Isiah Thomas Teaching NBA Principles

Before the season began, I wrote that I was thankful Florida International University hired Isiah Thomas in April 2009 as their next head coach.  Now I’d like to apologize to Thomas for writing him off as a soon-to-be-failure.  It wasn’t right for me to ridicule his past duties.  Look, the guy simply wants to coach – something that I’d love to do one day (a passion passed along from my father).  When hired, he announced that he would donate his salary back to the school.  He’s clearly not in this for money or recognition.  The way I see it, he wants to teach young men, and I can respect that.  In fact, I learned last night while watching his Golden Panthers play Denver that he truly enjoys the teaching aspect of coaching.  While the NBA is geared more towards traveling and managing personalities, there is much more time for teaching in practice on the college level.

I picked up a few things in last night’s game that Isiah is teaching his players, and it is textbook NBA.  Obviously, FIU is struggling (3-10, 0-1), and they just don’t have the athletes or scorers to compete on a high level.  But I must say I was impressed with their offensive principles.  Their floor spacing is actually better than Duke’s.  If you watch any NBA game, you’ll notice in team’s basic sets: one guy in the post, two guys in the deep corner, and two guys high and wide of the top of the key.  And at the right times, you’ll see cutters and fillers.  FIU has nailed these principles down.

On the defensive side, I noticed how beautifully Thomas’ players were positioned, especially when the ball was at the free throw extended and lower.  It was perfect help side principles.  It almost looked like they were in a sagging man-to-man, or perhaps a match-up zone, but take note of NBA teams, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.  Just straight up man-to-man with excellent close-outs.

I’m hoping that Isiah’s recruits, said to be FIU’s best recruiting class ever, don’t renege on their commitments because I have a feeling good things are in store for FIU’s basketball program.  Thomas wants to be where he is, and he’s teaching his players good things.  I’ll be anxious to see how these better players respond on the court to Thomas’ NBA-influenced style.

Countdown to Midnight Madness #9

I would like to give thanks to new Florida International Head Coach, Isiah Thomas.  Or should I say give thanks to Modesto Maidique, FIU’s president at the time, for hiring him?  This one is just a head-scratcher for many.  This has got to be the most intriguing coaching change made during the off-season.

FIU Head Coach Isiah Thomas

Now I love Isiah Thomas… as a player.  I have told sawdog many times that I think he’s the best NBA point guard in the history of the game.  But that’s not the point.  Zeke has mishandled, to put it lightly, an entire NBA franchise (the New York Knicks) and an entire association (the CBA)!  What was Maidique thinking?  With a program that has not seen the bright side of the moon in years, I can’t imagine where this school will be once Thomas moves on.  But let’s look at it on a positive note: FIU has won an average of 4.3 Sun Belt Conference games in the last 9 seasons, which means it can only get better from here, right?  Let’s hope so.

I’m actually pulling for Isiah.  I really do hope he does well, not only for himself, but also for a program that’s in a serious rebuilding stage.  He’s off to a good start, though.  Three highly touted high school players have committed to the Miami, FL school – point guard Phil Taylor, big man Chris Coleman, and small forward Dominique Ferguson.  Too bad these guys won’t join them until 2010; the Panthers face the North Carolina Tar Heels on November 9th.

Follow up: Troy/Western Kentucky

Troy and Western Kentucky played one down to the wire tonight with Troy edging out the Hilltoppers 87-82. A few days ago we pointed out guards A.J. Slaughter (WKU) and Brandon Hazzard (Troy) as the players to keep an eye on. Neither disappointed. In the losing effort Slaughter finished with 20 pts and 8 asts. For the winning team Hazzard blew up for 35 pts on 10-14 shooting, including 6 of 8 from 3’s. That makes back to back 30 point efforts for Hazzard.

Some noteworthy stats from the game:

–WKU’s bench did not score in the game
–Troy shot 27 free throws, WKU only 9.
–WKU had more assists, rebounds and blocks than Troy.

The stats suggest a close game and that is exactly what happened. In the end Hazzard was too much, WKU’s bench was not enough, and Troy’s homecourt advantage came through. I would love to see these two battle for the conference tourney title!

Troy vs Western Kentucky–Game of the week?

While Duke and North Carolina will garner all the attention this week, a monster clash in the Sun Belt conference will take place this weekend between Troy and Western Kentucky.  Western Kentucky is flying under the radar nationally but has won 8 of 9 games and sits atop the Sun Belt at 11-2.  But you better believe WKU hears footsteps.  Those feet are the men of Troy who find themselves 1 game back of WKU at 10-3.  Oh yeah, and Troy has won 8 straight games. 

The last time we heard from Western Kentucky they upset Louisville 68-54 way back on November 30, long before the Cardinals took flight and air-raided the Big East.  It was a significant victory, obviously, and it showcased how good point guard A.J. Slaughter really is when he poured in a career-high 25 pts.  But Slaughter has been terrific and consistent all year (he has averaged 15.4 ppg during their aforementioned nine game stretch; 15.9 ppg for the year).  And on top of that he’s been clutch, going 4-4 from 3’s down the stretch in a recent comeback win over North Texas.  This kid, as they say, is a balla.  He paid his dues learning the ropes from veterans Tyrone Brazelton and Courtney Lee but in his junior year he is putting up all-conference numbers for the league’s best team. 

In Troy’s 8 game winning streak (they’ve actually won 10 of their last 11) they have sent the league a message with a road victory over 10-2 Arkansas-Little Rock.  Guard Brandon Hazzard is the team’s leading scorer at 15.2 ppg, and like Slaughter, is elevating his game as the conference winds down–he has upped his scoring average to 20 ppg, including a 30 point performance in his last outing, in the Trojans current 8 game win streak. 

Between two hot teams and two hot guards something has to give this weekend!!