Kori Ellis
10-10-2004, 01:24 AM
Mike Monroe: Practice makes perfect, but new rules flawed
Web Posted: 10/10/2004 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA101004.6C.BKNmonroecolumn.103dadd85.html
Random thoughts after a week of hopping from training camp to training camp:
The league's new rule limiting practice during the first five days of training camp to three hours per day did a great disservice to coaches whose rosters underwent major offseason change. Even moreso, new coaches, and there were plenty of them, could have used a couple of two-hour sessions each day to get their systems ingrained.
A rule that prohibited contact drills in evening sessions if teams scrimmaged in the morning was implemented after negotiations with the players union when the league went last season from best-of-five series in the first round of the playoffs to best-of-seven.
"It's difficult," said Memphis coach Hubie Brown, reigning NBA Coach of the Year, "and then they still tell us we're going to play eight exhibition games. It sounds good if you're a player. But if you're a coaching staff, you're taking an hour away from the evening session.
"Now, by cutting us an hour and not allowing us any defensive contact at night, now you're hurting the player because you still want to play the exhibition games. We've got three exhibition games next week. You want to have your defensive philosophies in so you don't get embarrassed. You still have 30 days, but what it does is it forces you, in the night session, to be tremendously organized to take advantage of every minute."
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, ever the maverick, told the Dallas Morning News' David Moore he wanted to violate the practice limitation rules and get fined to make sure the rule, which he doesn't like, did not go unnoticed.
"Yeah, I'm looking to get fined on this because it's so absurd," Cuban told Moore. "You can't say we need to improve the product, then do everything you possibly can not to improve the product. You can't sit there and say that we were at a disadvantage with our Olympic team because we didn't have enough practice time when our Olympic team has more practice time than our (NBA) teams.
"It's part of the hypocrisy of the NBA. People complain about fundamentals, but when you want to practice, you can't practice. It's crazy."
As of Saturday, word was that one team — not the Mavericks — had been fined for violating the no-contact rule in the evening session. Ironically, Mavs coach Don Nelson said he had been following the rules "to a fault." And Cuban was indeed fined for his comments, confessing that the league nicked him $100,000.
New Hornets coach Byron Scott, who would have benefited from more time, not less, to get his system ingrained, opted to skip two-a-days altogether. He simply scheduled one three-hour practices per day.
"We've kept it pretty busy," Scott said. "There's not a lot of time where I'm talking and explaining a bunch of stuff. We get right into it, get into our stations, and then get right into five-on-five. I try to keep these guys fresh and moving, so it doesn't even seem like three hours.
"Any time you're a new coach and bringing in a whole new system you could benefit from going twice a day, but the benefits, for us, were that the guys got a chance to really recover, day to day."
Trust may be gone: Kobe Bryant might not think spilling details of Shaquille O'Neal's alleged past sexual indiscretions to police would pose a trust problem in the Lakers' locker room, but he is about the only person who doesn't.
Nobody was willing to say so on the record, but several executives with other teams were sure it already is an issue with other Lakers players.
Welcome, Stackhouse: Nelson believes Jerry Stackhouse is going to be a prime candidate for the Sixth Man Award and won't have a problem coming off the bench in Dallas because he is going to get as much playing time as he did in Washington.
Michael Finley, overworked in the past, welcomes Stackhouse's presence and is willing to give up some of his time. Second-year man Marquis Daniels, slotted to start this season, might not be quite as content if Stackhouse gets too many of his minutes.
Shooting lights-out: Fresh-out-of-high school J.R. Smith is going to get a lot of playing time in New Orleans, sooner rather than later, because he can flat-out shoot, including the NBA 3-pointer, if his performance in a one-hour scrimmage on Saturday is any indication.
It is going to take Smith some time to learn the nuances of the pro game and how to defend at this level, but shooters always earn court time.
Web Posted: 10/10/2004 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA101004.6C.BKNmonroecolumn.103dadd85.html
Random thoughts after a week of hopping from training camp to training camp:
The league's new rule limiting practice during the first five days of training camp to three hours per day did a great disservice to coaches whose rosters underwent major offseason change. Even moreso, new coaches, and there were plenty of them, could have used a couple of two-hour sessions each day to get their systems ingrained.
A rule that prohibited contact drills in evening sessions if teams scrimmaged in the morning was implemented after negotiations with the players union when the league went last season from best-of-five series in the first round of the playoffs to best-of-seven.
"It's difficult," said Memphis coach Hubie Brown, reigning NBA Coach of the Year, "and then they still tell us we're going to play eight exhibition games. It sounds good if you're a player. But if you're a coaching staff, you're taking an hour away from the evening session.
"Now, by cutting us an hour and not allowing us any defensive contact at night, now you're hurting the player because you still want to play the exhibition games. We've got three exhibition games next week. You want to have your defensive philosophies in so you don't get embarrassed. You still have 30 days, but what it does is it forces you, in the night session, to be tremendously organized to take advantage of every minute."
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, ever the maverick, told the Dallas Morning News' David Moore he wanted to violate the practice limitation rules and get fined to make sure the rule, which he doesn't like, did not go unnoticed.
"Yeah, I'm looking to get fined on this because it's so absurd," Cuban told Moore. "You can't say we need to improve the product, then do everything you possibly can not to improve the product. You can't sit there and say that we were at a disadvantage with our Olympic team because we didn't have enough practice time when our Olympic team has more practice time than our (NBA) teams.
"It's part of the hypocrisy of the NBA. People complain about fundamentals, but when you want to practice, you can't practice. It's crazy."
As of Saturday, word was that one team — not the Mavericks — had been fined for violating the no-contact rule in the evening session. Ironically, Mavs coach Don Nelson said he had been following the rules "to a fault." And Cuban was indeed fined for his comments, confessing that the league nicked him $100,000.
New Hornets coach Byron Scott, who would have benefited from more time, not less, to get his system ingrained, opted to skip two-a-days altogether. He simply scheduled one three-hour practices per day.
"We've kept it pretty busy," Scott said. "There's not a lot of time where I'm talking and explaining a bunch of stuff. We get right into it, get into our stations, and then get right into five-on-five. I try to keep these guys fresh and moving, so it doesn't even seem like three hours.
"Any time you're a new coach and bringing in a whole new system you could benefit from going twice a day, but the benefits, for us, were that the guys got a chance to really recover, day to day."
Trust may be gone: Kobe Bryant might not think spilling details of Shaquille O'Neal's alleged past sexual indiscretions to police would pose a trust problem in the Lakers' locker room, but he is about the only person who doesn't.
Nobody was willing to say so on the record, but several executives with other teams were sure it already is an issue with other Lakers players.
Welcome, Stackhouse: Nelson believes Jerry Stackhouse is going to be a prime candidate for the Sixth Man Award and won't have a problem coming off the bench in Dallas because he is going to get as much playing time as he did in Washington.
Michael Finley, overworked in the past, welcomes Stackhouse's presence and is willing to give up some of his time. Second-year man Marquis Daniels, slotted to start this season, might not be quite as content if Stackhouse gets too many of his minutes.
Shooting lights-out: Fresh-out-of-high school J.R. Smith is going to get a lot of playing time in New Orleans, sooner rather than later, because he can flat-out shoot, including the NBA 3-pointer, if his performance in a one-hour scrimmage on Saturday is any indication.
It is going to take Smith some time to learn the nuances of the pro game and how to defend at this level, but shooters always earn court time.