The Red Bandana

The Intensity of Kevin Garnett

From Last February:


While the Celtics were on their post-All-Star road trip, ESPN the Magazine's Eddie Matz got a chance to be a fly on the wall for the Celtics practice in San Francisco, paying close attention to Kevin Garnett's manic practice habits.

“Garnett doesn’t do easy. When assistant Lawrence Frank begins a walk-through of the Golden State offense, Garnett interjects, “Why we walkin’ through it? The Warriors ain’t gonna be walkin’ through it!” Just like that, it’s starters versus subs, and even the stars, following the lead of their motivational big man, go all-out. Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen make this a veteran squad, and veteran squads understand how quickly championship windows can close.”

Low Maintenance, All Work

Heisman Trophy winner and rookie Saints RB Mark Ingram is getting rave reviews from his new teammates in New Orleans:

"I respect him for his demeanor," Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "He comes in, a Heisman Trophy winner, prolific runner in college and all he wants to do is work and all he wants to do is get better. You can respect that. You can admire that more than a guy that feels entitled to something. I feel like that's the last thing that Mark Ingram feels right now is that he's entitled to anything. He goes out, he proves his worth every day in practice and shows that he can play."

Never Satisfied

It is the simple fact that I have had to scratch and claw for everything to get where I'm at. Even though I was a first round pick and a pro bowler I never feel like I've arrived. I don't think I'd be in the position I'm at today if it weren't for all the setbacks and people telling me I couldn't do it. It is what drives me to be great.

-Clay Matthews Jr.

Michael Jordan: Mind of a Champion

Random Thoughts from Kevin Eastman

Every now and then we should just sit and think. Never know what you will come up with.


• Success has a price and players have to know that they have to pay it just as much as you and your staff have to.

• Success does have downpayments: work ethic, discipline, preparation, consistency.

• We are the sum total of the experiences we've had and the people we've met. What have you done? Who have you associated with?

• Preparation is so important because it can help eliminate fear and doubt.

• Before we can eliminate excuses that keep us from improving we have to recognize what those excuses are. Write down your top three excuses and then eliminate them for the next month. This will create a habit of not using them any more!

• It's very important to take a close look at your locker room. Whose voices are being heard? Are these the messages that you would want being sent?

• What messages are on your locker room wall? May seem corny but it's something that players will see -- and probably read -- almost every day!

• Never be concerned about repeating a message; repetitive verbal teaching is a great form of teaching. Teaching doesn’t always have to be physical.

Post Development

Brandon Jennings Offseason Workouts

Article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Bucks PG Brandon Jennings and his offseason workouts:

"I'm just getting back to the basics of basketball," said Jennings, who worked out regularly at the team's training facility before the NBA lockout was imposed July 1. "Just working on my fundamentals. Getting set back last year with the injury made me have a different approach to the game. It's not (taken for) granted.

"Next year will be my third year and I need to establish myself as one of the best point guards and one of the best players in the game. It's just trying to get better and better every day. Working with Scott Skiles (before the lockout), getting in the weight room, dedicating the summer to strictly basketball. It's going to be my third year, so it's time to become an all-star."

Shortly before the lockout was imposed, Jennings was asked if he had been working harder than he normally would at that time of the year.

"I haven't worked this hard since I was 18," said Jennings who will turn 22 in September.

Skiles praised the work Jennings put in at the team's training facility before the lockout.

"Brandon has always been a hard worker, to a large part because he loves to be in the gym," said Skiles. "He was working out like it was September . . . very serious and very focused."

Since Jennings can no longer work with the coaches, it's now on him to continue with the workout program that was provided by the coaches.

Jennings wasn't kidding when he said he was getting back to the basics both in his pre-lockout workouts - mainly with assistant coach Bill Peterson, who was also impressed with the positive daily work habits Jennings brought to the gym - and on his summer "to-do" list.

The left-handed Jennings has worked on improving his right hand since he came into the league, and that mission continues - dribbling and passing with his right hand as well as taking contact around the basket and finishing with his right hand.

He has also worked on other very basic things such as catching the ball with two hands, his foot work and balance and his hand-eye coordination.

The Bucks would also like Jennings to tighten up his shot and shoot the ball with a more consistent form.

Jennings has a tendency to shoot off-balance sometimes or from different spots on his body. The Bucks want Jennings to improve at getting the ball in his shooting pocket - the starting point of his shot - staying balanced, and releasing the shot from the same spot on his body every time.

"We don't feel like there's anything wrong with his shot or anything he needs to really correct other than just shooting the same shot all the time," said Skiles. "Brandon has a lot of ability and a lot of talent and it just needs to revolve a little bit more around tightening up his fundamentals.

"There's no magic dust to any of this. If you have some level of talent, which he clearly does, and then if you have the work ethic to go with it, usually you get better. He's always been kind of a gym-rat guy and so it's not a whole lot different other than there's a real hungriness to him."

Bob Hurley 60 Minutes Interview

Living in the Moment

Forward Abby Wambach of USA Soccer:

"I was nearly brought to tears just thinking about how surreal this all seems," Wambach said after scoring the deciding goal to lead the USA into its first Women's World Cup final in 12 years with a 3-1 victory against France.

"I feel like I have to give all of myself and more of myself in order to secure wins, and of course I am willing to do that," she said. "I feel like I have to make sure I don't regret a moment. I want to smell what the stadium smells like. I want to breathe in all of this experience, because who knows if I'm going to get another shot in four years? Who knows if I will be healthy? Who knows, who knows?

"These moments are rare, these feelings are extreme, and I just hope to keep it going forward, and if we can get that win on Sunday (in the final), you will see the happiest human being on the planet."

Brady's Intangibles

Rip Hamilton Moving Without the Ball

CP3 Workout

Chris Paul Nike Skills Camp

Stephen Curry Shooting

Dell Curry Shooting Drills

Jordan on Offense

The Value of Hard Work

UCONN guard Shabazz Napier on what made former teammate and NBA lottery pick Kemba Walker so good:

"I won't say I can replicate what he did. But one thing he taught me and the rest of our team is the value of hard work. You go out there and give it your all no matter what. Every practice we had, he practiced like he was a guy that was trying to make the team. He's the star of our team, but you looked over at him and he was always pressing himself, challenging himself. It was like he was a walk-on."

Jordan Flu Game- 1997 Game 5 Finals

Marquette Basketball Practice

Marquette Boot Camp

Jordan's Defense Part I

Mavs Team Attitude

"We just kept playing. That just shows the character of this team. No matter how old you are, we understood how to play the game, by passing the ball and making sure that we didn't take shots where three or four guys are on you. We just made the extra pass. We didn't care who put the ball in the basket."

-Jason Kidd

Urgency

"I don't allow myself to sit back and relax now. In these playoffs, one win or one loss can switch the whole momentum. You don't ever want a snowball to start. I don't allow myself to sit back all of a sudden and be satisfied.

"We got one more big win hopefully to get, and then I can be satisfied."

-Dirk Nowitzki

Ray Allen on Shooting

More From Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle

Said Carlisle: "Persistence is our game. We're an old-school team. We're not high-fliers. ... Our game is near the ground. We have to play with brains and guts."

Defense is Simple

"The schemes we're using aren't very complex. It's just all about hard play."

-Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle

Kobe Bryant/Chris Paul Workout

Mental Toughness from Dallas Mavs

"I think mental toughness comes from believing in yourself and at the same time not getting rattled," center Brendan Haywood said. "If a team runs off eight, nine, 10 points in a row, you don't get rattled, you stay the course, you stick to the plan and you don't fray from the team system. That's mental toughness to me."

How can we make our teammates better?

Good article in Sports Illustrated on the leadership of Colorado Rockies teammates Carlos Gonzalez & Troy Tulowitzki:

CarGo and Tulo have formed a thriving partnership, not just in the middle of the order, where they bat third and fourth, but in the clubhouse.

"We talk all the time about how to set the right tone," Gonzalez says. "We do our running in the outfield, and we're talking about how we can help our teammates. Is somebody in a slump? What can we do for him? What can we do today to make this team better?"

Defense helps morale

From ESPN.com:

More so than engaging the gang, the Lakers' defense has brought the group together at a time when team chemistry cannot be overstated in its value to winning.

"It's kind of like this bond that starts to happen," Lamar Odom said. "Intensity picks up. Communication picks up. Eye contact amongst each other kind of picks up and collective energy and synergy picks up."

"When things work [on defense], it helps morale," Kobe Bryant said. "It helps generate momentum and the right kind of energy that you need to win games -- even more so than offensively."

Bulls' Deng relishes role

"I feel like as a team everyone has a role all year. Guys have done a good job of bringing something to the team every time. The position I'm in, a lot of times, I'm guarding the other team's best perimeter player. I know if I play with a lot of intensity, everyone's going to pick it up. I know our defense is the key. I've always been able to score and rebound. But defense is something I'm trying to add."

-Luol Deng, Bulls Forward

When your best players are coachable, it makes your team coachable

Here is an article on Bulls point guard Derrick Rose and his leadership progression. Many of the quotes are from Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau:

Several times this season, Rose has said he enjoys Thibodeau's intensity and that Thibodeau knows he can yell at Rose because Rose, who is equally intense, can take it. "You say scream. I say coach," Thibodeau said.

"When your best players are coachable, it makes your team coachable. That sets the tone for everything. The way he works and studies and is never satisfied and is so unselfish and totally into winning, that's what makes him so special.

"When you have a player with that talent that has those intangibles, it makes your team special. A big part of leadership is helping sell the vision of the team to teammates. He does that by example and he's being more vocal now."

Butler Goes Down Its Way

Terrific article from Yahoo Sports Dan Wetzel about teammates helping each other after a difficult lose:

HOUSTON – Shawn Vanzant sat in the corner of the Butler locker room, sobbing, his teammates said, at an almost uncontrollable level. Next to him was Matt Howard, a towel draped over his head, the tears coming just as hard.

Together, the two seniors had shot 3 for 23, an absolutely abysmal, crushing performance in the biggest game of their lives. Connecticut was outside clipping the national championship nets. In here it was just hell, the aftermath of a great team gone bad – 12-of-64 shooting, a record-low 18.8 percent from the floor, losing 53-41, the fewest total points in a title game since the shot clock was invented.

Vanzant thought it was his fault. Howard felt no better.

And that’s when Ronald Nored, eyes red and tear-filled as well, noticed his teammates, got up, crossed the locker room and reminded everyone what this entire pursuit is about.

He pulled Shawn Vanzant up off his stool and hugged his friend, physically and emotionally attempting to lift him out of his depression. After a few seconds, Nored stepped over to Howard and did the same.

And soon enough, his teammates followed.

One after the other, from the freshmen to the managers, from the benchwarmers to the starters, every last Butler Bulldog was taking a moment to remind each other, particularly those bottomed-out seniors, that this was about a lot more than some basketball game.

“It [was] hard for me to watch; it’s hard for me to talk about,” coach Brad Stevens said of the scene, his voice catching and his eyes watering behind his glasses.

“But it’s the best part of the story.”

The story of Butler, the one that’s captured underdog hearts for two consecutive NCAA tournaments, was always about a group finding a way to be better than its individual parts.

The Bulldogs were a family, they said. They were a brotherhood, they reminded. They believed they could reach back-to-back NCAA title games when there was no logical reason to think such a thing was possible. This is what all kinds of teams say, of course. And it’s easy to be a family when the shots are falling and victories are piling up and you’re shocking the world night after night. It’s another when you take the grandest stage in college basketball and proceed to experience a failure of historic proportions.

Butler hit just 3 of 31 shots inside the arc. It made just six baskets in each half. At one point, the Bulldogs missed 13 in a row. They clanked open shots and blew gimmes they make in their sleep. As much credit as the long-armed Huskies’ defense deserves, in the back of every Bulldogs’ mind was the thought that they gave this away by playing the worst game of their lives at the worst possible moment.

“All the people who played in the game think they let us down,” Stevens said. “And that’s ridiculous.”

That’s also when everything gets tested. Butler blew it and that’s when fingers tend to get pointed and playing time gets questioned and selfishness can rise up. If only he had made that lay-up. If only he had knocked down that open jumper.

“It’s very easy to just think about yourself and be frustrated in the situation,” Howard said.

Instead, the Bulldogs showed all the talk was real. They did it one hug after the next. One whispered “I love you” after another. One pat on the back and look into the eye and honest bit of concern.

The harder some cried, the harder the rest worked to ease the pain. Stevens stood in that locker room, took it all in and saw the kind of miracle for which coaches strive – collective support in the lowest and rawest of moments. Kids caring about kids. Perspective and purpose on display. It may not get you a clipped net, but that’s some kind of championship in itself.

“Hard, hard to put into words,” Stevens said, his voice trailing a bit.

“It’s probably the great thing about sports,” assistant coach Matthew Graves said.

Nored said he never hesitated. Once he noticed Vanzant in such a state, the game didn’t matter. Only his friend did.

“That’s what we’re here for, we’re here for each other,” Nored said. “In the big picture, who really cares about basketball? It’s about the guys in this locker room. I wanted Shawn to know we don’t really care that his shot didn’t go in; we care about him.”

Howard, just a half-hour later, could only marvel at the entire thing. Butler had come to win the title on Monday, but when he gathered the team pregame in the tunnel, he told everyone to forget what was at stake.

“Don’t think about the national championship,” he shouted. “This is our last time playing together.”

With that, the Bulldogs broke huddle and sprinted out into the dome. A couple hours later, his message meant more than ever. The national championship was gone. The appreciation of playing together was not. He couldn’t hide under that towel after the game. His teammates wouldn’t let him.

“[They] come over and give you a hug and tell [you] how much [they] love [you] and appreciate [you] and that is what this team is about,” Howard said.

“It’s really uplifting because no matter the result, they want to be a part of this team and that is all that’s on their mind. They want to pick you up. “It’s a special group. That’s the only reason we’ve been able to do what we have.”

They talk a lot about the “Butler Way” around here, although no one has a specific definition of it. Mostly it’s about being selfless, not caring who gets the points or the headlines or the accolades. Here on the night of a bitter, bitter defeat, Brad Stevens was reminded it can mean a whole lot more than that.

“You know if someone has to go 12 of 64 and lose that game and do it that way,” he said, “these guys have the character to handle that.”

The game had been a nightmare. The embarrassment of all those misses will linger. The frustration of so many good players failing to make simple shots will haunt them. But it won’t happen alone. Not with these guys. Not after Ronald Nored hugged Shawn Vanzant in the corner of that locker room and just wouldn’t let go

One Shining Moment