Putting a Team Together

The marriage of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade reminds me of the playground as a kid. We worked hard for even sides, played some good games, and then the 8^th graders - the big kids to us fourth graders - would show up and pound the “little kids.”

They had it orchestrated. They were too tall, too physical, and would win easily to 10.

They took great delight in it and would rub it in with fancy passes and long passes over our heads to the cherry picker on the other end. It wasn’t really winning. It was a contrived win, a set up.

When you get a chance to put together a team for a game, do the right thing. Don’t show up with a loaded squad and just swat and swat. Make it even.

A couple of things will happen. If you have to grind, you get better. There is no question about it.

Second, the respect will follow. Somebody will notice you pulled back from just pounding a lesser team. If you sit there and hold the court with a bunch of big dudes, the hate will show up sooner or later. You can play basketball for an hour or so a day. The other 23 hours somebody is going to think you are a creep for being a bully on the court.

The Heat are running a risk. They might win a title, but it is not a sure thing. What is more certain is that there will be contempt league-wide for this crew.

Here is the learning moment from this marriage of players…

The LeBron Spectacle on television with his own special show should be a warning to terrific players not to humiliate teammates or friends. James humiliated the city of Cleveland and his teammates on TV.

If you have talent, stand down off the court. Be humble. Admiration for your skills could quickly turn into contempt.

James found out quickly what the backlash would be when his former owner chastised him in public. It was a severe scolding.

Here is another learning moment….

Can three players, James, Wade, and Bosh, who are accustomed to playing with the ball, play without the ball?

I’m just asking.

I’ve seen enough of James to know he stands and stands. Can he set a screen? Can he stay out of the way of a Wade drive, or a baseline move by Bosh?

This is not hate. Just questions. We’ll see.

Beware of the Revolving "Trap Door"

Monday morning, a Division I basketball coach told me, “The NCAA is always a step behind with enforcement of the rules. I wish the biggest problem we had was the street agents.” Street agents, the guys buzzing around players at summer tournaments lining up future clients for agents, are not a problem?

"Not compared to the parents," said the coach. “Mom and dad want more shots, more playing time, more this, more that.” It reminded the coach of the line from another coach. “The best team to coach,” he said, “is a team of orphans.”

That makes sense. There is no hustle from the mom and dad because there is no mom and dad. The coach could blend a team and hold them together and not worry whether a player is getting lured away. The hijacking of players happens, especially during the summer months. A kid hooks up with a summer team, a collection of players from another school, and in September he is suddenly at another school.

The Georgia High School Association has tried to curb the practice for years. The GHSA even went so far to try and block a transfer when a kid showed up with legitimate rent papers from his new school. The kid said, “I live here”, but the GHSA started checking to see if there was a primary residence somewhere else. If the player’s family was paying property taxes somewhere else, and they could prove it, the kid was ineligible.

Now, there are some examples of parents who do need to step in. I was interviewing Tim Tebow’s father about the increasing rate of transfers from one high school to another because Tim Tebow was a controversial transfer. Parents and players seek “better” opportunities, but Tebow made the point that what if the family is stuck at a school with poor coaches and poor discipline.

“Should they have to stay in that environment?” he said.

It’s a good point. What about the black baseball player who told me that while riding on a bus with white players from his high school, he had to deal with unacceptable racial comments. The parents pulled him out of that school, which was appropriate….along with calling the authorities. But too often parents are looking for the best weight room, the best gym, a travel schedule and, more important, elite players to team up with their son or daughter.

Beware the green grass on the other side of the street, mom and dad. Beware the coach who promises shots and PT.

The trapdoor could open.