My niece has been spending the last few days with her father, my brother Bruce, in Los Angeles at the Pac-10 Conference basketball tournament. That’s because she won a contest sponsored by Union 76.

And then she got four free throws at halftime of the second game last night and made the first one, barely missing a couple of others. There was $19,000 at stake for each shot, so she comes home tomorrow $19,000 richer.

Hey kid, can you loan your nice uncle a buck or two? Seriously, way to go, Jen!

Tweet This Post

Tags: Bruce Jaynes, Dwight Jaynes, Jennifer Jaynes, Pac-10 tournament, Union 76

Honestly, it was a rare opportunity. A last look at a place where I enjoyed many an enjoyable game throughout my life, from my time as a student at the University of Oregon (wow — the Ducks hold the ball on Lew Alcindor and almost beat the Bruins)… to Dick Harter’s Ronnie Lee teams… to covering the old Class AA state basketball tournament and players like Melvin “The Elevator” Lentz. So many fun times.

Rob Closs was kind enough to share one of his season tickets with me and also do all the driving. I couldn’t lose. Along the way we stopped for a tour of almost-finished PK Park (I mean, double wow — the city of Portland can’t get that done but the Ducks do, and in the Autzen parking lot. It’s going to be an incredible ballpark, folks.) And we cruised past the under-construction new arena, Pre’s Rock and a few other Eugene sights before watching the Ducks pull out an overtime win over UCLA.

Thanks to Rob, the night couldn’t have gone any better. A few observations from a memorable evening:

– I settled into my Mac Court seat and watched the arena filling up as players got ready. I couldn’t help but think, “Why?” Why do they have to leave this place? It’s been around long enough now it’s past the point of complaining about and become a piece of memorabilia. You know what I mean. An old baseball uniform can be pretty disgusting unless it happened to once be worn by Babe Ruth. This joint they call The Pit — man, it’s seen some great players, great games and memorable moments.

And beyond that, it’s just flat-out a great place to watch a game. All those balconies hanging over the court give you a feeling like an old opera house. Fans are right on top of the action. I cannot believe someone isn’t still building arenas like this. It’s unique. The only thing worse than leaving it is tearing it down. What a loss it will be — one of the great college sports venues ANYWHERE.

If you’ve never been there, or if it’s been a while, you really owe it to yourself to get down there before the season ends. Most of the games are NOT sold out, so really — don’t miss this chance to sample the atmosphere one final time.

– That said, I understand why this is happening. Times change and so does everything else if it wants to survive and prosper. And this campus is alive with new construction. For someone who hasn’t been there in a while, it was a real eye-opener. Man, the place where I spent two years goofing off in classes has really changed.

– I love the fact the Ducks are honoring players and coaches from opposing teams as well as the ones from their own school. Bill Walton was there Thursday night and was his usual hilarious self in a reception prior to the game. He’s a real beauty, a natural comedian with great timing and some wisdom, too. When I told him I was now doing radio in the mornings and had been around long enough my young cohorts were now calling me “The Godfather,” he looked at me with horror and invoked the names of two newspapermen who covered his career with the Trail Blazers.

“You’re not the Godfather. That would be Kenny Wheeler… or Bob Robinson!” he thundered. I love the guy. May God bless you with perfect health the rest of your life, Bill.

– The Ducks actually looked pretty good in this game. But on the other hand, the Bruins were pretty bad. I haven’t been around as long as Mac Court, but I can tell you that’s perhaps the worst UCLA team I’ve ever seen and certainly the one with the least amount of talent on it. And fewest athletes. What’s going on down there?

On the other hand, what’s going on in the entire conference? Ugh. Are we looking for that conference to get just one NCAA bid? And not even deserving that one?

– I met a ton of very nice people, saw some people I hadn’t chatted with in years and it all made for a wonderful evening. Thanks again, Rob! And I have to say it one last time, I’m really going to miss that old barn.

–

Tweet This Post

Tags: Bill Walton, Dwght Jaynes, Mac Court, Oregon Ducks, Rob Closs, The Pit, UCLA Bruins

It seems to me so many young people have never seen much of Pete Maravich, the most innovative player in basketball history, in my opinion. Trust me, this is just a tiny piece of what he could do:

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Pistol Pete Maravich

Go here right now. Like NOW. Ben Golliver has a review of Bill Simmons’ new book, “The Book of Basketball.” It’s one of the best book reviews I’ve ever read.

Don’t wait for my review because I doubt I’ll be reading it — it’s too long for my limited powers of concentration and frankly, I don’t think it would be particularly helpful.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Ben Golliver, Bill Simmons, Blazers Edge, Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers, The Book of Basketball

Don’t know if you noticed it or not, but Jennings, the Milwaukee Bucks rookie point guard, went scoreless in the first quarter Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors — and then scored 55 points over the last three periods!

This is the player who skipped out on college last season to play in Europe, the first young American to take that avenue to the NBA. He had mostly a hard time getting on the floor for his team, but his experience against older players and with tons of practice time was invaluable.

This blog post by former agent and Sports Management Worldwide founder Dr. Lynn Lashbrook best sums it up:

And instead of a one-and-done year on campus, he had an enriching European experience, did his maturing and growing up while learning to function in his chosen career — and made a lot of money doing it. No offense intended to anyone at Arizona or any other college, but I believe Jennings made a very intelligent decision.

And his play in the NBA is reflecting that. If you go to Europe, pay attention, work hard and listen to the very talented and experienced players over there, you’re going to learn A LOT.

Is there any doubt this could lead to more players following his lead? The only stumbling block after Jennings’ uneven performance over there, is that some European teams now may be reluctant to take on high school players, fearing they won’t be good enough to contribute to their teams. But some will compete at a passable level and there will be enough of them to entice teams into taking a chance on others.

And over here, it will only take a few going over — the marquee players a lot of college programs rely on to sell tickets and raise TV ratings — before it will look as if the NBA rule prohibiting the drafting of high school players will be rendered fairly useless as far as the colleges are concerned.

I’m not in favor of a kid skipping a senior season of high school to go to Europe, as is being attempted this season. But instead of a year in college at some school where the coach is more of a poser than a mentor? Absolutely. Go make some money and see the world!

Tweet This Post

Tags: . Milwaukee Bucks, Brandon Jennings, Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, Dwight Jaynes, Europe, Sports Management Worldwide

I think people underestimate how difficult it is to keep quick guards out of the lane on defense these days in the NBA. The rules have been changed to legislate against it. Just as they’ve been changed over the last several years to detract from the influence of big players.

In the old days, strong guards could defend quick guards by using hand checking. In many cases, players could make up for a lack of quickness by controlling an offensive player with their hands — think Terry Porter. That man did a terrific job of staying in front of quick players using his smarts and strength.

But rules change. Now you’re not allowed to put a hand on a player if you’re above the foul line. And coaches who expect players to be able to control a quick guard by themselves are often the victim of unrealistic expectations — unless they’re asking Rajon Rondo to do it. He’s about the only one in the league I’ve seen who seems to have consistent success at it.

NBA point guards are elite athletes and expecting a defender who doesn’t know which direction a dribbler is headed to stay in front of  him is borderline ridiculous. It’s like expecting a defensive back, by himself, to blanket Randy Moss on a pass pattern.

And don’t expect a ton of help from your big man, either. Those days are just about over. During the last few decades, a lot of the new rules have conspired to make it difficult for big men to have the impact they used to have on games, at both ends of the floor.

The first rule change aimed at the big guy was the three-point field goal.

When all shots were worth two points, it only made sense that the closer you get to the basket, the better your chances of scoring and the more efficient your offense was.  The mantra was always “get it in deep to the big guy” and the big guy always got a lot of shots.  Shots from distance were frowned upon in most cases in those days — it’s what you did when you couldn’t get inside or what you did to loosen the defense so you could get the ball inside.

That philosophy died hard, as veteran coaches clung to old ideas. It’s taken a long time for many of them to understand the value of three-point shots and the simple mathematics of being able to shoot a lower percentage of them and still net more points than if you shot a bunch of two-point shots at a higher percentage.

The three-point goal has turned a lot of big men into perimeter players. And at the same time, the illegal defense rules have kept the big guy from lurking in the lane like a goaltender on defense. I can remember Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell and Nate Thurmond, all great shot blockers, just camping out in the lane. Believe me, you didn’t want to go in there when they were lurking.

In most cases, they didn’t have to stray far from the pivotmen (now there’s an antiquated term) they were guarding because he was almost always strictly a low-post player who hung around the basket.

But now, if you hang in the lane, you’re going to give up a technical foul for being in the key three seconds — on defense! And besides, the big man on the other team is always pulling you away from the basket because he wants to shoot from distance just like the guards.

So what is a defensive team to do about guard penetration?

Help defense! Not help from big men, either, but rotation help. Beat one man and someone else has to be there. There are many systems to handle this but they all require alert defenders who will tirelessly rotate to people who aren’t “their man” to keep the opposing team from getting inside.

And at the same time, they must have enough energy to close out on the three-point shooters. It’s a difficult concept to teach and even more difficult to get players to accomplish.

It’s why only the elite teams seem to be able to do it. But it’s also why only a few teams have a serious shot at winning a championship. If you don’t defend in the NBA,  you can’t consistently beat the teams that do.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, NBA, team defense

Cool story at West Albany High School. Saturday night Mike and his father, Duane Barrett, will be inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame together.

For those of you who don’t know, Duane Barrett was a very successful high school basketball coach for many years. Mike went 11-2 as a pitcher his senior season and was a first-team all-state pick. He also played two seasons of basketball for his father.

Congrats to them both — a couple of class acts.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Duane Barrett, Hall of Fame, Mike Barrett, West Albany High School

Merritt Paulson is trying to get a ballpark. He’s trying to see if some community in this area is willing to build a real baseball stadium in a public-private partnership. You realize, perhaps, that the ONLY stadium or arena of any size that this area’s ever built with public funds is Memorial Coliseum — which was done about a half century ago.

The Rose Garden, PGE Park (Multnomah Stadium when it was built), Vaughn Street Ballpark — all were done privately. My point is, we’re kind of due, aren’t we, to do some sort of arena or ballpark?

Anyway, Paulson, who had no connections here, moved into the area when he bought the Portland Beavers and Timbers and is in love with owning pro sports franchises. He’s been villified, made fun of and derided because he’s asked the public to help fund a ballpark that IT will own.

He’s willing to pour millions of his own money into this operation. Millions. And for anyone who thinks he’s got a great chance of even earning all that money back, well, you’re nuts. I just don’t think it pencils out. The fact is, he’s a wealthy guy who loves owning and operating a sports franchise.

Just like Paul Allen.

But Paul’s taken a lot of hits over the years, too. Yet the contributions the Trail Blazers have made to this community are too many to count. Seriously, with all of our job and economic problems here, the constant rain and the idiocy of some of our politicians, it’s the only thing a lot of people find themselves feeling good about when they pick up the morning paper.

And you know what? Paul has lost tens hundreds of millions on the Trail Blazers. Can you imagine? It’s never been a profitable operation. The people of Portland owe him a standing ovation every time he walks to his seat in that arena. Has he made mistakes? Of course, and we’ve always called him out on them. But on balance, Paul Allen has been GREAT for the city of Portland.

Traditionally, we’ve not had wealthy people who live in our area step up to own franchises. The closest I can come is Harry Glickman, but he wasn’t rich enough to own the team — he just was farsighted and creative enough to put a group together that had enough financial clout to buy a team in the NBA.

I think Merritt Paulson is trying very hard to be great for the Portland area, too. Certainly, to anyone who believes he’s here to make his fortune is sadly mistaken. If they think that ballpark in Beaverton is going to benefit only Paulson, they’re seriously deluded.

That ballpark will be a gathering place and a focal point for Beaverton that the city has never had. An identity and a soul. Just wait. What really bothers me is the whole political side to this. Some people don’t like Paulson’s father, Hank, the former secretary of the treasury, so they don’t like his kid. I mean, man, the guy was a REPUBLICAN — which is pretty much always a crime around these parts. And man, he’s from the EAST COAST! How terrible.

All I’m saying is that we ought to be thankful that people like Paul Allen and Merritt Paulson have chosen Portland as the home for their teams. Nobody around here is wealthy enough or willing enough to do it.

And we’re better off for what they’ve done.

Tweet This Post

Tags: arenas, ballparks, Beaverton, Dwight Jaynes, Merritt Paulson, Paul Allen, Portland

Well, maybe not.

J.R. Rider wants to play basketball again. And get paid for it. Of course he does. There’s not a lot of money in going to jail, you know — and you can only profit from cracking cell phones so they charge the calls to someone else for so long.

Guy is 38 and needs a job. If you give him one, you’re absolutely nuts. Unless you own a team in some far-off minor league and feel you need the publicity.

If Geoff Petrie is the original Trail Blazer, I have to say, Rider is most likely the original Jail Blazer. He may not have been the first, of course — but he fit the description most appropriately.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, J.R. Rider, NBA, professional basketball

The former local basketball guru was convicted of some very serious charges yesterday. He will likely be put away for a long time. I flinch every time I hear his name these days because he’s a guy with so much potential who came so far and who actually did help so many young basketball players in the Portland area.

But what he did to young girls in his care was reprehensible. And he did it over and over. It’s really impossible to understand or rationalize his particular degree of insanity.

I’ve been acquainted with him since he was a young prodigy playing basketball at Benson High School. He disappeared for a while before turning up as a senior at McLaren, leading that institution to a small-school state championship. So many times, I thought he had his path straightened out and was heading for a productive life.

He certainly always said he was.

I remember the first time I saw him as an adult, at the girls basketball state tournament in the Chiles Center. He was well dressed and excited. He handed me a business card with his company name, “Triple Threat,” on it and explained how he was making money helping kids out with private lessons. At the time, it was an interesting concept that hadn’t caught on to the extent it has nowdays.

But Avery was smart enough to be among the first to recognize how much money wealthy — or even not-so-wealthy — parents were willing to spend to help their children get better in sports. And over the years, Avery made an awful lot of money doing just that.

Lest anyone think that Avery worked only with girls, that’s incorrect. At one time, he had a thriving business with boys and girls that featured travel teams, individual instruction, clinics and his personal appearances at big-time college camps during the summer.

And I can tell you that there are few local players who made it into the NBA over the last several years who didn’t, at one time, work out with Avery and proclaim him a big help in their development. I remember once an NBA head coach telling me he thought Avery was one of the best developmental coaches anywhere.

But he eventually so totally self-destructed that he became a living symbol of why parents need to investigate the people working closely with their children. I hate that it’s come to that, by the way. There are so many great people out there working with kids, trying earnestly to help them with their sports and their lives — and we’ve reached the point where all of them now operate under a cloud of doubt and suspicion because of the actions of people such as Howard Avery.

But that’s the world we live in. And please, if you’ve learned anything at all from watching Howard Avery’s sad life play out on a public stage, make sure you understand the importance of knowing the adults who are mentoring your children. Take nothing for granted. Don’t totally trust your instincts — the charm of Avery hid a dark side that turned out to be cunning and successful.

In the end, I’m afraid Avery’s biggest contribution to our local basketball culture will be only as a chilling warning sign.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Howard Avery, Triple Threat, youth basketball coaches