Evan Longoria provides needed leadership for Tampa Bay Rays

This is his town, and this is his time.

Soon, if it has not happened already, this may be his team.

Watch Evan Longoria bounce across a baseball field, and you get the feeling he is trying to cram two hours' worth of work into an hour's worth of drill work. It is late afternoon, and the Rays are in the middle of baseball's version of laying bricks, and Longo seems to be taking it seriously.

He scurries across the field as if he is perpetually supposed to be somewhere else, like a cat that is suddenly aware it is in the wrong room. He moves as if the boss is watching him, which, of course, he probably is. Everyone else, too.

By now, the world is on to the size of Longoria's talent. Great bat. Great glove. Great sense of timing.

As it turns out, Longoria is on his way to being a great leader, too.

"Evan resonates leadership qualities," said teammate Gabe Kapler. "It isn't just that he has them, because a lot of guys have them. But when those qualities seep out of your pores and everyone can feel it, that's when it sets guys apart."

Already, his teammates have noticed the way Longoria works. It is enough to make the veterans nod. Even better, it is enough to make the youngsters follow. And when you think about it, what Rays player would you rather have a rookie try to emulate?

Among the hidden factors in the Rays' uncanny 17-5 start to this season is this: The leadership is improved over last year. Manager Joe Maddon prefers to say last year's team was in "leader­ship transition" rather than lacking leadership, but it ends up to the same thing.

This year, there has been a lot of leadership. Maddon says Longoria is a better leader. Carl Crawford, too. And James Shields. And Dan Wheeler. And Gabe Kapler. And Carlos Peña. Oh, and did he mention Longo? Yeah, Longo.

"To me, leadership is giving of yourself," Maddon said. "Too many times, players get greedy and think it's only about them to the point they have nothing else to give to anyone else. I think a real leader always has something left over for someone else."

It is important to Longoria, this leadership role. He is only 24 years old, not exactly grizzled, hardly finished with his own growth. Still, he understands the need for leadership. And he doesn't shy away from the assumption of it.

"It's important to me to have my teammates respect me," Longoria said. "It's not about what you say. It's about what you do. Whether I'm struggling or not, whether things are going well or not, I have to take things in perspective and do all the things I would want to see a teammate do. Run balls out hard. Make good turns. Carry myself on the field."

We have the wrong idea about sports leadership, most of us. Maybe it comes from watching Bull Durham too many times. We think leaders are the guys dressing down the slackers in the locker room or delivering the speeches that have been stolen from Braveheart.

Most of the time, it has nothing to do with that. It has more to do with putting in the right work and setting the proper pace. If there is anything vocal about it, it has more to do with saying the right thing at the right time to the right person. Also, three-run homers help.

"Ultimately, it tends to be the guys who play really well," Ben Zobrist said. "Longo is one of those guys everyone looks to do something special."

Forget Longoria's age. Kapler likes what he sees in Longoria's approach.

"He exemplifies what a professional is, what we all aspire to be," Kapler said. "He cares about this team. He cares about being a great player. He cares about winning. He brings an energy. He wants to be on the field for every inning of every game. He always wants to be in the lineup, To me, leadership is about walking the walk. It has nothing to do with what you say. There are plenty of people with something to say, but you have to be able to do what you're talking about consistently. We follow those who take actions. Any motivational speaker could stand up in front of the clubhouse, but that doesn't make him the leader of a clubhouse. The Rays could hire a motivational speaker to fire you up, and you'd be fired up, but it wouldn't last long."

Pick and Roll Basketball with Fran Fraschilla

Izzo Quote

"Learn to listen, listen to Learn"

-Tom Izzo

Kobe Wanting to Be Coached

When Chuck Person arrived in Los Angeles for training camp, he had never before said a word to Bryant. Person, a former Pacers and Kings assistant, was hired by the Lakers as a special assistant because of his close relationship with the newly acquired Ron Artest. The Lakers wanted somebody to help Artest with his transition. They did not need anybody to help Bryant with his shooting. But Person, who spent 13 years stretching NBA defenses, had studied Bryant's stroke from afar, marveling at his footwork, his vertical leap, his power of separation. "There was just one thing," Person says, "that I felt I could enhance."

A young player is taught, from the time he can lift the ball overhead, to finish the shot with his index finger pointed at the ground. "Kobe was following through with so much of the index that the ball was turning ever so slightly off that finger and he was getting a little sidespin," Person says. "When he wasn't right on, the ball would roll off the rim." Person believed he could help Bryant, but he had to be tactful about it. He could not just walk up to one of the best scorers ever and tinker with his shot. He needed an opening.

On Dec. 11 Los Angeles played the Timberwolves, and point guard Jordan Farmar made a lazy pass to Bryant at the three-point line. Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer lunged for it, deflecting the ball off Bryant's right index finger. Told he had an avulsion fracture, Bryant refused to sit out, and the next night in Utah he missed 17 of 24 shots, including eight of nine three-pointers. The time was right for Person. He approached Bryant and explained that he too had suffered an avulsion fracture in his index finger, with Indiana in 1991. He also told Bryant that the injury presented an opportunity.

"I asked him for his trust," Person says, "and I told him that we should start working together. He didn't argue with me. He bought in right away." Person wanted Bryant to put more pressure on the middle and ring fingers in his release, creating more backspin and friendlier rolls off the rim. The pad Bryant had to wear on the index finger would force him to concentrate on the other two.

The day after the Utah game, Bryant and Person convened early at the Lakers' training facility and shot for one hour before practice. The next day they did the same. Then they flew to Chicago and worked out that night at the United Center. During a break Bryant asked Person, "Did you ever score 40 points with your finger this way?" Person said he did. For Bryant it was a rare moment of self-doubt, and then it was gone. "I'm going to get 50," he said. They arrived at the United Center early the next morning for a shootaround, stayed late, and that night Bryant lit up the Bulls for 42 points on 15-of-26 shooting. A day later he scored 39 in Milwaukee, with a game-winner at the buzzer.

Penetrating Bryant's circle is not easy, but Person had a way in. As a freshman at Brantley (Ala.) High School 31 years ago, Person attended a summer basketball camp at Auburn University. The guest counselor was Jerry West, who as the Lakers executive vice president would bring Bryant from high school to Los Angeles 17 years later. "All the things I told Kobe," Person says, "are things Jerry West told me at that camp." Person persuaded Bryant to raise the ball straight into his shot instead of holding it for a moment at his hip, which has quickened his release; lift his right elbow from nose level to forehead level, which has heightened his arc; and keep that elbow pointed at the basket no matter how his body is contorted. "If you saw a tape of him shooting six months ago," Person says, "it would look completely different."

Many in the organization did not understand why Bryant insisted on playing with the broken finger. He could afford to take time off in December; they needed him healthy in June. As it turned out, playing in December is exactly what prepared Bryant for June. He spent the regular season refashioning his shot in time for the playoffs. The transition was not always easy—his field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point percentage all dipped as Person's tinkering intensified—but it was necessary. Although the fracture has healed, Bryant was left with an arthritic knuckle on his index finger that is swollen and painful but appears to affect him not at all. "It's almost helped to some degree," says Lakers shooting coach Craig Hodges. "at the net when Kobe shoots now. The ball sinks to the bottom, and 'Pow!' It pops up. That's the backspin he's getting from the middle finger." The index finger is just supposed to hold the ball. The middle finger is supposed to do the work.

Bryant's longevity is a by-product of the many subtle adjustments he has made over the years, starting in 1999, when he broke his right hand and spent all of training camp developing his left. Back then, defenders would dare Bryant to shoot from outside, an unfathomable strategy today. They also tried to lock him up in the post, equally unthinkable. "I don't know any better post player in the game now," West says. Next up for Bryant, says Lakers assistant Jim Cleamons, "he will learn to come off screens so the ball will work for him and he won't have to beat everybody." Bryant's endless improvements require a kind of humility, the best player in the game forever open to the idea that he can get better.

Manuel’s Positive Energy Ignites Mets

From the NY Times:

Of all the strategic decisions a manager makes over the course of a game, whether calling for a pitching change, switching a defensive alignment or ordering an unexpected dash on the basepaths, there are also the less-nuanced motivational tools to employ.

For Jerry Manuel, who has operated all season under the public scrutiny regarding his job security, pushing his players’ emotional buttons may be his greatest strength.

In the Mets’ 7-6 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday, Manuel’s positive outlook was cited as one of the reasons for a triumph that extended their home winning streak to eight games. Manuel has faced some withering criticism this season, but he has also provided some evidence of a job well done, and players were quick to note how Sunday offered a strong case.

With the Mets trailing by 5-0 in the sixth inning, Manuel refused to allow his players the luxury of conceding the game, even though they had overcome that large a deficit only once this season. And even though they had only eight outs left, Manuel remained vocally enthusiastic in the dugout. Apparently, it had an effect.

“I give Jerry credit on that one,” Jeff Francoeur said, “because he was in the dugout cheering us on: ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.’ ”

But other players, too, have noted how Manuel, despite the pressure he has worked under this season, has never changed his upbeat approach. Whether it is the unusual step of calling the entire team into his office back in May to urge it to stick together, or cheering on his players in the dugout, his upbeat vibe has taken root.

“He’s by far the most positive guy I’ve ever played for,” the first-year Met Jason Bay said, “and I don’t care if you’re playing Little League or major league baseball, positivity goes a long way. It tends to be contagious. That’s no slight to anybody else. That’s just, given the market, the uncertainties, the ups and downs we’ve gone through.

“He’s never wavered on his stance of being positive and standing behind guys. I know it’s easy to get caught up in certain things, but he hasn’t. He’s really been the same guy to us, from spring training until now, and I understand how difficult that is and I respect that.”

Woodenisms

The life lessons taught by John Wooden have become legend. Here's a collection of some of the greatest "Woodenisms."

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

"Be prepared and be honest."

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."

"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."

"It isn't what you do, but how you do it."

"Ability is a poor man's wealth."

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

"Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights."

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

Source: CoachWooden.com