On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS May 2, 2016 #591 Up next…Change for the best?
After further review…Having long employed the expression: “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change” in my speaking career, I am aware that it can raise doubts. Yet in helping people grow to be the best they can be, I often say “In order to grow, you must change; yet not all change is growth!” More on that topic another time. But today’s “growth” in the game of basketball is of concern.
I enjoyed a high and college basketball career during which, as a collegian, I played all four years for a wonderful coach. Coach Bill was one of the finest gentleman who ever crossed my path either on and off the athletic courts and fields. Coach Bill used a plain-spoken go-to halftime speech that while true, left a lot to be desired in the motivational arena. Surrounded by his T*E*A*M in the locker room before the second half got underway, Coach would proclaim, in his soft but sincere voice, “Men, we gotta make more baskets!” Sometimes he would say “buckets.” It almost sounded like Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball some 125 years ago, would say. My college playing career was followed by a four-year stint as a high school basketball coach and a 26-year career in officiating that sport, both at the high school and college levels. I love the game. However…
Watching today’s basketball, especially at the professional level, where travelling, carrying-the-ball, (aka “palming”) violations have become almost non-existent, along with defenders holding offensive players, or the variations in the interpretation of the charging-blocking rules –- well, it has me scratching my head. But what caught my attention recently was a comment during a game by ABC’s NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy when he said, “That’s a foul. But I like it. You gotta lay some wood out there. You just can’t play their [your opponent’s] kind of basketball.” The word “wood” was a euphemism for the human form, and thus he was encouraging physical contact with the opponent.
Van Gundy was a high school and college coach, and subsequently coached in the NBA for the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. He had developed a substantial history in the game before taking the job as a network analyst. My question to him would be “Hey coach, how many of your players did you ever want to see on the floor or injured?” These days, hardly a drive down the court occurs without a player getting knocked down. Of course the NBA game, with players even bigger than their NFL brothers, is going to have contact on that 94 x 50-foot floor; there is little room for those behemoths to move around freely.
The TunneySide’s thinking is that basketball is a game of finesse, with ball and player movement forming its skillful nucleus. The teams that do that well will win more than their opponents! . And oh yeah, “Ya gotta make more buckets!”
Will you log-in on with your thoughts about today’s game of basketball?
To contact Jim go to www.jimtunney.com or email jim@jimtunney.com.
Interesting and fun readings in the “Another 101 Best of TunneySide of Sports” – a new book by Dr. Jim Tunney. It takes current issues from the sports world and transforms them into positive messages — available for $20. includes tax, shipping and an autograph, if requested. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Ub8mJo-r0 Thank You!
