Tuesday August 24, 2010
It’s funny how things go. Most of the summer I have been pretty busy. Every day at least 2 groups kept me busy from 8 in the morning until at least noon, non-stop.
Now it is time to play. Anthony King has left for Cyprus, Jonathan Rodriguez left for the Dominican Republic, Guillermo Diaz has left to play for Puerto Rico in the World Championships and then will go on to Italy. Others have left to other parts of the world. I am left with 2 guys, Raja Bell and Keenan Browder. That’s ok, because now we can really concentrate on specific needs.
We have transitioned from volume shooting to more specific techniques. We still take a lot of shots but we have moved on to things such as reading screens, spot up shots off penetration, reading defenders in the post, etc. Most of the trigger movements come out of Raja’s role in Utah’s offense.
Keenan has some significant minor league professional experience and we are trying to make a higher level opportunity for him. He has really benefited from Raja’s experience and advice. He can really shoot the ball and hopefully we can add enough to his game to get him a chance.
Another player who is off to play is Ralfy Portuando. I don’t write about him because he is not a professional. But, he is the person whom I am most proud of. Ralfy came to me as a 15 -year old part time HS player. He is the definition of a gym rat. Every day he would call and ask if we could work out. We would do a 6 am workout before he went to school. His work ethic earned him a spot as a dedicated workout partner for Raja and Rasual Butler. Imagine a HS player who didn’t get much playing time turning into a mandatory piece in a workout plan for NBA players. They just would not work out without him.
He must have paid attention. He went on to play a year in Junior College and now, he is on the way to play at Florida State. The kid who did not know what to do to get himself playing time in HS has worked his way into playing in the top conference in college, the ACC.
Pretty special kid.
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god job
Enjoyed this! Thanks.