Written by Zach Harper | 15 May 2009

As some of you know and most of you don't, I started coaching Junior Varsity basketball at a high school in the Sacramento area this past week. I'm an assistant coach for the JV team at a high school that went very deep into the California State tournament at the end of the season so I'm fairly confident in saying that this a top-notch high school program.

And with the summer league starting up in a couple of weeks for these kids, we held our first practice Wednesday night and weren't quite sure what to expect for the talent level of kids showing up. I mean, first of all it's junior varsity for next season. This means that we're getting a bunch of freshman kids and an eighth grader or two and trying to dissect what kind of talent these kids have. But what was most important coming out of our first practice was finding out what kind of attitudes and personalities that these kids have. And I have to say that it was a perfect turn out in my opinion.

It left me with a feeling of excitement and anticipation for helping my good friend, Jimmy, coach the team this upcoming season. I was instantly hooked after the first drill had started and was shocked at how quickly the practice went by. It's a phenomenal experience telling a kid something, watching him learn it on the court, and knowing that you just shaped him. Am I any good at it? Who knows?

But I can see why Mike Dunleavy, Jr.'s dad is so intent on not giving up the job despite being terrible at it.

With that, on to the links:

From Truehoop -- The State of the Great Debate discusses whether 2009 Kobe or 2009 LeBron is better. And it came with this brilliant startup from Royce of Daily Thunder:

The thing I see in Kobe is a straight assassin. He's the Travis Bickle of basketball. He's there to finish you, even if your kid is in the other room watching. I don't get that from LeBron. LeBron is a slow cooker -- a guy that needs 48 minutes to beat you. He's absolutely unguardable one-on-one, he can rebound, he can create for teammates and he can man up. But does he have that sense of the moment like Kobe does? Can he just walk on the court and say "I got this" to his teammates. I'm not sure he's there yet.

I hate to be the desperado here out riding fences, but in one respect I'm a straight James man. But in another, I want Kobe. It all depends on where we're at on the clock I guess. If I'm starting a franchise and I get to choose one player, I want LeBron. But if I'm taking one shot at the end of the game, I choose Kobe.

From Red's Army (via 7 Seconds Or Mess) -- Is Dwight Howard really THAT dominant?

From Canis Hoopus -- Stop'n'Pop tries to decipher the differences between Stephen Curry and J.J. Redick.

From the Scores Report (via Ball Don't Lie) -- Which teams will have cap space for this summer?

From A Stern Warning -- Mookie is sarcastically shocked that Darius Miles smokes weed.

From Sactown Royalty -- Tom Ziller is way too smart for anyone's own good. He ponders if Arnold Schwarzenegger will kill or save the new Arena plan in Sacramento.

From The No Look Pass -- Another solid Chronicles of Crotty podcast.

And finally from The Blowtorch -- When the Lakers combine their powers with Chuck Hayes, it's Go Planet time.


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