Vancouver Metro Basketball League

By Clint Lomax

I was sort of surprised when I found Thompson Park as easy as I did. I had expected to be lost for a ½ hour instead of the 10 minutes it turned out to be. Unmistakable by the arched design at the front of the establishment; the many tents popping up in my wake were a dead giveaway that I had arrived. I flashed back to the last time I played at Thompson Park, which was at the Mad Game Tourney back in the early 2000s. Felt a little funny playing the 25th anniversary of the Dolphin Park Tourney on a two court property, but I hadn’t played in the Dolphin since 2005.

Initially, I thought my assignment would be to relieve our big men for a brief minute or two, just so they could go back out and dominate. As game time loomed, it was evident that we were going to be short on “height” till Saturday. On the tip, it was evident that we were in for a knockdown drag out on the boards vs Aman Heran’s Athelite Squad. I’d say the average height for our team for that game was 6’1”, and the average height for the Athelite team was 6’6”! Even though we lost by 9, I was proud of my team for two facts. 1) That we didn’t lose by double digits, and 2) our team battled on the boards like the other team was the hunted. It immediately gave me some relief that the next day would yield positive results.

Day two brought reinforcements but also unexpected battles of attrition. With our 6’8” young-legged reinforcement in Herm, we had an 11 man roster. Mostly built of quick, saavy, and rugged guards: Gramae, Tyler, Lonzell, Nedim and G-dub. The rest of us fell in to place behind these 5 guys with major contributions from Kuba, , Mark Starkey, Jessie and Reese A.K.A. Shannon Brown! The first game vs Reign (an Olympia, WA based team) were short handed but more than capable. With some early sharp shooting from NBA range, we found ourselves getting buried from beyond normal outdoor launch pad range. Yet with that early adversity, the scrappy Vancouver Metro team fought back. With the help of solid offensive/defensive rebounding and a bunch of fast break points, we were able to wear The Reign down in the end to escape with a single digit victory.
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Something that I didn’t remember seeing before at any Dolphin Park Tourney was a Women’s Division! Not just any old women’s division, but a highly competitive group. Local players from SFU, University of Washington players, and at least one player that was drafted to the WNBA battled it out right alongside their male counter parts. As I rest for the next battle, I noticed a familiar sight. The local residences were filling in to get ready for the battles that were yet to be played. One of the long time staples at all Dolphin Park Tourneys are the residents! Not to mention the beer garden contingency.

The second match of the day was against a familiar foe in Runnin’ Rebels led by Steve Lee. Steve is the founder of the West Coast Basketball League that has been going strong for a number of years. As a member of the X-Men, I have participated in that league for number of years winning the Title in 07. I gave as much of a scouting report as I could on the team they were fielding, and I paid dividends early. Our running style was a problem for their big lineup, but they used their length to keep the game tight. After a few unnecessary elbows and eye level swings, my “Inner Artest” came out briefly in this contest. After I was able to get my point across, the young legs on our team took over and pushed the lead to double figures. Even though we claimed victory, it was a shaky one that had our margin shaved to 4 in the end. After the game, handshakes were exchanged and a brief conversation with a former teammate of the X-Clan in Virgil brought things back to earth.

In our third game vs the N.W.O., we were out of sorts missing our only big man to his birthday party plans. Losing by 9 at half really got us to focus in and pull out a win. With the help of their best player getting a 4th foul and adding a technical foul to give him his 5th, sort of gave us an edge. However, they still had a 6’8” post guy and good guard continuity going, which kept us down by 7 late in the game. Late in the game, an N.W.O. player dropped one of our players, and was called for an intentional foul. This was the break we needed, because after that came an onslaught of fast break points that gave us the lead with less than 1 min left in the game. Down 3 with less than 30 seconds left in the game, the N.W.O. desperately catapulted several 3 point shots to no success. At the final horn, Vancouver Metro escaped with a 3 point victory and a berth into the final day’s playoffs!

At 38 years and 359 days old, my body was giving me all kind of signals telling me to stay in bed! I counted 4 foot cramps the night before, even after stretching 2 separate times before I went to bed the previous night. I felt a little better knowing we were getting out 6’8” guy back today, and I brought along my wife to watch her old man try to enact some semblance of his former basketball self. Our draw in the first round of the playoffs drew the legendary Meralomas squad. Known for years as an elite band of collegiate and professional athletes, they had been successful for over a decade in just about every league or tournament they have participated in. This band of ballers were all young, but ultra athletic! From the tip it was a dog fight! Back and forth the scoring and aggressive defense shifted momentum on almost every possession. The Meralomas were starting to creep away with the game until I was confronted with another “semi Incredible Hulk” moment. This one lasted a little longer than the one from yesterday, but it had the same effect on my team. We rallied in the middle of the 2nd half to take the lead, but it was still within a 2 point margin late in the game. With a few clutch layups and margin boosting free throws, we were able to pull out the victory by the skin of our teeth. After the game, I had made some new friends with my “jekyll and hyde” transformation. I guess I could of made new friends without that, but the bizarre behavior may have reminded them of Dennis Rodman or something!
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In the semis, we would go up against the X-Falcons who had won this tourney 2 out of the last 3 years. This team led by Randy Nohr also had notable names on the team such as: UBC great Kyle Watson, Eli Mara (top high school phenom), Andrew Sturgeon, Clay “Clark Kent” Crellin, and another Dolphin Park legend in Navi to name a few. The experience at the guard position was evident and they took full advantage of it early. However, our young group of scrappers would not die, and matched every spectacular bucket made by the X-Falcons with a fast break bucket of our own. In the end, the X-Falcon veterans were too much for our upstart band of bandits. Yet the positive that we could take from this hard loss was that we only lost by single digits. The X-Falcons had been blowing everybody out by double digits, and it sort of lessened the blow of being eliminated without our full team intact.

Overall, the 25th Anniversary of the Dolphin Tournament was a success as I expected it would be! Shout outs to Bruce Watson, Bira Bindra, T.J. Johal, Tony Wong-Hen, and all of the other volunteers and sponsors that helped make this tournament possible. Want to acknowledge a few of my 206 buddies that made the trip: Brent Merrit, Reggie Paul, Ed Haskins, Antione, J.T., Al Snow, Shep, and Jeff Day. To the ones that couldn’t make it: Jamal Crawford, Brandon Roy, Rozelle (Jailhouse) Ellis, Tim (Buckets) Ellis, Damon Williams, Will Conroy, Nate (The Great) Robinson, and Brent Williams. Hope you guys can make it next year. One last group of people I want to mention: Ben George (former Byrne Creek Secondary Player of the Year), Jordan Yu, Chad Warren, Virgil, and a number of other people I hadn’t seen in a while. It was good to see all of you again, and it was good to be seen. See you next year, hopefully in a “Coaching Capacity”!

By Andrew ‘Soda’ Wadden

This past weekend marked the 25th anniversary of the Dolphin Classic Basketball tournament which was held this year at the Thompson Community Center outdoor courts in Richmond, BC. If your not familiar with Dolphin, it’s probably the best summer basketball tournament in all of western Canada with some of the best ballers from the pacific northwest coming to play.
I joined the Metro League team for Saturday’s games, sitting on the bench playing the role of coach while the boys competed in some very close, high octane games. The first thing I noticed at Dolphin was the level of competition and how good it was. Every team was competing with one another with only a handful of games being a blow out. The Metro team, led by player/coach Mark Starkey, lost their opening night game on Friday night in a close battle with Athelite which was captained by Vancouver Titans guard Aman Heran. The one loss on Friday meant that the Metro team needed to run the gauntlet from this point on if they wanted to win it all and Saturday the boys went to work on reaching that goal. I arrived to Thompson CC an hour or so after the Metro team won their morning match up against team Reign, which put the Metro team back in the running for that chip. With a few hours to kill before Metro’s next game I sat back and took in a few games while enjoying a cold brew in the beer garden which is located dangerously next to the courts. The games that I took in were unbelievable. Close, scrappy, and exciting are just a few ways to describe the action. Let me put the play into perspective. You have pros, college and top high schoolers all playing on the same court. It’s Vancouver’s version of Rucker Park in New York City. The level was that high with dunks, blocks, elbows the whole nine going down. Each team scrapped it out with one another, but once the final buzzer sounded the respect amongst the teams shown through. Everything was left on the court, which impressed me the most.
The Metro League team played their third game of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, versus the Runnin’ Rebels which was led one of the Dolphin organizers Steve Lee. The game was tight throughout with the game going down to the final minute before the Metro team pulled it out giving them a 2-1 record going into their final round robin game later that night. Between that game and Metro’s final game of the day I got a chance to watch the UBC T-Birds team play, which surprisingly enough didn’t fair too well in this tourney. Here you have the team that was ranked #1 in Canada throughout the CIS season last year, losing in a summer basketball tourney. That’s how good this tournament is. Metro League had their final game of the round robin versus a team called NWO which featured Metro League All-Star Igor Dutina. Dutina was on fire early but couldn’t control his emotions, picking up a few early fouls and technicals which resulted in him fouling out in the first half. NWO picked up the slack and gave the Metro Leaguer’s a run for their money with the game going down to the final buzzer, before Metro pulled out the win.
I didn’t go on Sunday, the final day of the tournament, which featured an exciting dunk contest and three-point shoot-out and of course the quarter, semi and final games of the day but I did feel that I got a strong feeling for what this tournament is all about. If you get a chance to come out next summer, do so. The crowd, atmosphere and level of play is unparalleled for summer basketball tournaments in western Canada. Truly one of the best and a can’t miss for any basketball lover. I know I’ll be there next year, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll suit up for a run. However, don’t count on me leaving my spot from the Metro League bench.

By Clint Lomax

Ronald William Artest Jr. was born November 13, 1979 in Queens, New York. He is the oldest of six children born into the world by Ron and Sarah Artest. Artest Sr. was a Navy veteran, former Gold Gloves boxer, and a Jack of all Trades. At 6’2” 250lbs with a hair trigger temper, you can see where his sometimes “unpredictable” emotions derive from. As most of us already know, Ron was brought up in the Queensbridge Houses complex. The Artest family lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with 10 people (two parents, six kids, and two cousins). From all accounts after his parents split, Artest’s anger management issues started around 8 years old. Luckily for him (and maybe the neighborhood) that is around the time he picked up basketball as a release.

Early on in his basketball adolescence, Ron would look for a challenge on the court. Has he grew older, he found himself spending almost endless amounts of time at the hoop court. Mostly for his new found love of the game, but almost equally to take his mind off his family situation. Artest, while playing AAU ball, had a fire that burned so hot at times that he even got into it with his teammates on occasion. Rumor has it that before one AAU game, Artest got into an argument with fellow teammate Elton Brand. Before you know it, that argument turned into a massive scuffle, right in front of then coach of St. Johns University Fran Fraschilla. What may have destroyed any other athlete, led Artest to even more accolades. Nicknamed the “True Warrior”, Artest was a McDonald’s All-American selection. He also led LaSalle Academy to a 27-0 record and was named NYC’s Co-Player of the Year along side Maurice Brown of Henninger. Brown won the award the previous year too, and of course none of us on the west coast has ever heard of that cat (funny how the chips fall sometimes).

His freshman year at St Johns, Artest was teamed up with the likes of: Zendon Hamilton, Lavor Postell, and Highly touted Felipe Lopez (dubbed as ONE of the next Michael Jordans, LOL)! This team underachieved until Artest brought his “Take No Prisoners” style of play. Not only were his opponents scared of him, but so were his teammates! That year Artest was named Big East All Rookie and All Tournament teams. He also helped St Johns make the NCAA Tourney for the first time since 1993. With the contributions of Bootsy Thornton, Postell, and Erick Barkley, the Red Storm advanced to NCAA Regional Finals for the first time in 8 years (that would have been back when Chris Mullin played). At season’s end, Ron averaged 15 ppg 6 rpg 4 apg taking home awards like: 1st Team all Big East, and a finalist for the Wooden Award as the top Division 1 player in the nation.

The Chicago Bulls snatched up Artest with the 16th pick of the first round. Artest’s hard hat mentality earned him a spot on the All Rookie 2nd team averaging 12.5 ppg 4 rpg. However, with liquidation of Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Rodman, and Michael Jordan’s retirement, The Bulls manage one 20+ win season under Coach Tim Floyd. Floyd had little patience for Artest’s youth mistakes on the court which led to him being pulled from games often. With the additions of Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, and Jamal Crawford, Artest was expendable and was traded to the Pacers mid way through the season. The Pacers acquired for NBA sharpshooter Chuck “The Rifleman” Person as an assistant coach, who locked in with Artest almost immediately. Artest already had the defense and the hustle, Person help Artest find his offensive side. In the 03-04 season, Artest (with the help of Person) was a reserve on the East All Star team, and was named Defensive Player of the Year!

After the infamous “Malace at the Palace” event. Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season, along with suspensions for Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson. 73 games lost and $7 million in forfeited salary was the result of the suspension. What was worse is that he had the “Rodman” touch of death put on him. Through some GM trade talks, Artest was traded to Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic. Under the coaching of Rick Adelman, Artest found his place quickly and added much needed defense to the Kings. Unfortunately, after a first round exit (in which he was suspended for game 2 for a flagrant elbow to Ginobili’s temple), Artest was the victim of another team partial dismantling. With Bonzi Wells and Adelman’s contracts being up, the Kings opted to trade and not renew their contracts, respectively. Artest had even offered his whole salary in support of keeping both of them with the Kings with no luck.

Artest was again traded to Houston for a few players and a draft pick. Yao and McGrady ruled the roost in Houston, but with McGrady injured on a regular basis Artest filled in the gaps that Houston needed. With McGrady out for the playoffs, Artest helped Yao, Scola, Brooks, and the Rockets defeat the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs. Artest was ejected in games 2 and 3 for what some people call “questionable” technical fouls. Coincidentally enough, Houston lost both of those games. After that the Rockets couldn’t put together consecutive games to move on to the next round, and lost to the lakers in game 7 at the Staples Center by 19.
Artest signed with the Lakers as an unrestricted free agent for 5 years/$33 million. He took the number 37 as a tribute to Michael Jackson’s 37 weeks at #1 for his album Thriller. The signing paid dividends right off the bat! While trying to learn the Triangle Offense and struggling to find his offense in it, Artest played smothering defense game in and game out. This was highlighted in the playoffs where he had to guard: Kevin “Durantula” Durant, C.J. Miles, Jason Richardson, and Paul Pierce. Not only that, he had a hand in a number of Laker playoff victories including: The whole series vs OKC and guarding Durant especially game 5 vs OKC (Durant 5-14), The last second rebound and layup vs Phx in game 5, and his rough and tumble play vs Paul Pierce in the NBA Finals. Game 7 at the Staples Center was more or less a showcase of how dangerous he is on both ends of the court. Artest (with Gasol) literally kept the Lakers in the game with his scoring, rebounding, and defense. His 20 points including the clutch 3 pointer after Ray Allen cut it to 3 was monumental for the Lakers in keeping the game at 2 possessions for Boston.

Lastly, from my experience following Artest from the St Johns Red Storm days (they were actually not the Red Storm back then, think they were the Redmen back then) to the present day Artest, and everything in between. Including all the Love and Hate, not too mention the blame from all Lakers fans when they lost (which is absolutely ridiculous). When every loss was on your shoulders, and you held it together because you wanted to be the ultimate team player (even though I predicted midway through the season he was going to crack Kobe’s jaw in practice)…. RON ARTEST! I SALUTE YOU! You are an NBA Champion, and you deserve all the accolades that go with it!

By Clint Lomax

By now most of you have heard all of the stats, hype, history, legacy talk, etc. Since I picked Boston in 7, Kendrick Perkins has went down with a season ending knee injury. By all accounts, when you pick your winners you always pick on the assumption they will be healthy. With Perkins out, my pick gets a lot weaker. The main reason for that is with Perkins you knew what you were going to get out of him in every game. Toughness, strong interior defense, and if he scored it was definitely a bonus. This only increases the chance of the Lakers repeating. Along with this ridiculously massive stat:
Lakers Celtics History

- Phil Jackson series record is 47-0 when winning game 1s!
- The home team is 3-0 in Game 7 of Finals in 2-3-2 format.
- The home team has won 13 of the 16 game 7s!

On the flipside, here are some Celtic Finals stats that could bring hope:
Boston Celtics

- 7-0 in gm 7 of Finals
- 4-0 vs Lakers in Game 7 of Finals
- 11-0 in Finals when Leading 3-2
- 7-0 Series Record with KG in the Lineup

Here are some key hopes for Boston fans who are feeling less confident than they were 4 days ago.
PACE OF THE GAME
The Cs must push the pace when they force a stop. The Celtics are really good at getting back, and that is helped by a lack of a truly aggressive Laker PG. Fisher is aggressive, but not like Rondo routinely is. Unlike Phoenix, it is hard fastbreak when your taking the ball through the basket. Rondo is the key. It wouldn’t hurt for him to pull off a triple double right about now. If not that, he must hit at least half of his jumpers. The Lakers would be smart to foul him every time he entered the paint area. We all know Kobe is going to come out firing in the 1st and 3rd qtrs. The question is can Paul Pierce bounce back to play his best game ever, and can Ray Allen find those same spots he found in game 2.
Free Throws
The Cs must get more free throws than LA. The king of drawing contact is Paul Pierce. Everybody gets upset when Fisher “flails” his arms and legs violently when an opponent is near him. Well…Pierce does the same thing, just with a bigger body. Ray Allen must get to the line! Even though that is wishful thinking, he is a career 89% FT shooter and he will rarely miss. Matter a fact, I would push Artest off the 3 point line, and foul him when he entered the key. He is just under 55% from the line in the playoffs. Lamar Odom is next at 60%.

Bench Production
What a difference Home Court makes! The Cs bench had outscored the LA bench in all 5 games before game 6. Shannon Brown who didn’t even see the floor in game 5 because of his “just filling up space” performance in game 4, breaks out his rocket boosters in game 6 on the Staples hardwood. Farmar dunking on KG, and giving him the stare afterwards! Didn’t see any of that in the previous 5 games, but…that is what Home Court can give you. Glen/Wallace (depending on who starts), Nate “The Great”, and Tony Allen must play the games of their young lives. In what will be the loudest, most anxiety filled atmosphere they have ever played in. OH BOY!

BOTTOM LINE
Even though the odds are against the Cs, never say never. PRESSURE MAKES DIAMONDS AND IT BUTS PIPES!!!! There is always a chance that one or more people on the Lakers will have a “John Starks 2-18 in game 7 of the 94’ finals”. We all knew that Starks was streaky, but not that streaky. All the Lakers favorite “Love to Hate” players are candidates. Artest, Odom, Sasha and Farmar are the favorite whipping boys for Lakers fans. Even though if it wasn’t for them in key games and specific situations (i.e. Game 5 vs Phx), they may not even be where they are right now! I see why they are where they are, and it’s not all because of Kobe and Gasol. Which actually makes them more dangerous tonight, because they can and have contributed when the Lakers have truly needed it.
Boston in 7…..Tentatively.

Why I’m Picking Brazil to win the 2010 World Cup

By Clint Lomax

My first hands on experience with Brazil soccer came in the form of “Fifa International Soccer” by EA sports for the Sega Genesis.  Back then they didn’t have any names, just the numbers.  So I had to look up who was who, and try to get the ball to that number to give me the best chance to score.  As time went on, I upgraded to a Playstation one right around 98’ (just in time for the 98’ World Cup).  Sometime after the PS2 came out, I moved to playing the Madden franchise and Fifa Soccer became just a memory.  Even with that transition, I still followed Brazil from their 94’ Win of Italy.

Anybody that follows World Cup soccer already knows the proud history of the Brazilian National Football team.  Their most famous team member to date is still Pele’.  Before having a number of injuries and being “head hunted” in the 62’ and 66’ World Cup Tournaments, he had already cemented himself as the most popular soccer player of his time.  I would venture to say he was one of the best of all time after I found out he scored over 1,000 goals in his professional soccer career!  With a career spanning from 56’ to 77’, I’d say he has to be in the top 3!

With this world icon retiring from the National Team in 73’ or 74’, the following years in World Cup competition would be disappointing to say the least.  Through five World Cup Tournaments, Brazil was bitten by misfortune on way or another.  With rumors of a Peru team being bribed by Argentineans supporters in the 2^nd round of the 78’ World Cup to throw the game so that Argentina would advance to the final game by goal differential, to a missed penalty kick in 86’, to an upset loss in the 2^nd round vs an undermanned Argentinean team led by Maradona .

Right around the time I picked them up as a surrogate team (for when the USA was mathematically eliminated), Brazil made a strong run through the knockout stage to defeat Italy in penalty kicks for a record (at the time) 4^th World Cup title.  In 98’, Brazil made another strong run to the Title game, but was smashed by the host team France 3-0.  It was reported after the game the One of the young superstars Ronaldo, had an epileptic seizure a few hours before the match.  Yet he was still inserted into the starting lineup!  Needless to say he had a poor performance, but only after they were back home was the news of the seizure released.  The “Three R’s” took over in 02’.  Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho!  Brazil would face Germany in the final, who they had only met once before back in 74’.  Germany did not have near the firepower of Brazil, but they had the best goalkeeper in Oliver Khan who shutout: Paraguay, USA, and Korea in route to the finals.  However, Khan was no match for the onslaught of the Three Rs!  Ronaldo, who had scored in every match in the tourney, scored 2 to clinch Brazil’s 5^th World Cup victory.  The 06’ team was loaded with veteran and young superstars, but severely underachieved working in what was called “The Magic Square”.  This formation was implemented by Brazil coach Parreira, and was highly scrutinized throughout the tournament.  In the Quarter –finals, they only managed ONE SHOT on goal with the new formation and lost on a free kick to Thierry Henry in the 57^th minute.

This leads us to this year’s world cup.  Brazil has drawn what is known as the “Group of Death”!  Their first match will be against Korea DPR, then Cote d’lvoire (Ivory Coast), and the last game match vs the dark horse to win it all Portugal.  Even though this is a tough draw, I think that the skill and craftiness of Kaka, Robinho, Fabiano, and Juan.  Julio Cesar has been a rock in goalie for Brazil this year, and he claims to be ready for everything.  My only issue is… NO RONALDINHO OR RONALDO!!!  Evidently, they will be missed.  Yet I still think Brazil has enough to go all the way.

By Clint Lomax

What is the difference between Canadian and U.S. basketball?  Is it night and day?  Is it a lack of athletes?  Is it a lack of interest?  By now most of us know that Dr James Naismith was Canadian.  What a lot of people don’t know is that he invented basketball in Springfield, MA!  Not to mention that he also invented the first version of the football helmet (But that is another story all together).  This creates another question in itself, since the origins of Ice Hockey are still being bounced around to this day!  Anyway, we move to the issue of why is Canadian basketball not as far along as it should be?  There are currently 4 NBA players from Canada in the league right now.  Joel Anthony (Miami), Samuel Dalembert (Philly), Jamaal Magloire (Miami), and Steve Nash (Suns).  The state of California, who’s population is relative to Canada in number), has 50!  The state of Texas has 28.  Even the State of Washington has 10, and Seattle is only about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Vancouver BC!  How does this happen?  Is it the lack of facilities?  Is it the lack of popularity of the sport?  Are there too many sports options for young athletes?  To the point where basketball is more of a hobby than a passion?  I’ll give you a few real life examples.

I started playing football when I was 5 years old.  My first love and it still is.  Yet I also played baseball and soccer.  I did not seriously start playing basketball till I was 12 or 13.  My sophomore year at Garfield High School in Seattle, WA, I was pushed to try out for the junior varsity team by my old flag football coach.  I went to open tryouts unsure of what I was doing, and not knowing what to expect.  Once I opened the door to the double full court gym, I almost walked right back out!  To my amazement, I walked into a gym (which is usually sectioned off by a retractable wall) of over 100+ student-athletes!  The only reason I didn’t walk back out was because my old coach stuck his neck out to even get me noticed when I walked through the door.  Once the coaches came into the gym, it was announced that all of us were vying for 24 spots!  I had never experience such a feeling of overwhelming pressure in my entire sports life!  The last message coaches gave before tryouts started was…”If you give 100% effort and leave it all out on the floor this week (tryouts usually last a week), whether you make the team or not you will at least know that you gave it your all.”  That statement didn’t really ease my nervousness, but at least I had a direction.  A goal or an expectation of what I should be doing.

To make a long(er) story short (because I could write a book on just that tryout alone), gradually as the days went on more people stopped coming.  Either because of fatigue, sickness, or the fact that the tryouts were so hard they didn’t feel it was worth it.  By the end of the week, there were still 57 people left.  That Friday afternoon after lunch, they posted the 12 Varsity players and the 12 Junior Varsity players that made the program.  It took at least 3-4 minutes before I could even get to the Coach’s window to see if my name was on there.  7th from the top of the alphabetically ordered list was my name!  CLINT LOMAX, junior varsity team member in bold letters!  I didn’t know what to feel at the moment, but I knew I didn’t want to celebrate in front of the other 30+ guys that didn’t make it!  Some of them so devastated by not making the team, which they just sat down with their heads between their legs sobbing!  Yes….Sobbing!  I didn’t understand why their emotions were so strong until the following week.

Throughout the school was a buzz that I had never experienced before.  Pats on the back, words of encouragement, surprise and shock, and of course….the haters!  In our first meeting, the coaches laid down the history of the basketball program and I thought my head was going to explode!  League MVP after league MVP, numerous league titles, numerous state finals (or provincial finals for Canadians) appearances, and the most important one….The most state titles in Washington State history!  I think I had butterflies in my stomach before every practice and game until my high school basketball career was over after that brief history lesson!  It was not just the history lesson of the program, I had actually seen a lot of these past and current players play!  These guys were absolute cut throat monster on the court!  Lighting quick, precise, calculating, and every other high intensity adjective you can throw in there!  Most of these games didn’t take place with referees either.  These games were played any and everywhere from: Community Centers, Boy’s and Girl’s clubs, YMCA, outdoor court, backyards, etc.  Any place where there was a hoop, ball, and competition these guys would be there.  Competition, school, or neighborhood pride, whatever it was they had it.  Seeing that on a regular basis made me want to be like them, if not like them…. Like that!  No matter what competition or situation, I wanted to be known for always having that “Killer Instinct”!

In my experiences in and around the lower mainland with the younger student-athletes, I don’t see nearly enough of that!  My second example is regarding tryouts and practice leading up to actual high school games and tournaments.  The names will be changed to protect the innocent and guilt.  I’ve witness and been told about a few tryouts that went on last season on the Varsity basketball level.  At one secondary school, there were only 26 student-athletes in for varsity tryouts!  26!  At a school with nearly 2,000 students!  The tryout I attended on the first day, 20% of the players had to sit down for nearly half of the drills!  By the end of the week, there were 13-14 players left.  One of those players decided he didn’t want to play in favor of a different sport.  Which is perfectly fine, but he was one of the better players throughout the week!  The coaches had already made tentative plans on how they would use him during the season!  Another player wanted to play, but had to find a job on orders from his parents.  That is fine too.  It happens like that sometimes.  However, he was one of the top effort guys throughout the tryout period.  The coaches knew what they were going to get with him, but yet again they had to look elsewhere.  At another facility, the school had to resort to an all “Exhibition” schedule, because……only 3 students showed up for their school’s tryouts!!!  They only were able to fill a team with the friends of players that were already on the team.  In a nutshell, they had to “Network” though the school just to field an exhibition team in a school of over 1,500 students!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming the students solely on this.  I’ve had some students tell me that their coach wouldn’t show up for practice if there was a hockey game on.  The schools that have high student populations sometimes have lack of interest in adults as Full Time or volunteer coaches.  I can’t tell you how many games I’ve seen where the head coach had no assistant coaches, and had to do everything to make sure his team could play.  I’ve also seen teams almost forfeit games because their players were showing up late…..TO THEIR OWN HOME GAMES!  I have never seen anything like that in Seattle….EVER!  I still can’t wrap my head around that.  It’s unheard of in a country where the inventor of basketball was born.

What do you guys think?  Am I being too hard on Canada basketball in the lower mainland?  I know hockey is king, but basketball is nearly as global as futbol is.  It is played on nearly every continent on the globe, and the popularity grows every day.  What am I missing in these few examples that I’ve stated?  This is going to be a running dialog of dissection and group discussions on this subject.  Ultimately, I would love to find solutions to fill the gaps that exist regarding basketball on the west coast of Canada.  However, a healthy dialog of “baby steps” will work just fine too.