Today, I finally got to catch the Redeem Team play, and luckily it was against Argentina, which I thought would be a good game. And it was a good game. It looked that when Manu Ginobili went down that the USA would just cruise to a win, and they tried, but Argentina fought back and cut a 21 point lead into single digits. But the lack of depth and firepower proved to be Argentina’s downfall.

The US moved the ball very well, but at times tried to force things a little too much and had 15 turnovers. At one point Chris Paul tried to split two defenders and was called for carrying, and LeBron James had a two on one and the defender was shaded more toward the other player and LeBron tried to pass it to him, instead of just taking it straight to the hole. They have improved their three-point shooting and have been dominant on the boards.

Overall, the Redeem Team truely impressed me and showed me this team will not be happy with anything less than gold. This team is also impressing me off the court. They aren’t just saying “We are here for basketball and thats it.” They have been present and visable at many other events, had a charity event in Shanghi right before the Olympics and even visited a Children’s Hospital where victims from the earthquake are staying. I am proud to have this team representing our country. They have been respectful to the host country and the teams they play, and have not gotten a big head about their success. Â

I promised you a college edition of my “Dream Team” and I’m not going to disappoint you.

This is my list from this past year’s season.

My 1 guard would be Derrick Rose of the University of Memphis Tigers. He plays with a great intensity, delievers the ball well, drives it well, and plays good defense. He is a floor general and that is what you need from your point guard. My backup would be Stephen Curry from Davidson University. He is a big time player, who can shoot the ball well who distributes the ball really well.

My 2 guard would have to be OJ Mayo from the USC Trojans. While some consider him a point guard and he plays a lot there, I feel he is best suited at the 2 guard due to his big play ability and size. While he lead his team in assists, I don’t feel that he is a true point guard. My backup would be Chris Douglas-Roberts from the Memphis Tigers. He is a tremendous scorer, shown by his 54% shooting from the field last year, but I feel that OJ does a little bit more overall to get the top spot. I’m gonna give an honorable mention spot here to Chris Hall from Lynn. In his first conference tournament game, he tied a program-record when he scored 42 points, and stepped up after Randy Jones went down with a leg cramp. Chris has tremendous talent and will be a big asset for us in the coming years.

My 3 man would be Sonny Weems from the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. He was a big time leader and playmaker for the Razorbacks. He played tremendous defense and led the Razorbacks to their 1st tournament win since 1999. In their victory over Indiana in the NCAA Tournament, he scored 31 points while only missing 2 shots. My backup would be Antonio Anderson of the Memphis Tigers. He was underrated last year, which is understandable considering the team they had. He is a lockdown defender who can score. He will be a tremendous asset for Coach Calipari. My future “Dream Team” member is Michael Baptiste from Lynn. He played good defense for us, and provided an intensity for us that we needed. I think with the potential that he has, and his work ethic, he could be a leader for us for the rest of his 3 years.

My 4 man would be Tyler Hansbrough. He plays with a VERY high motor and doesn’t quit until the whistle is blown. He is the best in the nation and finishing with contact, and is a true leader. My backup would be Joey Dorsey of the Memphis Tigers. He is a tremendous defensive force and rebounder. In the semi-final game against UCLA, he disappeared offensively though.

My 5 man would be Michael Beasley from the Kansas State Wildcats. He is a force on the inside and has shown he has some range, which makes him even harder to defend. He led the nation in rebounds per game by 4 tenths of a rebound, while playing in 2 fewer games than the guy who was 2nd. My backup, who could even be the starter, would be Kevin Love of the UCLA Bruins. He is threat on the inside and out, who can screen with the best in the nation, and is the best at inbounds. Just watch his stuff on youtube!

Well, I know some of you won’t agree with my picks, but I like this team. It is a high intensity team, with each member proving they are worthy.

Gene

I heard this quote on the radio and thought it was really good.

“You can listen to the expectations that others have of you, but the only ones that count are the ones you have for yourself.” - Tiger Woods

This quote really hits close to home for me, because I have a lot of people telling me what they expect me to do in life, but my expectations are different than what they have for me. Some of the people at the store, expect me to finish college, go coach for a couple years, and then come back to Arkansas and take over the store. While these expectations are understandable, this is not the expectations have have for myself.

My expectations are to graduate college, coach for about 30 years or so, then move back to Arkansas. Right now, when you are talking about basketball stars from Little Rock, the main two that people from Little Rock talk about are Derek Fisher and Joe Johnson. The expectation that I have for myself is for when people talk about Little Rock basketball they mention the two of them as well as myself as the three greatest associated with the game to ever come out of Little Rock. And like I said in my last blog, I am going to put in the work and time to try and make this happen.

Well, if I get more quotes I’ll post them up.

Gene

I love thinking up quotes or just finding quotes. I think they are a great motivational tool and can help put life into perspective.

This quote that I have for you is one that I was think about the other day. I was thinking about where I plan to go in life and it fit perfectly.

“You can’t judge a book by its cover, because then you won’t know how the story goes.”

I feel this is a true thing, because I know I’m not the best looking guy, but I do know that I plan on being a successful basketball coach and businessman. The businessman part of it is pretty much set up as my parents have a store that has been in business for 60 years and a sister company to it that has been in business for 20 years. I plan on taking it over after my coaching career.

The coaching side of it is going to be a little difficult, but with the connections I’ve made as well as the work ethic that my parents have instilled in me, it will make it a little easier to get started and be successful. I want to win national championships and have the honor and privilage to be mentioned in the same breath as coaches such as John Wooden and Adolph Rupp. I know this will take a tremendous amount of work and time, I am willing to put in that kind of time and work. I know there are thousands of other coaches and people who wanna be coaches who say this, so I know this is going to be a tremendously steep hill to climb.

I’ll have another one for you later.

Gene

With the Olympics in full swing, I got to thinking again (yes trouble I know) who would my “Dream Team” from this year be? These are just pros. I’ll have a college list in the near future.

Well, my point, or 1, guard would have to be Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets. I love the way he plays and is very unselfish with the ball, but can score when he needs to. My backup would be Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns. He is very similar to Chris Paul with the unselfishness and scoring, and he runs the floor very well.

My shooting, or 2, guard would be Kobe Bryant from the LA Lakers. He is a playmaker, but gets his teammates involved. My backup would be Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs. He is a great shooter and is a true team leader.  I have to have an honorable mention here. It is Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics. He is a pure shooter, but can take it to the hole as well as play great defense.

My small forward, or 3 man, would be without a doubt LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He does the same as Kobe, and is a great leader in the community. He is somebody that I feel young players should look up to. My backup would be Paul Pierce of the champion Boston Celtics. He is a tough individual who plays good defense and is a good shooter.

My power forward, or 4 man, would be Kevin Garnett also of the Boston Celtics. He is a great team leader, who is a top defender as well as scorer. My backup would be Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors. He is a similar type to Garnett, not as much defensively, but he can stretch out a defense. I’m going to add a “future Dream Team Member” here. Al Jefferson of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He is a player that just keeps getting better and better. He is a good force on the inside and will benefit tremendously from the addition of O.J. Mayo.

My center, or 5 man, would be Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. He is a dominant force on the inside on both ends of the court and plays with a great enthusiasm. He seems like a player that would be a joy to coach. My backup would be Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. He is, like Howard, a force on the inside, and while he may look unathletic, consistently puts up big numbers and is a great team leader.

 I feel that this team is loaded with talent and good character. The only character flaw on this team was Kobe’s Colorado incident, but I still feel that every member of this team can be looked up to in a very positive manner.

Gene

At times, thoughts go through my head that can be very random, but smart at the same time. Well, now is no different.

With the passing of Bernie Mac, may he rest in peace, it got me wondering, why is it that in death, people talk more about people than when they are alive. I heard a rapper say a line that fits this. “They hate you when you livin and love you when your dead.” Before his death, Bernie Mac was hardly if ever mentioned on Sportscenter and honored at a Chicago White Sox game. Before Heath Ledger’s death, he wasn’t ever mentioned as a great actor. He was mentioned when people talked about Brokeback Mountain, but mostly because of the controversy with his character. Now I’m not speaking ill of either of these men. I greatly respect all they did in their careers and lives. I just find that in our culture and society, we take people for granted. I am just as guilty because I never thought about my grandfather pasing away and expected for him to live longer, so I just always expected to see him again. I believe this is the reason that we talk about Heath and Bernie like we do.

Another thought has to do with movies as well. Titanic made $600 million in theaters. The new Batman is supposed to beat it, but my thought is, if we compare ticket prices there is a big difference. I wonder if it would even be close if you made the ticket prices the same. I know this is random, but I was going into the movie theater to go see the new Mummy (which is really good by the way) and the thought popped into my head.

Another thought I had was while I was talking to my mom. She told me how an employee went about asking for a raise, and I told her that there was a song that said “If it ain’t direct, I dont respect it.” She agreed with it and she said that when dealing with her in the business world, she wants people who are direct and she is as direct when dealing with employees or the people she buys from.

I hope you enjoyed getting a look inside my head, as scary and random as it can be.

Gene Â

In basketball, the summer is when a lot of players get better. They have more time to concentrate on basketball and get in a lot of work in this time. Well, even though I’m not a player, I’ve gotten better. Not as much in the actual playing side, but as far as my experiences and what I’ve learned.

I always known that in athletics, a lot of times its not what you know, but who you know. This summer I found out just how correct this is. The main reason I was able to work the Memphis camp was not because I work hard or have any kind of knowledge. While these help, it was mainly because my uncle is the Travel Coordinator and told me who to talk to as well as mention that I’m his nephew. When I got to Memphis, I was known as DooDa’s nephew (DooDa is my uncle’s nickname). Once I got into the camp, I showed them that they made a good decision in letting me work, as I showed up early every day and worked my tail off the entire time. I did anything that was asked of me and my aunt said the staff talks highly of me. (Maybe I could turn that into a Graduate Assitant job, we’ll see what happens).

The reason I got into the Clemson camp was because the coach in charge of hiring is the brother of one of our current players and knows Coach Heskett. Again once I got in their, I showed them how hard I work and that they made a good decision in letting me come work for them. But I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if I didn’t know the right people.

I also took the time to learn more about my parent’s business. I have tried to be more active with them in learning about why they make certain decisions or in just how certain things work. One of our employees just bought a house and has been renovating it. I have been working closely with him, learning how to install some of the lighting and how to install tile. He has taught me a lot and I am very grateful.

I’m also doing more to start becoming more independant from my parents. I wanted to get an apartment with my roommate and both of our parents had their reasons for why we needed to wait. He and I talked about it and decided to see if instead of waiting for our senior year, if we could get one at Christmas break. Both of our parents said we’ll see. This summer with the work I’ve been doing for my parents, between camps, I came up with the idea that if I took all that money and handed it to my parents to help off-set their cost. They felt that that was a very mature decision and have decided they are on board for getting the apartment in December. We are now just waiting to hear about my roommate’s parents.

Well, I think I’ve had a successful summer and have grown in ways that will help me not only in my coaching future, but in life as well.

Gene