"It's the Little Things"

Here is a great article from a fellow blogger, Steve Finamore who is the head men's basketball coach at Jackson Community College in Jackson, Michigan. He also has a couple great blogs called, "Coaches Network", for coaches and "Play the Right Way", which is focused on player development on and off the court. The blogs can be found here, http://hoopscoach.wordpress.com/ and http://playerdevelopment.wordpress.com/

Swartz Creek -- Steve Finamore is officially back.

The second-year head coach at Jackson Community College was the most energetic guy in the building at Steve Bell's 2008 Bankhoops mini-camp on Sunday at the Cage in Swartz Creek.

(And, considering Holly's coach, Lance Baylis, was also in the building working a drill station, that's really saying something.)

Amazing, of course, when you consider that the only evidence left of Finamore's recent brush with death is a black neoprene brace on his right knee.

Last November, a few games into his first season at the helm of the fledging hoops program at Jackson, Finamore (pictured left) was struck by a car while walking in downtown Jackson. A driver ran a red light and was hit by a car going through the intersection before smashing into Finamore.

He was on the shelf for several weeks including a stint in the hospital.

But, for Finamore, being away from the gym and unable to coach the Jets added to the pain of recovery.

After working his drill station for two hours, Finamore spoke more than 100 high school students about taking basketball seriously. He spoke with great authority about the game, pacing around the floor almost as if he was searching for a pulpit. His presentation was a cross between a young Billy Graham and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

No one takes basketball more seriously than Finamore, it quickly became clear.

"(Basketball) has to matter to you," said Finamore, a Brooklyn-born former student assistant under Tom Izzo at Michigan State. "You've got to ask yourself, does this matter to me? Do I give a damn? Am I wasting my time? Do I love basketball? It has to matter to you. If it doesn't, you should go play another sport. Don't waste your time; don't waste your parents' money...if you're a serious basketball player, you come here and work your ass off...it's the little things that make you a better player."

He was shooting straight from the hip, as only he can.

"Potential is interesting, it really is," he said. "It's nice to see your name on Mr. Bell's website...but you know what, your performance is more important than that. Don't worry about that stuff. The number one player in Michigan (Trey Ziegler, Mt. Pleasant) is here today. He's a great player; but, he's here working on his game...he's number one, he can't go any higher, right? He could rest on that...but, no, he comes down here and works on his game...and he's going to make someone's day special and they're going to go home and say that they played with the best player in the state.

"Where are the second, third, fourth and fifth best players in the state? They should be here working on their games, too."

He continued his speech, telling the players that coaches will notice them if they pay due diligence to the little things; the things that Bell's camp is known for emphasizing -- defensive positioning, footwork, body control and all the rest.

And, in what must have been the first basketball-related homage to the Wizard of Oz (and "flying monkeys"), Finamore closed out his talk with the famous story of imperfect people searching for something they already had inside.

"They were all looking for something, like you are," he said. "You guys want to go to college. But let me tell you something: they all had it inside them all along...they just needed someone to tell them.

"Be coachable. Take criticism...be a great team player; love the game; respect the game and be a great person on top of all that."

Welcome back, Coach.