Gold Coast Blaze lose to Melbourne Tigers

After coming from behind at home to beat the Melbourne Tigers earlier in the month, unfortunately the Gold Coast Blaze couldn't do the same thing on the road last night.

I was out at trivia last night (which we won for the first time ever!) and since I don't have Fox, I didn't get to see the game.

Checking out the boxscore, here are my thoughts:

• The big 3 (Harvey, Ubaka & Maxey) all delivered, scoring more than 75% of the team's points
• They got virtually nothing from Goulding and Vanderjagt
• Mika Vukona had 6 turnovers but only 2 points 2 boards. The Tigers had just 6 turnovers for the entire game.
• Tigers dominated the paint outscoring the Blaze inside 52 - 30
• Tigers were led by youngster Daniel Johnson with 20 points, 6 boards
• Tigers had a balanced scoring attack with 4 players scoring 15 points or more
• Melbourne hit a very tidy 16 of 18 from the line

The Gold Coast Blaze really need to start getting some wins on the road if they're going to work their way up the NBL ladder.

Tim Hardaway honoured by the Heat

It may have been the second night of the new NBA season but for me the night was about one thing only ... Tim Hardaway getting his jersey retired by the Miami Heat. He may have got in trouble over recent years for "those comments" but he has been and always will be one of my favourite players.

I was heart broken when I was first in the US (almost 15 years ago) and saw a couple of Golden State Warriors' games and Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin were coming off the bench under Rick Adelman. When he was traded to Miami I hoped it would give his career a second win and indeed it. Timmy was back to his best and teaming up with Alonzo Mourning they wreaked havoc in the east, especially the New York Knicks. Fittingly his jersey was retired tonight before the Heat played the Knicks.

Here's the official report about the ceremony from NBA.com. Click on the title to read the whole story and see an interview with Tim himself from after the event (for some reason it wouldn't embed on the blog).

NBA.com: Hardaway's No. 10 retired by Heat
MIAMI (AP) -- Saying he was 'overwhelmed,' Tim Hardaway beamed Wednesday night as he watched his No. 10 jersey raised to the rafters by the Miami Heat, never to be worn again. With about 50 family and friends looking on, including the other two parts of the famed 'Run TMC' trio -- Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin -- that he first captured NBA acclaim with, Hardaway's oversized jersey was hoisted skyward before Miami opened its season against the New York Knicks. 'Tonight, I stand before you truly humble and grateful,' Hardaway said. Hardaway had hugs for everybody -- players, coaches, even referee Joe Crawford, no small feat considering how much the player loved to clash with officials during his playing days. Before he came to Miami, only three other players had worn No. 10: Kelvin Upshaw, Clinton Wheeler and Manute Bol. No one had since Hardaway left the Heat in 2001.


Here's a good story about Tim from the Miami Herald. Click on the title below to read the full story.

Former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway's honor arrives - Miami Heat - MiamiHerald.com

Tim Hardaway's career wasn't defined here, but it was completed here. His signature move wasn't developed here, but it was shown off a few times here. His courage wasn't discovered here, but he was at his most courageous here. The legacy of Tim Hardaway was a cross-country creation that started on the South Side of Chicago, continued south in Texas, moved west to California and settled here in Miami. This wasn't Hardaway's last stop, just his most significant. So it's here that the legacy was fortunate enough to be celebrated with Wednesday's jersey retirement ceremony. Fortunate because Hardaway is simply one of the most unique, special players in the history of basketball.

John Rillie update

Came across this article on Twitter earlier today. If you haven't heard what John Rillie is up to since he's not in the NBL this season, check it out below (click on the title to read the full story). I heard about this business earlier in the year and wish JR all the best with it.

While the article says that John is focussing on the future, he hasn't officially retired ... so I don't think he's completely ruled out playing again, should the right opportunity present itself. Stay tuned

Rillie focused on future

Former National Basketball League star and consecutive games record holder, John Rillie, has returned to the sport but in a new capacity. The 2004 Olympian is a part owner of BrevAlto Management, a new company specialising in sports and player management.

Apart from his NBL and Olympic experience, John also played ball for Gonzaga in the US college system and for powerhouse club AEK Athens BC. Rillie intends to use his broad experience and extensive contacts to assist both junior and senior players in maximising their potential nationally and internationally, including at NBA and WNBA levels.

Whilst basketball is clearly his area of expertise, Rillie and his fellow directors will also be utilising their broad expertise to assist athletes in sports other than basketball.

The transition from player to ‘manager’ is a natural progression for the self confessed basketball junkie.

Green with envy

Its now less than two days until the NBA season kicks off and I for one can't wait.

However, I'm green with envy as a couple of my friends (JVG, Nick & Keith) are at the season opener between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That's right, live at Quickens Loan Arena ... KG, Ray Allen & Paul Pierce vs Shaq & LeBron!

I've been a Boston Celtics fan since the late 80's and despite being "only" the first game of the season, this is truly a marquee matchup. I saw the Celtics play back in their dark years in the late 90's and its been way too many years since I've been to the US. Hence my (Celtic) green with envy comment ...

Basketball shooting legend - Oscar Schmidt

I came across this article on Bounce Magazine and had to give it love by sharing it here.

Oscar Schmidt made our list of the top ten all-time greatest shooters but wouldn't be known by that many people, especially the younger readers. Read (click on the title below to read the full story), learn and make sure to watch the video clips. The man was a legend ...

The Semi-Automatic: Oscar Schmidt | Streetball, Sneakers, Bobbito, Nike Air Force, Jordans

Basketball, broken down to its simplest compound, is about scoring more buckets than the team you’re playing against. The Semi-Automatic refers to players who leave bodies in their wake with their innate ability to get buckets. And few players can truly say that they are, or ever were, on the same level as the man known as “Mao Santa”, aka “The Holy Hand.”

Who is the greatest player to never wear an NBA uniform? Valid arguments could be made for asphalt legends like Joe Hammond aka “The Destroyer” aka “Dirty Hand Joe”, Oakland’s Hook Mitchell, Pee Wee Kirkland, Earl Manigault aka “The Goat” and others of similar stature. But don’t forget about Oscar.

“Who is that?”, you might be asking yourself. Oscar Schmidt is simply a legend among legends from Brazil. Outside of America, along with those enligtened souls within the USA who understand the man’s place in the game’s pantheon, he’s considered one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace God’s green earth.

Gold Coast Blaze vs Cairns Taipans

I didn't make the trip down the coast last night. Traffic would have been rough not to mention that its the what used to be Indy, then SuperGP, now V8 weekend in Surfers. For this reason (V8's), I'm not surprised to see that it was another disappointing crowd of roughly 2400 which is less than 1/2 the stadium's capacity.

From reading the game recap on the NBL website, this is the most pleasing part:
"but it was the defense of the Coast that was most impressive in a sign that the bottom placed team had turned the corner"
In the two games I've seen so far this season the Blaze have struggled on the defensive end getting killed on the boards and general allowing easy buckets. As the team gels and learns Coach Joey Wright's system, this was something that I knew would improve eventually.

Here's the other highlights from the game/boxscore:

• Ayinda Ubake (Chewbacca) top scored with 25 points (9 of 12 from the field) including 4 triples
• Anthony Petrie was a beast defensively with 10 points, 4 boards, 5 blocks and 2 steals
• Dusty Rychart was well and truly shut-down scoring just 2 points and 5 turnovers
• Erron Maxey was again solid with 15 points, 7 boards
  

The Blaze convincingly won the game 80 - 63 despite not getting much on the offensive end from young-guns Adam Gibson, Chris Goulding or Greg Vanderjagt. The win takes the Gold Coast Blaze off the bottom of the ladder and when they get all cylinders firing look for them to make a move up the leaderboard.

Ayinde Ubaka (Chewbacca) led the Blaze in scoring

Anna Bligh and the Gold Coast Blaze

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my friends had essentially put together the relationship to have Queensland Premier Anna Bligh as the Gold Coast Blaze's # 1 ticket holder this season. It was this friend that hooked me up with the corporate seats for the last game and why we were treated like VIP's by the Blaze. Yes, I'm people who knows people! LOL

Anyway, when we were at the game last week my friend started to organise a time for Anna to meet the team, the front office and officially receive her #1 jersey. This all took place earlier today while the team were shooting around before their game tonight with the Cairns Taipans. Here are a couple of photos from the event:

Premier Bligh with Blaze captain James Harvey

Premier Bligh with Blaze team and GM Dave Claxton

NBL'ers in the NBA continued

Its been a very busy couple of days in the office so I'm just catching up on the blog now. Its already late tonight so this will be a quick one and I'll catch up more on the weekend.

After my last post about past NBL players doing there thing in the NBA, there's been some big news for two of them over the last few days. One good one bad.

First the good news. Most Australians have heard the news that Nathan Jawai has been traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here's the Australian's take on it and how he'll be following in the footsteps of Luc Longley and Shane Heal.

This should be a good move for Jawai as he wasn't exactly welcomed in Dallas and seemed like an afterthought that they didn't know what to do with and likely would've been sent back to the D League or waived. In Minnesota, he has the opportunity to make the roster and hopefully see some substantial court-time. The T'Wolves have suffered some injuries to a few of their star bigmen and are talking about developing Nathan which is what he needs.

Secondly is the bad news today that Carlos Powell has been cut by the Phoenix Suns. Powell got so close to making the squad but has just missed out. Look for him to again star in the D League or maybe head to Europe and get paid.

Another Aussie will be suiting up for the T'Wolves

Carlos Powell: Working Hard to Reach the NBA

I stumbled across the following article about former NBL'er Carlos Powell and his quest to make it in to the NBA.

I remember Carlos from the one season he played in the NBL with the New Zealand Breakers. I was working with the Brisbane Bullets at the time and we were one of the few teams that did a decent job of containing him. That season he was a scoring machine and everyone knew he wouldn't be back in our league the next year. His eyes were always on the NBA and after spending some time in the D-Leagues he's getting close to a roster spot for the Phoenix Suns.

Click on the title below to read the full story.

Carlos Powell: Working Hard to Reach the NBA - Bright Side Of The Sun

Phoenix Suns preseason roster addition Carlos Powell was undrafted coming out of South Carolina in 2005 where he played all four years. Since then he's played overseas in both Europe and Asia and spent the 2007/08 season with the NBA D-league's Dakota Wizards where he averaged 22 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 4.8 apg. Powell's known as a physical small forward (6'7', 225lbs) who can shoot the three, has good vision and can still bang a little bit.

Carlos is a prototypical guy 'on the bubble' and is trying to make it to the NBA the hard way just as former Suns Matt Barnes and Raja Bell did. From the look of things, this summer has brought Powell much closer to reaching his dream.

In July the Phoenix Suns added Carlos to their Vegas Summer League roster where he played well putting up 9 points in 16 minutes of play and shot 60% from three. That apparently was enough to earn Carlos an invitation to join the Suns training camp and preseason squad where he continues to impress.

Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry said this about Powell, 'He's played well at camp. He's a good guy. Real aggressive guy and a real physical guy. He's done some good things. Shot the ball real well.'

NBL'ers in the NBA

Still no good news regarding Patty Mills and his attempt to play in the NBA but there are Aussies or NBL-related players seeing some action in the NBA pre-season.

Firstly, David Andersen has been putting in work with the Houston Rockets. He knows he can't replace Yao Ming but in his last 3 games has average 25 minutes per game and has started 2 of them. He had 8 points 4 boards, 17 points 4 boards and 12 points 7 boards. Respective production, let's hope it continues in the regular season.

Secondly, former New Zealand Breakers import Carlos Powell is getting a run for the Phoenix Suns. Carlos was a scoring machine for the Breakers and had high hopes of stepping from the NBL to the NBA. He's spent some time in the D League but with Shaq in Cleveland and Robin Lopez injured, the Suns could using another scoring bigman. He came off the bench in his first game for 6 points 3 boards but started yesterday and had 12 points 3 boards.

Finally, Nathan Jawai has FINALLY stepped on court for the Dallas Mavericks. This article would tend to suggest he's unlikely to make their roster but it was nice all the same to see him get 2 points and 2 assists in 7 minutes of court-time (not surprisingly, a blowout Dallas win).

Thanks to the guys at NBA Mate for pointing out an article from NBA.com about our two main Aussies in the NBA.

Mate vs mate, Anderson shooting over Bogut in a pre-season game

Gold Coast Blaze recap

If you're following me on Twitter you may have read parts of this story already, if not, here's the trip report from the Gold Coast Blaze vs Melbourne Tigers game last night.

I've been going to basketball games for the last 20+ years and including my 5 years with the Brisbane Bullets have had some great game night experiences. Firstly, when I was 17 one of my friend's dad had a corporate box at Boondall that he gave to us for a couple of games. We were of course underage at the time but that didn't stop us enjoying the corporate drinks and generally having a great night out. Then a few years ago, there was the time that Eddy Groves chartered a plane to take all the Bullets support crew down to Melbourne to cheer on the team in game 2 of the grand final series. As well as the trip, I was lucky enough to sit at the end of the player's bench to watch the game. But last night's Blaze game was definitely right up there ...

One of my friends organised some tickets for us and mentioned they would likely be corporate seats. I was keen to get to the game so the corporate part was really just a bonus. She received confirmation from Blaze GM Dave Claxton about the tickets as well as an invite for us to the pre-game cocktail party.

We arrived at the service counter at the stadium and were advised that Katie had just taken our tickets to which my friend and I looked at each other and jokingly questioned who Katie was. One of the staff walked us to the function room and introduced us to Katie who then introduced us to a few people in the room. We grabbed a drink, something to eat and then went over to say hi to Dave Claxton who informed us we were in the owner's box tonight with Owen & Katie Tomlinson as well as Basketball Australia CEO Larry Sengstock. Katie then came back and chatted to us and it was then it dawned on me that Katie was in fact one of the Blaze owners.

After speeches from Dave & Larry we chatted to the CEO for a few minutes prior to the game and then headed to our box. As we were walking with Owen & Larry we of course walked around the edge of the court and got the chance to say hi to Joey, Ronny, Big Joe and Gibbo before taking our seats. The box was of course centre court and it was great to watch the game with the league's CEO and have the owner's passing me beers all night!

Now, my observations from the actual game:

• Another poor crowd in attendance
• Ben Knight will not be back anytime soon from the knee injury he suffered in the first quarter
• The Gold Coast Blaze's defence and rebounding needs work and quick
• Blaze look terrible when they go to the "no-motion offence"
• Mark Worthington was a one-man wrecking crew, killing the Blaze for most of the game (31 points, 9 boards)
  
• Erron Maxey can play and will put up some large numbers this season (29 points, 7 boards)
  
• Blaze look good when they get offensive contributions outside of their stars
• Chris Goulding is a big chance for this year's Most Improved Player award
• Sam Mackinnon is still average from the free-throw line
  

It was great to see the Blaze come good in the second half and get a much needed home win. They looked dangerous for periods of the game and will be a contendor in this league if they can do that for the entire game.

It was a fantastic night and I owe a big thank you to my friend for hooking me up in VIP fashion. A massive thank you also to Owen, Katie & Dave for their warm welcome and generous hospitality throughout the night.

The view from the corporate box ... and yes, that's the back of Basketball Australia's CEO Larry Sengstock's head sitting in front of me.

Gold Coast Blaze vs Melbourne Tigers

One of my friends has hooked me up with a corporate ticket to the Gold Coast Blaze game tomorrow night against the Melbourne Tigers.

This is my second game of this new NBL season and I'm hoping that firstly the Blaze can get the win and secondly that the crowd is better than it was for game 1 against the Crocs. Like the first game, I'll be tweeting updates so if you're not already follow me on Twitter.

The Blaze are currently last on the ladder but I said it before the season started, it will take time for them to gel. They've got a new coaching staff, new imports and a number of other new players in key roles. I saw it first hand when the Brisbane Bullets over-hauled their roster, we had a star team on paper but it took time for them to come together and

I found two good articles talking about the Blaze and their start to the season. Click on the titles below to read the full stories.

Time is Wright for side to fire Blaze | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

WHEN Joey Wright was appointed coach of the Gold Coast Blaze, he asked supporters for some time.

With an almost completely new playing group, he was only too aware it would take a few matches for his side to gel.

His prediction was correct -- the Coast are sitting bottom with one win and three losses.

But Wright says his squad is 'starting to look like a basketball team'.

There is a renewed confidence in the group after returning home on Saturday from a tough away trip to Cairns and Perth for two matches in three days.

They lost both games but pushed the Wildcats all the way on Friday night.

Wright -- an NBL championship-winning coach with the Brisbane Bullets -- saw enough to predict his side is on the brink of turning their form around.

The View from Downunder – Local Edition #4

Adam Gibson is an impressive young basketballer. When you watch the disciplined way he plays defence, and the uncompromising way he takes the ball to the hole, it is easy to forget that he is only 22 years of age.

But watching the Gold Coast Blaze put up just 66 points last Wednesday against the Cairns Taipans, it was clear that Gibson is still a developing playmaker. Just as the Blaze are a developing team at this point in time.

The way the Blaze played in Cairns was very un-Joey Wright, for want of a better description.

Wright has put together a small, quick, versatile team on the Coast, just as he did at Brisbane. When I asked him why he said: “In this league, as much as we want to say ‘big’ wins, I think the versatile teams win more games, and that’s what we have tried to put together.”

Yet to start this season, the Blaze have been a half court team, with Gibson walking the ball up the floor repeatedly. The half court offence consisted mostly of pick and rolls and clear outs. That won’t get the Blaze far, with no real low post threats and very few people who can create shots off the dribble.

Gibson isn’t a playmaker, he is more of a place-setter at this stage of his career. He is absolutely reliable when it comes to playing defence, pushing the ball in transition, hitting the open shot and scoring in the lane.

NBA Fantasy Draft recap

After discussions on Friday night, its official ... the NBA Fantasy Draft is the BEST night of the year. Sorry Christmas and birthday, you lose.

As mentioned in my last post, I did some research and thought about my strategy for about 2.5 hours on Thursday night and a bit during the day on Friday. My plan was not to draft the best available player but instead look to build a team. A number of fantasy articles talk about grabbing as many point guards and power forwards as you can and then filling out your line-up with small forwards and shooting guards that can provide you with threes or give you forward or guard type stats (assists, boards, blocks, etc). This would be taken in to consideration when building my team as well.

The night started with me picking up a few of the boys in town where they had been having after-work drinks. Considering it was just before 8 when I picked them up, not surprisingly a couple were well on their way to drunk. We then met up with the others at a Mexican restaurant at Bulimba and enjoyed some beers and dinner before having drinks back here. A few photos from the night are on my Twitter profile.

When the draft positions were announced I was pleased to get the 6th pick having had the last pick last year. With this in mind I hoped someone like Dirk Nowitzki might slip in to my hands but he went in 5th so I instead went for Danny Granger who I owned for most of last season and I think is more dependable than Kevin Durant. Disappointing not to get a top level point guard or bigman with my top pick but Granger does it all so I'm pleased with that pick. Second round I wanted a quality bigman and the best available was Tim Duncan. Sure, he had some injury issues last season and he's getting old but he's consistent and the Spurs are doing their best to manage his health. By round 3 I wanted a quality point guard so it was between Kidd, Baron Davis, Rondo or Rose and I went with Kidd because of his ability to help with steals, boards, triples and assists. His average field goal percentage would be nullified by Granger and Duncan as my first picks.

From there, my later picks were:

• LaMarcus Aldridge
• Nene Hilario
• OJ Mayo
• Russell Westbrook
• Luis Scola
• Nate Robinson
• Lamar Odom
• Mike Dunleavy
• Brendan Haywood
• Anthony Parker
• Anthony Morrow

In review, I'm relying on Mayo and Westbrook to really step up from their rookie years. I hope Nene is at least close to the excellent fantasy season he had last year and Scola to step up even further in the absence of Yao Ming. My weaknesses seem to be fg% and ft% and I could use some more assists and triples. Hopefully my side can stay healthy and we'll see how the opening weeks play out.

Danny Granger, my #1 pick

Fantasy basketball

Its that time of year again and our league's fantasy basketball draft is tomorrow night. Its come around so fast and I've yet to do any work ... no pre-rankings done, no team or player research. Its time to get to work!

There can be a little east coast-west coast rivalry (can you tell I just finished watching Notrious on DVD?) in our league as most of the GM's are in Brisbane but a couple of the players (including the dominant force in the league) reside in Perth.

Last year saw the start of a cash prize for the top 3 teams and I didn't finish in the money. I struggled with injuries, made some bad trades and finished 7th out of 12. This year, its time to get paid.

The draft is the best part of the fantasy season. The plans for tomorrow night are six of us are catching up for Mexican and drinks down at Bulimba and then they're descending upon my place. As we have Perth GM's in the league, our draft is a late kick-off at around midnight our time so there will likely be more drinks here before things get underway.

Note to self: stop drinking before the draft starts so I don't make the same mistake as last year in thinking it ends in round 10 (it actually ends round 14).

Bounce Magazine

I often mention and read Dime Magazine every day but I sometimes forget or only check their offshoot Bounce Magazine weekly, if that.

Catching up on their stuff today tho they had some true GOLD.

First they preview an underground, low-budget basketball movie Streetballers.

Next they had what looks to be a European, almost artistic basketball commercial.

And last but not least they have an in depth look at Cheryl & Reggie Miller. Reggie is one of my favourite shooters and I thoroughly enjoyed his book "I love being the enemy" (until my mum threw out a box of my stuff). If you've never heard the catch-cry "Its Miller time!!" or if you never saw Reggie play ... watch and learn from the below. He was much more than this game but it encapsulates all he was as a player.

One HD ... I love you

Aussie NBA fans were in heaven on Friday night when One HD showed the first of its NBA: Hall of Fame Tribute games. They started with Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz in game 5 of the '97 NBA Finals Series ... better known as "the flu" game. FaceBook was full of comments from my basketball friends who were loving Michael Jordan's heroics.

Having been starved of NBA action over the last couple of years I am so looking forward to One HD showing at least three NBA games per week. The classic NBA games are a great way to get fans warmed up for the upcoming season.

If you don't know or somehow don't remember this game, check the footage below.

On a side note, I stumbled across a fashion article earlier. Could this be the only time the phrase "Jordan-esque" has ever been used in derogatory way?

"There were some truly hideous fashion faux pas. Silver sequinned 'pasties', for example, belong in a lap dancing club unless you subscribe to a Jordan-esque dress code."

Thankfully I know they are referring to the British model Jordan (Katie Price), rather than the G.O.A.T, otherwise it would be sacrilegious!

Gold Coast Blaze update

I didn't get a chance to post this on the weekend but it was great to see the Gold Coast Blaze get their first win of the NBL season on Friday night at home against the Wollongong Hawks. I'm sure it was dedicated to team manager Big Joe's birthday the next day!

I didn't make the trip down the freeway this week but the game looked fairly close for most of the night according to the FIBA live stats. It was pleasing to see a more balanced scoring attack from the Blaze this week, not solely relying on James Harvey to get it done. Four players in double figures this week led by import Michael Joiner with 18 and Ayinde Ubaka with 15. Mika Vukona was also active with 10 points, 13 boards.

Now it was good to see Joiner put some numbers on the board after a terrible opener, but I got the news on Twitter last night that he was the first import cut. So it seems his performance on Friday night was too little too late. I put up a story last week about how NBA players get in shape during the off-season and Joiner's lack of fitness was likely the reason for his axing. Click on the title below to read about his replacement.

Blaze make import switch

The Gold Coast Blaze have signed a new US import for season 2009-2010.

Former college and California Pro League player Erron Maxey has arrived on the Coast to replace the departing Michael Joiner.

At 100kg and 6’6”, Maxey is a strong rebounder with a handy outside shot who uses ‘outstanding leaping ability’ to beat taller and heavier players to the hoop.

'We put our team together this year from scratch and, quite simply, the eventual line up left no place for Michael,” said Blaze Coach Joey Wright.

'We've brought Erron in knowing that he is a strong forward and someone who has the leap and reach to block shots all over the court.

“He’s a hard working small forward who can knock down the open perimeter jump shot.

'With our team still developing our own playing style, we knew the sooner we could get him out here, the better,” he said.

Maxey comes to the Gold Coast with a solid reputation as an exceptional athlete, able to dominate bigger players at the post when needed.

Off-season ... time to go to work

I was on Dime this morning and they had a story including a video about Gilbert Arenas and the work he's been doing this off-season to get back in shape after being sidelined for much of the last two seasons.

After that I stumbled across a series of videos on YouTube from what was obviously a TV show last year called "NBA Fit". Its essentially a behind the scenes look at the work-outs that rookies and NBA players did to prepare for last season.

The first series follows the rookies: Derrick Rose, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Jason Thompson and Ryan Anderson. The second series follows Loul Deng, Gilbert Arenas, Jordan Farmar and Glen Davis. Each series consists of 3 episodes, I've just posted one from each series but you can find the others on YouTube. They're well worth checking out in full when you have time. If you're an up and coming player there are a lot of great lessons you can learn from them ... success leaves clues.

I've put up the second video from the second series because it starts with Gilbert Arenas working on his shooting. 100,000 made shots in 70 days ... it takes that sort of dedication to be the best.