turkey there were a few plays that really stood out to me that I didn’t remember from the game because the US was in control for the vast majority.

But late in the first quarter the USA was in trouble, deep trouble.

Turkey took the lead, the crowd started to get really into it and it looked like they were gonna make a run the USA would have to dig out of later, and in a close game obviously anything can happen.  And with a team like Turkey, playing more on inspiration than on pure talent the last thing you want them to do is get confidence and their confidence was growing by the second.

Look at the video at the 3:45 mark

Down 3 and looking lost attacking Turkey’s zone we get an offensive rebound and Kevin Durant splashes a 3 to tie it up. Then on the next posession in a tie game it looks like Turkey has a wide open layup and Durant comes sprinting back out of nowhere and cleans the glass on Turkey’s lay-up which leads to a nice pull-up 3 by Stephon Curry (why Curry didn’t get any more minutes after that was baffling me as I watched Eric Gordon jack 3 after 3)

Durant’s block reminded me of Tayshaun Prince’s memorable (and impactful) block on Reggie Miller.

Let’s play “what if.” If Durant misses that 3 and Turkey makes that layup to go up by 7. Does that game have a different outcome? A different dynamic?

The good thing about basketball is that big time players make big time plays and guys like Kevin Durant have opponents wondering “what if” after everytime he plays. “What if Durant didn’t hit those 7 3′s?” Well he probably would have made 8 because 3 of the ones he missed went in and out!

But looking back on the final game Durant was the MVP not only for scoring like a machine throughout the game, but the first time Turkey took the lead he responded with whatever was necessary and on both ends of the court. Made 2 huge plays that sparked a big US run and effectively ended the hosts hopes of a gold.

There was no chance for a “what if” moment towards the end of that game like Prince’s play on Reggie, only a clear W for the World Champs.

Brazil vs Argentina…"partidazo"

Posted by Tim on September 7, 2010
Posted in: Coaching, Contemporary Sports, FIBA. Tagged: , , , .

What an incredibly well played basketball game between eternal rivals Brazil and Argentina. To make it even more interesting Ruben Magnano the coach of the Brazilian National Team is Argentinian and was the coach that lead them to the Olympic Gold (2004) and the finals in the World Championships (2002). As I posted earlier this game must have been very weird for him, how do you feel? You lost but your country won.

After starting on the bench Splitter never really got going vs Argentina

In an interesting move by Magnano, he started the game with his star Tiago Splitter on the bench. Why? Maybe an unknown injury, maybe to ensure his foul prone star would be on the court at the end of the game? Not sure but it turned out to be a costly decision as Splitter never really got going (10 pts and 5 reb) and his substitute in the starting line up struggled with foul trouble the entire game. Maybe it was completely unrelated and was due more to Argentina’s excellent defense and Scola’s familiarity with Splitter’s game but if he was on, Brazil wins.

I just love watching Brazil attack. Marcelo Huertas is truly an orchestrator on the court and almost single handedly pulled out a victory for the Brazilians making big play after big play (32 pts on 16 shots, 2 ass). He is clearly a top level point guard in his prime and I would love to see him in the NBA in the next couple of years although I have a couple of doubts about his game: 1- does he have NBA range from 3? 2- He is such a great leader on the court, would he be able to command that same level of respect as a relative unknown in the NBA? Nevertheless, he is fun to watch and was one of the top 2 or 3 point guards in the tournament if not the best one. And they are so dynamic on offense with guys constantly running off of screens of all different angles.

One thing I was surprised about was that they didn’t use more of the “pick re-pick” that was so effective against the Americans. They completely went away from it after the first couple minutes and I’m not totally sure why. Argentina did a nice job of doing a double switch by bringing a 3rd man over to defend the continuation but I would have liked to have seen the Brazilians stick with it and maybe look for a new option on the other side of the court rather than going away from their bread and butter.

Scola was unstoppable again against the Brazilians. He has perfected the lost art of the mid range jumper.

In the end Luis Scola was too much to handle. I mean the guy has the best mid range game that I have ever seen. Period. He is automatic from 10-15 feet and also capable of putting it on the floor making him virtually impossible to guard in pick and roll situations, some of the time with him handling the ball with the pick and roll. They say the best team often has the best player and if that is the case then look for Argentina to go deep into this tournament. I am already looking forward to the Durant vs Scola matchup in the semi finals.