The oldest rookie in the NBA arrived in the mailroom on campus at the University of Portland late this week, came straight through the doors, and starting high-fiving and hugging people.
Pooh Jeter is 27.
He's a back-up point guard for the Sacramento Kings.
The former UP star decided to spend his All-Star break not in Los Angeles, or Las Vegas, rather, on campus this week thanking mailroom workers, and hanging out with the campus custodians.
"I knew everybody on campus," Jeter said. "It's my personality."
This might be the happiest man in the NBA, mind you.
Consider that Jeter had to hustle and work his way into the NBA. He played five seasons of summer league, including with the Blazers in 2009. He worked out in his offseason with players such as Earl Watson and Baron Davis. And when that wasn't good enough, Jeter went to play in Ukraine, then Spain, then Israel. And he never stopped believing he belonged.
"I still pinch myself when I wake up," Jeter said. "I'm living the dream after four years of the grind.
"I still have to grind to stay in the league."
Jeter is playing 16 minutes a game and is averaging 4.5 points and 3.1 assists. He's trying to improve himself, and now that he's in the NBA, he'd like to stick. And when the Kings travel, the veterans make the rookie wear a purple backpack with daises on it.
Said Jeter: "It's a girls backpack."
I've pulled for Jeter since he left UP, and believed in my bones after watching him in college that he was a better player than the hyped-up Blazers No. 1 draft pick Sebastian Telfair. Jeter went undrafted, though. And while the Kings will tell you that he caught their attention with a strong Developmental League performance, the truth is, Jeter just kept playing.
He became a better distributor. He learned patience. And he watched NBA point guards such as Chris Paul, Steve Nash and current Blazer Andre Miller.
"(Andre) played center in high school. It's why his post game is so good," Jeter said. "One thing I learned from watching Andre is how smart he is.
"People say he can't shoot, but he ... gets ... it ... done."
While in Spain, Jeter also played against heralded point guard Ricky Rubio, and he said he doesn't see the comparisons that everyone wants to make to Pete Maravich. Said Jeter: "He isn't a scorer like that. Ricky's improved his game so much, but he's more of a guy who gets people involved."
The rookie said that he would love to play in Portland someday, "if that's God's plan," and also, that he looks back on his summer league experience with the Blazers fondly.
"I had a pretty good summer, it just wasn't my time."
Jeter is from Los Angeles. He now plays in Sacramento. But he said he considers Portland his "second home." Which is why he spent his break slapping backs with former classmates and meeting with old professors. He even filmed a video that will play at halftime of the Pilots game vs. Santa Clara tonight at the Chiles Center.
NBA owners and union representatives are meeting in Los Angeles, bickering over the details of a Collective Bargaining Agreement. The star athletes, partying and hanging all over an All-Star Game that feels drunk on hype. And just when you think the whole thing stinks, here comes Jeter, smiling and telling anyone who will listen how happy and appreciative he is to be where he is in his career.
Refreshing, isn't it?
Jeter said he now knows where he fits in the NBA. He wants to help the Kings get better. And he said he'll continue to work hard and improve himself.
"I've worked hard to get to this point. I'll continue to keep working."
The NBA needs more players like this.
2.19.2011
2.03.2011
TENNESSEE WOMEN
The following comes from Tennessee assistant coach Dean Lockwood. He speaks of the importance of passion as a key contributor to competitors in Jeff Janssen's outstanding book, "How To Develop Relentless Competitors."
Tennessee assistant women's basketball coach Dean Lockwood says, "Having been a part of college basketball national championship teams and those that were not, both with comparable talent, I can tell you first that one of the missing components from the latter was PASSION! Passion drives us to go work, to excel, to become almost obsessive about details and the 'little things' that can help our performance. Passion for something will allow an athlete to stay in a gym a bit longer working, shooting, honing skills; it will allow an athlete to squeeze out a few extra reps, sprints, or laps when most others have gone home. Passion can DRIVE us and PROPEL us further than what we know, and it also brings a joy to competition that is almost magical and can be found in few other ways."
Tennessee assistant women's basketball coach Dean Lockwood says, "Having been a part of college basketball national championship teams and those that were not, both with comparable talent, I can tell you first that one of the missing components from the latter was PASSION! Passion drives us to go work, to excel, to become almost obsessive about details and the 'little things' that can help our performance. Passion for something will allow an athlete to stay in a gym a bit longer working, shooting, honing skills; it will allow an athlete to squeeze out a few extra reps, sprints, or laps when most others have gone home. Passion can DRIVE us and PROPEL us further than what we know, and it also brings a joy to competition that is almost magical and can be found in few other ways."
SPURS - A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Anyone who knows Gregg Popovich knows there are probably 347 other places he’d rather be than walking the red carpet at the All-Star Game next month in Los Angeles as coach of the Western Conference team. He doesn’t do extravagant parties, and the over-the-top showmanship of the NBA’s annual entertainment weekend likely doesn’t appeal to him. More than anything, he’d rather just not have the attention.
Popovich has always preached a we-over-me mantra with the San Antonio Spurs, and that comes from his days at the Air Force Academy, where he was a walk-on for the basketball team.
“I’m just guessing, but everybody that goes there has a 3.8 or 4.0 [grade-point average] – valedictorians – and did all kinds of stuff,” Popovich said. “And you go there and everybody is the same. They strip you bare. You start over again, and during the four years you learn it’s not about you. It’s about the group. It’s about the people that are around you and how people come together and how teams are put together and how you have each other’s back and that sort of thing.
“You learn that one person really doesn’t get anything done. In any business, in any endeavor, the people around you have to be good people and have to be able to work together. That’s where the real joy is – when you’re sharing success with somebody.”
Over the last 13-plus seasons, no major U.S. professional sports franchise has enjoyed more sustained success than the Spurs. They’ve won 70.1 percent of their games during that time, a mark that ranks ahead of the NFL’s New England Patriots (68.3 percent) and the Spurs’ own rival, the Los Angeles Lakers (65.9). They’ve also won four NBA championships and seven division titles and may have produced their biggest surprise yet this season: At a time when many thought the Spurs would slip from the ranks of the league’s elite, they’ve surged to their greatest start ever with a league-best 40-8 record.
“Everybody is surprised by that record,” Manu Ginobili(notes) said. “But now we are here. We earned it and we want to keep the lead as long as possible and finish No. 1.”
The Spurs have benefitted from good health: They’re the only team in the league to use the same starting lineup for each of their games. But they’ve also won because of their remarkable balance. They rank fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 104.1 points per game, but don’t have a single player averaging even 19 points. Ginobili is the team-high with 18.6 while Tim Duncan, content now to steady the Spurs with his rebounding and defense, is averaging just 13.6 points.
In short, these Spurs may be as team-oriented as any roster Popovich has ever had. All of the Spurs’ three stars – Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker(notes) – are also averaging fewer than 33 minutes. With nearly everyone on the roster contributing in some form this season, the Spurs have continued to win in their usual understated style.
“Even if we’re up by 30 we’re not going to keep screaming and yelling,” veteran forward Antonio McDyess said. “That’s why a lot of people call this team boring. Regardless, we get the job done.”
That’s all Popovich has ever asked. Beginning with David Robinson, the Spurs have had a long line of players who have bought into their team-first mentality, including their three current stars. Players who come into the system learn to adapt – or leave.
“We try not to bring people in who we think they are a bit full of themselves and think they invented the dunk or something like that,” Popovich said. “And after that if somebody is in, the players set an example and react appropriately. If one of our young guys was to try to show up the opponent or beat his chest, I might be the fifth guy to him. There will be other players saying, ‘Hey, whoa, you look foolish doing that crap.’
“And if nobody does, I’ll obviously do it.”
Richard Jefferson learned that early last season after he joined the Spurs.
“There were a few times where he got on me early about screaming after a dunk and showing that kind of emotion,” Jefferson said. “You do what your coach asks for.”
Parker went through his own growing pains with Popovich. And for McDyess, playing for the Spurs is quite different than his days with the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons often had a stereo blaring music in their locker room before games. That won’t be found in the Spurs’ locker room. After the Spurs’ win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday, the team enjoyed a dinner together in San Francisco.
“When I got there, the Pistons were playing music, rapping and cursing,” McDyess said. “They said that’s what worked for them. And half of them said that if they don’t go out the night before a game they don’t play well. On this team you don’t get that. Different things work for different teams.”
In part because of their business-as-usual nature, the Spurs haven’t received much attention for their strong start. They reached the halfway point of their schedule on pace to win 70 games and much of the season’s headlines have been devoted to the exploits of the Lakers and Miami Heat or Carmelo Anthony’strade demand. The Spurs could care less.
“Luckily enough I don’t look at the radar so I wouldn’t know what is going on,” Duncan said. “I have better things to do, I guess.”
The Spurs also don’t measure themselves on their success in the regular season. If they keep winning in the playoffs, the acclaim will come.
“We laugh about it and love it,” Popovich said. “The less attention, the more time and focus we have to concentrate on what we’d like to do. Having the success we’ve had with championships, we don’t need anyone to give us credit.”
Popovich has always preached a we-over-me mantra with the San Antonio Spurs, and that comes from his days at the Air Force Academy, where he was a walk-on for the basketball team.
“I’m just guessing, but everybody that goes there has a 3.8 or 4.0 [grade-point average] – valedictorians – and did all kinds of stuff,” Popovich said. “And you go there and everybody is the same. They strip you bare. You start over again, and during the four years you learn it’s not about you. It’s about the group. It’s about the people that are around you and how people come together and how teams are put together and how you have each other’s back and that sort of thing.
“You learn that one person really doesn’t get anything done. In any business, in any endeavor, the people around you have to be good people and have to be able to work together. That’s where the real joy is – when you’re sharing success with somebody.”
Over the last 13-plus seasons, no major U.S. professional sports franchise has enjoyed more sustained success than the Spurs. They’ve won 70.1 percent of their games during that time, a mark that ranks ahead of the NFL’s New England Patriots (68.3 percent) and the Spurs’ own rival, the Los Angeles Lakers (65.9). They’ve also won four NBA championships and seven division titles and may have produced their biggest surprise yet this season: At a time when many thought the Spurs would slip from the ranks of the league’s elite, they’ve surged to their greatest start ever with a league-best 40-8 record.
“Everybody is surprised by that record,” Manu Ginobili(notes) said. “But now we are here. We earned it and we want to keep the lead as long as possible and finish No. 1.”
The Spurs have benefitted from good health: They’re the only team in the league to use the same starting lineup for each of their games. But they’ve also won because of their remarkable balance. They rank fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 104.1 points per game, but don’t have a single player averaging even 19 points. Ginobili is the team-high with 18.6 while Tim Duncan, content now to steady the Spurs with his rebounding and defense, is averaging just 13.6 points.
In short, these Spurs may be as team-oriented as any roster Popovich has ever had. All of the Spurs’ three stars – Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker(notes) – are also averaging fewer than 33 minutes. With nearly everyone on the roster contributing in some form this season, the Spurs have continued to win in their usual understated style.
“Even if we’re up by 30 we’re not going to keep screaming and yelling,” veteran forward Antonio McDyess said. “That’s why a lot of people call this team boring. Regardless, we get the job done.”
That’s all Popovich has ever asked. Beginning with David Robinson, the Spurs have had a long line of players who have bought into their team-first mentality, including their three current stars. Players who come into the system learn to adapt – or leave.
“We try not to bring people in who we think they are a bit full of themselves and think they invented the dunk or something like that,” Popovich said. “And after that if somebody is in, the players set an example and react appropriately. If one of our young guys was to try to show up the opponent or beat his chest, I might be the fifth guy to him. There will be other players saying, ‘Hey, whoa, you look foolish doing that crap.’
“And if nobody does, I’ll obviously do it.”
Richard Jefferson learned that early last season after he joined the Spurs.
“There were a few times where he got on me early about screaming after a dunk and showing that kind of emotion,” Jefferson said. “You do what your coach asks for.”
Parker went through his own growing pains with Popovich. And for McDyess, playing for the Spurs is quite different than his days with the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons often had a stereo blaring music in their locker room before games. That won’t be found in the Spurs’ locker room. After the Spurs’ win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday, the team enjoyed a dinner together in San Francisco.
“When I got there, the Pistons were playing music, rapping and cursing,” McDyess said. “They said that’s what worked for them. And half of them said that if they don’t go out the night before a game they don’t play well. On this team you don’t get that. Different things work for different teams.”
In part because of their business-as-usual nature, the Spurs haven’t received much attention for their strong start. They reached the halfway point of their schedule on pace to win 70 games and much of the season’s headlines have been devoted to the exploits of the Lakers and Miami Heat or Carmelo Anthony’strade demand. The Spurs could care less.
“Luckily enough I don’t look at the radar so I wouldn’t know what is going on,” Duncan said. “I have better things to do, I guess.”
The Spurs also don’t measure themselves on their success in the regular season. If they keep winning in the playoffs, the acclaim will come.
“We laugh about it and love it,” Popovich said. “The less attention, the more time and focus we have to concentrate on what we’d like to do. Having the success we’ve had with championships, we don’t need anyone to give us credit.”
WHAT MAKES KG GREAT?
By: Kevin Eastman
We are very fortunate to have a Kevin Garnett to coach, and his teammates are fortunate to have a Kevin Garnett to lead. You may have your own Kevin Garnett or someone on your team that can develop into a Kevin Garnett -- not just from a talent standpoint but also from a leadership standpoint.
Here are some of the things I have observed Kevin doing, saying, or demonstrating that allow him to lead at a higher level than most.
• He always looks for teaching opportunities to help young players become “true professionals,” from the way they dress to the way they prepare for the game and for practice, to the way they interact with teammates.
• He lives the “team concept” every day in every way. In fact, last year Kevin wouldn’t do interviews without Paul Pierce or Ray Allen with him because he didn’t want the team to be “his” team; he always wanted it to be “our” team.
• He demands that the coaching staff coach him, call him out, correct him -- so that he can become a better player. He understands that coaching is not criticism, but a very important part of his improvement.
• He works on his game just about every day of our 287-day season. Understands that repetition is the key to being good.
• He is competitive and committed: he plays just as hard whether we are ahead or behind and whether he had 3 shots or 30 points.
• He shows everyone that the great ones just want to get better; always wants to know anything that will make him a better player.
• He often says, “it’s about what you are willing to sacrifice; that’s our way of life here with the Celtics. It’s about putting the team and winning before anything else.”
• He often says, “in order for this thing to work, we all have to sacrifice.”
• He always talks about defense: “We said from Day 1 that we were a defensive team that could also score.”
• And the ultimate sacrifice in today's me-oriented world Kevin says, “from Day 1 we said this is Paul’s team.” Everyone else wanted to make it Kevin’s team but he knew Paul deserved it because Paul had been with the Celtics during tough times.
The list could go on and on, but the point is that true leadership is not about oneself. It is the ability to get not only the most from your own ability but true leadership also means getting the most out of every teammate’s ability as well. Kevin does this by example, by teaching, by his public comments and by his unending commitment to team over self.
We are very fortunate to have a Kevin Garnett to coach, and his teammates are fortunate to have a Kevin Garnett to lead. You may have your own Kevin Garnett or someone on your team that can develop into a Kevin Garnett -- not just from a talent standpoint but also from a leadership standpoint.
Here are some of the things I have observed Kevin doing, saying, or demonstrating that allow him to lead at a higher level than most.
• He always looks for teaching opportunities to help young players become “true professionals,” from the way they dress to the way they prepare for the game and for practice, to the way they interact with teammates.
• He lives the “team concept” every day in every way. In fact, last year Kevin wouldn’t do interviews without Paul Pierce or Ray Allen with him because he didn’t want the team to be “his” team; he always wanted it to be “our” team.
• He demands that the coaching staff coach him, call him out, correct him -- so that he can become a better player. He understands that coaching is not criticism, but a very important part of his improvement.
• He works on his game just about every day of our 287-day season. Understands that repetition is the key to being good.
• He is competitive and committed: he plays just as hard whether we are ahead or behind and whether he had 3 shots or 30 points.
• He shows everyone that the great ones just want to get better; always wants to know anything that will make him a better player.
• He often says, “it’s about what you are willing to sacrifice; that’s our way of life here with the Celtics. It’s about putting the team and winning before anything else.”
• He often says, “in order for this thing to work, we all have to sacrifice.”
• He always talks about defense: “We said from Day 1 that we were a defensive team that could also score.”
• And the ultimate sacrifice in today's me-oriented world Kevin says, “from Day 1 we said this is Paul’s team.” Everyone else wanted to make it Kevin’s team but he knew Paul deserved it because Paul had been with the Celtics during tough times.
The list could go on and on, but the point is that true leadership is not about oneself. It is the ability to get not only the most from your own ability but true leadership also means getting the most out of every teammate’s ability as well. Kevin does this by example, by teaching, by his public comments and by his unending commitment to team over self.
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