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justnotcricket · 6 years

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Match Report: 25/11/17 WASTCA One-Day Div 2

Fremantle (8/241) def Subi Marist (9/163)

Mann Oval is a cricket ground in miniature. A tiny oval, a small man’s oval. An oval for small men… and for some, this was the first homecoming since the horrific ‘Mann Oval Massacre’…

When I arrived at the venue the last surviving veterans were at the Mosman Park Bowling Club, emotional wounds still so raw as to suggest they were drinking to forget…

Legend has it, in the first meeting between the recently estranged Fremantle Mosman Park One Day team and it’s previous fraternal masters, Sub Marist, tensions were at an all time high.

The rebellious FMPCC were looking to make a point of their desertion, and SMCC still hurt and reeling from the betrayal of their brothers, were determined to see them put in their place.

With plenty of pregame banter, the Pirates won the toss, elected to bat, and after all manner of failure, proceeded to shuffle like they had ne’er shuffled before. Subi’s opening bowler took 4 wickets and they were all out for 71.

It must have been mortifying.

Matty Angus, then captain of Subi Marist [!!!], smelled blood, promoted himself to number 3, [wasn’t required], and the opening batsmen made the runs in less than 5 overs.

Retribution. Merciless, and swift in its brutal execution. No wonder it still smarts, and is spoken of in hushed tones to this day…

Ray on the other hand, spared the indignity, wistfully reminisced about the time he won the Fred Mann Medal in under 12’s back in the 1930’s, and you felt like his was a different sort of homecoming; a washed out sky, the spires of Norfolk Pines piercing the lilac haze of Jacaranda, littered with mid twentieth century apartments where the poor people used to live. He was home, this was his country...

He then went on to joke about how Liz had some One Day International tickets, and was excited to be finally seeing some ‘real cricket’…

I’m not sure what she means by that.

What does she mean by that!?!

Sure, in second division no one ever really gives LBW, or stumpings for example, but for us the game is played with as much passion and rivalry as any Ashes Series.

Smith had just made a game-changing ton for Australia in Brisbane, and in our minds, we were there with him, facing every ball, grinding it out, warding off defeat, and sharing the triumph…

Well, Dave Barratt was anyway. Still smarting from the slight of alleged boringness, strode out to the crease with the kind of steely determination that was ultimately even more boring.

We had won the toss and were batting.

Quinny at the other end, couldn’t help but entertain. Everyone loves a clown, but spare a thought for the sad man, whose heart and soul goes to making other men laugh.

It’s a tough gig, and he does all his own slapstick…

Dubois opened the bowling with a haircut that would have looked quite handsome on a middle-aged woman from Claremont. Quinny blanched.

Elliot from the other, pranced in a merry dance from side on of the wicket. It was a fancy action; with a one, two, three, arms into 5th position, skip, hop, slide… and bowl. In my mind, I even see the tu-tu.

It was so distracting and Quinny had no option than to hit him down the ground.

Dave Barratt turned 4’s into twos, and 2’s into 1’s and scintillating cricket into an afternoon nap. Quin farmed himself the strike to stay alert.

Broad shouldered Jonny came on to bowl, carrying the ball with a forward wrist that hung before his groin like a pendulous seedpod. It was kind of erotic in a way I can’t quite put my finger in.

Quinny rocked back and cut his first delivery, and followed it with a later cut, two balls later in fact.

Dave Barratt kept it sensible, head down, nothing silly, and was about as much fun as senior public servant ever really can be.

He did bring up the 50 off 10 overs but was caught for 18, closing a 63 run opening partnership.

Meanwhile, Australia approached the English total… in no small part due to Dave’s empathetic connection with the Australian captain.

I came in at number 3, and was feeling good. I saw the ball well, played some nice shots and some even more beautiful leaves, until Wynne came on and served a selection of fruity mince pies: my weakness at this time of year.

Our thinking was it was better to have Joe umpiring out in the middle annoying the opposition, than in the shed annoying us. It proved to be an oversight.

He gave me LBW with my back leg in the air to a high bouncing ball still in its way up!?! I think he fired me before it even connected…

Does he know I’m on our selection committee? Does he know I write the match report? Is the guy A COMPLETE IDIOT!?!

In the moment, I may have said a few harsh words that I will come to regret, but now that I have taken some time to think reasonably about this and let my emotions cool, I think it is time we fucked him off all together.

It wasn’t the incorrectness of the decision, [Quinny said it was plumb, and I was playing across the line…again], but it was the sheer enjoyment of giving me out. Like he vicariously took the wicket!?! ‘How is that?’ he grinned!

You can get away with being a shit bloke like Darrell if we are really short of bowlers but not when you are in the team as part of the clubs ‘new member drive’.

I was out on 13. Unlucky for some...

Joe Dirt specifically.

He’ll be going for some long walks out of the nets on Tuesday, which will do us both good, I need to vent and he needs the exercise.

JL came in looking as relaxed as a man three beers in by midday, and set about constructing an innings. At drinks, we were two for 93. Quinny was on 49 and Australia lead by 29 runs.

Darrell made a great brew, only lacking rum and a can of Emu Export, [according to Quinny], who brought up his 50 with a couple of boundaries over mid wicket and one down the ground to take 17 runs from an over by Cranley.

Their bowling stocks largely turned to laughing stocks as Jonny fatigued and started bowling wides, or short and outside off; easy to cut, or rock back and square drive, and the boys made hay while the sun shone.

Joe, fixating on the edge of the skinny little pitch, called no ball after no ball, until the opposing Captain started to complain about the stultifying level of officiation…

‘Sorry mate, we know...’

Harley came on to bowl and Quinny was uncharacteristically patient. He was in his nervous 70’s and maybe this would be the day to convert a healthy start into a milestone century.

Harley also looked like he was in his 70’s, with even less chance of making it to 100, especially after dropping a caught and bowled attempt that could probably kill a man of his age.

JL hit one over the fence, which on a backyard ground such as this, and with calls of ‘lost ball’, surely must be 6 and out. Once the ball had been recovered, play resumed and he brought up with the 150 with a 4 that very nearly landed in a passing pram.

I’m not an expert, but surely this kind of behaviour deviates from the standard INTJ on the MBTI, and clearly indicates psychopathic tendencies.

You can imagine careers day back in high school: ‘Has he considered corporate law, Mrs Little?’

Don’t get me wrong; he also played some beautiful cut shots and fine glances off his legs. But he would then tease the fielders spooning it just in front of them, while calling, ‘Yes!’

Like the kind of kid that pulls the wings off flies...

Quinny hit a big six, fell over, was nearly stumped, fell out of a building, ducked under plank, and was run over by a little red car giggling with midgets.

Or at least that’s how I remember his innings.

JL brought up his 50 with a pull shot square of the wicket, and raised his bat, almost in remorse and embarrassment for the bowlers, almost as if remorse was in his emotional range. He then hit a six into someone’s front yard, narrowly missing their new car.

They brought up a 100 run partnership before Joe gave Quinny out, stumped on 92. I mean seriously…

Did the other team give stumpings, or run outs? No they did not.

Gobsmacked at this turn of events, we quickly lost three wickets in an over. Shrugger skied it for a golden duck. Darrell got in on the action and fired JLBW:

Justin Little Before Wicket.

New batsmen, Nav and Matty made running between wickets look like a choreographed WWE fight sequence; ducks, feints, a mid pitch clothes-lining and direct hit from the deep to remove Angus.

Ray was caught and Harley got a 5 for!

The old man can die happy. His life’s work complete…

The collapse only slowed when Weston smashed an edge to the keeper that JL signaled wide. Sheepishly, he went on to hit two sixes to finish.

And that… is how umpiring is done in this competition.

Darrell padded up and walked out to the middle, watched Leon hit the maximums, and walked back without contribution, and was as graceful and humble about it, as you can imagine…

Other non-contributors included Joe, who was preparing to bat by doing throw downs with his son... AND DOING THE THROWING!?!

At least he was wearing actual pads, I suppose. To throw in.

We finished with a mighty 8 for 241 off the full 35 overs. What a difference 20 years makes. How the tides had turned! With the pirate flag flying from the shelter, tea was more like a family picnic if you were raised by bikie gang or an Islamic death cult. Quinny recounted the negotiations required to acquire the flag from an 8-year-old girl’s tree house.

‘Please just take the flag. And promise you will never try to make contact with our mother again…’

It was always going to be a difficult chase, and we gave them as many chances in the field as is sporting, but they lost wickets regularly and never really looked like a chance.

Darrell opened the bowling and had spat the dummy by his second over. Ray attempted to talk him down from mid on, counseling him between bursts of expletives, but it was to no avail.

He bowled 6 overs before refusing to bowl any more, frustratingly, with half decent figures of 1 for 25.

Mind you, the only reason he still gets selected is because he’s a carrying member of a gun club, and no one has the courage to tell him otherwise.

Ray opened with a spell from the other end bowling 7 overs 1 for 34, and really should bowl more. Matt bowled 7 overs and 2 for 42 before he did a hammy and was forced to limp the plank.

Joe bowled a 20-ball two over spell. His first 11 ball over for went 10 runs, and the second; a tidy 6 by comparison, to finish with 0 for 16. Another couple of overs and he would have bowled the standard 42 balls.

I suppose if you are not going to get another over, you might as well make it last. Number 2 bowled both kinds of music: Leon, and Weston to finish with 1 for 4 off 1. Another under utilised resource.

Pedestrian Dave bowled 5 overs and took 2 for 13 at the death, [6 of those being wides] and closed out the game bowling to Lowther.

I couldn’t help myself: I was rooting for underdog, even if he had done a little poo in his pants.

He carried his bat as they ran out of overs with only 161 on the board and we won by nearly 80 runs.

The Crownies came out in the golden light of the setting sun, and the fines session was like a roll call of dropped sitters on the boundary:

Matty Angus [present], JL [present], Nav [present], Darrell?

Darrell had gone home…

Alex Quin won the ‘Hot for 12 Cold for 24’ award for his massive knock and in a move that can only be described as Jack Sparrow-esque, then spun the wheel back at the club to win the meat raffle.

It was truly his day… and a convincing win to seal 4 in a row. With as many wins as losses behind us, we have leapt from the bottom of the ladder, and into the 4.

Our focus will now have to shift from ‘access and inclusivity’, to qualifying our best players for finals.

Which leaves two questions on everybody’s lips...

Is this curtains for Joe Dirt?

And how many holes in a straw?

#cricket #pirates #wickets

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shervonfakhimi · 6 years

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The 50 Ways to Make a Basketball Team

“Now don't get wrapped into the hype and what they think. This shit ain’t rocket science, and the scene changes with beats. And now you ask yourself, how you want to be seen. There must be 50 ways to make a record.” Scott Mescudi, otherwise known as Kid Cudi sung this on his song “50 Ways to Make a Record” from his debut mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi.” Not just true in the music game, this train of thought is true everywhere, perhaps most evident in the NBA. This season, 2 teams have arrived at the exact destination taking drastically different paths to get there. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise the Rookie of the Year vote is down to Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell, who both symbolize the path these franchises have undertaken to get to where they are now.

“The Jazz are moving on. They have no plans to tank. "Our hope is our players grow into larger roles, and we continue a path which best serves the Jazz," Lindsey says. "And that path is to draft and develop."” This blurb from a Zach Lowe article on ESPN.com illustrated the thought process of the Utah Jazz after Gordon Hayward jumped ship to play for his former college coach in Boston. Even now, he likely was right to leave. Boston already had 2 all stars (Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas), a treasure trove of picks (still have that) and eventually flipped Isaiah Thomas and turned him into a former NBA Finals hero in Kyrie Irving, a younger and more explosive star to run with Hayward. While all that is great, the Jazz had to move on. Hayward was supposed to be the next man in charge to lead the Jazz into playoff sustainability on a path to fighting for Finals appearances once the Deron Williams era reared its ugly end. Instead, once the team got back into the 50 win category last season, they fell to 16-24 in early January. They could’ve folded the tent. But instead, they kept fighting, and then a star was born.

The Jazz have had 3 Top 10 picks since 2005 after taking Deron Williams. One was traded a few years into his career (Enes Kanter, 3rd overall). Another was Dante Exum, the supremely-athletic Aussie point guarded who has had his career stalled by serious injuries, only recently coming back. The lone other pick? Gordon Hayward, who left in free agency. So who has led Utah? Rudy Gobert, for one, the 27th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, who Denver acquired in a draft day trade involving the Denver Nuggets, essentially swapping Erick Green (the 46th overall pick in that draft) for Gobert. Gobert has morphed himself into a defensive anchor and perennial defensive player of the year candidate while Green is…. not in the league. Joe Ingles may look like your plumber, but went from being cut by the Clippers to shooting 44% from 3 the last 2 seasons and adding savvy playmaking and defense to go with it. But perhaps the most emblematic of this turnaround is Donovan Mitchell, the rookie dynamo guard from Louisville who is taking the league by storm. On a team with few avenues to go to to manufacture scoring, the Count Pitino product Mitchell has led the way for the Jazz. Any other year he’d be a lock for Rookie of the Year, especially when you score 20.5 points per game with about 4 rebounds and assists per game and great defense to go with it. Regardless of if he wins it or not, it is sensational he has helped Utah regain their footing once Hayward bolted.

Sure there were mishaps along the way for the Jazz (Trey Burke, Kanter, Trey Lyles for some), but also found gems in Mitchell, Gobert, Ingles, Royce O’Neale as an undrafted free agent, acquiring Derrick Favors in the Deron Williams trade. Utah never bottomed out. Only once since they selected Deron Williams have they finished below 36 wins. If ever there were a year to bottom out and join the tankapalooza, it would’ve been this season after Rudy Gobert missed 26 games. Instead, Mitchell, Gobert, Coach Quin Snyder and the organization decided to follow their blueprint and continue to grow and develop their players to win games NOW. After starting the season 16-24 (with a negative net rating, mind you)? The Jazz went 31-9 in their next 40 games, going from double digit seeding in the West to a shot at the number 3 seed behind the mighty Rockets and Warriors. Not bad for a team that lost their lone all star from last season for nothing.

“I understood that it was going to be a difficult ask. But I think to walk into a locker room and not declare that to be a season goal at the start of the season is not how I’m wired. You would get different people within our organization that sort of advised me not to go there and I wanted to. I wanted to own it.” This is a quote Brett Brown recently told Michael Lee of Yahoo! Sports regarding a playoff prediction for this season. While I, at least, thought the Sixers could make the playoffs this season, little did I know they’d make it this forcefully. The Philadelphia 76ers have won 50 games this season with 2 more to spare. The last time they won 50 games was in 2001 when Allen Iverson was stepping over Tyronn Lue in the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Yeah, that was a while ago. And it took quite a bit to get to where they are now.

Sam Hinkie became the GM of the 76ers in 2013. Then, he and the organization decided to make a seismic change: be terrible to get top draft picks. And they did that, tearing the team down by trading Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young, among others. While hardly the Dream Team, it was rare to see teams tear down and become as blatantly terrible like those Sixer teams chose to do. On top of that, they drafted players they knew were not going to play for them in order to continue the process (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, etc.). What Hinkie continued to do was stockpile picks and other assets until the time was right. Michael Carter-Williams was turned into what likely will be a Top 10 this season from the Lakers via the Suns in the great Point Guard orgy of the 2015 trade deadline. They drafted Elfrid Payton solely to extort another pick out of Orlando because that’s what Orlando does. Sacramento gave them a first round pick and swap rights to another so they could sign Rajon Rondo and Kosta Koufos (that actually happened). All of this required the right head coach to lead them, which Brett Brown prepared himself to do while sitting under the wing of Gregg Popovich. While the NBA essentially mandated Philly to let go of Sam Hinkie, these trades and moves he made helped set up Philadelphia for the future that started this season.

While the moves were being made, what about the product on the court? Well, it sucked. Once the process began, Philadelphia underwent 3 consecutive seasons winning less than 20 games. Repeated blowouts signaled a culture of losing and dysfunction. But that wasn’t the case. “It always came back to development and relationships and it enabled us to hold the locker room together. It enabled us to move the coaching staff forward. You feel like you’re just putting in good days on what matters more. That was my road map. That was my compass,” Brown told Lee. While The Process ate out top picks like Jahlil Okafor and Michael Carter-Williams, other top prospects like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric have have thrived and have become both the present and future of the franchise. Robert Covington was an undrafted free agent Philly took a chance on who has grown into one of the best ‘3&D’ players in the league. Markelle Fultz missed almost all season seemingly forgetting how to play like Charles Barkley in Space Jam, but has come back and shown some of the many talent that warranted him becoming the number 1 pick. The Process has paid off and still has benefits to reap from.

No one knows who will win Rookie of the Year between Mitchell and Ben Simmons. Both are equally deserving. Mitchell is leading his team in scoring. Simmons is currently averaging a triple double in Philadelphia’s 14 game winning streak, some of which without star Center Joel Embiid. But what has been the most pleasant surprise is how both players have led their teams back from the adversity they previously were trapped in. Since January 8th, only 1 team has more wins than the Sixers and the Jazz (31): the Houston Rockets (37). So yes, there are 50 ways to make a record, make a basketball team, etc. You just have to choose path, like how Utah and Philadelphia did.

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leisurefarmers · 6 years

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NYC FAMILY TRAVEL DIARY

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DETAILS: ORANGE SWEATER | DISTRESSED DENIM | BLACK LOAFERS | TORTOISE SUNGLASSES | GREY CROSSBODY

Happy Sunday guys! I am so overdue on a lot of my recent travel guides – hoping to catch up one day – starting with our trip to NY! Here are 5 things to do in NYC as a family:

1. Pick the perfect location. Since it’s such a big city, you really have to choose where you stay strategically so you don’t spend the majority of the time getting to and from the sights you want to see. We stayed at the Quin, and it was in an amazing location. It’s really close to Central Park, close to shopping and some of our favorite restaruants, and the rooms were really spacious! The hotel restaurant was also delicious, too. Traveling with kids, sometimes you end up calling it a night early or have to stay in for a meal so I’m always so thankful when the hotel food is so yummy! Also I have to mention the bathrooms because the tubs were HUGE and the whole bathroom was marble. It was so pretty.

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DETAILS: RED BERET | RED STRIPED TEE | DISTRESSED DENIM | RED CROSSBODY (LOVE THIS ONE)

Central Park. What’s NYC with out Central park! Our hotel was really close to Central Park so we went over multiple times during out stay. There’s so many different areas of the park to see that all have a really different feel so we explored there daily. It’s super kid-friendly and there are endless things to do.

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Ride bikes to explore the city. They rent bikes in the building next to the hotel. I think it’s like $10 for the day or something like that. The boys originally said let’s just rent them to ride through the park, but if you know my husband it’s always about all the extreme activities so it quickly turned into, let’s just ride them to the Brooklyn Bridge. (They are not close to each other lol) It ended up being an all day activity but it was a great work out and such a fun way to see the city up close!

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Walk and find new restaurants and enjoy old favorites. I always have to go to Sarabeth’s every time I’m in NY. So good! Have you guys ever gone? It was not even a block away from our hotel, so I was excited to make it over for breakfast! Also wha’t NYC with out pizza we went to which is a famous spot in NYC called Joe’s Pizza, it was really good for pizza on the go while we were out walking around. The city has so many places to eat – there’s something for everyone.

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Jet-ski tour of the city. This was our first time doing this and it was amazing! I can’t recommend it enough. It was so cool to witness new views of the city I have never seen before. Just avoid getting in the water if you can haha.

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Hit the market. We were surprised to find the cutest farmer’s market on Saturday morning when we walked outside our hotel. Such a fun NY touch! To be honest I’m not sure if it happens every Saturday or it was a special occasion but they had lots of yummy food trucks and little trinkets for the kids.

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DETAILS: BLACK SHERPA PULLOVER | WHITE CROSSBODY | GLASSES

Times Square. Times Square is always an exciting stop, SUPER TOURISTY!! I have to say that because really I get overwhelmed with big crowsds of people, but with Beckam’s current superhero obsession it was even more magical this year. He was so excited to see all his favorite superheroes in real life!! He was freaking out. Kids really make everything so so magical!!

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Ice skating at The Rockefeller Center. This has been on my bucketlist FOREVER, and it’s even more magical in the winter! So much fun, especially as a family. I didn’t think Beckam would even care about going but he was so so excited! It was pretty funny because I am NOT a good skater, and trying to hold Beckam up and skate at the same time. It was pretty comical! Good memories though

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DETAILS: BLUE SWEATER | LEGGINGS | OVER-THE-KNEE BOOTS | GREY CROSSBODY

What are some of your favorite family activities in NYC?

XX, Christine

The post NYC FAMILY TRAVEL DIARY appeared first on Hello Fashion.

NYC FAMILY TRAVEL DIARY published first on http://ift.tt/2vhdzTm

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flauntpage · 7 years

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Quin Snyder's Russian Detour Made Him One of the NBA's Top Coaches

It's December and the Utah Jazz are getting waxed by the Golden State Warriors. Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood, and George Hill are all out. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson are all in.

Down 31-9 late in the first quarter, Dante Exum sprint dribbles up the right sideline with Raul Neto and Joe Ingles standing in opposite corners. Trey Lyles and Jeff Withey jog into position on the weak side. As Neto flies up to gather Exum's handoff, Ingles darts toward Lyles and Withey who pose as cinder blocks on the wing. Right when the ball travels from Exum to Neto, Ingles emerges wide open behind the three-point line.

As the ball pings across the floor, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder sits on the sideline with his hands flat on his knees. He cranes his neck for a better view as Ingles' shot soars through the air. It falls through the net. Snyder clasps his hands, leans forward, and mentally prepares for the next possession. Utah would lose this game, but only by seven points, and not before they outscored Golden State 53-41 in the second half.

The sequence described above sounds mundane, and, to be fair, at first glance it is. But the timing, discipline, and altruism within it are exquisite examples of a methodical system that doesn't bludgeon the defense so much as wait for it to deteriorate on its own. With zero players who are able to create their own shot, the Jazz manufacture a wide open three against one of the best defensive teams in league history.

"I was always curious about basketball over there in the Euroleague," Snyder told VICE Sports.

Five fingers ball up into a fist that is stronger than the sum of its parts. Through meticulous planning and creativity, dead ends turn into onramps. Such has been the serpentine journey of Snyder, whose career has seen its fair share of unscalable road blocks that suddenly give way to euphoric successes. For Snyder, every experience, philosophy, and memory picked up along the way—all across the world—is valuable. Without them, he wouldn't be the leader he is. And the Jazz, a team he's coached since 2014, would not be as formidable as they are.

Snyder's road took a left turn about four years before he landed in Utah, when, as an assistant coach on Mike Brown's staff with the Los Angeles Lakers, he unexpectedly accepted a job with CSKA Moscow, a historically triumphant club that competes in Russia's VTB United League and the Euroleague.

The Euroleague is second only to the NBA when it comes to global influence and sheer talent. But for American-born players and coaches alike, it remains—perhaps unfairly—more detour than destination. Relatively young coaches who shuffle through the NBA ranks hoping to one day lead a team don't typically flee to Europe in the middle of their ascent.

CSKA Moscow was fresh and unique, a personal and professional odyssey that would help influence Snyder's intellectual approach after the sport he loves led him to various positions all over the country.

By his side during that fateful 2011-12 Lakers season was Ettore Messina, a four-time Euroleague champion who's now an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs. At the time Messina had plans to go back overseas for his second stint as CSKA Moscow's head coach. When he did, he asked Snyder to join him.

"I was always curious about basketball over there in the Euroleague," Snyder told VICE Sports. "I followed the Euroleague for quite some time, and when [Messina] decided to go back to CSKA, he asked me if I wanted to join him as an assistant. So, I don't know if it was difficult as it was unusual to try and think about what that would be like. My wife, Amy, was really supportive. We had two young kids. So on a personal level, we were doing something that was a little unusual, but we were excited to have the life experience, to be honest with you."

Photo by Chris Nicoll - USA TODAY Sports

You can look at moving halfway across the world into a foreign culture with young kids as an unnecessary challenge. Or you can look at it as an opportunity. For Snyder, it was a chance to get up close and personal with a style of basketball that always intrigued him.

"I was looking forward to all the exposure I knew I would get to different teams in the Euroleague," Snyder said. "Whether it's Panathinaikos or Barcelona, Madrid, there's so many high level teams with terrific coaches. Partizan, you name it. There were just lots of opportunities for me to learn, and I relished that chance."

As a guard at Duke University, Snyder played for three Final Four teams and was an Academic All-American his senior season. At 26, he was one of three assistant coaches on Larry Brown's staff with the Los Angeles Clippers (the other two were current Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford and Orlando Magic General Manager John Hammond). Snyder quickly returned to his alma mater and eventually became Mike Krzyzewski's associate head coach in 1997.

He then spent seven seasons as head coach at the University of Missouri—hired over John Calipari and Bill Self—before a scandal-fueled resignation led him on a harsh and sudden detour down to the NBA Developmental League's Austin Toros (where his salary dropped from $1.015 million to about $75,000 per year) in 2007.

"There's innovation going on with this game all over the world," Snyder said. "And you don't have an opportunity to be a part of that or see it or watch it sometimes because everything from the time change and the fact that we, in the NBA, are immersed in what we're doing."

From that job sprung an opportunity in player development with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, followed by the assistant coach position in Los Angeles that helped Snyder form a relationship with Messina. (A pitstop as an assistant with Mike Budenholzer's Atlanta Hawks fills in the gap between Russia and Utah.)

Once he familiarized himself with the numerous differences between FIBA and the NBA, Snyder couldn't stop hunting for new information. He soaked everything up in conversations with new faces who often provided a fresh way of doing things.

The one season in Russia shouldn't be weighed as more vital than any other Snyder endured to get where he's at, but the impression it's had on him and, notably, the Jazz, is undeniable.

Snyder spent the 2012-13 season studying matchups, substitution patterns, the way players move without the ball, and how tight half-court action can be executed, in a league that approaches offense and defense differently than the NBA or NCAA. But he also grew as a teacher. He was hands on with players who otherwise had trouble understanding the words coming out of his mouth, physically demonstrating drills on the floor and transferring his own shorthand to guys who were unmistakably unfamiliar.

"I swear to you, he had a booklet of about a hundred three-letter [acronyms] where you'd be like 'What?'," former CSKA Moscow guard Aaron Jackson told VICE Sports. "European players were like 'What is this? What is he talking about?' And he had to explain it from literal scratch."

The entire experience forced Snyder to overcome language barriers when communicating with players who didn't speak English. And to those players who did speak English, Snyder served as a translator for players who had trouble understanding directions from the rest of the coaching staff. The ability to instruct despite a language barrier is extremely valuable, if not required, no matter where you're illuminating professional basketball today. Utah's roster last year and this upcoming season was/is populated by players from Brazil, France, Australia, Ukraine, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland.

It's a Spurs-ian approach, one that Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey and Snyder have adopted over time, an outflowing of their close ties to the league's most familial and diverse organization.

Photo by Russell Isabella - USA TODAY Sports

"I think in any situation as a coach you try to treat your players with respect, and that, to me, is the most effective way of communicating," Snyder said. "No different than guys I've coached in the D-League or guys I've coached in the NBA. I think if players know that you're trustworthy in some sense and you do what you say, they know there's an earnestness about you trying to help them improve. That's the foundation of the relationship."

Transmitting information in an efficient way is a crucial, oft-overlooked requirement if you want to be a head coach in the NBA. But keen decision-making��the ability to execute tactical adjustments on the fly, and install logical schemes on both sides of the ball, also matter.

Snyder checks all these boxes, and he's helped turn Utah into a program that—even after Hayward's departure in free agency—holds meaningful nightly advantages over its competition.

Unlike a majority of the NBA, European teams don't aspire to revolve around making life easier for their best player. There is no one star who bears heavy responsibility on each possession. Offenses strategize with more egalitarianism. The ball zips around the perimeter. It goes in and out of the post as players whirl around, screening and cutting. It's the same sport played with a different rhythm.

"It's seriously day and night. NBA is so much space, not as many reads," said CSKA Moscow's Aaron Jackson. "It's: a read makes a basket. And in Europe, it's: read, read, read, counter, read, make the basket. Don't give many possessions to the other team."

The gyms are a sensory overload. Flares glow in crowds that sing, chant, and curse, while plumes of smoke waft towards the roof. Jackson has played professional basketball overseas for nearly a decade, and to him the atmosphere, intensity, and passion rival an NCAA game, except the student section is filled with adults who aren't shy about hurling random objects onto the court. Cigarettes are puffed by the pack.

"It's hard to breathe," Jackson said. "After your first two sprints up and down the court, it's literally like you can't even breathe. It's totally different."

The stands are rowdy, as they tend to be at professional sporting events across the world. On the floor, though, dueling orchestras turn the game of basketball into a series of complex, crafty sequences that vaguely approximate fine art.

"In Europe it's totally different. Basketball is literally from the west side of the court to the east side of the court to the north side of the court to the south side of the court. Every angle is trying to get attacked in a half-court offense," Jackson said. "It's seriously day and night. NBA is so much space, not as many reads. It's: a read makes a basket. And in Europe, it's: read, read, read, counter, read, make the basket. Don't give many possessions to the other team.

"The NBA is more up and down, into the flow, let's get our stars involved, let's get as many possessions as we can. And when I watch European basketball at a high level, like Euroleague, or when I watch the World Championships or the Olympics, it's beautiful to see that kind of basketball. And I think Quin, when he got here he saw it. He kind of appreciated it more when he was here. He realized how it can give teams problems if they do it correctly. Like, I think the Warriors do it perfect. They run off counter reads, read, read, read. But they have great superstars with it that dial in so it looks amazing."

The NBA has different rules, a higher talent level, and Snyder knew long before he journeyed to Russia that, as far as offensive and defensive systems go, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy that's effective regardless of personnel. Players are human. They have strengths and weaknesses that can be maximized and masked. It's his job to compose an appropriate game plan that best suits whoever's on the court.

"You can't be married to a certain style of play if your players don't fit that style," he said.

Snyder and the rest of CSKA Moscow's staff had a wide array of individual skill-sets at their disposal. There were pick-and-roll maestroes, playmaking stretch fours, and speedy point guards. Viktor Khryapa—a 6'9" forward who was part of the 2006 draft day trade that sent LaMarcus Aldridge to the Portland Trail Blazers (Snyder likens him to Blake Griffin)—was able to bring the ball up and operate in space, so the coaches trusted him to do so.

They had Miloš Teodosić, a Serbian sorcerer with unparalleled court vision who's now on the Los Angeles Clippers. Teodosić is surgical running a pick-and-roll, but he can also attack defenses from the post, so they let him operate with his back to the basket when it made sense to do so. CSKA Moscow methodically worked the ball through former NBA big man Nenad Krstic down low, but also zipped up and down the floor when Jackson was in the game.

It seems obvious to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible, but basketball can be a rigid game where conformity overrules adaptation (go watch almost any college basketball game from the past 10 years if you disagree). Snyder, clearly, is not one to acquiesce the status quo.

One key difference between professional basketball in Europe and the United States is the schedule. Teams in the former only play about twice a week, with games spread between the Euroleague and their own national league. It allows coaches to make dramatic game-to-game adjustments, convenient changes to a starting lineup that sometimes involve transferring a player from one position to another, based on the specific matchup.

Photo by Kyle Terada - USA TODAY Sports

This is common practice in the NBA playoffs, but not so much the regular season, where lineup changes are more the result of rest, bumps, bruises, and organization-wide mandates than to gain any strategic advantage. But Snyder is as flexible and proactive as any coach in the league. During last year's playoffs, it took exactly zero minutes for him to realize Boris Diaw made no sense in Utah's starting lineup for its second-round matchup against the Warriors, even though Diaw started all seven games in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers. (Diaw was replaced by Joe Johnson.)

In his war against convention, Snyder is also unafraid to use strategies that are fairly outside-the-box to give his team an edge, or even flip teacher-student hierarchies on their head.

"One of the most enjoyable times I had [with CSKA Moscow] was learning from the players themselves," Snyder said. They discussed different ways to guard the post, stifle pick-and-rolls, and attack switches." It was daily access to priceless details his colleagues in the NBA either weren't familiar with or couldn't seek out for themselves.

But above all else, that one season reinforced a staple long held by successful franchises, programs, and clubs all over the world: Ball movement is boss. It's the most identifiable similarity between those European teams and today's Jazz, a squad that's shaded against the NBA's white-knuckled obsession with speed, spacing, and the three-point shot. Some of that has to do with who they employ.

Utah's stanchion is Rudy Gobert, a 25-year-old perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate who strikes fear as one of the game's great rim protectors. The best way to enjoy his impact is to keep opposing teams in a half-court setting. The best way to keep teams in a half-court setting is to deploy a structured offense that carefully stalks healthy looks at the basket while preventing the opposing team from attacking in transition.

The Jazz finished the 2016-17 regular season third in defensive rating and last in pace. According to Inpredictable, Utah isn't in a hurry regardless of the situation, whether they just grabbed a defensive rebound or forced a turnover. Their offensive possessions are patient and calculated, a choreographed five-man marathon that takes place inside a 47-foot long sand box.

"I think just more on a macro level, wanting to see the ball move," Snyder said, when asked if any specific principles from Moscow have been implemented in Utah. "If there was one thing that I think just, philosophically, that we want to do and believe in, is ball movement and man movement. At least to the extent that that makes sense from a tactical standpoint."

In Snyder's first two seasons with the Jazz, they finished first in passes per game. They were fourth this year. Utah hovers near the top of the league in the percentage of their attack that's devoted to hand-offs and cuts, progressions that stab defenses from all sorts of angles and through various avenues.

Per data provided to VICE Sports by STATS, the Jazz also led the league in ball screens, averaging 74.2 per game during the 2016-17 regular season. They had several large humans (Diaw, Derrick Favors, Gobert) who could erase on-ball defenders from their teammates, flip screens, utilize decoys, and forever make the opposition over think itself into a panic.

The Jazz finished 12th in offensive rating, which is spectacular considering how much easier it is to score early in the shot clock as opposed to against a set defense that's able to communicate and execute their scheme. A league-low 8.4 percent of Utah's shots were launched with 22-18 seconds on the shot clock (deemed "very early" by NBA.com). On the other side of the spectrum, 10.5 percent of their shots came with four or fewer seconds left, which, unsurprisingly, led the league.

It's impossible to know what the Jazz would play like if Snyder had not spent that season in Moscow, but the degree to which he's actualized the experience makes the impact clear. On one hand, the Jazz have gone against the grain. On the other, they're simply functioning inside a system that accentuates their strengths.

Either way, Snyder has helped re-establish the Jazz as one of the NBA's most resourceful franchises, a respectable outfit that's headed in the right direction. Hayward—Utah's leading scorer and lone All-Star a year ago—is gone, but the team's identity is not lost. Snyder is adaptable, yet also embraces a style that not only best suites his current roster, but has timeless value in a trend-happy league that's filled with constant player movement.

Now Snyder is 50 years old. In 2016, he signed an extension that locks him in for the foreseeable future. Salt Lake City is a long way from Moscow—geographically, and culturally—but Snyder's time in Russia still helps dictate his approach to leading the Jazz. The curious path that led him to an NBA head coaching job is one few will follow. But for Snyder and the players who've evolved beneath him in a distinct environment since his first day on the job, nothing beats it.

Quin Snyder's Russian Detour Made Him One of the NBA's Top Coaches published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years

Text

Quin Snyder’s Russian Detour Made Him One of the NBA’s Top Coaches

It’s December and the Utah Jazz are getting waxed by the Golden State Warriors. Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood, and George Hill are all out. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson are all in.

Down 31-9 late in the first quarter, Dante Exum sprint dribbles up the right sideline with Raul Neto and Joe Ingles standing in opposite corners. Trey Lyles and Jeff Withey jog into position on the weak side. As Neto flies up to gather Exum’s handoff, Ingles darts toward Lyles and Withey who pose as cinder blocks on the wing. Right when the ball travels from Exum to Neto, Ingles emerges wide open behind the three-point line.

As the ball pings to Ingles, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder sits on the sideline with his hands flat on his knees. He cranes his neck for a better view as Ingles’ shot soars through the air. It falls through the net. Snyder clasps his hands, leans forward, and mentally prepares for the next possession. Utah would lose this game, but only by seven points, and not before they outscored Golden State 53-41 in the second half.

The sequence described above sounds mundane, and, to be fair, at first glance it is. But the timing, discipline, and altruism within it are exquisite examples of a methodical system that doesn’t bludgeon the defense so much as wait for it to deteriorate on its own. With zero players who are able to create their own shot, the Jazz manufacture a wide open three against one of the best defensive teams in league history.

“I was always curious about basketball over there in the Euroleague,” Snyder told VICE Sports.

Five fingers ball up into a fist that is stronger than the sum of its parts. Through meticulous planning and creativity, dead ends turn into onramps. Such has been the serpentine journey of Quin Snyder, whose career has seen its fair share of unscalable road blocks that suddenly give way to euphoric successes. For Snyder, every experience, philosophy, and memory picked up along the way—all across the world—is valuable. Without them, he wouldn’t be the leader he is. And the Jazz, a team he’s coached since 2014, would not be as formidable as they are.

Snyder’s road took a left turn about four years before he landed in Utah, when, as an assistant coach on Mike Brown’s staff with the Los Angeles Lakers, he unexpectedly accepted a job with CSKA Moscow, a historically triumphant club that competes in Russia’s VTB United League and the Euroleague.

The Euroleague is second only to the NBA when it comes to global influence and sheer talent. But for American-born players and coaches alike, it remains—perhaps unfairly—more detour than destination. Relatively young coaches who shuffle through the NBA ranks hoping to one day lead a team don’t typically flee to Europe in the middle of their ascent.

CSKA Moscow was fresh and unique, a personal and professional odyssey that would help influence Snyder’s intellectual approach after the sport he loves led him to various positions all over the country.

By his side during that fateful 2011-12 Lakers season was Ettore Messina, a four-time Euroleague champion who’s now an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs. At the time Messina had plans to go back overseas for his second stint as CSKA Moscow’s head coach. When he did, he asked Snyder to join him.

“I was always curious about basketball over there in the Euroleague,” Snyder told VICE Sports. “I followed the Euroleague for quite some time, and when [Messina] decided to go back to CSKA, he asked me if I wanted to join him as an assistant. So, I don’t know if it was difficult as it was unusual to try and think about what that would be like. My wife, Amy, was really supportive. We had two young kids. So on a personal level, we were doing something that was a little unusual, but we were excited to have the life experience, to be honest with you.”

Photo by Chris Nicoll – USA TODAY Sports

“I was looking forward to all the exposure I knew I would get to different teams in the Euroleague,” Snyder said. “Whether it’s Panathinaikos or Barcelona, Madrid, there’s so many high level teams with terrific coaches. Partizan, you name it. There were just lots of opportunities for me to learn, and I relished that chance.”

As a guard at Duke University, Snyder played for three Final Four teams and was an Academic All-American his senior season. At 26, he was one of three assistant coaches on Larry Brown’s staff with the Los Angeles Clippers (the other two were current Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford and Orlando Magic General Manager John Hammond). Snyder quickly returned to his alma mater and eventually became Mike Krzyzewski’s associate head coach in 1997.

He then spent seven seasons as head coach at the University of Missouri—hired over John Calipari and Bill Self—before a scandal-fueled resignation led him on a harsh and sudden detour down to the NBA Developmental League’s Austin Toros (where his salary dropped from $1.015 million to about $75,000 per year) in 2007.

“There’s innovation going on with this game all over the world,” Snyder said. “And you don’t have an opportunity to be a part of that or see it or watch it sometimes because everything from the time change and the fact that we, in the NBA, are immersed in what we’re doing.”

From that job sprung an opportunity in player development with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, followed by the assistant coach position in Los Angeles that helped Snyder form a relationship with Messina. (A pitstop as an assistant with Mike Budenholzer’s Atlanta Hawks fills in the gap between Russia and Utah.)

Once he familiarized himself with the numerous differences between FIBA and the NBA, Snyder couldn’t stop hunting for new information. He soaked everything up in conversations with new faces who often provided a fresh way of doing things.

The one season in Russia shouldn’t be weighed as more vital than any other Snyder endured to get where he’s at, but the impression it’s had on him and, notably, the Jazz, is undeniable.

“I swear to you, he had a booklet of about a hundred three-letter [acronyms] where you’d be like ‘What?’,” CSKA Moscow guard Aaron Jackson told VICE Sports. “European players were like ‘What is this? What is he talking about?’ And he had to explain it from literal scratch.”

The entire experience forced Snyder to overcome language barriers when communicating with players who didn’t speak English. And to those players who did speak English, Snyder served as a translator for players who had trouble understanding directions from the rest of the coaching staff. The ability to instruct despite a language barrier is extremely valuable, if not required, no matter where you’re illuminating professional basketball today. Utah’s roster last year and this upcoming season was/is populated by players from Brazil, France, Australia, Ukraine, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland.

It’s a Spurs-ian approach, one that Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey and Snyder have adopted over time, an outflowing of their close ties to the league’s most familial and diverse organization.

Photo by Russell Isabella – USA TODAY Sports

“I think in any situation as a coach you try to treat your players with respect, and that, to me, is the most effective way of communicating,” Snyder said. “No different than guys I’ve coached in the D-League or guys I’ve coached in the NBA. I think if players know that you’re trustworthy in some sense and you do what you say, they know there’s an earnestness about you trying to help them improve. That’s the foundation of the relationship.”

Transmitting information in an efficient way is a crucial, oft-overlooked requirement if you want to be a head coach in the NBA. But keen decision-making—the ability to execute tactical adjustments on the fly, and install logical schemes on both sides of the ball, also matter.

Snyder checks all these boxes, and he’s helped turn Utah into a program that—even after Hayward’s departure in free agency—holds meaningful nightly advantages over its competition.

Unlike a majority of the NBA, European teams don’t aspire to revolve around making life easier for their best player. There is no one star who bears heavy responsibility on each possession. Offenses strategize with more egalitarianism. The ball zips around the perimeter. It goes in and out of the post as players whirl around, screening and cutting. It’s the same sport played with a different rhythm.

“It’s seriously day and night. NBA is so much space, not as many reads,” said CSKA Moscow’s Aaron Jackson. “It’s: a read makes a basket. And in Europe, it’s: read, read, read, counter, read, make the basket. Don’t give many possessions to the other team.”

The gyms are a sensory overload. Flares glow in crowds that sing, chant, and curse, while plumes of smoke waft towards the roof. Jackson has played professional basketball overseas for nearly a decade, and to him the atmosphere, intensity, and passion rival an NCAA game, except the student section is filled with adults who aren’t shy about hurling random objects onto the court. Cigarettes are puffed by the pack.

“It’s hard to breathe,” Jackson said. “After your first two sprints up and down the court, it’s literally like you can’t even breathe. It’s totally different.”

“In Europe it’s totally different. Basketball is literally from the west side of the court to the east side of the court to the north side of the court to the south side of the court. Every angle is trying to get attacked in a half-court offense,” Jackson said. “It’s seriously day and night. NBA is so much space, not as many reads. It’s: a read makes a basket. And in Europe, it’s: read, read, read, counter, read, make the basket. Don’t give many possessions to the other team.

“The NBA is more up and down, into the flow, let’s get our stars involved, let’s get as many possessions as we can. And when I watch European basketball at a high level, like Euroleague, or when I watch the World Championships or the Olympics, it’s beautiful to see that kind of basketball. And I think Quin, when he got here he saw it. He kind of appreciated it more when he was here. He realized how it can give teams problems if they do it correctly. Like, I think the Warriors do it perfect. They run off counter reads, read, read, read. But they have great superstars with it that dial in so it looks amazing.”

The NBA has different rules, a higher talent level, and Snyder knew long before he journeyed to Russia that, as far as offensive and defensive systems go, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy that’s effective regardless of personnel. Players are human. They have strengths and weaknesses that can be maximized and masked. It’s his job to compose an appropriate game plan that best suits whoever’s on the court.

“You can’t be married to a certain style of play if your players don’t fit that style,” he said.

Snyder and the rest of CSKA Moscow’s staff had a wide array of individual skill-sets at their disposal. There were pick-and-roll maestroes, playmaking stretch fours, and speedy point guards. Viktor Khryapa—a 6’9″ forward who was part of the 2006 draft day trade that sent LaMarcus Aldridge to the Portland Trail Blazers (Snyder likens him to Blake Griffin)—was able to bring the ball up and operate in space, so the coaches trusted him to do so.

They had Miloš Teodosić, a Serbian sorcerer with unparalleled court vision who’s now on the Los Angeles Clippers. Teodosić is surgical running a pick-and-roll, but he can also attack defenses from the post, so they let him operate with his back to the basket when it made sense to do so. CSKA Moscow methodically worked the ball through former NBA big man Nenad Krstic down low, but also zipped up and down the floor when Jackson was in the game.

Photo by Kyle Terada – USA TODAY Sports

This is common practice in the NBA playoffs, but not so much the regular season, where lineup changes are more the result of rest, bumps, bruises, and organization-wide mandates than to gain any strategic advantage. But Snyder is as flexible and proactive as any coach in the league. During last year’s playoffs, it took exactly zero minutes for him to realize Boris Diaw made no sense in Utah’s starting lineup for its second-round matchup against the Warriors, even though Diaw started all seven games in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers. (Diaw was replaced by Joe Johnson.)

In his war against convention, Snyder is also unafraid to use strategies that are fairly outside-the-box to give his team an edge, or even flip teacher-student hierarchies on their head.

“One of the most enjoyable times I had [with CSKA Moscow] was learning from the players themselves,” Snyder said. They discussed different ways to guard the post, stifle pick-and-rolls, and attack switches.” It was daily access to priceless details his colleagues in the NBA either weren’t familiar with or couldn’t seek out for themselves.

But above all else, that one season reinforced a staple long held by successful franchises, programs, and clubs all over the world: Ball movement is boss. It’s the most identifiable similarity between those European teams and today’s Jazz, a squad that’s shaded against the NBA’s white-knuckled obsession with speed, spacing, and the three-point shot. Some of that has to do with who they employ.

Utah’s stanchion is Rudy Gobert, a 25-year-old perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate who strikes fear as one of the game’s great rim protectors. The best way to enjoy his impact is to keep opposing teams in a half-court setting. The best way to keep teams in a half-court setting is to deploy a structured offense that carefully stalks healthy looks at the basket while preventing the opposing team from attacking in transition.

The Jazz finished the 2016-17 regular season third in defensive rating and last in pace. According to Inpredictable, Utah isn’t in a hurry regardless of the situation, whether they just grabbed a defensive rebound or forced a turnover. Their offensive possessions are patient and calculated, a choreographed five-man marathon that takes place inside a 47-foot long sand box.

“I think just more on a macro level, wanting to see the ball move,” Snyder said, when asked if any specific principles from Moscow have been implemented in Utah. “If there was one thing that I think just, philosophically, that we want to do and believe in, is ball movement and man movement. At least to the extent that that makes sense from a tactical standpoint.”

In Snyder’s first two seasons with the Jazz, they finished first in passes per game. They were fourth this year. Utah hovers near the top of the league in the percentage of their attack that’s devoted to hand-offs and cuts, progressions that stab defenses from all sorts of angles and through various avenues.

The Jazz finished 12th in offensive rating, which is spectacular considering how much easier it is to score early in the shot clock as opposed to against a set defense that’s able to communicate and execute their scheme. A league-low 8.4 percent of Utah’s shots were launched with 22-18 seconds on the shot clock (deemed “very early” by NBA.com). On the other side of the spectrum, 10.5 percent of their shots came with four or fewer seconds left, which, unsurprisingly, led the league.

It’s impossible to know what the Jazz would play like if Snyder had not spent that season in Moscow, but the degree to which he’s actualized the experience makes the impact clear. On one hand, the Jazz have gone against the grain. On the other, they’re simply functioning inside a system that accentuates their strengths.

Either way, Snyder has helped re-establish the Jazz as one of the NBA’s most resourceful franchises, a respectable outfit that’s headed in the right direction. Hayward—Utah’s leading scorer and lone All-Star a year ago—is gone, but the team’s identity is not lost. Snyder is adaptable, yet also embraces a style that not only best suites his current roster, but has timeless value in a trend-happy league that’s filled with constant player movement.

Now Snyder is 50 years old. In 2016, he signed an extension that locks him in for the foreseeable future. Salt Lake City is a long way from Moscow—geographically, and culturally—but Snyder’s time in Russia still helps dictate his approach to leading the Jazz. The curious path that led him to an NBA head coaching job is one few will follow. But for Snyder and the players who’ve evolved beneath him in a distinct environment since his first day on the job, nothing beats it.

Quin Snyder’s Russian Detour Made Him One of the NBA’s Top Coaches syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

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stellacarrierimaginationbuilders · 7 years

Text

Happiness Awaits Freestyle Story by Stella Carrier

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Happiness Awaits Freestyle Story by Stella CarrierMy psychic abilities and intuition expand each day.I am creating heaven on earthI’m aware of when to create opportunities for myself and that when one door closes many more doors open.I contribute to the best of my ability regardless of the reception I receive for doing so.I am in the process of becoming more cool,level-headed, and wise when it comes to how I conduct myself around my current work colleagues and future coworkers as I am now logically and intuitively aware that some of them may follow me to where I may reside within 7 years from now or less regardless if I am a private sector andor a government/military worker/employee.

I am in the process of developing the wise woman within and increasing my creativity.My life is getting better and better each day.

Start time 12:58 pmEnd goal timeActual completion time; 132 pm

Happiness Awaits Freestyle Story by Stella Carrier

40 year old Raymond Marsh and his wife 24 year old Lynda Marsh operate a food truck that is close by the naval shipyard that has aircraft carrier ships such as the John F. Kennedy. They are also able to supplement their money incomes because their two twins 4 year old Ava Marsh and Mandy Marsh make a lot of money from modeling. Lynda Marsh also is able to supplement her income from time to time as she has modeled for such music videos as Bad Man by Pitbull feat. Robin Thicke, Joe Perry, Travis Barker. Lynda Marsh happens to look like one of the starring actresses featured in the Murder She Bakes film who works as a Bakery Shop owner and tries to solve the murder of one of her close friends.Currently, Raymond Marsh and Lynda Marsh are turning a profit of over $40,000 dollars after taxes per month.

Part of the reason why Raymond Marsh and his wife Lynda Marsh make so much money is because they are known across the shipyard for serving both delicious baked goods and foods inspired by Raymond Marsh’s previous work with Amazon and Lynda Marsh’s employment as a Disney Cast member. Additionally, the couple get a lot of repeat business from music DJ’s that have performed for various alternative and dance events in the area. Much to the shock of many people Raymond Marsh and his wife Lynda Marsh got permission to get even more profitable business by parking their food truck in front of a popular Virginia Beach Maryland mall at least one day out of the week.

Lynda Marsh and Raymond Marsh celebrate their success in turning a tremendous profit on their food truck business by using the tickets gifted to them by a mutual friend to go see Armin Van Buuren. 44 year old Amy Jay intuitively got the idea to gift 2 concert tickets to see Armin Van Buuren to her friends Raymond and Lynda Marsh after she had a dream which featured the song Great Spirit by Armin Van Buuren feat. Vini Vinci and the Highlight Tribe. They left the kids with her in order to have a babysitter while they go to the concert. After the concert, both Lynda and Raymond Marsh pick up the kids from Amy Jay and retire to their 3 bedroom home in Newport News Virginia for the night. That night Lynda has a dream where she is at a convention and event that features various speakers affiliated with some of the richest women in the world and the Amazon company. Lynda asks one of the attendees who looks like a Batman lego cartoon figurine why she is at the attendance and he tells her don’t you know, over on that table is a book that you are going to write that is going to capture the interest of many people. Lynda looks at the table and notices that a Batman miniature figure in reenacting on this orange glass table an event where he is speaking with a Harley Quin figurine resembling Charlize Theron and embracing in a hug a miniature figurine resembling Talia Al Ghul who she intuitively senses has given birth to Damian Wayne. Harley Quin comes to ask help from both Batman and Talia Al Ghul despite their scandalous love history for one major reason; Harley Quinn was kidnapped by a ring leader who is trying to gather other beings with supernatural powers for their own interests that may or may not be for the congruent good for all. Anyone who resists or declines to join this group is murdered. Harley Quinn was kidnapped and almost murdered and was able to get away and seek shelter with her boyfriend the Joker. However, before she left she did warn the ringleader of the kidnapping that they do not realize what they got themselves into by trying to kidnap people against their will. The Batman cartoon figurine and Talia Al Ghul are seen talking to each other as Harley Quinn holds their baby Damian Wayne. Lynda Marsh tries to figure out how she can maybe spin this into a money making story when her daughters Ava and Mandy Marsh ask Lynda if she can reach up to the cabinet for them to eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Lynda looks at her alarm clock to see that it is 507 am and that her two daughters actually did her a favor by acting as her human alarm clock as her and Raymond are actually scheduled to host a food truck on the Norfolk Naval Base as the USS Eisenhower pulls into port in less than five hours from now.

I also call upon the influence of the heaven higher planes of reality and the heaven/celestial influence of my heaven higher self, my heaven spirit ally team and my heaven higher self of the heaven worlds of divine love and divine happiness to imbue with heaven’s wisdom and heaven’s spiritual/benevolent light as I type these letters/scripts for both present and future.

My psychic abilities and intuition expand each day.I am creating heaven on earthI’m aware of when to create opportunities for myself and that when one door closes many more doors open.I contribute to the best of my ability regardless of the reception I receive for doing so.

I Stella Carrier follow my intuition, logic, and bliss to include some of my goals and dreams in my law of attraction scripts

I give thanks that my life is getting better and even more blessed each day.

I give thanks for the multiple blessings in my life that I know are gifts from heaven; my great physical health, my amazing husband Rusty Ridler, the privilege of having been born an American female and getting to enjoy the multiple freedoms of such citizenship regardless of income fluctuations, the ability to follow and adhere to whatever spiritual beliefs that my heart desires etc.

I Call Upon What I Imagine To Be The Influence of Benevolent Spirits From the Heavenly Realms, my higher self, and my celestial spirit ally team for creativity in both my writings and all other areas of my life both present and futureResourcesGreat Spirit Song by Armin Van Buuren vs. Vini Vinci feat. Highlight TribeFever song by CascadaSomething Good 08 by Utah SaintsA storytelling dream that my husband told me aboutA dream I had less than 12 hours ago where I was inside a shopping mallThis is your brain on Disneyland: A Disney addict's quest to discover why he loves the parks so much

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-disneyland-psychology-20170707-htmlstory.html

walt disney mapWalt Disney's Original Disneyland Map Sells For $708,000 At Auction

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2017/06/25/walt-disneys-original-disneyland-map-sells-for-708000-at-auction/#5e564034237b

These Are the 10 Richest Women in the World

http://fortune.com/2017/03/21/10-richest-women-world-2017/?xid=soc_socialflow_twitter_FORTUNE

https://www.carmax.com/

Amazon Recruiting

https://www.amazon.jobs/en/business_categories/university-recruiting?base_query=&loc_query=&job_count=10&result_limit=10&sort=relevant&business_category%5B%5D=university-recruiting&cache

Tompor: How Amazon Prime is selling deals, apps, memberships and more

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Massive stern attached to John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier at Newport News shipyard

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flauntpage · 7 years

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Quin Snyder's Russian Detour Made Him One of the NBA's Top Coaches

As the ball pings to Ingles, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder sits on the sideline with his hands flat on his knees. He cranes his neck for a better view as Ingles' shot soars through the air. It falls through the net. Snyder clasps his hands, leans forward, and mentally prepares for the next possession. Utah would lose this game, but only by seven points, and not before they outscored Golden State 53-41 in the second half.

"I was always curious about basketball over there in the Euroleague," Snyder told VICE Sports.

Five fingers ball up into a fist that is stronger than the sum of its parts. Through meticulous planning and creativity, dead ends turn into onramps. Such has been the serpentine journey of Quin Snyder, whose career has seen its fair share of unscalable road blocks that suddenly give way to euphoric successes. For Snyder, every experience, philosophy, and memory picked up along the way—all across the world—is valuable. Without them, he wouldn't be the leader he is. And the Jazz, a team he's coached since 2014, would not be as formidable as they are.

Photo by Chris Nicoll - USA TODAY Sports

The one season in Russia shouldn't be weighed as more vital than any other Snyder endured to get where he's at, but the impression it's had on him and, notably, the Jazz, is undeniable.

"I swear to you, he had a booklet of about a hundred three-letter [acronyms] where you'd be like 'What?'," CSKA Moscow guard Aaron Jackson told VICE Sports. "European players were like 'What is this? What is he talking about?' And he had to explain it from literal scratch."

It's a Spurs-ian approach, one that Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey and Snyder have adopted over time, an outflowing of their close ties to the league's most familial and diverse organization.

Photo by Russell Isabella - USA TODAY Sports

Snyder checks all these boxes, and he's helped turn Utah into a program that—even after Hayward's departure in free agency—holds meaningful nightly advantages over its competition.

"It's hard to breathe," Jackson said. "After your first two sprints up and down the court, it's literally like you can't even breathe. It's totally different."

"You can't be married to a certain style of play if your players don't fit that style," he said.

Photo by Kyle Terada - USA TODAY Sports

In his war against convention, Snyder is also unafraid to use strategies that are fairly outside-the-box to give his team an edge, or even flip teacher-student hierarchies on their head.

Quin Snyder's Russian Detour Made Him One of the NBA's Top Coaches published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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