The summer has come to an end and fall is upon us. Baseball season is coming to an end and the playoffs will begin shortly. Football season is here and that means hockey and basketball will start their season as well.On my way to Troy, New York from Baltimore I stopped in Plattekill, NY to go to the rest room. While washing my hands there is a guy next to me washing his feet in the sink. He was there taking off his shoes and socks. I thought to myself here is a guy washing his feet and then there are people that don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Both scenarios are gross. What will I see on my next trip? My fall season began today in Troy, New York at Hudson Valley Community College. Obama will be here on Monday. I was hoping he would be a camper this weekend as he is a true hoophead. It has been some time since I’ve done anything in the Albany area. As always it was fun teaching the game of basketball to the kids. The camp began with me doing my shooting lecture and about twenty minutes into the lecture the lights went out. I finally shot the lights out. The lecture continued and I finished up shooting 385 for 389.After the shooting demo the kids broke into groups and did form shooting. The coaches at the hoops were the college women from RPI. They did a great job coaching. Once the form shooting was done we continued to work on the shot off of the bounce and off of a catch and shoot.The afternoon session we got into shooting on the move going from left to right and right to left. Tomorrow we will continue to work on improving our shot and how to practice on our own. We still have to cover shot fakes, jab jumpshot and creating space.Once camp ends I will head home for a day and then get on a plane for Naples, FL. I will be down there for a couple days and then head to New Jersey to do a corporate speaking engagement.NBA training camps open up on the 29th of September. It looks like the officials won’t be starting the season as their contracts expired and are having trouble agreeing to a deal.I want to thank everyone for reading my blog, but most of all I would like to thank the GOOD LORD for all of my family and friends. Take time out of your day to pray for your friends and loved ones. Give praise to the LORD.

  It is hard to believe that the summer is coming to an end. I have had a very busy summer as usual. Once I left Washington I was off to Vacationland (MAINE). I got to spend some time with my wife and daughter. Then I was off to China with NIKE for the All Asia Camp. It has been going on for quite some time and I am proud to say that I have been to every one of the NIKE AAC.Came back from China and worked some camps and also spent some time with my good friend Mike Stevens in Carbondale, Illinois. The place that time forgot. I don’t know how Clyde survived there. Tried to get something to eat on Father’s day and two of the better restaurants were closed. Went to a Dairy Queen and they only have chocolate ice cream on Thursdays. Tried to take a boat out at a marina and the marina was closed on Monday, went back on Tuesday and they said that they don’t rent boats on Tuesdays. I’m not making this stuff up. At least I got to work with some great kids at the Brehm School.Then it was off to China again with the NBA. I had a great time in two cities that I’ve never been to. I met a great group of guys. Marty, Pat, Jeremiah, Dave, Anderson and Kobe . Did some sightseeing as well while I was in Wuhan. Wuhan is a very beautiful city with lots of lakes and water.Came back from China and had another nightmare flying. This time with DELTA. My bags were soaking wet and so was everything inside of them. They were left on the tarmac in Atlanta (during a storm) as I was awaiting my flight home to Maine. Flight was delayed and I didn’t get in until 3:00am. I could go on about this whole episode that I am still dealing with.I have spoken at around sixteen camps this summer. I still have one more to do on Thursday. It’s hard to believe that I used to speak at over a 100 during the summer.This fall, winter and spring I will be available to speak at schools, colleges and also do my camps, clinics, demonstrations and motivational speeches. If anyone is interested in having me come in and speak don’t hesitate to contact me through my website.I would like to thank everyone that actually reads this and thank all of my friends for their support and prayers. Take care and God Bless everyone.

     I would like to take the time and say goodbye to everyone in Washington as well as say thanks for a wonderful two years. Thanks to the fans who had to endure this season, the people that run the Verizon Center. I will miss each and everyone of you. I will miss everyone up in the basketball office, especially the ladies Cathy, Lisa and Jennifer a big thank you to each of you for everything that you did for me and my family. We will all miss you ladies. Carole and McKenna send their love. How can I thank the guys down in the trenches for all of their help, support and friendship. I am talking about JW, Rob, Drew, H (also no longer with the Wizards) Eric, Koitche (sorry about the spelling), Corey, Dave Avery and Billy C. You guys are the best. I have lots of memories and you are all part of them.

    The people that I am going to miss the most are the guys that you spend every day with and spend the most time with and that is the coaching staff. After losing two friends and fine coaches earlier in the season (Eddie Jordan and Mike O’Koren) the coaching staff tried to keep it together with the rest of the coaching staff. Tap took over the head spot (the smartest man that I know) did everything in his power to keep us afloat. Randy Ayers as fine a coach and human being that there is. Phil Hubbard aka PH or Hub a Dub, I am going to miss the laughter that you brought to the table everyday and kept us laughing instead of crying. I have yet to hear someone say anything bad about Hub. He’s funny without trying to be funny. Wes Unseld Jr. a brilliant basketball mind who will one day be a head coach in the NBA and a wonderful person.

    I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with these guys. I learned so much from each and everyone of them. We all got along so well. There are alot of staffs where the coaches are so jealous of one another, I never experienced that here, we all pitched in and helped one another out. It was a perfect fit, nobody thought they were too big to do something.

Thanks to Ernie, Tommy and Milt for bringing me to Washington and having the chance to be close to Baltimore.

    Thanks to the best ballboys and ballgirls in the NBA. You guys are the best. I will miss all of you.

    Last but not least, thanks to the players. Over the two years that I have spent coaching in Washington I have come into contact with some fine young men. I will miss each and everyone of you guys. Thank you for being so coachable and for working hard. I wish that you will all have good health for next season and then everything else will take care of itself.

     I don’t know what the Good Lord has in His plans for me and I don’t try to question Him. I just put my trust in Him and pray for Him to give me wisdom, understanding and knowledge. I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward to keeping you abreast of my activity during the upcoming months.

   It is hard to believe that we are now in March. March is a great time of the year with March Madness upon us. The college season is winding down with all the conference tournaments. Then we have to see who gets into the tournament with Selection Sunday. Once all of that is decided the madness begins with the first tipoff. There will be teams that will be jumping for joy because they were selected and then there will be others that will be disappointed in not being selected. Office pools will be widespread, even the non basketball fan gets excited this time of the year.

   The Final Four will be in the Motor City this year. I will miss being there, as I have missed the last few Final Fours. The Final Four is something that I loved going to. It was always great seeing all of my friends in the coaching fraternity. I miss the time being with friends and talking hoops. Going to the games and then doing my thing at Hoop City. I am looking forward to watching the games. It should be a great tournament with no sure fire number one. Enjoy the tournament.

   March means that teams are positioning themselves for the playoffs in the NBA. Unfortunately for us we will not be in the playoffs this year. We are down to our last seventeen games of the year. We have a game on Friday versus Orlando and then we have Sacramento on Sunday after that we go back on the road for our last west coast trip. We go to Utah and play them on Tuesday, then LA to play the Clippers on a back to back. Then we have another back to back on Friday and Saturday in Denver and Phoenix.

    Hopefully we can finish the season up with everyone being healthy and a few more wins.

    Take care and God Bless. 

    Had a great time in Naples, Florida over all star break. Unfortunately my wife and daughter had the bug and were feeling under the weather most of the time. At least we got some time together and we were with our friends Mike and Annie. The time went by quickly, it seems like I never get enough time with the family. While in Florida I got a couple of workouts in and got some shots up. I also watched a high school basketball game and the referee’s were awful. All that they did was blow the whistle and there was no flow to the game. I felt bad for the kids playing because they really didn’t get a chance to play.

    Got back to DC Sunday night. Practice was on Monday at 5:00pm. Everyone seemed like the break did them good. The practice was a good one with the players all working hard and they were enthusiastic too. It seemed like everyone wanted to be there. Gilbert practiced and so did Andray. It is good to see Gil back doing what he should be doing. Hopefully he will be able to play again and regain his all star form.

    First game back against Minnesota. They are a team that is alot like us. They are struggling and are suffering from injuries as well. They also had a coaching change during the season. Their record is also similar to ours. It will be good to see JB Bickerstaff and Dean Cooper, two guys that I met over the summer doing camps in China and India.

    Had our morning meeting and then shootaround. After shootaround I spent some time with Brendan on the practice court and worked him about a bit. He is shooting the ball better than I expected. His wrist seems to be fairly flexible. We really miss him on the floor. BWood anchored our defense and really talked to his teammates. Get back soon Wood, we need you and miss you. Brendan will go see the doctor on Friday when we are in New Jersey. Hopefully we will have some good news and a date as to when he can participate in practice.

   The game never gets here soon enough. Time seems to drag from shootaround until tip off. The highlight of my day is when Adam or Chase (two of our ballboys) come looking for me and want to challenge me to a shootout. I have to shoot with my left hand. They are great guys and we have alot of fun and laughs. They have gotten better from last season as they have beaten me a few times this season. My left hand has also improved shooting against them. It is funny to see how happy they are when they do win, which isn’t too often I might add. It gets my mind off of the game and keeps me loose. I also make sure that I get my workout in, don’t want to miss any workouts.

    WE WON. We beat Minnesota and I was happy to see my brother and friends at the game. My brother Skip came down from Baltimore with Lee Miles, Joey and Michael Schultz. Maybe they are our good luck charms. It feels good to win.

    Remember to count your blessings, we all have something to be thankful for and tell your loved ones how much you love tham and how much they mean to you.

   Last night we suffered another loss, this time to the Memphis Grizzlies. The final score was 113 to 98. The sad part of this game is that we had a lead in the third quarter, but the end result is what matters. We have had a number of games where we have been ahead in the second half only to let the game slip away. We are now 10 and 38. That is almost as many losses as we had all of last year and we are not even at all star break. Speaking of all star break I am looking forward to going away with the family to Naples, Florida and catch some sun. This year we were shut out with any all stars. When you are losing there are no rewards.

    We have a few more games before all star break. We have New Jersey at home tomorrow night, then the Denver Nuggets come in and I get to see my good friends George Karl, Tim Gruguvich, Jahmal Mosley and John Welch. They are playing well and Chauncey Billups was a great addition to their team. After the Denver game we have another home game against Indiana on Sunday. It will be great to see TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic, two great guys who were in Toronto when I was up there two years ago. Then we go on the road for two games. First up we have Atlanta on the 10th and then Charlotte on the 11th.

     Atlanta has my friend JT on the bench. That is Jim Todd, a great guy who is responsible for getting me involved in the NBA. He tried to hire me as his assistant when he took over the head coaching job for the Clippers a few years back. Then JT and Sam Mitchell brought me up to training camp in Toronto, when Sam first got the job. Then two years ago JT was instumental along with David and Dana Pump in convincing Bryan Colangelo to hire me. The rest is history. Who knows what the future will hold.

    I do know that I have a blessed life and to be doing something that I love is truly a blessing, especially in these difficult times. Thank the LORD for all of your blessings and don’t forget to tell your loved ones that you love them and how much they mean to you. Take care and God Bless.

   First of all I would like to apologize to my faithful readers for not blogging in quite some time. Unfortunately when you are 7 and 30 there is not too much to write about. I am in NYC at the hotel and figured that it was time to write and wish everyone a healthy, happy, safe and prosperous new year.

   Now that the new year is here I figured I would sit back and reflect on all the good things in my life.There are so many things that I am thankful for. At the top of the list is God, without him there is no telling where I would be now. Then there is my wife and daughter, they are the greatest and if I never got my act together I would’ve never been married and then there would be no child. I cannot imagine my life without God, Carole and McKenna. Then there is my family and friends, I love you all. I am blessed to be doing something that I love and that is coaching basketball and working with some great guys. I have met many people and I have traveled the world because of basketball. I have a truly blessed life for that I thank the GOOD LORD, my wife, daughter, family and friends. Thank you all for making my life special.

    The team is struggling to say the least, we just can’t get a win. We have been in alot of games and have had sizeable leads but just can’t close the game out. You could go on about having three starters out (Gil, BWood and DSteve) having a bunch of young guys on the roster (Nick, Dom, Pech, Andray, Javaris and Javale) new coach (Tap) new players (Mike James and Javaris) etc… But the bottom line is that you have to play the games and you play with the guys that you have. Nobody in the league is feeling sorry for you. All that we can do is continue working to get it right. Hopefully Gil and Brendan can return at some point and give us a much needed lift.

   Our schedule was the most difficult schedule to start the season with but now it was to soften up with games against sub 500 teams. The games against Toronto, Chicago, Charlotte and Milwaukee have produced the same results. A LOSS. The losses seem to come the same way, a scoring drought in the third or fourth quarter and at the same time we don’t get an important rebound, a vital stop, or a questionable call from an official doesn’t go our way. If we continue at the same pace we will set a franchise record for the fewest wins in a year. That is not a record that you want to be associated with.

    I am also blessed to be in the NBA whether we win or lose I am a very fortunate man. May I never lose sight of that.

   Don’t forget to tell your loved ones that you love them. Make sure you count your blessings. I am sure that you will find that you have more blessings than you realized. Take care and God Bless.

   Sorry, I haven’t been writing much this year. There’s not alot to write about when you are struggling. Well today we were informed that Antonio Daniels was traded and we were letting Dee Brown go. I will miss the both of them very much. Antonio will be off to New Orleans and hopefully someone will pick up Dee.

   Antonio is a true gentleman and professional. He will be missed by everyone in the organization. It will be odd tomorrow morning at 9:00am and there isn’t a knock on the door to go shoot before shootaround. AD did this at every home game and then he would be the first one back in the afternoon. There’s a reason why AD has been in the league as long as he has. My friend I wish you all the luck and I look forward to seeing you again in the not to distant future. My wife and daughter will miss you and your family. Take care and God Bless, my friend.

    Dee Brown was brought in to be the third point guard and he ended up starting for us. Now he has been released. Dee did everything that was asked of him and now he is gone. I wish Dee the best of luck as well and I am sure you will be picked up by someone quickly.

    I have enjoyed my time with AD and Dee, they always worked hard and did everything that you asked them to do.

    It is tough when someone gets traded or fired because you are like an extended family. Think about it, all of the time that you spend together, the goals that you share, meals that you eat together, film that you watch and all the talking and listening that you do. I just can’t get used to it. When I was in Toronto and Freddie Jones was traded I was sad to see Freddie go, although he was happy to go home (Portland). Then when I left Toronto I felt so bad because we had such a good group of guys. I still miss each and everyone of them and everyone in the organization. Now I miss my friends Eddie, Mike, AD and Dee. I know it is all a business but that doesn’t make it any easier. I am just thankful that I have had an opportunity to have worked for Eddie and worked with Mike as well as having coached AD and Dee.

     I want to take this time to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. Take the time to tell someone that you love them and how much they mean to you.

    Yesterday started off just like any other day, up at six, a quick shower a kiss for my wife and daughter while they are still asleep. Out the door and off to the Verizon Center. In the office by seven. Mike, Randy and Eddie are already there. Review some tape and get ready for Golden State. Today it never got to that as we were informed that Eddie Jordan and Mike O’Koren are being let go. Never liked the word “fired.” Needless to say all of the coaches were shocked and are still surprised by this. I ‘ve been told more than once it is the nature of the business. The day seemed surreal.

I want to thank everyone that called to see how I am doing.

I woke up today thinking that it was all a dream. It wasn’t. Coach Jordan was the second coach to be let go in the NBA this season. I am sure others will follow.

The reason that this is so difficult is because Eddie and Mike are GREAT guys.  As good as they are as coaches, they are even better human beings. I am blessed to have spent a season with them. It seems like I was with them longer as we did so much as a staff. I learned so much from them, they are true professionals. It won’t be long until somebody else hires them.

Today it seemed odd to say the least, coming into the office and not having Mike at his desk, Coach not being in his office and Randy out due to surgery that he is having today. Good luck Randy, you are in my thoughts and prayers. I wish you a speedy recovery. You will be missed too, luckily you are coming back after you mend. I don’t know when I will see Eddie and Mike, but you guys are my friends and I want you to know that I will miss you guys and I am looking forward to seeing you again. Maybe in Maine. Surely before that.

Good things happen to good people and the both of you are GREAT people. Take care and GOD BLESS.

Ed Tapscott is now the head coach. He is one of the smartest men that I know. He always tells me that I must not know many people. The coaches meeting this morning seemed strange with only Tap, Hub, Wes and myself being there. Finished the coaches meeting and had our shoot around. Now it’s up to us to play Golden State..

     It’s been awhile since my last blog. There hasn’t been much to write about. We started the season at 0 and 5 once again, the same as last season. Finally got a win against Utah at home. That made us 1 and 5. After that win we went to Miami to play against D-Wade and they beat us by 20. Miami went on a 20 to 1 run in the third to put the game away. We play Miami at home tomorrow night. Hopefully the result will be much different.

     Not to make excuses but we have been hit by the injury bug once again. Antonio is out with a sore knee, BWood is out four to six months and Gil is out till at least the new year. How do you replace them? You don’t and you can’t. So we just coach the guys we have and put our minds together to come up with a game plan each and everyday. We have some new guys that are trying to pick up our defensive philosophy in Juan Dixon, Dee Brown, Javale McGee and Etan Thomas. Etan was out last year with a heart operation, so this stuff is new to him as well. It took the guys awhile to learn the system last year as well. Offensively we are struggling as well. We are missing shots from the field, three point line as well as the free throw line. All in all we have to get better and we will as the season progresses.

    Our schedule has been fractured as well. We have played the least amount of games at this point, seven. Some other teams Phoenix and Sacramento have already played twelve ad the majority of teams have played nine or ten. That will soon change as we will have four games in five nights starting tomorrow.

    The one GREAT thing about having some time off in between games is that I get to spend time with my wife and daughter. Went to the movies the other day with Mckenna and saw Madagascar Two. Had a blast with her. Everyone tells me to enjoy every moment with her as life is too short, I am trying to do that. Remember that and tell your loved ones that you love them. Take care and God Bless.