A Look at Team USA Personnel

The original twenty players that USA Basketball announced as finalists for the men’s national team in January is quite a bit different than the 16 still eligible to make the final squad. Injuries have been the biggest factor. USA Basketball was going to announce the final roster on June 18. However, Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose were late withdrawals so USA received an extension to select the team this Saturday, July 7.

Here is a breakdown of who is still eligible, who may or may not play, and who will be missed due to injuries.

WHO IS CURRENTLY A FINALIST FOR THE 12 ROSTER SPOTS?

Guards
Kobe Bryant
Chris Paul
Deron Williams
Russell Westbrook
Eric Gordon
Andre Iguodala
James Harden

Forwards
Carmelo Anthony
Kevin Durant
Rudy Gay
Blake Griffin
LeBron James
Kevin Love
Lamar Odom

Centers
Tyson Chandler
Anthony Davis

OUT OF THESE FINALISTS WHO STILL MAY NOT PARTICIPATE?
Anthony Davis– The recent #1 pick suffered a mild ankle sprain while working out for his new team, New Orleans, on Sunday. Davis won’t be able to participate in a workout with Team USA this week but still could be added to the team.

Blake Griffin – Griffin, another former #1 pick, injured his knee during the NBA playoffs and may or may not be ready.

WHO IS INJURED AND WITHDREW FROM CONSIDERATION?
LaMarcus Aldridge – Aldridge was an early withdrawal when he had hip surgery in April.

Chauncey Billups – Billups was an early withdrawal when he tore his ACL back in February.

Chris Bosh – Bosh is going to rest after playing with that strained oblique on the way to a NBA Championship.

Dwight Howard – Superman has been in the news more lately for his other drama than the Olympics but his April back surgery will sideline him from London.

Dwayne Wade – Wade will have surgery on his left knee, which looked like was bothering him throughout the playoffs.

Derrick Rose – Rose tore his ACL and MCL in the NBA Playoffs and will be out through most of the 2012-13 season.

WHAT DO ALL THE INJURIES MEAN TO TEAM USA?
They don’t help. It is obvious that the gap between the USA and the rest of the world closed tightly over the last decade or so. USA was able to recover the gold in Beijing in 2008 and also claimed the FIBA World Championship in 2010. I have a feeling some of these absences could hurt the USA’s chances. Consider these items:

- I believe Chauncey Billups’ absence is the most underrated out of everyone. I had a hunch he would have played the role that Jason Kidd played in 2008. Veteran leader. Could have likely started each game yet played very little. But his leadership will be missed.

- I am really disappointed Derrick Rose can’t play. He plays with some good players in Chicago. But I would pay to watch him play with guys like LeBron, KD, and Kobe. WOW! Very unfortunate. He would have helped but if there was one position Team USA could afford to lose a player it is point guard. They’re still pretty solid there.

- Chris Bosh has been in the national team program for a while. His ability as a big man to stretch the floor with his shooting ability in the international game will be missed.

- Wade was the leading scorer on the 2008 team. And his chemistry with James has only gotten better over the last two years.

- Howard was such a defensive presence in 2008. I do wonder how all of his recent drama would have affected his performance had he been able to play.

- With these injuries to Aldridge, Bosh, and Howard, and the possibility of Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin not being able to play the USA is left with little depth of true post guys.

SO WITH ALL OF THE INJURIES WHAT IS THE GOOD NEWS?
The good news is Team USA still has the best three, four, five, etc. players in the world on their team. And the lack of interior depth may not be so bad. LeBron and Carmelo showed how effective the USA could be with a small lineup in 2008. They are perfect 4-men in the international game. KD can probably be slotted in that category, as well. The versatility of the USA’s best players will be so vital to their gold medal chances.

Five players (James, Bryant, Williams, Paul, Anthony) expected to make the roster have won Olympic gold. And these five are expected to see a lot of playing time in London. The leadership of James and Bryant, in particular, is elite. Eight more players won gold in the 2010 World Championships. These guys have won!

So that is a breakdown of where the USA’s personnel stand as of now. Remember that the team is announced on Saturday. I’ll leave my predictions on Friday.

TOMORROW’S BLOG: Reviewing Beijing 2008

USA, USA, USA....

I am going to do something a little new and different with this blog over the next month. It may spur me to do similar things when the month is over. I, like many sports fans, love the Olympics. And I have come to really enjoy watching international basketball. And the USA Men’s Senior National Team has been pretty fun to watch under the guidance of Jerry Colaneglo and Mike Krzyzewski.

So I’m going to provide some in-depth perspective, from a coach’s point of view, on the USA Men’s National Team through the Olympics in London. Well, it will be as in-depth as I can without actually being with the team at their practices and in London.

I will blog about the direction that USA Basketball has taken to improve their international standing, give some perspective on their games, discuss some of the philosophy that Mike Krzyzewski and his staff have developed, and preview some of their Olympic opponents.

In addition, Jack McCallum’s new book Dream Team comes out July 10. It is on my summer reading list and I’ll chat about it some, too. I'll review some of the book that Coach K wrote after the 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold Standard. I loved that book. Coach K gave insight on a certain iconic figure that was very revealing.

I will also attempt to talk some USA Women’s National Team.

I've already got a lot to talk about. So beginning tomorrow, expect a breakdown of the final roster candidates. It is quite a bit different compared to what it was a month ago, and from what the original 20 announced in January were. USA Basketball will announce the men's roster on Saturday, July 7.

Please follow along. I would love to hear your thoughts on the Olympic team.

E-mail coachhoytbasketball@gmail.com
Twitter @CoachHoyt

Bill Walsh's Standard of Performance

From The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, with Steve Jamison and Craig Walsh, Coach Walsh details the standards by which he ran the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers, of course, had one of the biggest dynasties in all of sports in the 1980s and 1990s, winning five Super Bowls in 14 seasons.

• Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement
• Demonstrate respect for each person in the organization
• Be deeply committed to learning and teaching
• Be fair
• Demonstrate character
• Honor the direct connection between details and improvement, relentlessly seek the latter
• Show self-control, especially under pressure
• Demonstrate and prize loyalty
• Use positive language and have a positive attitude
• Take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of that effort
• Be willing to go the extra distance for the organization
• Deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation
• Promote internal communication that is both open and substantive
• Seek poise in myself and those I lead
• Put the team’s welfare and priorities ahead of my own
• Maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high
• Make sacrifice and commitment the organization’s trademark

Jon Gordon on Excellence

Jon Gordon is a best-selling author who has a unique writing style. His leadership fables have been used by many sports teams and Fortune 500 companies in developing their own teams. I read Training Camp, a leadership fable about a football player attempting to make an NFL team in training camp. Here are some of his thoughts from Training Camp on excellence.

"It's not ability that separates those who make the team from those who don't. It's sustainability. And sustainability has as much to do with mental strength and mental preparation as it does physical health."

"Talent isn't enough anymore. Everyone here has talent. It's about infusing talent with heart, soul, spirit, and passion."

"I realize that not everyone is willing to pay the price, and that's okay. It's just that I'm not willing to waste my time on someone unless they want it as much as I want it for them. Life's too short."

"I found that the best of the best all shared similar characteristics, principles, and habits..."

"The telescope represents the big picture..."

THE BEST...
1. Know what they truly want.
2. Want it more.
3. Are always striving to get better.
4. Do ordinary things better than everyone else.
5. Zoom-focus. - extraordinary consistency, commitment, and focus
6. Are mentally stronger.

Basketball Thoughts from Larry Bird

Larry Bird recently became the first person to win the NBA MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. Here are some thougts from Bird, as told by Mark Shaw in his book Larry Legend:

On passing - Once I realized I could pass the ball, my game changed completely.

On coaching - A lot of coaches try to coach too much. Prepare the players, get them in good shape, tell them what you expect, and then stay back and let them play.

On free throw shooting - I've never really understood why more players don't make the effort to become great free-throw shooters. It just takes practice and hard work. And concentration.

On defense - To play good, sound defense takes five guys playing and thinking together. But you can't do that all the time. Sometimes the big stand is taken in the first quarter. Or the third. The crucial times are the key.

On great teams - If you want to be a great team...win a championship...you've got to fight through everything. You've got to keep hammerin' and focusing yourself.

George Raveling Rebounding - "Anticipation of the Missed Shot"

I'll continue to highlight some of the key points from George Raveling's War on the Boards. The following are preparation points for rebounders in anticipation of a missed shot.

1. Observe how far away from the basket the shot was taken. - 10-15 feet shots rebound short. 20-25 feet shots rebound long.

2. Observe the type of shot taken and the amount of arc on the shot.

3. Observe the angle on the floor from which the shot was taken in relation to the basket. Was it taken from the corner, middle, side or inside of the foul line?

4. Conduct a pre-game check - Are the backboards and rims loose or tight? Does the game ball have the proper amount of air in it?

5. Have a complete knowledge of the shooting abilities of your teammates and your opponents - What moves and shots will opponents utilize? Know when a shooter likes to shoot, from where, types of shots, amount of force and arc behind his shots.

George Raveling's Anatomy of a Rebound

I have become a collector of old basketball coaching books. I came across a gem last week at a baseball card show. It is titled War on the Boards, one of two rebounding books that George Raveling has written. It was published while Raveling was the head coach at Washington State in 1984 and is the most comprehensive rebounding book I have ever seen.

I’ll post a series of blogs on Raveling’s good stuff. This post includes the four mechanical areas of rebounding. These are great teaching points when working on rebounding:

1) Positioning– the precise position on the court from which a player can most effectively compete for the missed shot


Defensive player – keep yourself between the offensive player and the basket
Offensive player – position yourself in the general area in which you think the shot will rebound

2)Rebounding Stance

1. Feet – spaced apart
2. Knees - flexibility
3. Trunk – slight lean towards the basket
4. Hips – lowered into semi-crouch position
5. Elbows – out and away from the body
6. Hands – spread apart, upward, open
7. Eyes and Head – eyes on flight of shot; head up and straight
8. Body Balance – allow for easy movement in any direction
9. Toes – push off as the body leaves the floor

3) Approach

Quick and aggressive movement toward the ball
Arms fully extended
Grasp the ball tightly with two hands
Bring ball down in a quick jerking motion with elbows out, away from the body
“Spread eagle” with a firm base

4) Conversion– “outlet” a sharp or direct pass; use of dribble only used as a last resort

Coach Raveling also has a wonderful website (www.CoachGeorgeRaveling.com) and is a great follow on Twitter (@GeorgeRaveling).

Tony Dungy on "Being Draftable"

I've been getting my days started by reading Tony Dungy's "Uncommon Life Daily Challenge." This is the best daily devotion book I have come across. I'll start sharing some of the things I take from them.

Today's devotion is titled "Be Draftable." When he was with the Colts and evaluating players for the NFL Draft, they would write "DNDC" on some player evaluations. This stands for "Do Not Draft (because of) Character."

Here are some of his other thoughts on the importance of character:

In the NFL and in American culture, there's often an undue emphasis on results.

But an emphasis on results over character, even if it pays off in the short term, usually creates long-term problems.

In any area of life, the character of a few affects the well-being of many.

You will never lose by emphasizing character over results. Everyone wants success, but if it comes at the expense of integrity and honor, the cost is too high.

Tony Schwartz's Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything

Tony Schwartz is President and CEO of the Energy Project. Schwartz consults with companies to assist them in their performance. He has also authored several books and is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review.

Schwartz had some great things to say about being excellent, including six keys. So many of this can be translated to teachers and coaches, with some modifications.

"We've found, in our work with executives at dozens of organizations, that it's possible to build any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way we do a muscle: push past your comfort zone, and then rest."

"Anders Ericsson, arguably the world's leading researcher in high performance...has been making the case that it's not inherited talent which determines how good we become at something, but rather how hard we're willing to work - something he calls "deliberate practice."

Six Keys to Achieving Excellence:
1. Pursue what you love.
2. Do the hardest work first.
3. Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break.
4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses.
5. Take regular renewal breaks.
6. Ritualize practice. - Build specific inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

"Ubuntu" was a term that I admittedly had never heard of before this week. A colleague passed on the following story to me. After doing a Google search for "Ubuntu", I also found the interview with Doc Rivers and how he has used it as head coach of the Boston Celtics. I couldn't help but think about the values of humility and teamwork instilled in these young African people. As all teams develop, these young people should serve as models for us.

INTERVIEW WITH DOC RIVERS
http://www.necn.com/Boston/Sports/Doc-Rivers-on-Celtics-and-ubuntu/1212541255.html

"UBUNTU"
An anthropologist studying the habitats and customs of an African tribe found himself surrounded by children most days. So he decided to play a little game with them. He managed to get candy from the nearest town and put it all in a decorated basket at the foot of a tree.

Then he called the children and suggested they play the game. When the anthropologist said “now”, the children had to run to the tree and the first one to get there could have all the candy to him/herself.

So the children all lined up waiting for the signal. When the anthropologist said “now”, all of the children took each other by the hand and ran together towards the tree. They all arrived at the same time, divided up the candy, sat down and began to happily munch away.

The anthropologist went over to them and asked why they had all run together when any one of them could have had the candy all to themselves.

The children responded “Ubuntu. How could any one of us be happy if all the others were sad?”

Ubuntu means: I am because we are.

By: Cuento de Luz