Anthony Macri:
Happy Monday folks!  A beautiful, hot day here as the dog days of summer continue.  Very happy to hear that the NBA and NBPA are meeting today but I don’t think we’ll have an answer anytime soon.  In the meantime, throw your questions out there and I will do my best to answer them.

Here is Exhibit A that there is not a lot of basketball news going on.  I think you should definitely visit with Lamar and let him know.  Maybe you should challenge him to a game of 1 on 1 on his show, and the prize is a Kardashian or something.  Hey, you never know…

 

Anthony Macri:
I’m not sure I understand the question.  Does that mean Wesley Johnson plans to have a meal consisting of Kobe beef sometime soon?
 

Anthony Macri:
Good question.  Part of the solution is simply time (remember, it heals all wounds).  I have had a lot of ankle issues in the past – and I’m always very cautious when I start playing on them again after a tweak (or worse).  It is going to take some time to develop the trust in your body that you need to perform your best.  One thing you can do to expedite the process is to make sure you do everything to strengthen and prepare your leg in between playing.  Do a fair amount of strength training and stretching, and give it a chance to be tested off the court.  That will make your work on the court come a little easier.  Good luck!
 

Anthony Macri:
Plenty.  Did you see the article on point guard development from a few weeks back?  You can see it here.  The real goal is to get your brain in step with your body when it comes to decision making.  So, you need to vocalize out on the court.  Give yourself options in drills (a pass to the corner, or a kickout to the wing?), then imagine a defensive response, and let that change how you execute the drill.  Finally, vocalize every decision made in order to match up brain and body.  Good luck!
 

Anthony Macri:
As many other all-stars as I can get?

Seriously, this question is a little broad in terms of parameters.  There are a lot of players I would consider starting with, and filling out the roster would depend a great deal on cap space, etc.  However, my over-arching philosophy would be to include athletes at positions wherever possible – even at the expense of skilled play.  My own personal desire would have us as extremely active on the defensive end, turning defense into offense whenever we could.

 

Anthony Macri:
Drills?  No.  But I do suggest all young coaches study and become very familiar with certain principles and systems.  Suggestion of the day is Bob Kloppenburg’s "SOS Defensive System." There are plenty of books and DVD collections on the system.  Whether you adopt the entire thing or not, it is a huge benefit to learn how to teach high pressure, switching and trapping defense.  It’ll at least give you some new ways to teach, if not a new way to think about defense overall.
 

Anthony Macri:
Give yourself a bigger cushion (more space between you and the offensive player).  Since your reach is longer, you can afford that cushion.  Use your length and stay long, really bothering passing lanes as much as you can.  Also, you have to be willing (and able) to train to get quicker.  Practice quickness as much as possible.  However, your central advantage has to be your understanding of space.  Both the cushion I talked about earlier and the idea of taking appropriate angles in any defensive slide is critical.
 

Anthony Macri:
I think the approach of most in the media took was to bash LeBron’s performance.  And while he did not play as well as he is capable, I don’t think he was as bad as some are making it out to be either.  As for how KG or Steve Nash would respond to his performance, I don’t like to assume how it might go down.  However, my guess is there would be just as much patting on the back as their would be kicking in the ass.
 

Anthony Macri:
Unlike some, I have liked Jeff Green for a long time.  He is a four man that can handle and distribute the ball effectively.  I think he can take better advantage of his athleticism, rebound the ball more and not be too perimeter-bound.
 

Anthony Macri:
The central goal is to keep the ball low and tight, but exact height can’t be determined in a vacuum, but depends on pretty specific circumstances.  The main goal should be dribbling the ball hard, like there are nails in the ground that you want to hammer in with the ball.  Let the ball explode off your finger tips, hit the floor and come back up with force.  The idea is to keep the ball in your hand for as long as possible, and keep it out of the air where you don’t have control of it.  One thing to avoid is bending over in such a way that it compromises your athleticism – that doesn’t help you at all!
 

Anthony Macri:
On about 90% of attempts around the rim, the goal should be to jump up, not out.  The idea is that you are trying to get near the rim rather than travel, where you have less control of the ball and your body.  One exception to this idea is on what we might call a Nash move.  Steve Nash has a move where he extends the ball with a straight arm far from his body, then as he runs he extends his stride and keeps his body between the ball and the defender as he flips the ball up toward the rim.  He doesn’t attempt to jump high, instead, he tries to create space and distance with his leap.  Other than that, I can’t think of too many times I would want a player jumping out instead of up on a finish around the rim.
 

Anthony Macri:
Since I’ve been pushing the Lee scenario for a while, he’d be my #1.  Probably Richardson at #2, though I want to investigate Afflalo more, he might be a better option.  I’m not as high on Barea as others – tend to think he is a great change of pace guard but I don’t think he helps next to Derrick Rose, and I think he’s better in smaller doses.
 

Anthony Macri:
Good question, I’m not sure.  I’d at least investigate the possibility.  I think you can take that chance of domination down low if your defense out front is aggressive enough – it makes it hard to abuse people down low if you can’t enter offense effectively to begin with.
 

Anthony Macri:
I think this discussion is a bit premature – LeBron is like 26.  Plenty of time to come, folks.
 

Anthony Macri:
My options are open for the future – I have learned to always listen to a variety of opportunities.  But the right one hasn’t come along yet.  My interest in college coaching has lessened over the years – a great opportunity at the college level would be in a stable place where I could put down roots in the community.  The places I would be interested in are places where coaches are pretty entrenched and unlikely to move anytime soon.  The "rat race" was never my idea of a good time.  As it comes to the NBA, I’m not sure if my interest would be more on the bench or in the front office – but for now I enjoy helping individual players no matter what team they are on get better.
 

Anthony Macri:
I was not very good.  I would never disgrace an NBA player by saying that they played like me.  It would be pretty insulting to a guy like Grant Hill if I said we played similarly.
 

Anthony Macri:
I wouldn’t set parameters or scoring expectations, but I tend to agree in principle.  My lineup for the HEAT would be LeBron at the 1, Wade at the 2, Miller the 3, Bosh at the 4, and Haslem at the 5.
 

Anthony Macri:
From what I have heard and seen from Jonas Valanciunas, he would be a guy I’d like to spend some time with – see if his potential is as high as I think it is.  I also would like some time with Tristan Thompson, who I think has a chance to be special.
 

Anthony Macri:
Do a round of P90X followed by or combined with INSANITY.  I’m 31 and it got me back into dunking shape (and 35 lbs lighter, thank you very much!).
 

Anthony Macri:
Back in the day, it was Jason Kidd’s wife.  Nowadays, if you made me pick one, I don’t think I could deny former NBA player Marco Jaric’s wife, Adriana Lima.  You can do the Google search yourself.  Enjoy!

That is the kind of hard-hitting NBA wisdom I’m dropping every week in the offseason chat!  Hope today’s chats between the NBA and the NBPA were more fruitful – either way, see you next week.  Oh, and don’t forget the last installment of my series on player development will be out later this week – be sure to check it out!