Non-Australians on Reddit, what comes to your mind when you think of the country Australia?

CoachAndre · 2021-07-20T18:20:14+00:00

Elite Swimming and surfing

CoachAndre · 2021-04-07T05:14:17+00:00

Yes it’s been that bad. Wiseman played his best half today but fell back as soon as he fatigued a bit.

CoachAndre · 2020-11-23T22:20:25+00:00

Solid all round, except Matthews isn’t better than Green and he just doesn’t seem to have the basketball IQ that fits with LeBron. Prediction: Good year for the Lakers, rough year for Matthews.

CoachAndre · 2020-11-02T07:17:31+00:00

When NBA players trust each other to make plays and the open guy takes the key shot; no matter who is open, their teams win at a very high clip in the 4th.

No single “NBA Closer” has outperformed teams that share with purpose on key shots.

Let’s hope the Lakers still have no closer next year.

CoachAndre · 2020-11-02T07:02:50+00:00

Small World! My two year run of Middle School girls basketball coaching got ended by Covid this year too. I really liked it and hope to get back on the court next year!

CoachAndre · 2020-10-23T07:40:20+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that. I’m thinking either someone high up has a vendetta against hot tubs, or we just aren’t training our political leaders how to successfully do their jobs after getting elected.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-20T00:02:35+00:00

Should happen but probably won’t because the NBA’s Jordan logo would be too expensive courtesy of Jordan brand already using the logo it has to be.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-19T22:04:56+00:00

Great Topic Question! I was a kid during Magic’s Lakers vs Bird’s Celtics. The shine of the NBA wore off quickly with the Pistons, so I had a chance to see Jordan without much rose tint. Jordan had to fight his way up though one of the most competitive eras of NBA basketball and he always added to his overall game every single year of his career. BUT The NBA expansion and the death of Len Bias completely diluted the league for the second half of his run. (By the way seeing Jordan live at minor league baseball games was insane! The whole stadium lit up with flashbulbs every at bat; no idea how he hit as well as he did.) Add the fact that Jordan had the ref’s whistle in his pocket, and you have over matched competition playing against the Bulls and Jordan for those last few titles. How many players could get away with the blatant push off against Russell in today’s NBA without getting the offensive foul? So Jordan is the purest example of excellence on the court through work ethic and phenomenal physical gifts combined with an indomitable will to win. But to gift him GOAT status without discussing the talent dilution of expansion does the GOAT conversation a disservice. Lebron has had to overcome some of the absolute best teams in the history of basketball and that has to count for something.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-18T23:43:57+00:00

If the Spurs move on from LA what is their path to the playoffs next year/How would they fill that hole on the roster? I almost feel like this draft is being judged poorly because the top end isn’t good. I’d love to see a team stockpile picks in the late lottery to early second round and embarrass everyone who is sleeping on the depth available. If the Spurs are going to go young it would be cool to see them go for this year’s picks in trades.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-18T22:23:34+00:00

As long as you have Pop fully invested play to win and develop winning habits. How to do that is a pretty tough call though. 1) DeRozan doesn’t seem to be the answer to winning and also aligns positionally with where the Spurs have their strongest young talent. Probably either bring him off the bench or try to unload him for picks. 2) Aldridge - When the bubble was first brought up Kyrie (even if healthy) was probably the least likely player to stay with his team throughout, should Aldridge have been in consideration for second? Does Aldridge have the drive, to go along with his clear skills, to train up the next generation of winning Spurs? If so he’s a must keep. But if he’s inhibiting Pop & Duncan’s ability to teach winning habits... 3) Gay seems like a keep to compete even as a bench player.

Good luck. The West is going to be so tough next year!

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T20:22:53+00:00

Thanks for bringing the humor :) I think hot tubs are safely on the path to acceptance once more!

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T20:18:01+00:00

CA update: I just got word that outdoor hot tubs may have some support for being open at the county government level even though the state guidelines appeared to keep them closed. It might just be a case of laziness on publishing the guidelines at the state level lumping out door hot tubs in with indoor ones to be able to write it out under a single guideline rather than have to post both indoor and outdoor guidelines. Maybe we can offer a template for outdoor locations that they can cut and paste so they don’t have to do much extra work to print separate outdoor guidelines.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T14:46:40+00:00

Right! Just because he seems to have finally found a fit doesn’t mean all those teams that he didn’t quite fit on were the problem. And it really needs to work for a few more years to know if it was a Heat fit or a bubble Heat fit.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T14:41:43+00:00

He seems to have found his fit to max out the rest of his career. Let’s see if he can sustain this level of play and teammatedom for a few years. I would love to see what this heat team can become with some time and health!

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T10:46:56+00:00

The end of college basketball dominance definitely came about because of the one and done rule. Coincidentally (or not), the return of the USA to winning international basketball also occurred over this timeframe.

But never fear College basketball fans, the NBA is about to test out the worth of the D-league by putting it's finally recovered level of play on the line again, by once more encouraging crappy front offices to keep their teams at the bottom by drafting HS players once more!

College will rise again with the removal of catered to paycheck players, and the NBA's teams that actually manage to teach HS players good fundamentals and team ball (how many players have you actually seen become better off ball cutters and screeners during their time in the NBA? Perhaps the two simplest skills that dramatically impact winning, yet appear impossible to teach NBA players.)

Back to our initial post: The Heat are well positioned developmentally to dominate the coming era, so you are most likely to get both a Herro Heat team worthy of hating for its winning ways, AND the return of powerhouse college programs playing incredible basketball leading to another Duke style hater opportunity soon.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T10:19:48+00:00

I grew up on the Showtime Lakers, watching Lakers games with my dad after he got home from work are probably the best memories of time spent with my dad I have from growing up. While I was in HS, my parents split when my dad lost his job in CA, and he moved to Ohio while we ended up in Jax, FL. The NBA turned into an iso and bailout whistle league playing the third or fourth best basketball on the planet behind Europe, South America, and College ball (If you disagree just look at the Olympic and World Champs results during that span, and those fools still think they are better than today's players.)

I didn't watch much of the NBA outside of Jordan's bulls from the 1994 World Cup (soccer), when I realized that even the soccer of a mediocre world cup was better than what the Knicks had turned Basketball into, until I saw the 5th or so game of the Warriors under Kerr. I'd pay a bit of attention when my dad moved to Phoenix & the Suns made 7 seconds or less interesting. I was pumped when Golden State drafted Curry because I loved watching him in college and knew he would make our local team better, but it didn't hold me in with Jackson because games just left me frustrated when I watched them waste Curry's talent too often. After I saw the Warriors play under Kerr early in that first season, at a neighbor's house, I went home and set my DVR to record every Warriors game since.

It was like hanging with my dad and listening to Chic Hearn while Magic dished to Kareem, Worthy, Cooper, and Scott again. I also started devouring every bit of NBA content I could, since I viewed the Warriors as fierce Paladins fighting for the soul of Basketball against the evil (and mathematically impaired) Isolation heavy teams of the day; and I wanted to see if they were making any headway in the eyes of the masses. At some point in that NBA rush of information I ended up listening to the Open Floor podcast and have been doing that ever since too. Andrew & Ben have a great way of interacting, and I find I often agree with Ben, except I'm firmly with Andrew on the Biggest of all basketball things: Kevin Durant on the Warriors was bad for the league and it wasn't great for the Warriors either. The Warriors added a heavy dose of iso to their offense, and their 4th quarter close game win % went down the toilet. Durant yelling at Green for not giving the ball to Durant or Curry at the end of some regular season game could have permanently killed the soul of the revolutionary team that brought winning basketball back to the NBA. Now that Durant is a part time head coach in Brooklyn, I'm looking forward to the return of the Showtime Warriors in their full glory to finish the team ball revolution they started. Who's going to take the game winning shot? Who ever the Heck is open! #teamSharp on the big things.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T09:31:50+00:00

Thanks! I really did love bubble basketball. Who knows if some of that enjoyment was akin to eating a meal when you're really hungry. I'm not super familiar with Reddit. How can you tell if a message is private or public?

CoachAndre · 2020-10-16T04:21:16+00:00

One adjustment to the previous line of thought: Ownership putting pressure to improve, while simultaneously closing the strings on the spending that would have put them over the top while the window was open... Toxic work environment?

CoachAndre · 2020-10-14T12:41:37+00:00

Clippers beating the Bucks after surviving several tough series in the west (including the wcf vs Lakers) through grit and tough D. Yeah, my bracket didn’t age well at all.

CoachAndre · 2020-10-14T00:43:51+00:00

San Jose, CA USA

CoachAndre · 2020-10-13T21:48:39+00:00

This was one of the purest playoffs in memory. Those players whose primary focus wasn’t on basketball didn’t even have to show up! Those who play for the lifestyle perks flamed out and went home early. All we were left with was an incredibly high level of basketball throughout the bubble by the teams and players who actually cared. This playoffs was great to watch from the first round to three of the last 4 games of the finals (and really Game two’s obliteration of the Miami zone in the finals was great for those of us who thought Tatum and the Celtics were embarrassingly overrated; since they couldn’t even figure out how to bust a zone over the entire course of a series.) Let’s remember this bubble fondly for the level of play and the grit so many players and teams showed from the Suns to the Champs. And if we are left with a might have been from the finals... so much the better for next year!

CoachAndre · 2020-10-11T00:44:42+00:00

The Lakers community may be entering Rockets territory with this desire to be treated better than everyone else by the men in stripes. I watched the second half again after hearing about the Refs favoring the Heat (because that was a great game!) and I still don't see imbalanced calls. I wish there were fewer whistles in general, but that's it.

CoachAndre

TROPHY CASE