WHEN THE EAST IS IN THE HOUSE!

As the buzzer sounds and the Gophers wrap up their N.I.T. (National Invitation Tournament) title against Coach Larry Brown and the SMU Mustangs-it feels great to be a University of Minnesota alum.  Golden Gopher basketball has been infused with a shot of the "Big Apple" again and the future of the program is very bright.  This time around, NYC is represented by Kimani Young.  Coach Young brings his basketball acumen and east coast ties to the Barn.  Kimani has been an integral part of this  NIT run, and he along with the rest of the coaching staff have one goal in mind-get the Gophers to that elite level of college basketball.  Kimani and I grew up battling against each other when NYC basketball was considered the best in the country.  It's funny how the circle of life can take you on a journey and connect you with people in ways you can never imagine.  As good as Kimani is as a coach-he's 10 times better as a father, caregiver and role model to his 2 boys-Kamaal (11), Khaliq (10),  & daughter Salimah (9).

Follow Kimani on Instagram @ minnesotakeizer
Twitter @CoachKimani

(Eric Harris) When you first heard that you were going to Minneapolis, what was your initial thought?

(Kimani Young) I was excited because of the rich tradition @ Minnesota.  Being a student of the game I knew about all the success in the 90's and early 2000's.  Just knowing that we were going to compete in the "BIG 10"-such a high level of basketball.  I was excited about it!

(EH) Gopher fans really support their sports programs.  How have the fans embraced you guys?

(KY) The support has been fanatical.  Coach Pitino talks about it all the time.  He's been @ Kentucky, Louisville and Florida.  He says from a fan support standpoint, he puts the U of M right up there with the best in the country.

(EH) The “Barn” is one of the best places to play in the country hands down.  When did you realize that it gets really loud in there?

(KY) The Ohio St. game was off the hook.  You couldn't hear yourself think-that's how loud it was.

(EH) Talk about the Big Ten Conference.  What has been the toughest place to play on the road so far?

(KY) To be honest with you, all venues on the road are tough places to play.  Everywhere you play in this league-you play in front of a packed house.  People don't realize this, but over the last 38 years the Big 10 has led the country in attendance.  So that tells you right there what this conference is about in terms of fan support.  These universities are all high academic institutions in college towns.  These people live and die with their athletic programs.

(EH) How did your two boys & daughter react to the change of climate?

(KY) They didn't react too well.  I didn't expect them to have any idea of what the climate would be like in Minnesota.  I guess Minnesota just sounds cold-lol.  They were in Miami for the last year.  Losing the friends and relationships they had there-they weren't very happy about that.  They’ve adjusted now.  They love coming to the games and being in an exciting environment.  Being a part of something they can touch.  The Twin Cities is one of the nicest places to be in the summer!  The lakes and the outdoors are a beautiful experience.

(EH) Can you describe Coach Pitino's philosophy & style of play?

(KY) Coach has combined what he has learned from two hall of fame coaches.  We like to say that we're Louisville on defense and Florida on offense.  We use a lot of pick and rolls.  We want to play fast and get the ball up & down the court.  Shoot threes & be confident.  We call it our "pick and roll motion".  We try to get the ball moving from side to side.  Very free flowing offense.  Defensively we want to speed you up & get you making decisions on the fly.  We want the game to be up-tempo.  It hasn't been easy to do yet-especially in the Big 10, where a lot of programs want to slow the tempo down.  We feel like once we get the personnel to play that way, we'll be fine.  Coach is going to coach you hard and push you out of your comfort zone.  He's going to push everyone in the program to be great.  That starts with the players and trickles down to the coaches and managers.

(EH) As a University of Minnesota alum, I appreciated the fact that you guys competed and worked hard every game this year.  You can live with the results when you work hard.

(KY) Working hard is a part of our blueprint. Playing hard & coming to work every day with your hard hat and lunch pale-ready to get better.   That's the foundation of our program.  That permeates to our fans and we created a nice home court advantage @ the Barn.


(EH) What were the team goals coming into this season?

(KY) We wanted to be able to expose our program to the rest of the country.  We'll be able to do that with the success we've had this year.  The ability to play in the Big 10 and play on the Big 10 network is huge!  It's going to take some time for us to continue to build our brand where kids feel comfortable coming to Minnesota.

(EH) Most people in Minnesota might not know that you were nice as a ball player.  Talk about Kimani the player.

(KY) I worked hard. I had a jump shot.  I grew up under Kenny Anderson and Kenny Smith.  I tried to take a little bit of everything from those guys.  I was blessed to work with trainer Vincent Smith (Kenny's brother) since I was 12 years old.  Coaching is my way of giving back to all the people that helped me along the way.

(EH) Whenever I have those basketball discussions with my peers, I always say that Kenny Anderson was the best HS player ever.  Some people try to dispute that with Randy Livingston (LSU) or Jason Kidd.  What made Kenny Anderson so special?

(KY) Kenny was just born to do this.  I saw him win a City championship & State championship as a freshman.  Score 60 on a box & 1.  The things he was able to do with a basketball was unreal.  He was a magician.  He was a scientist out there.  You combine that skill with his work-ethic & that was the result.  He was always in the gym getting shots up & working on his game.  He knew that was his only way of getting him and his moms out of the situation we were all in @ that time.  Kenny wasn't a very confident player off the court.  He would always worry about the guys he was matched up against.  Whether it was on the road or @ an All-American camp.  But I think that fear is what motivated him to always work.  Then when he put those sneakers on-it was just magic!

(EH) When did you realize that Vincent Smith was a master @ developing talent?

(KY) When I met him he had the #1 player in the country-Kenny Anderson.  If he said you could be a fraction as good as Kenny was, you would be a fool not to work with him.  Then obviously what he did with his brother.  Kenny Smith was 1st team All-American @ UNC, first round NBA draft pick, Rookie of the Year.  That exposure to players like that just made me want to gravitate to Vince even more.

(EH) What has changed from when Vince was giving back to the game and the basketball world in 2014?

(KY) When we came up, it was so many coaches that did it for the love of the game.  They did it for the gratification of developing kids.  Once basketball became such a business, it became harder for guys to pour in blood, sweat and tears.  No one is willing to work a kid out every day @ the local gym and watch a HS coach capitalize off of the kid.  That's what pushed guys away from the era we grew up in.  I watched Vincent Smith work guys out from 10 years old to 20 years old in Lost Battalion Hall.  I worked with Vince & played for my local HS.  He did that with all the guys from my neighborhood.  ALL FOR THE LOVE!  You just don't see many of those situations anymore.

(EH) What has changed in regards to NYC talent today and when we grew up?

(KY) When we grew up there were 20 to 30 high major D1 players every year.  I can't point a finger @ anybody, but there just aren't as many high-major players that are ready to come in and compete @ the level we're @ now.  We may be able to get back to that.  That's just not the case right now.

(EH) What is the goal of the Gopher program in the next 2-3 years?

(KY) We want to be in the Final Four.  We're going to always overachieve.  We want to play the best and compete against the best.  Once we get the players that can play our style of play, we feel we'll be right there with the top programs.  We play one of the toughest schedules in the country. That's what it's about and that's how you see where you're @ amongst the competition.

(EH) Thanks for the time bro & much success. Continue to rep that Maroon & Gold!

(KY) You got it E-thx bro!

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INFLATED NUMBERS

Are today's scorers that explosive, or does the rules prevent anyone from locking up?  

81, 62, 54, 54, 51, 44, 42, 40, 38

Outside of Kobe's 81 point performance in 06' & Steph Curry's 54 @ MSG last season-these are some of the numbers that have been put up prior to the All-Star break this NBA season.  Let me just put this out there.  These are professional players and they are capable of going off on any given night.  They put an insane amount of work into developing their craft and by no means am I trying to discredit them.  But in my opinion, guys just score way too easily nowadays.  Not superstar players, but your mid-level guys are putting up buckets at will.  I have this debate with myself all the time about players today and their ability to be successful in the 80's and 90's.  Upper echelon players of today like Kobe, Lebron, KD, Melo, CP, D Wade (in his prime) would still be able to get off-but I do believe that their numbers would drop a little.  Conversely, yesterday's superstars would see their numbers increase.  MJ would average more points today-his ability to get to the free throw line alone would be an extra 5 to 10 points.  Magic & Bird would average more points and assists and have numbers comparable to Lebrons.  How would you stop Magic from posting up Russell Westbrook with the rules being what they are.  It's impossible. 

As a player, you can't control the rules being what they are.  Your job as a player is to take advantage of them.  We have never seen a physical specimen like Kevin Durant.  The way that he scored the ball in the month of January was ridiculous & a beautiful thing to watch.  At 6'11, Kevin Durant shoots the ball like a shooting guard.  His basketball IQ and ball-handling are equivalent to a point guard.  The way he attacks in transition with that hesitation blow by is deadly!  However, two factors would negatively effect KD's scoring output.  Hand-checking & physical play/intimidation.  The NBA defines hand-checking as: "a  defender may not place and keep his hands on an opponent unless he is in the area near the basket with his back to the basket. A defender may momentarily touch an opponent with his hand anywhere on the court as long as it does not affect the opponent’s movement (speed, quickness, balance, rhythm)."  Without this advantage, the game becomes wide open.  Imagine if Lebron was able to hand check KD.  Lebron would instantly have the advantage because of his upper body strength & strong base.   KD would figure out how to combat these elements,  but his numbers would come down.  

Melo dropped 62, but he could of easily went for 70 if Mike Woodson left  him in.  Terrence Ross scored 51 this season against the Clippers.  Exactly, a  novice fan has no idea who he is.  He's a two guard for the Toronto Raptors.  Isiah Thomas 38 against the Pacers.  Marcus Thornton 40 against the Pacers.    I'm still waiting for one of these guys to taste the paint and get fouled hard going to the basket.  It won't happen in today's European league.  "It's more of a finesse game," Kobe Bryant said. "It's more small ball, which, personally, I don't really care much for. I like kind of smash-mouth, old-school basketball because that's what I grew up watching. I also think it's much, much less physical. Some of the flagrant fouls that I see called nowadays, it makes me nauseous. You can't touch a guy without it being a flagrant foul." Offensive players don't fear defenders anymore because they know the officials will give them the benefit of the doubt.

The "Battle of the league MVP's"  took place last week and it was a much anticipated matchup.  Would the scorching hot KD continue his torrid scoring pace.  Or would the all-around game and defensive tenacity of Lebron be too much.  KD and the Thunder weathered an early storm (no pun intended) and blew out the Heat.  They're just playing with a great rhythm right now without Westbrook.  The Heat needed Lebron to get 60 last night.  That's my beef with Lebron sometime- I would just like him to dominate offensively on certain occasions.  No one can stop him when he puts his mind to it.  I guess that's not who he is.  At the end of the day, you just have to appreciate the NBA and today's players for what it is.  It's a global, entertaining brand of basketball-just not what I grew up loving.  

"You have to look at the progression.  We have worked hard to remove violence, fisticuffs from the game."

-Former NBA Commissioner David Stern

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