Anyone need some players? According to Hoops Hype, Houston cut John Lucas III and Jackie Butler. Minnesota is buying out the contracts of Juwan Howard and Wayne Simien. San Antonio cut Marcus Williams, its pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
Howard supposedly wants to play with KG, as was his reason for desiring a trade to Minnesota. Boston needs some players off the bench, especially, incidentally, in the post where it features Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Brian Scalabrine and Scott Pollard.
The Kings lost Mike Bibby for 6-10 weeks. Its options at PG are Quincy Douby, Orien Greene or Mustafa Shakur. Its power forwards are old and injury-prone: Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas. Simien has not played much since leaving Kansas, but he is the type of power forward the Kings have not had since maybe the Wayman Tisdale days.
The Cavaliers could use a big body to replace the currently departed Anderson Vareajo, and possibly a wing to replace the currently departed Sasha Pavlovic. Butler would be an intriguing back-up at C, while Simien could add some scoring off the bench at PF.
The Bobcats lost Sean May to a season-ending injury and could possibly be in the market for another big guy. Simien could be a nice fit offering some of the same tools as May with similiar size.
The Clippers could use Howard as a one-year replacement for Elton Brand.
It's pretty late to add players to the roster, and many teams are at or near the 15 player limit and the salary cap threshhold, but Lucas III, Butler, Howard and Wiliams offer some intriguing possibilities for teams, especially with more cuts to follow, as the Rockets, among others, remain over the 15 player limit.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Converse's Re-Branding
I saw the new Dwayne Wade commercial linked at True Hoop.
Last spring, I received a call and emails from a representative of the Anomaly Ad agency in NYC. They were attempting to secure the Converse account (though they did not divulge the client's name at the time) and sought my advice as they re-branded the brand. Essentially, they wanted to dissassociate from the current shoe company schema and draw on the company's roots.
They asked me:
After I inquired a bit more, they said they were doing:
I lent my assistance and answered several emails and spent about an hour on the phone with one of the representatives. I pointed them to several articles and blogs I had written that were relevant and answered a number of questions. Finally, I asked for some sort of compensation or contract. I offered another idea and then wrote:
To which I received this response:
That basically ended my involvement with Anomaly, as I never did hear back from them. Eventually when I inquired a couple weeks ago, before I approached a brand about some consulting work, I received this reply:
In a sense, it's a sham since Nike owns Converse. It's like Nike is playing one side of the grassroots game while Converse plays the other. Nike builds the athlete loyalty, while Converse builds the love of the game. All for the same company, essentially.
It's almost like Nike feels bad for the way it approaches grassroots basketball and now its looking to use its Converse brand as a way to compensate for its destructive forces in the grassroots game.
Had I known the agency was working with Nike, I would have been far less forthcoming, especially since George Raveling stood me up for our long awaited meeting to discuss my book and how it can change its grassroots efforts for the better.
Like everything else, I suppose, it's all marketing. The guy contacting me wasn't from the USA and had a very poor handle on basketball. And, yet he is in charge of creating a grassroots basketball marketing and "inspiration" campaign. Interesting.
Last spring, I received a call and emails from a representative of the Anomaly Ad agency in NYC. They were attempting to secure the Converse account (though they did not divulge the client's name at the time) and sought my advice as they re-branded the brand. Essentially, they wanted to dissassociate from the current shoe company schema and draw on the company's roots.
They asked me:
And...one more thing. Bit of a big open-ended question but this is your area of expertise...here goes...If a brand could do, say, 3 things for the good of the game. To get back to the spirit of the game. The team first. The creativity. The joy of playing. The all round player. What would they be..?
After I inquired a bit more, they said they were doing:
An ad campaign but more than that... adding value. Being an inspirational service.
I lent my assistance and answered several emails and spent about an hour on the phone with one of the representatives. I pointed them to several articles and blogs I had written that were relevant and answered a number of questions. Finally, I asked for some sort of compensation or contract. I offered another idea and then wrote:
I have a couple other ideas. But, I'm generally too forthcoming with my ideas and helping others and then get left out at the end and see no benefit. I've been fair and answered several questions and offered several ideas. But, I think it's time to get serious if I'm going to continue offering help, advice, counsel, etc.
To which I received this response:
Hi – sure, I understand.
The project is ongoing and you’ve been a great help so far.
I don’t have a budget signed off for paying you anything at this point.
However, if/when we need some thoughts and ideas again then I’d expect to give you something in return.
That basically ended my involvement with Anomaly, as I never did hear back from them. Eventually when I inquired a couple weeks ago, before I approached a brand about some consulting work, I received this reply:
We’re about to launch some basketball activity through magazines such as Slam and Bounce.
We’re also got some grass roots activities beginning in november in chicago, miami and philly.
The intention is get kids back on the courts again and instead of loving the athlete focused model, start loving the game again.
In a sense, it's a sham since Nike owns Converse. It's like Nike is playing one side of the grassroots game while Converse plays the other. Nike builds the athlete loyalty, while Converse builds the love of the game. All for the same company, essentially.
It's almost like Nike feels bad for the way it approaches grassroots basketball and now its looking to use its Converse brand as a way to compensate for its destructive forces in the grassroots game.
Had I known the agency was working with Nike, I would have been far less forthcoming, especially since George Raveling stood me up for our long awaited meeting to discuss my book and how it can change its grassroots efforts for the better.
Like everything else, I suppose, it's all marketing. The guy contacting me wasn't from the USA and had a very poor handle on basketball. And, yet he is in charge of creating a grassroots basketball marketing and "inspiration" campaign. Interesting.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
San Diego Fires and Business
It is surreal emailing people about business not knowing whether they are okay or not. I emailed a client's mother earlier today about our workout this week, hoping that they were okay and that my email was not senseless. Fortunately, she responded and while they were evacuated on Monday, they returned home today.
I canceled my team practice for the weekend and feel bad about the email. I can almost guarantee some of the players on our team are affected.
I live downtown and life down here is relatively normal. People are out walking their dogs, going out to eat, going to the supermarket, etc. There is just a slight smokey haze.
However, right up the freeway (any of them really) fires rage and people's lives are turned upside down. It's hard to know whether an email shows insensitivity to the situation or an optimism that things will return to normal before too long.
I canceled my team practice for the weekend and feel bad about the email. I can almost guarantee some of the players on our team are affected.
I live downtown and life down here is relatively normal. People are out walking their dogs, going out to eat, going to the supermarket, etc. There is just a slight smokey haze.
However, right up the freeway (any of them really) fires rage and people's lives are turned upside down. It's hard to know whether an email shows insensitivity to the situation or an optimism that things will return to normal before too long.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
NFL and Marketing
For the last several years, the decision-makers of the "No Fun League" have eliminated all creative, outlandish touchdown celebrations which distract from the spirit of the game. Players have been fined. The more creative, it seems, the bigger the fine, especially if your name is Terrell Owens.
Now, NFL.com launched an advertisement with Shaun Alexander and some has-been dancer where Alexander watches clips of different celebrations and asks the other guy for help on his moves.
NFL.com is using touchdown celebrations a a marketing vehicle. It is highlighting the dancing of some players in the endzone. Isn't it a little hypocritical to fine players for these celebrations?
Now, NFL.com launched an advertisement with Shaun Alexander and some has-been dancer where Alexander watches clips of different celebrations and asks the other guy for help on his moves.
NFL.com is using touchdown celebrations a a marketing vehicle. It is highlighting the dancing of some players in the endzone. Isn't it a little hypocritical to fine players for these celebrations?
Monday, October 15, 2007
The NBA is Aggravating
Henry Abbott linked to an article by Brian Windhorst and their "new" offense.
An NBA Head Coach had to go to Moscow to figure out that his team needed to move more? Seriously. This is even more aggravating because a contact who wants me to eventually go to work for him put me in contact with a friend of his with the Cavaliers last spring in the hopes that I could land a job as an assistant coach with their summer league team. I was told my services were not needed.
Now, I'm not in Ettore Messina's league, but I knew the Cavaliers needed more motion in its offense and have some ideas on how I would use players. Plus, I have an entire book written on getting players to drive and move. (Truthfully, I was looking for a learning experience this summer, as its been ages since I was an assistant coach, and I wanted to watch someone else run things so I could evaluate my method). Now, I wrote the book for the purposes of developing the skills of young players, but it is not very different from the offense which has now spawned a "nation" of followers and imitators.
I don't understand why the Cavliers do not get LeBron James the ball in the high post much like the Kings with Chris Webber. Use James as the fulcrum of the offense where he is in a position to be devastating, rather than asking him to beat five guys off the dribble from the top of the key. As the article about Adelman's offense suggests, from from a 3-man play into a 2-man play.
Assuming a starting line-up of Z, Gooden, James, Hughes and Gibson, what about some UCLA cuts with James passing to Gibson and using a screen from Z to get to the low block? If the opponent switches a big onto James on the cut (Z's man), James can post off the block and use his quickness or use a dribble hand-off with Gibson. If James is fronted, Gibson passes to Z for the high-low to James. If that's not there, look for a quick screen and curl with Gooden and Hughes, or a reversal to Gooden for a dribble-at with Hughes.
When Z or Gooden leave the game, and the Cavs go small, run James at the high post with a post split on the strong side and a flare screen or back screen on the weak side.
Regardless of the motion, the goal is to use James' finishing and passing ability, as well as the attention he draws to make offense easy for his teammates. They should get backdoor lay-ups, wide open threes, 1v1 post opportunities and a host of other good scoring opportunities.
However, few of these occur when James is 25 feet from the basket because you ask him to do too much. There are hundreds of different varities of offense you could run to exploit his talents and create match-up issues. What if you put Z or Anderson in the high post with Gibson and James on the strong side and ran splits, backdoors and hand-offs? Open threes or lay-ups for Gibson and room to post, penetrate or cut for James with Hughes and Gooden available if the 3-man game does not work.
The issues the Cavs must solve is how to use Z. The rest of the team is versatile and can move. Z not so much. However, if Z is low, he congests the lane for penetration and cuts. If Z is high, and hitting the 15 ft shot like he can, that opens room underneath for the much more powerful James and the quick, athletic and agile Gibson, Hughes, Brown, Gooden and Vareajo. Z can set screens, pass, shoot the mid-range J and draw a big away from the basket.
There are many possibilities. Hopefully for James' sake, Brown learned a couple good ones from Messina. The question will be: does Brown trust movement when the game is on the line, or does he go back to James 25 feet from the basket and ask him to do everything?
I am withholding most commentary about the new offense — Mike Brown doesn’t call it a new offense but, really, it is — because it is too early to make conclusions. Mike got a lot of it from Ettore Messina, the CSKA Moscow coach that I wrote about for ESPN this week. I will go into more detail later, but for now, know that he is trying to get the players to drive the ball and move more. In short, he is trying to avoid “the stand around and watch LeBron” offense. That includes the Larry Hughes “wait for an open jumper” on the wing option, too. Understand, this relies on LeBron’s willingness to drive and kick himself, and part of the reason the ball always stopped before is because LeBron stopped it. So we’ll see and I’ll write more about it.
An NBA Head Coach had to go to Moscow to figure out that his team needed to move more? Seriously. This is even more aggravating because a contact who wants me to eventually go to work for him put me in contact with a friend of his with the Cavaliers last spring in the hopes that I could land a job as an assistant coach with their summer league team. I was told my services were not needed.
Now, I'm not in Ettore Messina's league, but I knew the Cavaliers needed more motion in its offense and have some ideas on how I would use players. Plus, I have an entire book written on getting players to drive and move. (Truthfully, I was looking for a learning experience this summer, as its been ages since I was an assistant coach, and I wanted to watch someone else run things so I could evaluate my method). Now, I wrote the book for the purposes of developing the skills of young players, but it is not very different from the offense which has now spawned a "nation" of followers and imitators.
I don't understand why the Cavliers do not get LeBron James the ball in the high post much like the Kings with Chris Webber. Use James as the fulcrum of the offense where he is in a position to be devastating, rather than asking him to beat five guys off the dribble from the top of the key. As the article about Adelman's offense suggests, from from a 3-man play into a 2-man play.
Assuming a starting line-up of Z, Gooden, James, Hughes and Gibson, what about some UCLA cuts with James passing to Gibson and using a screen from Z to get to the low block? If the opponent switches a big onto James on the cut (Z's man), James can post off the block and use his quickness or use a dribble hand-off with Gibson. If James is fronted, Gibson passes to Z for the high-low to James. If that's not there, look for a quick screen and curl with Gooden and Hughes, or a reversal to Gooden for a dribble-at with Hughes.
When Z or Gooden leave the game, and the Cavs go small, run James at the high post with a post split on the strong side and a flare screen or back screen on the weak side.
Regardless of the motion, the goal is to use James' finishing and passing ability, as well as the attention he draws to make offense easy for his teammates. They should get backdoor lay-ups, wide open threes, 1v1 post opportunities and a host of other good scoring opportunities.
However, few of these occur when James is 25 feet from the basket because you ask him to do too much. There are hundreds of different varities of offense you could run to exploit his talents and create match-up issues. What if you put Z or Anderson in the high post with Gibson and James on the strong side and ran splits, backdoors and hand-offs? Open threes or lay-ups for Gibson and room to post, penetrate or cut for James with Hughes and Gooden available if the 3-man game does not work.
The issues the Cavs must solve is how to use Z. The rest of the team is versatile and can move. Z not so much. However, if Z is low, he congests the lane for penetration and cuts. If Z is high, and hitting the 15 ft shot like he can, that opens room underneath for the much more powerful James and the quick, athletic and agile Gibson, Hughes, Brown, Gooden and Vareajo. Z can set screens, pass, shoot the mid-range J and draw a big away from the basket.
There are many possibilities. Hopefully for James' sake, Brown learned a couple good ones from Messina. The question will be: does Brown trust movement when the game is on the line, or does he go back to James 25 feet from the basket and ask him to do everything?
The Phoenix Suns in the Kobe Derby
The Phoenix Suns apparently want to trade Shawn Marion, or at least they would be willing to trade the guy some say is their true MVP because of his unhappiness with his role.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced they would be willing to listen to an offer for Kobe Bryant.
I don't think for a second that the Lakers would strengthen the Suns and help the Suns win a championship with Kobe.
Right now, a Marion and Barbosa for Kobe trade would have to at least intrigue the Lakers, especially if they feel they have to trade Kobe. The best rumor is the Bulls giving up three or four players, but they insist Luol Deng is unavailable. Without Deng, that leaves Ben Gordon and Tyrus Thomas as the centerpieces of any deal. I think Marion and Barbosa is a much better deal, as Barbosa is a more consistent player than Gordon and Thomas is hoping to one day become Matriz-like; why not take the real thing right now?
This summer, I criticized the Suns for their handling of the last two drafts. However, with Kobe available, imagine if the Suns had held onto Sergio Rodriguez and the rights to Rudy Fernandez. The Suns could have stashed Rodriguez in Europe for another year, so he did not add to their payroll last season. And, they could offer both along with Marion and Barbosa to the Lakers in a deal that probably could not be topped.
The Lakers would have a young core (Bynum, Turiaf, Crittendon, Rodriguez, Fernandez, Barbosa) to build around for the future and two versatile veteran forwards to belnd with the youth. They would have a couple players with winning mentalities (Fernandez, Rodriguez) and a new fan base in Spain.
Potentially, they could acquire four starters for Kobe, though I imagine Barbosa would continue his sixth man role. While the Suns would certainly have the goods for a championship run with Nash, Bell, Kobe and Amare, the Lakers would be an improved team:
PG: Rodriguez, Crittendon
SG: Fernandez, Barbosa
SF: Marion, Walton
PF: Odom, Turiaf, Cook
C: Bynum, Brown
That is a big, long athletic, fun team. They lack a true superstar to fill the Kobe void, but Odom and Marion would be freed to step out of the shadows and prove they are number one players and can lead a team deep in the play-offs, and Fernandez would have the opportunity to prove he is the star everyone believes he will be.
Maybe the trade would never have happened. However, Phoenix likely killed its opportunity to acquire Kobe when it traded Fernandez for $3 million this summer. Phoenix has taken a short term view since Bryan Colangelo departed, and this may be the squandered opportunity.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced they would be willing to listen to an offer for Kobe Bryant.
I don't think for a second that the Lakers would strengthen the Suns and help the Suns win a championship with Kobe.
Right now, a Marion and Barbosa for Kobe trade would have to at least intrigue the Lakers, especially if they feel they have to trade Kobe. The best rumor is the Bulls giving up three or four players, but they insist Luol Deng is unavailable. Without Deng, that leaves Ben Gordon and Tyrus Thomas as the centerpieces of any deal. I think Marion and Barbosa is a much better deal, as Barbosa is a more consistent player than Gordon and Thomas is hoping to one day become Matriz-like; why not take the real thing right now?
This summer, I criticized the Suns for their handling of the last two drafts. However, with Kobe available, imagine if the Suns had held onto Sergio Rodriguez and the rights to Rudy Fernandez. The Suns could have stashed Rodriguez in Europe for another year, so he did not add to their payroll last season. And, they could offer both along with Marion and Barbosa to the Lakers in a deal that probably could not be topped.
The Lakers would have a young core (Bynum, Turiaf, Crittendon, Rodriguez, Fernandez, Barbosa) to build around for the future and two versatile veteran forwards to belnd with the youth. They would have a couple players with winning mentalities (Fernandez, Rodriguez) and a new fan base in Spain.
Potentially, they could acquire four starters for Kobe, though I imagine Barbosa would continue his sixth man role. While the Suns would certainly have the goods for a championship run with Nash, Bell, Kobe and Amare, the Lakers would be an improved team:
PG: Rodriguez, Crittendon
SG: Fernandez, Barbosa
SF: Marion, Walton
PF: Odom, Turiaf, Cook
C: Bynum, Brown
That is a big, long athletic, fun team. They lack a true superstar to fill the Kobe void, but Odom and Marion would be freed to step out of the shadows and prove they are number one players and can lead a team deep in the play-offs, and Fernandez would have the opportunity to prove he is the star everyone believes he will be.
Maybe the trade would never have happened. However, Phoenix likely killed its opportunity to acquire Kobe when it traded Fernandez for $3 million this summer. Phoenix has taken a short term view since Bryan Colangelo departed, and this may be the squandered opportunity.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Has Adelman Solved Houston's Problems
I wrote earlier this summer about my interest in watching the Grizzlies this season. However, as the season nears, the team I want to see play is the Rockets.
With Van Gundy gone, Houston may finally maximize the offensive potential of its stars and the addition of Luis Scola is equally interesting.
Last week, the Houston Chronicle had a great article about Adelman's offense. I have long been a fan of Adelman's style of play and am still confused by the media types who credit Phoenix with starting the "new" (old) style of NBA basketball. Adelman and the Kings never received the credit they were due because they ran into Shaq and Kobe and never won a ring (which, of course, has not prevented the Suns-lovefest).
Elston Turner explains the Rockets' offense:
With apologies to Larry Brown, I believe that describes the right way to play basketball.
I don't understand acquiring Steve Francis, nor do I like Rafer Alston and Mike James fighting for the PG duties, or the drafting of Aaron Brooks as insurance if these three somehow fail to run the show. However, McGrady, Wells and Battier on the wing with Yao and Scola in the paint makes for an interesting team to watch, especially in Adelman's flowing offense.
All the hype is in Boston right now, but Houston will be the breakout team this year, both in terms of wins, play-off success and entertainment. If they get consistent PG play and stay healthy, there is no reason why the Rockets cannot win the championship and give Adelman the elusive title which would establish him as one of the era's best coaches.
With Van Gundy gone, Houston may finally maximize the offensive potential of its stars and the addition of Luis Scola is equally interesting.
Last week, the Houston Chronicle had a great article about Adelman's offense. I have long been a fan of Adelman's style of play and am still confused by the media types who credit Phoenix with starting the "new" (old) style of NBA basketball. Adelman and the Kings never received the credit they were due because they ran into Shaq and Kobe and never won a ring (which, of course, has not prevented the Suns-lovefest).
Elston Turner explains the Rockets' offense:
"Basically, it's a series of three-man game and two-man game," said Rockets assistant coach Elston Turner, a six-year assistant with Adelman in Sacramento. "If the three-man game doesn't work, you flow into a two-man game. And at the right time, it's one-on-one.
"As a general rule, we allow our players some freedom to show their skills. We believe the spontaneous creativity, things that happen in the spur of the moment based on what the guy in front of you does is the hardest to guard because you can't prepare for that.
"It's exciting to watch and it's exciting for the guys to play in. If you have the ability to play, we allow you to do that."
With apologies to Larry Brown, I believe that describes the right way to play basketball.
I don't understand acquiring Steve Francis, nor do I like Rafer Alston and Mike James fighting for the PG duties, or the drafting of Aaron Brooks as insurance if these three somehow fail to run the show. However, McGrady, Wells and Battier on the wing with Yao and Scola in the paint makes for an interesting team to watch, especially in Adelman's flowing offense.
All the hype is in Boston right now, but Houston will be the breakout team this year, both in terms of wins, play-off success and entertainment. If they get consistent PG play and stay healthy, there is no reason why the Rockets cannot win the championship and give Adelman the elusive title which would establish him as one of the era's best coaches.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
