A champagne bottle was in Bobby Scales' locker Tuesday to help him toast his first callup to the Major Leagues after 10 years in the Minors.
The gift was from Brian Sweeney, a pitcher who was Scales' teammate in 2004 at Triple-A Portland. Sweeney began playing professional baseball in 1996 and didn't get called up to the big leagues until 2003 with Seattle.
Scales hasn't spoken to the pitcher in two or three years, but Sweeney didn't forget his friend. The bottle of champagne was a reminder of their perseverance.
The note attached said: "All the hard work paid off."
Scales, called up to the big leagues for the first time Monday, made his first Major League start Tuesday for the Cubs, got his first Major League hit, scored his first Major League run and whiffed for his first Major League strikeout.
Scales will still treasure the game ball and lineup card from his first game, well deserved after more than 1,000 Minor League at-bats.
"Nobody can ever take it from you," said Scales. "I got it, I earned it. I'm just fortunate to have it."
He struck out on four pitches in his first at-bat in the second inning, but he delivered a single to left with two outs in the fifth. As he got to first base, he could exhale.
"He threw me a fastball and I was able to get on top of it," Scales said. "There's no rocket science behind it. It found some grass.
Teammate Micah Hoffpauir said. "He's put in the time and has paid the price. He deserves everything he's got."
"The thing I had to work the most on, I had to work on my defense if I wanted to make it to the majors," Scales said.
He credited two coaches -- Tony Franklin and Bobby Dickerson with polishing his field work.
"Early on, Tony had a lot of work to do and he did the heavy lifting," Scales said. "It was one of those things where you think you're good and you're not."
The Padres apparently wanted to move Scales to the outfield, but Franklin lobbied to keep Scales in the infield.
"His belief in me, I can't tell you what it means," Scales said. "I don't have words for it."
Scales' time in the big leagues may be limited. Scales knows his role.
"I just have to do what Skip asks me to do," Scales said. "He called for me, so however he sees fit to use me, that's what I have to do."
He's come a long way. In the offseason, Scales is a teacher in the Alpharetta, Ga., area, and this past winter, he handled a physical education class and four health classes. Playing in front of 39,497 at Wrigley Field is a lot different than being in front of high schoolers.
"I knew for a fact I could play here and I could contribute to a big league team," Scales said. "That never wavered. Whether guys get opportunities, that's not up to me. There are guys at home, good players I know, who had better numbers than me and never had a chance. You wonder if that day will come but there was never a doubt I could play."
Piniella keeps calling Scales a "kid." In baseball terms, 31 is not considered young.
5.07.2009
5.05.2009
QUOTES
"I WOULD WALK THROUGH HELL IN A GASOLINE SUIT TO PLAY BASEBALL." Pete Rose
George Karl on Chauncey Billups: "You don't understand how good he is running the team. He's the head coach a lot."
Coach Woodson on Mike Bibby: “Without him we’re lost. He’s our quarterback."
George Karl on Chauncey Billups: "You don't understand how good he is running the team. He's the head coach a lot."
Coach Woodson on Mike Bibby: “Without him we’re lost. He’s our quarterback."
DERRICK ROSE
Derrick Rose the No. 1 overall pick easily won Rookie of the Year honors, averaged 17 points on 48 percent shooting and 6 assists and seamlessly handled the transition from college to the NBA.
Of course, that's not the way Rose sees it.
"I need to work on my jump shot, my defense and becoming a leader," Rose said. "I've got to lead the team better. I've got to control the game a little more as a point guard."
It's well documented by now that Rose's humility and self-critical eye are as prodigious as his talent, and he clearly is the Bulls' centerpiece moving forward.
Nevertheless, Rose himself raises an intriguing dynamic on the leadership front. Fairly shy by nature, it was apparent throughout the season that Rose occasionally struggled walking the fine line between dominating and deferring.
His unique gifts of strength and speed allowed him to take over games at times. Yet as a rookie, particularly a soft-spoken one, he also would disappear for stretches, trying to get his teammates involved.
Rose attempted one fourth-quarter shot in Game 7 of the Celtics' series.
"I'm still a point guard," Rose said. "I can't come down and shoot seven shots in a row. I still have to look for people and get them open."
Beyond mastering the fine line between being a scorer and facilitator, coach Vinny Del Negro mentioned shooting, understanding and recognizing defensive coverages, understanding time and score as areas in which he'd most like to see Rose improve.
Kirk Hinrich doesn't possess Rose's talent, but he does own a unique perspective of playing major minutes as a starting point guard as a rookie. Hinrich did so for a non-playoff team, but he still contemplated long and hard when asked how much better Rose can master the leadership dynamic in his second season.
"It's a tough question because Derrick's so darn good this year," Hinrich said. "As time goes on leadership will come more naturally for him. Obviously, he's going to be the leader of this team. Everyone is excited about his future. “
"I think leading will be much easier because I learned so much this season. I put myself in a good position. I came in, played my role as a rookie, listened to my veterans and led by my work ethic,” Rose said.
"There's always room for improvement. I plan to work so hard, you'll be able to tell I got better."
Of course, that's not the way Rose sees it.
"I need to work on my jump shot, my defense and becoming a leader," Rose said. "I've got to lead the team better. I've got to control the game a little more as a point guard."
It's well documented by now that Rose's humility and self-critical eye are as prodigious as his talent, and he clearly is the Bulls' centerpiece moving forward.
Nevertheless, Rose himself raises an intriguing dynamic on the leadership front. Fairly shy by nature, it was apparent throughout the season that Rose occasionally struggled walking the fine line between dominating and deferring.
His unique gifts of strength and speed allowed him to take over games at times. Yet as a rookie, particularly a soft-spoken one, he also would disappear for stretches, trying to get his teammates involved.
Rose attempted one fourth-quarter shot in Game 7 of the Celtics' series.
"I'm still a point guard," Rose said. "I can't come down and shoot seven shots in a row. I still have to look for people and get them open."
Beyond mastering the fine line between being a scorer and facilitator, coach Vinny Del Negro mentioned shooting, understanding and recognizing defensive coverages, understanding time and score as areas in which he'd most like to see Rose improve.
Kirk Hinrich doesn't possess Rose's talent, but he does own a unique perspective of playing major minutes as a starting point guard as a rookie. Hinrich did so for a non-playoff team, but he still contemplated long and hard when asked how much better Rose can master the leadership dynamic in his second season.
"It's a tough question because Derrick's so darn good this year," Hinrich said. "As time goes on leadership will come more naturally for him. Obviously, he's going to be the leader of this team. Everyone is excited about his future. “
"I think leading will be much easier because I learned so much this season. I put myself in a good position. I came in, played my role as a rookie, listened to my veterans and led by my work ethic,” Rose said.
"There's always room for improvement. I plan to work so hard, you'll be able to tell I got better."
5.02.2009
PETE CARRIL
-- Whatever you emphasize and to the degree that you do, you get better at it.
-- As a player, you want to be good at those things that happen a lot -- that cannot be overstated. What happens a lot? You dribble, you pass, and you shoot -- you want to be good at those skills.
-- I tell my guys that if they work hard every day, then they don't have to worry about game plans, or where they play, or whom they play, or about rankings and so on. The quality of their work habits can overcome anything: praise, criticism, good or bad coaching. They have their daily behavior to fall back on.
-- I can check the level of your honesty and commitment by the quality of your effort on the court. You cannot separate sports from your life, no matter how hard you try. Your personality shows up on the court: greed, indifference, whatever, it all shows up. You cannot hide it.
-- If a guy cannot pass, the ball stops moving. If he cannot shoot, he will always be open. If he cannot dribble, he cuts his value to the team by one third. Furthermore, if he cannot dribble, the defense will attack him. If you want to become a better dribbler, dribble. Dribble on a court, with a man guarding you. It's one of those skills we are not paying enough attention to.
-- If you want to learn how to shoot a specific shot in basketball, get the mechanics straight, then go out and practice hard. Once you have the right basics, you can teach yourself how to shoot.
-- When a player is told what he has to do to become a better player, does he get mad at the coach, or at himself? If he gets made at the coach, he'll never get better as a player. If he gets mad at himself, he will get better.
-- There's a difference between the guys who play to win and those who play not to lose. A big difference. When you play to win, you do all of the extra things that maybe aren't visible, but the results is that you come out on top. Playing to win [means] subordinating [your] needs to those of the team. Remember, some guys walk out of a losing game having scored 25 points and are perfectly content. If you have guys like that on your team, you're not going to win too many games. You cannot ever forget the human equation in sports.
-- The essence of character is what I call mental and physical courage. Everybody has the potential for courage, but some people -- because they have had to demonstrate it all their lives -- are good at it, whereas others are not until the need suddenly arises and they have to learn to react. Basketball brings out the need for courage.
-- Everybody makes such a big deal today about team play because there's such a scarcity of it. Greed is a reason. You have to understand the influence of greed. A player has to be selfish in the pursuit of the development of his skills, but he cannot be selfish when it comes time to blend them in with what's good for his team.
-- Defense is the heart of our game. Good defense is recognizable even when you're losing. The object of my defensive strategy is to contest every pass and shot, to force the opponent to move the ball under continuous pressure. I want the other team to play offense longer than they're used to. Defense is not a variable. It's a constant. Defense has to be deeply embedded in your attitude. It's something you can do well every time -- both the individual and the team. Skill is a variable. Work is not a variable. It's an attitude. Defense is head, heart, and legs.
-- Nothing is more intimidating than deflecting passes. It makes a passer very tentative. I say that if you don't use your hands, you're committing a bigger sin and aren't as effective defensively.
-- The truth is, you can take whatever defensive philosophy you want and reverse it and a forceful coach will make it work. It's mostly attitude and effort that make a defense successful. But one thing -- putting pressure on the ball -- has more of an impact than any philosophical discussion of how to guard a man. If each player, when he guards his man, can press him, put pressure on him, you'll disturb passes and intimidate your opponents.
-- Good players are always moving their legs.
-- Players who do not compete hard against each other because they're afraid it will affect their friendship have trouble getting better.
-- I don't like to see a guy get patted on the back for doing simple things, for doing the things he should do. You have to be able to tell a player or coach when he does a bad job that it is a bad job. You show respect by praising them when they do the things that deserve praise. They must learn the difference between what is done right and what is done wrong, and if you try to make them similar with easy praise, you'll never succeed in teaching them the difference.
-- When you demand a lot, my experience has been that you get more. If you insist on less, you get that, too. Self-esteem comes from accomplishment, not the other way around. The more you demand, the more they give, the stronger the sense of satisfaction.
-- Every little thing you do on offense counts. That means every pass, every cut, every screen, every dribble is part of the end result and therefore require care and concern. We try to make it simple and we work hard to make things easy.
-- Cut with credibility. What I like my guys to do on offense to start a game is pass and cut through the defense. The minute you do, you start to move the defense, a main goal. It also helps to identify the defense, whether it's a zone, a combo, or a man-to-man. It is essential that when a cutter cuts through, he look for the ball. There will be no credibility to the cut unless the player executes it with authenticity, i.e., believes he might receive the ball.
-- Size is not the most important thing about rebounding. Knowing how to use your body, seeing where the ball is going, that's what counts. It is not the guy who jumps the highest. The guy who jumps the highest is all alone. Jumping in a crowd is another story. Just watch guys like Larry Bird. A good rebounder plays for position, but is always attentive to the ball. You cannot lose sight of the ball. You've got to have some idea where the ball is going and how to prevent your man from getting it.
-- Pivoting is one of the most underrated techniques and skills, and when you go to teach it, someone always asks, "Why bother?" We have to teach the player to disregard the feeling that it's not essential, that it's not necessary in today's game. One reason some players disregard its importance is that they do it so easily.
-- Fakes are like lies. The first thing I tell anyone about faking is that if you're going to fake, your move has to look like the real thing. When you go to tell a lie, it has to be close enough to the truth to be believable. Same thing. So often, guys fake so strenuously that they telegraph the fake: Their fake looks like a fake. Young kids have to be actors and develop cunning. They shouldn't work only on one fake; you always want to have more than one weapon. Also, if you're wide open, don't fake -- shoot!
-- Conditioning: I tell my players if you play hard every time you play, you'll be in good enough shape. Once practice starts, we work hard and that's the best conditioning there is. Everything counts. Run hard, play hard, go after the ball hard, guard hard. Everything we do is game-condition because how you play in practice is how you'll play in a game.
-- How do you know if your team has camaraderie? I can tell by the way they walk off the floor at the end of practice. You can feel their happiness vibrating; you can see how they work out together; you can watch it in the shower room -- what they're talking about, the level of excitement. There are many ways you can feel it, and it's better to feel it than to hear it. The camaraderie practically comes out of their bodies. And you don't feel that way when you're losing. Losing reveals things.
-- A good high school coach is the salt of the earth. And when his teams are well coached, a college coach is the direct beneficiary of all his work. When players who have had good high school coaching walk on the floor in college, there isn't much that a coach has to do. I cannot emphasize enough what it means to start with that great coach at the sixth or seventh grade who tries to get kids to do things better. Grade school coaches are the unsung heroes of this country and they're disappearing because it takes a lot of work and constant attention. Sometimes it is too much of a sacrifice.
-- I don't recruit players who are nasty to their parents. That shows they are giving less than they can give and can't forge the bonds essential for a good team. I look for players who understand that the world does not revolve around them.
-- There are so many things that don't show up on the stat sheet, or in the win and loss column, that no one can explain, but you see them and they affect the outcome of games. There are hundreds of them: Players who learn how to do something just by watching compared to those who watch the same demonstration and can't do it; who go after loose balls and come up with every one of them as opposed to someone who tries just as hard and comes up with none. How is it that one guy can deflect a pass over and over again and another cannot? Many times I ask myself the question, "Am I trying to teach this player instinct, or am I teaching him a skill?" Whether you're trying to teach a college player or a seven-year-old, you are looking for instinct.
-- The most important thing that you can do is DO what you are doing well. The most important thing you can do on or off the court is to focus on what you are doing when you are doing it. When you play, PLAY. When you study, STUDY.
-- As a player, you want to be good at those things that happen a lot -- that cannot be overstated. What happens a lot? You dribble, you pass, and you shoot -- you want to be good at those skills.
-- I tell my guys that if they work hard every day, then they don't have to worry about game plans, or where they play, or whom they play, or about rankings and so on. The quality of their work habits can overcome anything: praise, criticism, good or bad coaching. They have their daily behavior to fall back on.
-- I can check the level of your honesty and commitment by the quality of your effort on the court. You cannot separate sports from your life, no matter how hard you try. Your personality shows up on the court: greed, indifference, whatever, it all shows up. You cannot hide it.
-- If a guy cannot pass, the ball stops moving. If he cannot shoot, he will always be open. If he cannot dribble, he cuts his value to the team by one third. Furthermore, if he cannot dribble, the defense will attack him. If you want to become a better dribbler, dribble. Dribble on a court, with a man guarding you. It's one of those skills we are not paying enough attention to.
-- If you want to learn how to shoot a specific shot in basketball, get the mechanics straight, then go out and practice hard. Once you have the right basics, you can teach yourself how to shoot.
-- When a player is told what he has to do to become a better player, does he get mad at the coach, or at himself? If he gets made at the coach, he'll never get better as a player. If he gets mad at himself, he will get better.
-- There's a difference between the guys who play to win and those who play not to lose. A big difference. When you play to win, you do all of the extra things that maybe aren't visible, but the results is that you come out on top. Playing to win [means] subordinating [your] needs to those of the team. Remember, some guys walk out of a losing game having scored 25 points and are perfectly content. If you have guys like that on your team, you're not going to win too many games. You cannot ever forget the human equation in sports.
-- The essence of character is what I call mental and physical courage. Everybody has the potential for courage, but some people -- because they have had to demonstrate it all their lives -- are good at it, whereas others are not until the need suddenly arises and they have to learn to react. Basketball brings out the need for courage.
-- Everybody makes such a big deal today about team play because there's such a scarcity of it. Greed is a reason. You have to understand the influence of greed. A player has to be selfish in the pursuit of the development of his skills, but he cannot be selfish when it comes time to blend them in with what's good for his team.
-- Defense is the heart of our game. Good defense is recognizable even when you're losing. The object of my defensive strategy is to contest every pass and shot, to force the opponent to move the ball under continuous pressure. I want the other team to play offense longer than they're used to. Defense is not a variable. It's a constant. Defense has to be deeply embedded in your attitude. It's something you can do well every time -- both the individual and the team. Skill is a variable. Work is not a variable. It's an attitude. Defense is head, heart, and legs.
-- Nothing is more intimidating than deflecting passes. It makes a passer very tentative. I say that if you don't use your hands, you're committing a bigger sin and aren't as effective defensively.
-- The truth is, you can take whatever defensive philosophy you want and reverse it and a forceful coach will make it work. It's mostly attitude and effort that make a defense successful. But one thing -- putting pressure on the ball -- has more of an impact than any philosophical discussion of how to guard a man. If each player, when he guards his man, can press him, put pressure on him, you'll disturb passes and intimidate your opponents.
-- Good players are always moving their legs.
-- Players who do not compete hard against each other because they're afraid it will affect their friendship have trouble getting better.
-- I don't like to see a guy get patted on the back for doing simple things, for doing the things he should do. You have to be able to tell a player or coach when he does a bad job that it is a bad job. You show respect by praising them when they do the things that deserve praise. They must learn the difference between what is done right and what is done wrong, and if you try to make them similar with easy praise, you'll never succeed in teaching them the difference.
-- When you demand a lot, my experience has been that you get more. If you insist on less, you get that, too. Self-esteem comes from accomplishment, not the other way around. The more you demand, the more they give, the stronger the sense of satisfaction.
-- Every little thing you do on offense counts. That means every pass, every cut, every screen, every dribble is part of the end result and therefore require care and concern. We try to make it simple and we work hard to make things easy.
-- Cut with credibility. What I like my guys to do on offense to start a game is pass and cut through the defense. The minute you do, you start to move the defense, a main goal. It also helps to identify the defense, whether it's a zone, a combo, or a man-to-man. It is essential that when a cutter cuts through, he look for the ball. There will be no credibility to the cut unless the player executes it with authenticity, i.e., believes he might receive the ball.
-- Size is not the most important thing about rebounding. Knowing how to use your body, seeing where the ball is going, that's what counts. It is not the guy who jumps the highest. The guy who jumps the highest is all alone. Jumping in a crowd is another story. Just watch guys like Larry Bird. A good rebounder plays for position, but is always attentive to the ball. You cannot lose sight of the ball. You've got to have some idea where the ball is going and how to prevent your man from getting it.
-- Pivoting is one of the most underrated techniques and skills, and when you go to teach it, someone always asks, "Why bother?" We have to teach the player to disregard the feeling that it's not essential, that it's not necessary in today's game. One reason some players disregard its importance is that they do it so easily.
-- Fakes are like lies. The first thing I tell anyone about faking is that if you're going to fake, your move has to look like the real thing. When you go to tell a lie, it has to be close enough to the truth to be believable. Same thing. So often, guys fake so strenuously that they telegraph the fake: Their fake looks like a fake. Young kids have to be actors and develop cunning. They shouldn't work only on one fake; you always want to have more than one weapon. Also, if you're wide open, don't fake -- shoot!
-- Conditioning: I tell my players if you play hard every time you play, you'll be in good enough shape. Once practice starts, we work hard and that's the best conditioning there is. Everything counts. Run hard, play hard, go after the ball hard, guard hard. Everything we do is game-condition because how you play in practice is how you'll play in a game.
-- How do you know if your team has camaraderie? I can tell by the way they walk off the floor at the end of practice. You can feel their happiness vibrating; you can see how they work out together; you can watch it in the shower room -- what they're talking about, the level of excitement. There are many ways you can feel it, and it's better to feel it than to hear it. The camaraderie practically comes out of their bodies. And you don't feel that way when you're losing. Losing reveals things.
-- A good high school coach is the salt of the earth. And when his teams are well coached, a college coach is the direct beneficiary of all his work. When players who have had good high school coaching walk on the floor in college, there isn't much that a coach has to do. I cannot emphasize enough what it means to start with that great coach at the sixth or seventh grade who tries to get kids to do things better. Grade school coaches are the unsung heroes of this country and they're disappearing because it takes a lot of work and constant attention. Sometimes it is too much of a sacrifice.
-- I don't recruit players who are nasty to their parents. That shows they are giving less than they can give and can't forge the bonds essential for a good team. I look for players who understand that the world does not revolve around them.
-- There are so many things that don't show up on the stat sheet, or in the win and loss column, that no one can explain, but you see them and they affect the outcome of games. There are hundreds of them: Players who learn how to do something just by watching compared to those who watch the same demonstration and can't do it; who go after loose balls and come up with every one of them as opposed to someone who tries just as hard and comes up with none. How is it that one guy can deflect a pass over and over again and another cannot? Many times I ask myself the question, "Am I trying to teach this player instinct, or am I teaching him a skill?" Whether you're trying to teach a college player or a seven-year-old, you are looking for instinct.
-- The most important thing that you can do is DO what you are doing well. The most important thing you can do on or off the court is to focus on what you are doing when you are doing it. When you play, PLAY. When you study, STUDY.
RAJON RONDO
Rajon Rondo has his own ideas on how things should go. He was convinced the best way to compensate for the numbing loss of Kevin Garnett in the Boston Celtics' opening playoff game was to attack the Chicago Bulls, to exploit them with his speed and his athleticism.
But Rondo didn't count on rookie point guard Derrick Rose upstaging him with his own spectacular arsenal of penetration moves. He never expected Chicago's pick-and-roll sets to shred his team's defense. Fourteen of the final 18 Bulls possessions in Game 1 were a result of that fundamental concept. Rose torched the Celtics for 36 points in Chicago's win and, while Boston failed collectively in executing the proper defensive rotations, Rondo was more specific in placing the blame.
It was on him.
"I don't think I got four hours' sleep after that game," Rondo confessed. "I was really down. I put so much pressure on myself. It took a lot out of me."
Before Game 2, the kid who thought he had all the answers went to coach Doc Rivers searching for guidance. Should he slow down the pace? Should he have gotten Paul Pierce involved earlier? Did he shoot too much? Should he stop reaching?
The questions were valid, borne from a sleepless night of introspection. Most days, Rivers came to practice prepared to knock his point guard, brimming with bravado, down a peg. This time Rivers became concerned Rondo was grappling with too many internal issues to approach Game 2 with a clear head.
"You have the keys to the team," Rivers told him. "Just go out and play."
It has been a complex process for the 23-year-old guard, who spent a breakout season overshadowed by veterans with strong opinions and gaudy résumés.
Before Garnett went down with an injured knee, if the World Champion Boston Celtics fell behind in a tight game, KG and Pierce and Ray Allen felt compelled to make things right. As their competitive urges simultaneously kicked in, their thought process tended to lead them to an identical conclusion: Give me the ball.
The problem was only one of them could have it.
It was up to Rondo, their skinny "little brother" to determine who should be awarded the critical shot.
"What they came to realize," said Celtics general manager Danny Ainge recently, "is they need him every bit as much as he needs them."
Although Ray Allen knocked down the game winner in Game 2, it was Rondo (19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists, 5 steals) who forced tempo, choked off Rose's attempts to drive into the paint and delivered the ball to his scorers.
Sometimes during the regular season when Allen gestured for the ball, Rondo stared right through one of the best pure shooters in the game to feed Pierce on the opposite wing because he knew he needed to keep the Truth involved. When Garnett established position in the post and signaled he was open, his arms flailing for emphasis, Rondo blithely glided past him, exploiting the seam in the defense the double-team on KG created.
Those decisions did not make him popular, but they made him respected.
"He earned our trust," Pierce confirmed. "When you think about it, his job is probably a little intimidating. I can't imagine being a second- or third-year player and trying to divvy up the ball between three All-Stars."
Doc Rivers helped Rondo prepare for the job by sharing stories of his tour of duty as a 27-year-old point guard with the 1988-89 Atlanta Hawks, a team that featured future Hall of Famers Moses Malone and Dominique Wilkins and the prolific Reggie Theus. All three were double-figure scorers and none had any qualms about pulling Rivers aside and demanding more touches.
It went on like that for nearly a month. Finally, with the Hawks lined up for a foul shot, each grabbed Doc and whispered, "Get it to me. I'm feeling it."
The next time down the floor, Rivers pointedly glared at all three of them and called a play, the message was clear: 'This is my show.'
Rondo has delivered the same edict by paring down his assist-to-turnover ratio (3.15 to 1) and shooting 50.5 percent from the floor in the regular season. Though Rondo weighs just a wisp over 170 pounds, he proved to be both rugged and durable, even after re-aggravating an ankle sprain in Game 2 that left his foot swollen to three times its normal size. Rondo sat out Tuesday's practice, but vowed, "I'm taping it up, and I'm playing."
When the Celtics signed veteran Stephon Marbury, a number of pundits wondered if it was a good idea. Marbury is a strong personality who, so the theory went, could disrupt the psyche of a young player. Rondo's teammates howled when they heard that. Lack of confidence is rarely an issue.
"I'm just telling you, Rajon is real cocky," said center Kendrick Perkins. "He's got swagger. The good kind."
That wasn't always true. Two seasons ago, before the banners and the plaudits and applause, when Rondo was in charge of a team that won just 24 games, he'd throw a no-look bullet and when it was dropped out of bounds he'd roll his eyes in exasperation. If he set up a shooter for the open jumper and it clanged off the rim, the shooter was subjected to the Rondo stare, a look steeped in disdain and aggravation.
Rivers hauled his supposed floor leader into his office and asked him, "Do you know your teammates hate playing with you?"
Rondo displayed no emotion, but his coach's comments left him struggling to breathe.
"The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team," Rivers chided him. "You can't be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it."
Rondo retreated to his apartment to process Rivers' rebuke.
"It was a reality check," Rondo admitted. "I wasn't positive. If I threw a pass they didn't catch, instead of saying, 'Let's get the next one,' I'd make a face. It wasn't what I said. It was more my body language."
This was not a new refrain. When Rondo signed with Kentucky, coach Tubby Smith salivated over the potential of a "world class athlete" who he believed could clear 7feet in the high jump or challenge the collegiate record in the 100 meters.
Smith's preseason drills included sprinting a series of 200-yard dashes. Rondo developed a habit of running at half speed, then casually turning it up a notch at the finish line.
"His teammates were working so hard, and at the last minute he's blowing past them," Tubby said. "They knew he was better. But he wouldn't show it every time."
He set a school record at Kentucky for steals, but had no perimeter game and no patience for the mistakes of his peers. He was inconsistent; brilliant one day, barely engaged the next, alternately delighting and enraging his teammates.
"If you want them to respect you, you have to make them better," Smith said.
"But coach," Rondo complained, "they keep dropping the ball."
"Rajon," Smith answered, "then figure out a pass they can catch."
Rondo's indifference left Smith commiserating with his assistants late into the night. "We'd ask ourselves, 'How can we get Rajon to go beyond?'" he said.
Soon Ainge and Rivers were posing the same question. It all came too easily for Rondo, and it wasn't until the arrival of the Big Three that he met his athletic match. KG, Pierce and Allen demonstrated the one trait he lacked -- consistency. He dutifully (and silently) monitored their habits. He noticed each of them came to the arena at the same time every game day. Allen had a litany of specific rituals to prepare himself, including a pregame shower.
Rondo identified with some of Allen's compulsive routines. For years, Rondo went to great pains to make sure his feet never touched the ground. That required a towel in front of his locker, flip flops available at all times, especially when walking around a hotel room.
"You won't ever see me barefoot," Rondo said.
The point guard's own pregame routine now includes five showers a day: when he wakes up, after shootaround, after his nap, after he completes his pregame warm-up at the Garden and after the actual game. Before Garnett went down, Rondo also began joining KG on the bench in the pregame huddle, waiting until Rivers declared "Let's go!" before standing up. It was something Garnett had done since he arrived in Boston.
"Then one day I look over and there's Rondo," said Allen. "We laugh about it, but you know what? He's learning, watching all the time. Some guys try to get through this league by the seat of their pants.
"Rajon is not going to be one of those players."
Rondo's new edict is not to allow his routine to hold him hostage. On Dec. 15 against Utah, Rondo found himself mired in one of Boston's notorious traffic jams. He got off one exit earlier than normal to avoid the gridlock but his strategy backfired and he needed a police escort to the Garden. He made it with a couple of minutes to spare, but missed out on his pregame shooting and his customary pregame shower.
"I'm going to play bad," Rondo said to Perkins, as they took the floor.
Two and a half hours later, Rondo walked off with 25 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds against Deron Williams, one of the top point guards in the league. The Celtics won 100-81.
"The single biggest thing with him is getting him to compete night in and night out," said Danny Ainge
If only, Ainge and Rivers lament, the kid would demonstrate that focus through 82 games.
The adjustments come in spurts. Last season when teams left him open for the perimeter jumper, Rondo took it personally. He was easily baited into pulling up for that 16-footer.
"But he's become much more aware of what his team needs," observed Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. "He's learned that sometimes passing up an open shot is the best thing he can do. That's what separated him from other guys this season. He's fine with 8 points and 10 assists or 18 points and 10 assists. That's maturity."
Just play. His coach implored his young point guard to follow his gifted instincts. "Just remember to bring your teammates along for the ride," Doc said.
But Rondo didn't count on rookie point guard Derrick Rose upstaging him with his own spectacular arsenal of penetration moves. He never expected Chicago's pick-and-roll sets to shred his team's defense. Fourteen of the final 18 Bulls possessions in Game 1 were a result of that fundamental concept. Rose torched the Celtics for 36 points in Chicago's win and, while Boston failed collectively in executing the proper defensive rotations, Rondo was more specific in placing the blame.
It was on him.
"I don't think I got four hours' sleep after that game," Rondo confessed. "I was really down. I put so much pressure on myself. It took a lot out of me."
Before Game 2, the kid who thought he had all the answers went to coach Doc Rivers searching for guidance. Should he slow down the pace? Should he have gotten Paul Pierce involved earlier? Did he shoot too much? Should he stop reaching?
The questions were valid, borne from a sleepless night of introspection. Most days, Rivers came to practice prepared to knock his point guard, brimming with bravado, down a peg. This time Rivers became concerned Rondo was grappling with too many internal issues to approach Game 2 with a clear head.
"You have the keys to the team," Rivers told him. "Just go out and play."
It has been a complex process for the 23-year-old guard, who spent a breakout season overshadowed by veterans with strong opinions and gaudy résumés.
Before Garnett went down with an injured knee, if the World Champion Boston Celtics fell behind in a tight game, KG and Pierce and Ray Allen felt compelled to make things right. As their competitive urges simultaneously kicked in, their thought process tended to lead them to an identical conclusion: Give me the ball.
The problem was only one of them could have it.
It was up to Rondo, their skinny "little brother" to determine who should be awarded the critical shot.
"What they came to realize," said Celtics general manager Danny Ainge recently, "is they need him every bit as much as he needs them."
Although Ray Allen knocked down the game winner in Game 2, it was Rondo (19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists, 5 steals) who forced tempo, choked off Rose's attempts to drive into the paint and delivered the ball to his scorers.
Sometimes during the regular season when Allen gestured for the ball, Rondo stared right through one of the best pure shooters in the game to feed Pierce on the opposite wing because he knew he needed to keep the Truth involved. When Garnett established position in the post and signaled he was open, his arms flailing for emphasis, Rondo blithely glided past him, exploiting the seam in the defense the double-team on KG created.
Those decisions did not make him popular, but they made him respected.
"He earned our trust," Pierce confirmed. "When you think about it, his job is probably a little intimidating. I can't imagine being a second- or third-year player and trying to divvy up the ball between three All-Stars."
Doc Rivers helped Rondo prepare for the job by sharing stories of his tour of duty as a 27-year-old point guard with the 1988-89 Atlanta Hawks, a team that featured future Hall of Famers Moses Malone and Dominique Wilkins and the prolific Reggie Theus. All three were double-figure scorers and none had any qualms about pulling Rivers aside and demanding more touches.
It went on like that for nearly a month. Finally, with the Hawks lined up for a foul shot, each grabbed Doc and whispered, "Get it to me. I'm feeling it."
The next time down the floor, Rivers pointedly glared at all three of them and called a play, the message was clear: 'This is my show.'
Rondo has delivered the same edict by paring down his assist-to-turnover ratio (3.15 to 1) and shooting 50.5 percent from the floor in the regular season. Though Rondo weighs just a wisp over 170 pounds, he proved to be both rugged and durable, even after re-aggravating an ankle sprain in Game 2 that left his foot swollen to three times its normal size. Rondo sat out Tuesday's practice, but vowed, "I'm taping it up, and I'm playing."
When the Celtics signed veteran Stephon Marbury, a number of pundits wondered if it was a good idea. Marbury is a strong personality who, so the theory went, could disrupt the psyche of a young player. Rondo's teammates howled when they heard that. Lack of confidence is rarely an issue.
"I'm just telling you, Rajon is real cocky," said center Kendrick Perkins. "He's got swagger. The good kind."
That wasn't always true. Two seasons ago, before the banners and the plaudits and applause, when Rondo was in charge of a team that won just 24 games, he'd throw a no-look bullet and when it was dropped out of bounds he'd roll his eyes in exasperation. If he set up a shooter for the open jumper and it clanged off the rim, the shooter was subjected to the Rondo stare, a look steeped in disdain and aggravation.
Rivers hauled his supposed floor leader into his office and asked him, "Do you know your teammates hate playing with you?"
Rondo displayed no emotion, but his coach's comments left him struggling to breathe.
"The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team," Rivers chided him. "You can't be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it."
Rondo retreated to his apartment to process Rivers' rebuke.
"It was a reality check," Rondo admitted. "I wasn't positive. If I threw a pass they didn't catch, instead of saying, 'Let's get the next one,' I'd make a face. It wasn't what I said. It was more my body language."
This was not a new refrain. When Rondo signed with Kentucky, coach Tubby Smith salivated over the potential of a "world class athlete" who he believed could clear 7feet in the high jump or challenge the collegiate record in the 100 meters.
Smith's preseason drills included sprinting a series of 200-yard dashes. Rondo developed a habit of running at half speed, then casually turning it up a notch at the finish line.
"His teammates were working so hard, and at the last minute he's blowing past them," Tubby said. "They knew he was better. But he wouldn't show it every time."
He set a school record at Kentucky for steals, but had no perimeter game and no patience for the mistakes of his peers. He was inconsistent; brilliant one day, barely engaged the next, alternately delighting and enraging his teammates.
"If you want them to respect you, you have to make them better," Smith said.
"But coach," Rondo complained, "they keep dropping the ball."
"Rajon," Smith answered, "then figure out a pass they can catch."
Rondo's indifference left Smith commiserating with his assistants late into the night. "We'd ask ourselves, 'How can we get Rajon to go beyond?'" he said.
Soon Ainge and Rivers were posing the same question. It all came too easily for Rondo, and it wasn't until the arrival of the Big Three that he met his athletic match. KG, Pierce and Allen demonstrated the one trait he lacked -- consistency. He dutifully (and silently) monitored their habits. He noticed each of them came to the arena at the same time every game day. Allen had a litany of specific rituals to prepare himself, including a pregame shower.
Rondo identified with some of Allen's compulsive routines. For years, Rondo went to great pains to make sure his feet never touched the ground. That required a towel in front of his locker, flip flops available at all times, especially when walking around a hotel room.
"You won't ever see me barefoot," Rondo said.
The point guard's own pregame routine now includes five showers a day: when he wakes up, after shootaround, after his nap, after he completes his pregame warm-up at the Garden and after the actual game. Before Garnett went down, Rondo also began joining KG on the bench in the pregame huddle, waiting until Rivers declared "Let's go!" before standing up. It was something Garnett had done since he arrived in Boston.
"Then one day I look over and there's Rondo," said Allen. "We laugh about it, but you know what? He's learning, watching all the time. Some guys try to get through this league by the seat of their pants.
"Rajon is not going to be one of those players."
Rondo's new edict is not to allow his routine to hold him hostage. On Dec. 15 against Utah, Rondo found himself mired in one of Boston's notorious traffic jams. He got off one exit earlier than normal to avoid the gridlock but his strategy backfired and he needed a police escort to the Garden. He made it with a couple of minutes to spare, but missed out on his pregame shooting and his customary pregame shower.
"I'm going to play bad," Rondo said to Perkins, as they took the floor.
Two and a half hours later, Rondo walked off with 25 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds against Deron Williams, one of the top point guards in the league. The Celtics won 100-81.
"The single biggest thing with him is getting him to compete night in and night out," said Danny Ainge
If only, Ainge and Rivers lament, the kid would demonstrate that focus through 82 games.
The adjustments come in spurts. Last season when teams left him open for the perimeter jumper, Rondo took it personally. He was easily baited into pulling up for that 16-footer.
"But he's become much more aware of what his team needs," observed Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. "He's learned that sometimes passing up an open shot is the best thing he can do. That's what separated him from other guys this season. He's fine with 8 points and 10 assists or 18 points and 10 assists. That's maturity."
Just play. His coach implored his young point guard to follow his gifted instincts. "Just remember to bring your teammates along for the ride," Doc said.
JAMES DRIVEN TO CARRY CAVS TO A CHAMPIONSHIP
Nobody will be there, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown thought as he left the house early one morning last May.
It was a few days after Cleveland's disappointing season ended with a bitter loss to the Boston Celtics. The Cavaliers had dispersed to Cancun, the French Riviera and other vacation spots for rejuvenation and reflection.
Brown was headed to the team's plush training compound with his son, Elijah. Time for some father-son bonding with nobody around but security guards.
But as the Browns walked in the door, the lights were on in the gym. And as they neared the courts, they heard the thump, thump, thump of a basketball kissing hardwood.
One Cavalier stayed home.
LeBron James was already back at work.
"I said, 'See, LeBron doesn't just show up at the games with his Superman outfit on,"' Brown recalled telling his impressionable boy. "He works harder than anyone. That's why he's LeBron."
And since that spring day, James, the NBA's most unstoppable force, hasn't ceased working.
The likely MVP for this season is beyond driven, more like obsessed.
"I have never seen LeBron more focused and more determined," said Maverick Carter, James' business partner and lifelong friend.
Motivated to win his first title and deliver one to a sports-obsessed region -- his home -- that has waited 45 years to sip championship champagne in any major U.S. sport, the 24-year-old superstar has the Cavaliers on the cusp of greatness.
"The goal since day one has been a championship," James said. "Nothing less."
And if his play in Cleveland's first-round playoff obliteration of Detroit is any indication -- he almost averaged a triple-double in the four-game sweep -- James will settle for nothing less than winning everything.
When last season's Eastern Conference finals finished in a Game 7 loss at Boston, James stormed off the court without making congratulatory handshakes or good-luck hugs or a word. He was disgusted. Never again, James promised himself.
His 45-point performance, overshadowed by Paul Pierce's 41 in the Celtics' triumph, wasn't enough to get the Cavaliers back to the finals. The team had underachieved and never gelled following general manager Danny Ferry's massive roster overhaul at the trading deadline.
James needed help, and at the postgame news conference he indirectly ordered Ferry to get him some. James then set out to change himself.
He took two days off and then was right back at Cleveland's opulent, 50,000-square-foot (4,600-square-meter) facility, located a short drive from James' almost-as-big mansion. The Beijing Olympics were looming, and if an NBA championship wasn't in his cards, well, he was getting that gold medal.
For the first time in his career, James got serious about weightlifting and developed a program he has stuck to this season. He lifts for up to 30 minutes before each game and has added at least 10 pounds (4 1/2 kilograms) of muscle. He also added yoga to his routine.
With Cavaliers assistant coach Chris Jent's help, James began reconstructing his jumper. He spent five days a week, two hours per session, refining his outside shot, still the weakest area of his immaculate game. James finished the regular season shooting a career-high 49 percent.
Like Tiger Woods teeing off balls for hours on the driving range, James took thousands of shots in practice.
Fans "just see the fantastic plays and his God-given ability," Jent said. "They don't understand that there were kinks in the armor and he wanted to figure them out. He wanted to straighten them out and he wanted to be better and the only way to do it is by working.
"When things are going good he works, and when things are bad, he works harder."
James has made his greatest strides on defense. Often guarding the other team's best player -- something he rarely did in past years -- he has become a ferocious stopper. His chase-down blocks now rival his dunks for air time on TV highlights, and he finished second to Orlando's Dwight Howard for NBA defensive player of the year.
He improved his defense by making it a priority.
James' passion to play has rubbed off on all the Cavaliers.
After practice, this tight-knit team of gym rats practices some more.
"We enjoy each other's company and it shows," James said. "Nobody wants to go home."
Once Brown is done with them, the Cavaliers often hang out and play shooting games, try to one-up each other with trick shots and fool around like a bunch of teenagers crashing a parent-less house after school.
Their ringleader and head clown, the one usually with his shirt off doubling over in laughter, is also their best player. He's also the one recently forced to do push-ups after badly losing a 3-point contest.
"I hate to lose in anything," James said. "I invented that game and I've lost one time -- I was upset about it."
Recently named coach of the year, Brown feels blessed to coach the self-motivated James, whose selflessness has inspired teammates, coaches, front office personnel -- everyone around him -- to do more.
"He sets the tone for the culture here," Brown said. "I could preach all day, 'Hey, get 1,000 extra shots and stay late and do this and that. Guys aren't going to do it unless it's required or they're faced with fines. We don't have anything like that here.
"Because with a guy like LeBron, everybody follows."
It was a few days after Cleveland's disappointing season ended with a bitter loss to the Boston Celtics. The Cavaliers had dispersed to Cancun, the French Riviera and other vacation spots for rejuvenation and reflection.
Brown was headed to the team's plush training compound with his son, Elijah. Time for some father-son bonding with nobody around but security guards.
But as the Browns walked in the door, the lights were on in the gym. And as they neared the courts, they heard the thump, thump, thump of a basketball kissing hardwood.
One Cavalier stayed home.
LeBron James was already back at work.
"I said, 'See, LeBron doesn't just show up at the games with his Superman outfit on,"' Brown recalled telling his impressionable boy. "He works harder than anyone. That's why he's LeBron."
And since that spring day, James, the NBA's most unstoppable force, hasn't ceased working.
The likely MVP for this season is beyond driven, more like obsessed.
"I have never seen LeBron more focused and more determined," said Maverick Carter, James' business partner and lifelong friend.
Motivated to win his first title and deliver one to a sports-obsessed region -- his home -- that has waited 45 years to sip championship champagne in any major U.S. sport, the 24-year-old superstar has the Cavaliers on the cusp of greatness.
"The goal since day one has been a championship," James said. "Nothing less."
And if his play in Cleveland's first-round playoff obliteration of Detroit is any indication -- he almost averaged a triple-double in the four-game sweep -- James will settle for nothing less than winning everything.
When last season's Eastern Conference finals finished in a Game 7 loss at Boston, James stormed off the court without making congratulatory handshakes or good-luck hugs or a word. He was disgusted. Never again, James promised himself.
His 45-point performance, overshadowed by Paul Pierce's 41 in the Celtics' triumph, wasn't enough to get the Cavaliers back to the finals. The team had underachieved and never gelled following general manager Danny Ferry's massive roster overhaul at the trading deadline.
James needed help, and at the postgame news conference he indirectly ordered Ferry to get him some. James then set out to change himself.
He took two days off and then was right back at Cleveland's opulent, 50,000-square-foot (4,600-square-meter) facility, located a short drive from James' almost-as-big mansion. The Beijing Olympics were looming, and if an NBA championship wasn't in his cards, well, he was getting that gold medal.
For the first time in his career, James got serious about weightlifting and developed a program he has stuck to this season. He lifts for up to 30 minutes before each game and has added at least 10 pounds (4 1/2 kilograms) of muscle. He also added yoga to his routine.
With Cavaliers assistant coach Chris Jent's help, James began reconstructing his jumper. He spent five days a week, two hours per session, refining his outside shot, still the weakest area of his immaculate game. James finished the regular season shooting a career-high 49 percent.
Like Tiger Woods teeing off balls for hours on the driving range, James took thousands of shots in practice.
Fans "just see the fantastic plays and his God-given ability," Jent said. "They don't understand that there were kinks in the armor and he wanted to figure them out. He wanted to straighten them out and he wanted to be better and the only way to do it is by working.
"When things are going good he works, and when things are bad, he works harder."
James has made his greatest strides on defense. Often guarding the other team's best player -- something he rarely did in past years -- he has become a ferocious stopper. His chase-down blocks now rival his dunks for air time on TV highlights, and he finished second to Orlando's Dwight Howard for NBA defensive player of the year.
He improved his defense by making it a priority.
James' passion to play has rubbed off on all the Cavaliers.
After practice, this tight-knit team of gym rats practices some more.
"We enjoy each other's company and it shows," James said. "Nobody wants to go home."
Once Brown is done with them, the Cavaliers often hang out and play shooting games, try to one-up each other with trick shots and fool around like a bunch of teenagers crashing a parent-less house after school.
Their ringleader and head clown, the one usually with his shirt off doubling over in laughter, is also their best player. He's also the one recently forced to do push-ups after badly losing a 3-point contest.
"I hate to lose in anything," James said. "I invented that game and I've lost one time -- I was upset about it."
Recently named coach of the year, Brown feels blessed to coach the self-motivated James, whose selflessness has inspired teammates, coaches, front office personnel -- everyone around him -- to do more.
"He sets the tone for the culture here," Brown said. "I could preach all day, 'Hey, get 1,000 extra shots and stay late and do this and that. Guys aren't going to do it unless it's required or they're faced with fines. We don't have anything like that here.
"Because with a guy like LeBron, everybody follows."
5.01.2009
LEBRON JAMES - WORK ETHIC
Steve Culp will always remember Christmas Eve 2001. It was cold and about a foot-and-a-half of snow was on the ground, but when LeBron James and some of his friends decided at 11 p.m. that they wanted to play ball, the former assistant coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School gladly unlocked the gym.
Forget eggnog or sleeping with dreams of St. Nick dancing through his head. James, a 16-year-old high school junior at the time, didn’t head home until close to 1 a.m.
“His work ethic was what was always most impressive, especially how much he stayed after practice and worked on his game, what he did behind the scenes when people weren’t looking,” Culp said. “A lot of people think the game comes easy to him, but he really works hard.”
Culp, who was at SVSM for James’ sophomore, junior and senior seasons, has vivid memories of showing up at the teenager’s residence in the Spring Hill Apartments, which are located in one of the most downtrodden areas of Akron, and finding him outside doing pushups, situps and repeatedly running the stairs.
Current Irish coach Dru Joyce II, who led the team in James’ junior and senior seasons, was in charge of the child prodigy’s AAU team for nine years and remembers him missing one practice.
Keith Dambrot, currently the coach at the University of Akron after leading SVSM during James’ freshman and sophomore years, simply says the work ethic, personality, leadership and basketball acumen the 24-year-old displays with the Cavaliers have always been there.
“He’s the easiest guy I’ve ever coached in my life, without a doubt,” Dambrot said. “He was team-oriented, he worked hard, he knew how to play and he was a fast learner. He was just a basketball genius, really.”
“He was the best teammate I’ve ever seen. If we played a bad team, he would get everybody involved. He didn’t care how much he scored. If we played a great team, he would take things on his shoulders, but he would still make his teammates better.”
“Lebron sets the tone for the culture around here,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said following practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. “I can preach all day — ‘Come in early; get a thousand extra shots in’ — but it wouldn’t mean a thing. He’s the one who sets the culture.”
From Little League baseball to peewee football to AAU basketball, James has always been that way — partly by choice and partly by nature.
“I’ve always loved to play a game and be part of a team,” he said.
“I like that side of the game. I’ve always wanted to be part of a team. That’s just stuck with me my entire life.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a leader. I’ve always wanted to be that guy that, if things go bad, it falls on me. If things go well, the team gets the success and the prize.”
James, who will likely be named league MVP sometime during the Cavaliers’ upcoming Eastern Conference semifinal series with Atlanta or Miami, has always been “The Guy” on the hardwood, but he’s also always been one of the guys.
“We enjoy each others’ company and it shows,” he said of the Cavaliers’ tremendous chemistry and camaraderie. “You see how much, during the game, the bench is into it.”
It was the same way at St. V-St. M, where James always seemed to have a knack for knowing when it was time to get serious and when it was time to shake things up a bit.
“He knew how to keep guys loose,” Culp said. “He was probably the goofiest guy in the locker room. He was just trying to get his teammates to relax. They figured if he wasn’t nervous, why in the world should they be.”
“I’m really competitive,” James said. “I hate to lose in anything I do, even when I’m not the best at it.”
Culp, Dambrot and Joyce II have no trouble picturing such moments. They know James likes to have a good time, but they also know how badly he wants to win, whether it’s the slam dunk competition at the McDonald’s All-American Game or attempting to bank in shots off a gym wall.
“He was really mature from the standpoint of his competitiveness and how much he wanted to win,” Culp said. “Every drill, he wanted to win. He got very upset when he didn’t, but he kept coaching his teammates.”
Added Dambrot: “LeBron wants to win at everything. There’s not one thing the guy can’t do if he wants to do it. If he wanted to lead the league in rebounding, he could lead the league in rebounding. If he wanted to be the best defensive player, he could be the best defensive player.”
It wasn’t just his basketball abilities and tremendous strength and athleticism of the now 6-foot-8, 250-pound James that stood out, but also his desire to be coached and make his teammates better.
“He had a thirst for the game,” Joyce II said. “He was a sponge. I had to keep learning and growing as a coach because they soaked everything up.
“We’d teach a new play, and LeBron knew what everyone was supposed to do. He had that kind of mind and ability to focus on the details.”
“He has the work ethic and a very good nature,” Ilgauskas said. “He’s a very good person. He treats everybody the same, and that just carries over to the rest of the team.
“He leads by example, and it makes all the other guys fall into place.”
James knows this is as well as anyone, but refuses to make a big deal out of it.
“It’s not about taking pride in it or working at it,” he said. “It’s just who I am. I’m a down-to-earth guy. I love to have fun, but I’m a competitor. I love seeing the success of my teammates. I’ve just always been that type of guy.”
Forget eggnog or sleeping with dreams of St. Nick dancing through his head. James, a 16-year-old high school junior at the time, didn’t head home until close to 1 a.m.
“His work ethic was what was always most impressive, especially how much he stayed after practice and worked on his game, what he did behind the scenes when people weren’t looking,” Culp said. “A lot of people think the game comes easy to him, but he really works hard.”
Culp, who was at SVSM for James’ sophomore, junior and senior seasons, has vivid memories of showing up at the teenager’s residence in the Spring Hill Apartments, which are located in one of the most downtrodden areas of Akron, and finding him outside doing pushups, situps and repeatedly running the stairs.
Current Irish coach Dru Joyce II, who led the team in James’ junior and senior seasons, was in charge of the child prodigy’s AAU team for nine years and remembers him missing one practice.
Keith Dambrot, currently the coach at the University of Akron after leading SVSM during James’ freshman and sophomore years, simply says the work ethic, personality, leadership and basketball acumen the 24-year-old displays with the Cavaliers have always been there.
“He’s the easiest guy I’ve ever coached in my life, without a doubt,” Dambrot said. “He was team-oriented, he worked hard, he knew how to play and he was a fast learner. He was just a basketball genius, really.”
“He was the best teammate I’ve ever seen. If we played a bad team, he would get everybody involved. He didn’t care how much he scored. If we played a great team, he would take things on his shoulders, but he would still make his teammates better.”
“Lebron sets the tone for the culture around here,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said following practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. “I can preach all day — ‘Come in early; get a thousand extra shots in’ — but it wouldn’t mean a thing. He’s the one who sets the culture.”
From Little League baseball to peewee football to AAU basketball, James has always been that way — partly by choice and partly by nature.
“I’ve always loved to play a game and be part of a team,” he said.
“I like that side of the game. I’ve always wanted to be part of a team. That’s just stuck with me my entire life.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a leader. I’ve always wanted to be that guy that, if things go bad, it falls on me. If things go well, the team gets the success and the prize.”
James, who will likely be named league MVP sometime during the Cavaliers’ upcoming Eastern Conference semifinal series with Atlanta or Miami, has always been “The Guy” on the hardwood, but he’s also always been one of the guys.
“We enjoy each others’ company and it shows,” he said of the Cavaliers’ tremendous chemistry and camaraderie. “You see how much, during the game, the bench is into it.”
It was the same way at St. V-St. M, where James always seemed to have a knack for knowing when it was time to get serious and when it was time to shake things up a bit.
“He knew how to keep guys loose,” Culp said. “He was probably the goofiest guy in the locker room. He was just trying to get his teammates to relax. They figured if he wasn’t nervous, why in the world should they be.”
“I’m really competitive,” James said. “I hate to lose in anything I do, even when I’m not the best at it.”
Culp, Dambrot and Joyce II have no trouble picturing such moments. They know James likes to have a good time, but they also know how badly he wants to win, whether it’s the slam dunk competition at the McDonald’s All-American Game or attempting to bank in shots off a gym wall.
“He was really mature from the standpoint of his competitiveness and how much he wanted to win,” Culp said. “Every drill, he wanted to win. He got very upset when he didn’t, but he kept coaching his teammates.”
Added Dambrot: “LeBron wants to win at everything. There’s not one thing the guy can’t do if he wants to do it. If he wanted to lead the league in rebounding, he could lead the league in rebounding. If he wanted to be the best defensive player, he could be the best defensive player.”
It wasn’t just his basketball abilities and tremendous strength and athleticism of the now 6-foot-8, 250-pound James that stood out, but also his desire to be coached and make his teammates better.
“He had a thirst for the game,” Joyce II said. “He was a sponge. I had to keep learning and growing as a coach because they soaked everything up.
“We’d teach a new play, and LeBron knew what everyone was supposed to do. He had that kind of mind and ability to focus on the details.”
“He has the work ethic and a very good nature,” Ilgauskas said. “He’s a very good person. He treats everybody the same, and that just carries over to the rest of the team.
“He leads by example, and it makes all the other guys fall into place.”
James knows this is as well as anyone, but refuses to make a big deal out of it.
“It’s not about taking pride in it or working at it,” he said. “It’s just who I am. I’m a down-to-earth guy. I love to have fun, but I’m a competitor. I love seeing the success of my teammates. I’ve just always been that type of guy.”
COACH K & THE DREAM TEAM
Mike Krzyzewski is one of America’s top teachers. His classroom just happens to be a 94-foot stretch of hardwood with a hoop at each end.
Yet, as successful as Duke’s Hall of Fame basketball coach has been — 833 wins, 10 Final Fours, three national championships and, now, Olympic gold — he remains a student.
That is how it is with the best among us: they strive to know all they can, but never claim to know it all.
So while Krzyzewski cherishes the personal relationships he built as Team USA head coach, saying the bonds “will last forever,” he embraced the three-year journey to the medal stand in Beijing as “a chance to learn about the game.”
He kept his eyes and ears open while working with assistant coaches Jim Boeheim, Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan, as well as a team of NBA superstars.
“You see how they prepare and you get their insights,” Krzyzewski said.
He brings first-hand knowledge of what the world’s best players are really like. Krzyzewski worked three summers with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, et al, marveling at the time and effort they invested.
“I never had one second of problem with any of them. They truly are professionals,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s the way they conduct themselves and practice. It’s also what they do when you’re not practicing.”
“People would be shocked at how hard they work away from practice. Early in the morning, after practice, late at night. They may have one or two workouts they do every day in addition to practice to keep themselves prepared.”
Yet, as successful as Duke’s Hall of Fame basketball coach has been — 833 wins, 10 Final Fours, three national championships and, now, Olympic gold — he remains a student.
That is how it is with the best among us: they strive to know all they can, but never claim to know it all.
So while Krzyzewski cherishes the personal relationships he built as Team USA head coach, saying the bonds “will last forever,” he embraced the three-year journey to the medal stand in Beijing as “a chance to learn about the game.”
He kept his eyes and ears open while working with assistant coaches Jim Boeheim, Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan, as well as a team of NBA superstars.
“You see how they prepare and you get their insights,” Krzyzewski said.
He brings first-hand knowledge of what the world’s best players are really like. Krzyzewski worked three summers with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, et al, marveling at the time and effort they invested.
“I never had one second of problem with any of them. They truly are professionals,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s the way they conduct themselves and practice. It’s also what they do when you’re not practicing.”
“People would be shocked at how hard they work away from practice. Early in the morning, after practice, late at night. They may have one or two workouts they do every day in addition to practice to keep themselves prepared.”
RON ARTEST
“If he was in jeans and work boots, he’d go to the playground if he couldn’t get in the gym,” Mike Brown said of Artest who was an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers.
PRIORITIES
Being with your girlfriend should never get in the way of you shooting 500 or even 1,000 shots a day. If she does then you don't love the game enough to become great.
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