I was there.  I was actually at the game and I brought 3 of my 4 daughters with me.  Now they don’t know Michael Jordan from anyone else so to them it was nothing and I was going to take them to the game regardless if Jordan showed up or not.  I wasn’t alone as 7800 other fans made their way to the gymnasium in hopes of seeing MJ take on Bryon Russell in a 1-1 matchup.  I was very skeptical at first and I should’ve stuck with it but after 10 minutes of hopeless promoting by team owner Brandt Anderson I actually started to believe that Michael Jordan was at the game to play Russell in a game of 1 on 1.  What an idiot i was.

My daughters were and are very confused as Utah county is predominantly white so any african american they see is either Sammy Sosa, Derek Lee or Corey Patterson (all Cubs or former Cubs).  They think that fake guy that showed up was actually Michael Jordan.  I had to explain to them that the best they could do was a 5*6 impersonator who looked 20 years younger, 1 foot shorter and 50 pounds lighter. NOT EVEN A GOOD TRY.

What killed me was that once you realized it was a hoax it was immediately known that the owner had screwed up big time.  Fans were booing like crazy and yelling at Bryon Russell.  Russell came out and said that he knew Jordan wasn’t going to come because he spoke with him on the phone months before and he told him he wouldn’t come.  The owner claims not to have known but he knew.  HE KNEW and that’s what is bothering all of us.  While some fans were booing other fans were throwing free t shirts onto the court and telling Russell he sucked.  I felt for him because he learned again that even during his successful career while playing for the Jazz that nobody cared about him truly and that was sad.  Russell gave the best years of his career to Utah and they played in a couple finals with him.  He deserved better from the fans, but more importantly from the owner.  I guess it wasn’t enough that Russell was going to show up he needed a real ticket salesman and fake Jordan did it.

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I had watched clips of John Wall play a basketball game and was impressed with his skills but nothing compared to watching the guy play an actual game.  I’m a believer in this kid being the most talented player in the nation. 

North Carolina was done on Saturday until Wall came out with an injury.  He was obviously the best player on the court and it wasn’t close and both teams are loaded with potential pros.  That’s when it really hits you about how good the kid is.  In the first half he had a dunk with some people on him that surprised me and got my attention.  He hit jump shots and truly controlled the tempo of the game in Kentucy’s favor.

Going into the game I wanted Carolina to beat Kentucky but watching Wall made me such a fan of his that he just wanted to watch that kid play and do well.  He has a very high ceiling and is better than Derrick Rose was at the same point in their careers.  Wall will come out this year and be a top 3 pick in the draft and he’ll be an all star very soon.  He’ll be a lock down defender with his long arms and athletic ability and be a better passer and shooter than Rose ever will.  Did I mention I love Derrick Rose also?  That’s just how good John Wall is going to be.  He showed a love of basketball and a willingness to pass and trust his teammates and I see him as an All-American this season.

As the season progresses and Wall grows and improves you won’t want to play Kentucky because they are young and getting more confident each game.  Look out because Kentucky is legit.

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Today’s post is strictly me just venting and opening up a bit.  I’m 37 years old with a wife and 4 daughters who are the light of my life.  I have a very good life and basketball is a big part of it.  I’m a huge fan of the sport and I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to be involved in the game.  However, I am at that stage where I just might hang up my shoes after this season and not play in any organized leagues anymore.  I have nobody to blame by myself.  I have a great job but it is time consuming and I love spending time with my family.  None of them are interested in sports very much so I watch alone at my house but with always a twinge of guilt.  I record the games and watch them when everyone else is asleep or whenever they are huddled around another tv watching some show like ‘Dancing with the Stars’ or ‘American Idol’ or something like that.  My point is that I still study the game like crazy and I love watching it played but I don’t devote any enough time to making myself a better player like I used to and it is hard for me now.  I have never been the type who could skate by without working at it and it is starting to effect me and it hurts inside.  I know I have limited time left to play at a relatively high level for me and the feeling of that is suffocating and tough to deal with. 

Anyone reading this just please enjoy the game and play the game with love and passion.  One day you’ll have to hang up the shoes for good.

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I found out today that our next interview for www.hoopskillsacademy.com is going to be Alan Stein and I’m very excited about it. I was told by a friend of mine, Herb Welling, to get on Alan’s website a few months ago and I have been very impressed. Stronger Team Blog is a great site for anyone wanting to learn about the mental and physical approach to basketball. Alan is an expert in the field of strength and conditioning and has worked with numerous collegiate and NBA players in these areas and will offer a great insight for all of our members.

That interview will hopefully be done this week and available soon after that.

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I’ve said this probably 100 times but Allen Iverson is easily one of the most talented basketball players the world has ever seen. How many players at 6*0 and 170 pounds can do what he did in the league? Imagine if Iverson were 6*6. If Iverson were 6*6 he would have been considered one of the top 3 players ever based on skills alone. He was always guarded by bigger, taller and stronger opponents and it didn’t slow him down. He played hurt and led his teams to a lot of wins based on his will and effort alone. I have a great respect for him as a talented player.

Is he done? Have we seen the last of this guy? I hope not because I still think he has a lot to offer and you can’t tell me that he wouldn’t still score 25 a game on the right team. I’d love to see him in New York but now that looks like it might not happen. Memphis was a good fit on paper but that’s about it. I’ll tell you what though, Iverson is better than Mike Conley, Tinsley and Marcus Williams. Where does he go? He can’t play for Larry Brown again I’m sure. He isn’t really needed in a lot of settings or rather teams aren’t willing to play Iverson and risk the chemistry of the team or a young player not getting time.

If we have seen the last of Iverson then I’m proud to say I got to watch him play because he’s one of the best ever to dribble and shoot a ball.

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I’m looking at this team and I see a team that is much better than they were last year. Bynum is playing great, Kobe is playing within himself. Odom is doing well again and Pau Gasol has yet to play a game. They have lost once so far and are looking really good.

If you are going to beat them then beat them now while Gasol is out because when he comes back you’ll have Odom more than likely coming off the bench and combined with Walton and Farmar they will have a really strong bench unit. Talk about a deep team that was built really well. Kobe is now playing smart enough that he can really conserve throughout the year. They beat the Suns last night easily with Kobe scoring but doing little else. The reason why was Bynum and Odom were dominating the board and the paint and the Lakers were able to easily control the game. If the 8-1 Suns can’t give the Lakers a game then who can? To get to 72 wins they are only allowed 9 more losses the rest of the year and that seems very difficult and it will be but this team is deep enough and solid enough that even an off night by Kobe can produce an easy win against the lesser teams.

Do I think they’ll win 72 games? No I don’t personally but this team has the best chance of anyone we are going to see for a long time.

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It’s time for another NBA season and we have a lot of question marks on players and a lot of sure things or so it seems:

1. Buy or Sell

The Lakers are the team to beat in the West.

The Celtics are the team to beat in the East.

2. Over/Under

Marcus Camby and Baron Davis will combine to play in 120 games this season

3. Who will overcome injuries to be a star again?

Al Jefferson?

Kevin Garnett?

Elton Brand?

Allen Iverson?

We have a ton of questions about this season and I came up with more when i started drafting my fantasy team the other night. We have so many sure things who are now question marks. Jason Kidd was drafted later than ever. Iverson was barely taken at all. Who is going to take their place in the league hierarchy?

I love the start of the season when everyone has high hopes and rookies play with a chip on their shoulders.

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I’m very excited today. I got a phone call from one of the most respected coaches in the history of basketball and I get to do an interview with him. I know that some of my audience hasn’t heard of Coach Wootten so I put together a bit of his resume.

•Enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of 2000
•Received Naismith Award as the outstanding male prep coach of the twentieth century
•With almost 1,300 wins and a winning percentage of 87%, he is considered to he the winningest coach in basketball history
•Has helped over 250 student-athletes receive a full college scholarship
•Teams have been selected national champs five times. won over 100 major titles, and been voted #1 in the Washing-ton. DC area 23 times
•National Coach of the Year four times and Coach of the Year in the Washington, DC area ten different years
•1991 recipient of the John W. Bunn Award presented by the. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
•Initial recipient of the Disney Award as the top sports coach in all of the United States
•Chairman of the selection committee to pick the McDonald’s All-American team
•Heavily in demand as a clinician and teacher, he has spoken on five continents, in numerous foreign countries as well as most states in the USA.

Here’s a list of the ‘notable’ players he has coached:

John Austin
Keith Bogans
Adrian Branch
Mike Brey
James Brown
Kenny Carr
Sid Catlett
Perry Clark
Adrian Dantley
Ron Everhart
Danny Ferry
Joseph Forte
John Jones
Joe Kennedy
Sidney Lowe
Brendan McCarthy
Jerrod Mustaf
Heath Schroyer
Pete Strickland
Brian Westbrook
Charles “Hawkeye” Whitney
Dereck Whittenburg
Bernie Williams

Now you can see why I’m just a little excited to be interviewing Coach Wootten. When I was growing up and playing high school ball his teams were always the epitome of teamwork and winning. He has won 87% of every game he ever coached and nobody is going to reach that.

I’ll be conducting the interview next week sometime and it will be available at www.hoopskillsacademy.com

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The nba is going with replacement refs to start the season after the latest offer was rejected. I’m not going to go into the details of the offer and what was rejected but I will go into how important a ref is in today’s game.

A good ref makes all the difference in the world and what most players want more than anything is a ref who will make strong and definite calls. Players want refs who are confident in what they are seeing and aren’t afraid to make the tough call when they have to. In the NBA it is a different game in that most of these refs have been around so long that they know what they are going to see and how it is going to look. They have the respect of most of the players and for the most part they don’t idolize the players. What are these refs going to do?

I know it is their job to be a ref and to be professional and not saying it will be an issue but if you are going to break in a new ref or two every season that’s ok because you are surrounding them with experience. In this case you are going to have replacement refs all over the court and it is going to be very very inconsistent. One night to the next you’ll get different things. Each night you will have to feel out how this new crew will handle calls and situations. It’s going to be tough.

The preseason is going to be key and if it goes well then the refs are going to lose some leverage in their negotiations. However, i don’t think it will go so hot and the refs will be back shortly.

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For the last little while it has been a goal of ours to establish a basketball type academy online where parents, players and coaches can go to and get access to all sorts of content.  We took that goal and put it to reality this past week when we officially started Hoopskills Academy. 

I’m proud of it and we have some great stuff available for everyone.  Each month we will be adding new content with interviews, training videos and training articles from some of our experts.  We’ve already done interviews with Adrian Dantley, Henry Bibby and others and it’s all out there for our members.  The face of the site is Barry Hecker who is currently an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies and someone who has a real passion for basketball. 

In case you can’t tell I have a real honest love for the game of baskeball.  I’m a true junkie and I’ve always wanted to stay involved in the game somehow and this has been and is a great outlet for me.  I’ve done a large majority of the training videos and I can’t tell you how much fun it is to do and how much excitement I get from people emailing me and asking questions.  I love it and that excitement comes through to Hoopskills Academy.

You can come try the site for 14 days for $1.00 and I’d encourage you to give it a try. You won’t be disappointed and it is something that you will be able to use over and over again and get something new out of every time.

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