Dean Smith’s reach is staggering

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Steinmetz

I was trying to put this in a tweet, but I couldn’t squeeze it into 140, not even close. But this won’t be long.

I was thinking about Dean Smith and how all the greats are singing his praises today, communicating how important Smith was to them, to basketball and to so much more. And rightfully so.

But for some reason, that’s not enough. Dean Smith was huge. I mean, almost undefinably huge. If you’re too young to remember Dean Smith, it just feels like more needs to be said. But I never knew Smith, never played for him, never even met him.

What the hell can I add?

Well, just this … For all the big-namers who come out in praise of Dean Smith, there are countless other “lessers,” literally millions and millions and millions, who were touched or influenced by him. I know because I was, and I’m just like a gazillion others.

I played high school basketball, and a little small-college ball after that. If you’re reading this, you probably played, too, and whether it’s junior high, high school, college or even better than that, the fact is Smith touched so many.

His reach is staggering.

When my high school coach wanted to stall, he put the point guard in the middle of the floor and told the other guys to stand in the corners. My college coach, Glenn Robinson, happened to be a student of Smith’s (attending his coaching clinics in offseasons) and implemented many of Smith’s philosophies, strategies and practice techniques.

And because Dean Smith didn’t swear, Robinson didn’t swear.

The point being that Dean Smith influenced innumerable coaches — at all levels — who in turn influenced exponentially even more players. The guy had it all: Whether it was strategy, preparation, demeanor, off-court awareness, humility and so much more. If Smith is remembered as the generational college basketball coaching successor to John Wooden, you won’t get many arguments.

Because there are so few in basketball who haven’t been influenced by him.

Posted in Other | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Warriors’ Schlenk indicates team unlikely to make a move

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Steinmetz

You could make a case that the man most responsible for putting together the Warriors’ roster is assistant general manager Travis Schlenk. He’s been with the Warriors for 11 seasons and in the team’s front office since 2009. In other words, he’s the only guy in the organization who can say he’s been a part of acquiring every single player on the Warriors’ roster.

He was around for the drafting of Stephen Curry and everyone the team has selected since, and he’s also been in on every trade or free agent transaction that’s yielded a current player.

Schlenk came on “The NBA Show” — co-hosted by John Dickinson and me — on 95.7 FM The Game, in San Francisco, on Sunday and had some interesting things to say. Listen here: http://media.957thegame.com/a/101715599/travis-schlenk.htm

Among the noteworthy:

*** It doesn’t sound like the Warriors have any intention of making a trade at this point, — even for a backup big man or wing scoring off the bench. The trade deadline is later this month.

Said Schlenk: “We’ve been good for the past couple years. Maybe not championship quality but we’ve been playoff caliber. I tell (general manager) Bob (Myers) all the time ‘Our job now is not to screw it up.’ When you’re sitting with the record we have, and the year we’ve had, you’d like to tinker but you don’t want to mess it up. Chemistry is such a big thing, and our group of guys has such great chemistry. We’d hate to do a move just to do a move and have it mess up our chemistry.

“I don’t know we’ll do anything. We’re certainly active … But at the same time, we’ve got to be cautious as well.”

*** Though former GM Larry Riley was sometimes ridiculed for it, Schlenk said the common thread throughout all of the team’s transactions and trades has been “high character:”

“Obviously, everyone is looking for talent. But as an organization we focus on character. We try to bring in high-character guys. The first draft I was involved in was the Steph Curry draft (“I can’t take credit for that”). But when you look at the guys we’ve drafted have been high-character guys. Even if they haven’t panned out on the court of us.”

*** On essentially being a team playing small ball:

“You want to be versatile. To be really successful, look at the Spurs. They can play big with Duncan and Splitter or they can play a small lineup by putting Boris Diaw at the four. Having the ability to play both styles is what you’re aiming for.”

Posted in NBA, NBA This Week, San Antonio Spurs, Warriors | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Hawks countered Warriors’ “pitch ahead”

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Steinmetz

 

One thing the Atlanta Hawks seemed to do very well in their 124-116 win over the Warriors on Friday night was this: They shut down the “pitch ahead.”

What’s the “pitch-ahead?” It’s when the Warriors take the ball out of the net — after an opposition’s make — get the ball to Stephen Curry in the backcourt, and then he throws a long pass up the sideline and into the frontcourt to a perimeter player on the wing.

Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala all have benefited from this quick offense, often finding themselves in an advantageous open-court situation — even though it’s after a make. We’ve seen countless Warriors’ scores like that this year.

But even if the Warriors  don’t get a quickie off that, they’re still in a great spot.

Continue reading →

Posted in Atlanta Hawks, NBA, Warriors | Tagged | Comments Off on Hawks countered Warriors’ “pitch ahead”