Ramble On... Items from the Notebook

With the NBA Finals in the books with a disappointing five-game victory by the Los Angeles Lakers over the upstart Orlando Magic, the basketball world turns its lonely eyes to the 2009 NBA Draft, to be held June 25th in New York.

Here are a few news items and some observations to ponder before the NBA Draft:

NEWS ITEM:  Delaney's book, COVERT, My Years Infiltrating the Mob , is now out in paperback.  The book's motion picture right were also recently optioned by a very prominent exec producer/producer in Hollywood.  Good news for COVERT has travelled quickly and was recently reported by:  AP, The Sporting News, CBS Sports.com, CNN/Sports Illustrated.com among many others.  Monday's industry must-red - "The Sports Business Daily" ran a piece from th various news publications:

See:

REF READING: Bob Delaney isn't officiating in the NBA finals for the first time in nine years, sidelined by a late-season injury.

The veteran referee got some news to cheer him up during his recovery.

Delaney's book, "Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob" was recently released in paperback, and the motion picture rights to the book were optioned by Appledown Films and Scott-Burns Productions.

Delaney has been an NBA referee for 22 years. His book tells the story of his years as a New Jersey state trooper working undercover to infiltrate organized crime. 

NEWS ITEM: HS Player to head to Israel for Euro-ball before potential NBA stint in 2011:

The NBA collective bargaining agreement and thus league rules call for players to have at least one year out of college before they can become eligible to play in the bigtime.  That rules gets considerable attention and is the root of sports arguments from the shores of every country or territory that broadcasts the NBA to the pretending not to be corrupt college basketball offices scattered throughout the NCAA's ranks (i.e. see the latest in USC's efforts).

One option for a player is to head overseas.  Here is such a story, courtesy of the AP:

SAN DIEGO -- Jeremy Tyler’s jump from high school to an overseas professional basketball league is progressing to the point that his agent is negotiating with a team in Haifa, Israel.

The 6-foot-11, 260-pound Tyler announced in late April that he was skipping his senior season at San Diego High to play overseas. He had hoped to be able to make a decision by Friday, his 18th birthday.

“We’re pretty close,” said Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe company executive who is advising Tyler and his family. “There’s no hurry. They don’t start playing until next December. He’s in good shape. We know we have something.”

Tyler would become the first American-born player to leave high school early to play professionally overseas. When he’s eligible for the NBA draft in 2011, some see him as a potential No. 1 pick overall.

Haifa representatives recently saw Tyler work out in Santa Monica and are negotiating with his agent, Arn Tellem.

Tellem, who’s based in Los Angeles, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Tyler wasn’t available either. He was out shopping with friends, said his father, James.

“I wish it was yesterday because I’m tired of the having the suspense of finding out where he’s going,” his father said Friday.

Shortly after Tyler made his announcement, Vaccaro said eight teams from Europe, Israel and China had expressed interest.

James Tyler said representatives from two Israeli teams and one from Rome have seen his son work out. A trip to work out for a team in Spain is on hold while Tellem negotiates with Haifa.

“There were five or six teams at one time that came rushing in trying to do a deal,” James Tyler said. “I just prefer to have it over. I want him to start focusing. The good thing is, he’ll have enough time to know what they’re doing and start working on things they’re going to be asking of him. I’m just tingling to see where he’s at so he can start working on those things.”

Jeremy Tyler averaged 28.7 points during his junior season, but said high school ball had become boring.

Some observers are against his move, but others, such as Hall of Famer and fellow San Diegan Bill Walton, have spoken out in support of Tyler.

NEWS ITEM: JESSICA SWIMMIN' with the SHARKS...

I thought this was an interesting story:

OKLAHOMA CITY – Police have decided against pursuing a criminal vandalism case against Jessica Alba over some posters that were plastered around downtown Oklahoma City.

Police Sgt. Gary Knight said none of the owners of property on which the posters were placed wanted to press charges against Alba, who has apologized.

Police never interviewed the 28-year-old co-star of the "Fantastic Four" movies, "Sin City and "Good Luck Chuck." She is in Oklahoma City shooting a movie, "The Killer Inside Me."

Police found the posters — aimed at raising awareness about sharks' declining numbers — glued to a downtown bridge, utility boxes and a billboard for the United Way charity.

Knight said it is typical not to pursue vandalism charges when property owners don't want to prosecute.

The Future ...

Funny that some Indiana HS guy trying to protect his own turf and Sonny Vaccaro are the only people in the universe who think that the current state of youth basketball in the United States of America is fine and dandy. Status quo, that's the spirit.

No need for change, right?

No need for better coaching. No need for better and more updated rules to govern the sport. No need for better facilities?

The status quo is alright with you, right Sonny, right Blake?

***

NCAA, NBA forging youth hoops pact
Co-branded leagues, tournaments, training programs could be part of historic agreement
Sat. March 15 - 2008

Anthony Schoettle - aschoettle@ibj.com
IBJ staff

Professional and collegiate basketball are on the brink of a landmark agreement that hoops insiders said will change the landscape of the sport in this country. Proponents say it would be good for basketball, but others say it’s an attempt to further commercialize the sport.

The agreement between the NBA and the locally headquartered NCAA would be a major departure for both organizations, which have maintained separate agendas and have never had a formal business partnership. Neither organization has ever made a foray into youth basketball, which is a major subject of discussion between the two groups.

The desire to bring structure to youth basketball development and to field improved teams for international competition is the driving force behind the agreement. For two years, the parties have been discussing a pact to develop year-round training programs for high school players and academies for elite players; conduct sanctioned cobranded youth leagues, tournaments and development programs for coaches and officials; and explore corporate partnerships that could pay for such sweeping initiatives.

Sources with knowledge of the discussions said talks have intensified since NCAA President Myles Brand was a guest of the NBA at last month’s All-Star weekend in New Orleans. The pact has not been finalized, and NCAA and NBA officials said no time line for an announcement has been set.

Minimizing contact between young players and the shoe companies and apparel makers that often stage summer basketball leagues and tournaments is a central goal of the deal, but there are some self-serving motives, industry experts said, especially on the part of the NBA.

“The NBA has never shown any interest in high school sports until there’s a LeBron James,” said Blake Ress, Indiana High School Athletic Association commissioner. “It strikes me as strange that the NBA suddenly has all this interest in developing high school and youth basketball.”

Another part of the NBA’s motivation is clear, industry observers said. NBA Commissioner David Stern has made no secret of his desire to expand the brand globally, and an improved Team USA in the Olympics and other international competitions helps him do that.

NCAA officials said their motivation is simply to elevate the game of basketball. But youth basketball initiatives co-branded by the sport’s most powerful collegiate and professional bodies has an undeniable monetary component. It would open a bevy of opportunities for sponsorships and other corporate involvement, sports marketers said.

“The NBA and NCAA realize they have to take care of their own,” said David Morton, president of Sunrise Sports Group, a locally based sports marketing consultancy. “Their own being basketball. This is smart business.”

USA Basketball President Val Ackerman endorses the NCAA/NBA pact. USA Basketball, national governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in the United States and the entity charged with fielding teams for international competition, has been heavily involved in the discussions, Ackerman said.

“The fact that the NBA and NCAA are coming together in an energetic way to take a comprehensive look at youth basketball is very encouraging,” Ackerman said. “This is not just about basketball; it’s about preparing young people for life.”

Ackerman is among several basketball heads of state negotiating the deal. Besides Ackerman, Brand and Stern, officials for the Amateur Athletic Union and locally based National Federation of State High School Associations have been involved.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank told IBJ the league had no comment on discussions with the NCAA at this time. But Stern addressed the matter during the NBA All-Star weekend last month.

“We share so many commonalities about the development of basketball that it was just a natural to begin a dialogue,” Stern told reporters after his annual State of the League press conference. “In addition to the focus on youth basketball, we envision over time we would be sharing things about officiating, best practices and training.”

Stern and his lieutenants recently toured IMG Academies in Florida as they began to study how to develop basketball academies for elite players, and the topic has come up in discussions with NCAA officials, industry insiders said.

While there seems to be some disconnect between the NBA’s for-profit motives and the NCAA’s affiliation with not-for-profit educational institutions, NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said, “Both organizations realize the health of the game is paramount.”

“We’re looking at ways that we might be able to work together for the betterment of the game,” Williams said. “We want to bring all the entities involved in youth basketball together and discuss what’s working and what’s not working. This is breaking new ground.”

IHSAA’s Ress isn’t the only one who thinks NCAA and NBA officials should keep their noses out of youth basketball.

Sonny Vaccaro, who has handled grass-roots marketing for Nike, Reebok and Adidas, told Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal the system does not need to be overhauled.

“They keep coming back to summer basketball and AAU coaches, but how bad can it be when we have the greatest players who have come through the system adding to the benefit of both the college and NBA game?” Vaccaro said.

Several people within the industry, however, said a move to overhaul youth basketball is long overdue.

“When coaches cooperate in systematic development of players on and off the court, it’s better for the players,” Sunrise Sports Group’s Morton said.

Any agreement has to be about more than developing youngsters’ basketball skills, said Robert Kanaby, executive director for the locally based National Federation of State High School Associations.

“We realize there’s a business interest in this,” Kanaby said. “The NBA is making a multimillion-dollar investment in some of these young people. But there’s another side to this. There’s a need to develop these athletes as citizens, and we’ve represented that point of view at every meeting we’ve attended.”

IHSAA’s Ress finds it ironic that the NBA would position itself alongside the NCAA to mold young people.

“With the problems the NBA has, I don’t know what they can do to improve the development of youth and high school basketball,” Ress said. “The NBA is trying to latch onto anything to clean up its own image.”