[Stardust]

Four or five Kentucky players get up early enough each morning to lift weights before that first cup of coffee (or whatever it is college athletes drink to start the day). UK Coach John Calipari called it the "Breakfast Club," an idea seemingly borrowed from Michael Jordan and intended to create the kind of unity that brings success on a Jordanesque level.

"It's as much about getting them together all the time," Calipari said Monday. "... This team doesn't talk enough."

The Breakfast Club is Calipari's attempt to create dialogue. He declined to name the four or five players who make up the Club.

"A good group of guys," he said. "Guys you'd expect being in it are in it. Hopefully, other guys will join in."

Noticing one player working out before breakfast, Calipari evoked the name of Jordan to try to persuade others to participate. Jordan formed a Breakfast Club the season the Chicago Bulls set an NBA record with 72 victories, Calipari said.

"That means you're totally sold in," Calipari said. " 'I'm buying in.' 'I'm in.' 'What do I have to do?' "

In the short term, it remained in doubt how much All-America candidate Terrence Jones can participate. The dislocated finger on his shooting hand sidelined Jones at Monday's practice, as recommended by the medical staff, Calipari said.

If Jones could not practice, he would not start against Samford on Tuesday night.

Calipari dismissed the notion of any long-term consequences of the injury. "It'll just take time," the UK coach said. "But he'll be fine."

Teammate Darius Miller said UK would feel Jones' absence should he not be able to play against Samford.

"Terrence is a huge part of this team," Miller said. "He's one of our best players. When you lose someone like that, I think it always affects you."

But Samford Coach Jimmy Tillette saw Kentucky being able to soldier on Tuesday without too much difficulty.

"My reaction would be, then NBA player No. 6 will take his spot," Tillette said.

Kentucky takes a 9-1 record and No. 3 national ranking against Samford. But in trying to form a more perfect union, Calipari said he frowns upon cellphone use when the players eat dinner.

"If you choose not to be with us, then OK, be with someone else," Calipari said. "Talk to one another."

Calipari noted that basketball is a team sport. His team, largely dependent on freshmen and sophomores, does not yet understand the importance of a united effort.

" 'What's the big deal?' " Calipari said, mimicking players' attitudes. " 'I want to be on my own.'

"Go to bowling. Golf's a good game. Tennis. Wrestling (is) not bad. But this is a team sport."

Of course, the semester break serves as a good time for players to bond. Few students are on campus. There are no classes. No study. There's no need for cellphones, computers, social media and video games, Calipari said.

"You're playing basketball, you're eating and sleeping," Calipari said. "That's it."

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/12/20/20001...kfast.html

[DSRfan]

Here's hoping that UK's workout gang is NOTHING like the "Jordan
breakfast club". Jordan's workouts were for he and Pippen,
and at times Rodman. They SEPERATED themselves from
the team, and during Jordan's years with the Bulls, with
the exception of Pippen, the players that played there
were DIMINSHED, made less, and slotted in to one specific
role.

We do NOT want UK's team to behave that way. It will
NOT serve to make them a better TEAM. So let's hope
their morning workout club serves to bring them closer
together and hope it helps tem develop more rounded
games.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Personally i hate the whole Jordan is the best thing ever.
I didnt even like Jordan that much.

[RoShamBo]

Personally i hate the whole Jordan is the best thing ever.
I didnt even like Jordan that much.

I do have to say I loved Jordan, but big O was the GOAT.

[RunItUpTheGut]

^

So many people did but i never jumped on that bandwagon.
IMO i always thought Malone and Stockton should have been the face of the league in the 90's.
You give them a couple of those bulls players and it totally changes.

[Stardust]

^

So many people did but i never jumped on that bandwagon.
IMO i always thought Malone and Stockton should have been the face of the league in the 90's.
You give them a couple of those bulls players and it totally changes.

C'mon, those same guys were on the Bulls when MJ retired! When MJ left the Bulls, the Bulls were barely a playoff team!

[Aslan]

Personally i hate the whole Jordan is the best thing ever.
I didnt even like Jordan that much.

I rooted for the Jazz too. But IMO MJ is the greatest player ever. It's not even close.

[DSRfan]

I rooted for the Jazz too. But IMO MJ is the greatest player ever. It's not even close.

I think Jordan was a great player. Perhaps the greatest individual
athlete to ever play. But if you define it as Greatest Player ever,
I don't see how people can make a case for Jordan. He was
a tremendous scorer, fantastic one on one defender; but
he wasn't particularly adept at overall team defense. His
overall court vision and seeing the whole game was subpar
compared to other greats like Bird, Magic, Robertson.
Despite being a fantastic leaper, he was no more than
a competent rebounder. And prior to his appearance
in the league, almost everyone said the thing that sepereated
the really good from teh truly great was, they made
the players around them better.

Jordan made the players around him WORSE. Or at the very least,
strictly defined them in to a one dimensional role that they
didn't dare stray from(Pippne being the lone exception).
2 plays always summed up to me why Jordan can't be considered
the greatest of all time. The first being Birds steal off Isaiah Thomas
and feed to Johnson for the layup that stole a playoff game
from the Pistons. The second being the palyoff game that
the Bulls lost to end the series againsts the Magic when
Jordan returned from retirement. He went up for a shot
and bounced a pass off the bakc of a wide open Wennington's
head under the goal.

The 2 plays show why he's great not greatest. He could only
beat you ONE way, while the truly greats could beat you in
MANY ways. Jordan was going to take(and many times hit)
that lat shot. But Bird, Robertson and otheres might beat
oyu by hitting that big shot, or by mamign the key pass
FOR that shot. Or getting the rebound you HAD to have.
Or getting a steal. Wenningto could have easily dunked that
balll and won that game, but he turned to look for the rebound
because that wsa the ONLY time in his history that Jordan
ever passed up that shot for someone else who was open.
And even if Jordan were to make an improbable steal like
Bird did by leaving his man and picking off Thomas(a HIGHLY
unlikely scenario as Jordan didn't see the court that way)
NONE of his teammates would ever be cutting to the basket
to get the pass for the winning shot. They would be watching
him take the shot from back court.

Maybe some day people will wake up and remember that
basketball is a TEAM game. And that while Jordan was a fantastic
talent, he wasn't adept at all, or even most, of the phases
of the game, as the TRULY GREATEST were.

[Stardust]

^ You know, you work very hard at making intelligent comments, but the above garbage completely defines your complete lack knowledge on the game of basketball, just plain ridiculousness!

Michael Jordan's 1st NBA championship was due to the PASS to John Paxson for the game winning shot, thus that completely erases your completely off-base blabbering!

[RunItUpTheGut]

I fricken hate Jordan actually.

[Stardust]

^ I hate Kobe Bryant, but it does not mean he is not a great all around player

[Aslan]

Two seconds on the clock, down one, I'd take MJ over anybody.
I didn't like him as a player, but damn, he was unstoppable.

[Spud6]

I respect Cal's decision to not reveal the names of who makes up the group. I to believe he shouldn't reveal names. But boy would I love to know who makes up the group!

[RunItUpTheGut]

Two seconds on the clock, down one, I'd take MJ over anybody.
I didn't like him as a player, but damn, he was unstoppable.

Theres no doubt he was probably the greatest clutch shooter of all time.
I just seriously never bought into the talk that nobody would ever be as great as this guy for eternity.

[Wildcatk23]

I think Jordan was a great player. Perhaps the greatest individual
athlete to ever play. But if you define it as Greatest Player ever,
I don't see how people can make a case for Jordan. He was
a tremendous scorer, fantastic one on one defender; but
he wasn't particularly adept at overall team defense. His
overall court vision and seeing the whole game was subpar
compared to other greats like Bird, Magic, Robertson.
Despite being a fantastic leaper, he was no more than
a competent rebounder. And prior to his appearance
in the league, almost everyone said the thing that sepereated
they're really good from teh truly great was, they made
the players around them better.

Jordan made the players around him WORSE. Or at the very least,
strictly defined them in to a one dimensional role that they
didn't dare stray from(Pippne being the lone exception).
2 plays always summed up to me why Jordan can't be considered
the greatest of all time. The first being Birds steal off Isaiah Thomas
and feed to Johnson for the layup that stole a playoff game
from the Pistons. The second being the palyoff game that
the Bulls lost to end the series againsts the Magic when
Jordan returned from retirement. He went up for a shot
and bounced a pass off the bakc of a wide open Wennington's
head under the goal.

The 2 plays show why he's great not greatest. He could only
beat you ONE way, while the truly greats could beat you in
MANY ways. Jordan was going to take(and many times hit)
that lat shot. But Bird, Robertson and otheres might beat
oyu by hitting that big shot, or by mamign the key pass
FOR that shot. Or getting the rebound you HAD to have.
Or getting a steal. Wenningto could have easily dunked that
balll and won that game, but he turned to look for the rebound
because that wsa the ONLY time in his history that Jordan
ever passed up that shot for someone else who was open.
And even if Jordan were to make an improbable steal like
Bird did by leaving his man and picking off Thomas(a HIGHLY
unlikely scenario as Jordan didn't see the court that way)
NONE of his teammates would ever be cutting to the basket
to get the pass for the winning shot. They would be watching
him take the shot from back court.

Maybe some day people will wake up and remember that
basketball is a TEAM game. And that while Jordan was a fantastic
talent, he wasn't adept at all, or even most, of the phases
of the game, as the TRULY GREATEST were.

Thia is probably the worse post in the history of bgr. Jordan made everyone around him better. What was the bulls without him? I'm on my cell phone and will respond to this crap later. Wow. Just wow.

[Aslan]

Wildcatk23, you really are a wildcat.

[DSRfan]

^ You know, you work very hard at making intelligent comments, but the above garbage completely defines your complete lack knowledge on the game of basketball, just plain ridiculousness!

Michael Jordan's 1st NBA championship was due to the PASS to John Paxson for the game winning shot, thus that completely erases your completely off-base blabbering!

From someone who has demonstrated a stunning clueslessness about basketball at times, that's a pretty hilarious reply. But looks like you're
basically a lemming in the herd that proclaims Jordan the "greatest".

As long as basketball is a TEAM game, a player that played the way
Jordan did, can't be the greatest.

[DSRfan]

Thia is probably the worse post in the history of bgr. Jordan made everyone around him better. What was the bulls without him? I'm on my cell phone and will respond to this crap later. Wow. Just wow.

Like so so many you just couldn't be bothered to actually LOOK at what
you saw. Jordan' fantastic physical talents blinded most everyone to
the reality. He didn't make ANYONE better. Anyone who played with
Jordan was forced into a STRICTLY defined role and was not
allowed to grow better or more rounded as a player. Or at least
if they did, they didn't dare demonstrate it. (with Pippen being the
lone exception as I stated) Bird, Magic, Russell, Robertson;
these kind of players DID make their teammates better. They
DID help them expand their games, and got them involved
in seeing the whole game better. In that regard Jordan was fortunate
to have become a star as the last vestiges of real team basketball
were weeded out of the NBA. None of his title teams could
have won more than a game or two against Bird or Magic's title
teams.

[WideRight05]

Jordan did an excellent job of making his teammates better. First off, one thing people often forget is that Jordan is Chicago's all time assist leader with 5,012 assists for his career. Second, look at the guys that were around Jordan on the teams in the late 90's besides Pippen - Ron Harper, Dennis Rodman, and Luc Longley. Those teams didn't really have a true point guard or a true center. Harper and Longley were capable, but weren't as good as some of the other players in the league at their positions. So how in the world would that team be able to get 70 wins, even with Jordan and Pippen? There were other factors such as great coaching, but it was that Jordan's unselfish play made those guys better because when everybody was concentrating on Jordan he would just give it to one of them to score. One thing Jordan had which probably led to his great clutch play was his play selection. Jordan always made the big play, whether it was a steal, a rebound, a shot, or a pass. Jordan had a high IQ and knew what to do with the ball and when to do it (I think that is the one factor that separates Kobe Bryant from Jordan). When you see highlights of him you typically see him making the difficult shots. What they don't show is the 95% of shots that he took that were simple drives, pulling up from 15 - 20 feet for an easy jumper. Jordan also shot .497 from the field from his career, .505 before he played his last two years in Washington. That is just incredible for a shooting guard.

Jordan is without a doubt the greatest clutch player ever. It wasn't just his shooting. It was the fact that he knew when to make the big play, and also knew when to get it to his teammates when they were open. Had Jordan not been a great team player, there is no way his team would have come close to winning NBA championships - or even winning in the regular season like they did.

[Aslan]

^WideRight, dead right!

[Spud6]

Jordan did an excellent job of making his teammates better. First off, one thing people often forget is that Jordan is Chicago's all time assist leader with 5,012 assists for his career. Second, look at the guys that were around Jordan on the teams in the late 90's besides Pippen - Ron Harper, Dennis Rodman, and Luc Longley. Those teams didn't really have a true point guard or a true center. Harper and Longley were capable, but weren't as good as some of the other players in the league at their positions. So how in the world would that team be able to get 70 wins, even with Jordan and Pippen? There were other factors such as great coaching, but it was that Jordan's unselfish play made those guys better because when everybody was concentrating on Jordan he would just give it to one of them to score. One thing Jordan had which probably led to his great clutch play was his play selection. Jordan always made the big play, whether it was a steal, a rebound, a shot, or a pass. Jordan had a high IQ and knew what to do with the ball and when to do it (I think that is the one factor that separates Kobe Bryant from Jordan). When you see highlights of him you typically see him making the difficult shots. What they don't show is the 95% of shots that he took that were simple drives, pulling up from 15 - 20 feet for an easy jumper. Jordan also shot .497 from the field from his career, .505 before he played his last two years in Washington. That is just incredible for a shooting guard.

Jordan is without a doubt the greatest clutch player ever. It wasn't just his shooting. It was the fact that he knew when to make the big play, and also knew when to get it to his teammates when they were open. Had Jordan not been a great team player, there is no way his team would have come close to winning NBA championships - or even winning in the regular season like they did.

:notworthy

[DSRfan]

:notworthy

Jordan did an excellent job of pigeonholing the players around
him into the strictly defined roles they would play. And in
taking advantage of those roles to lead his teams to titles
(during a perido when there erally just weren't any other
really good contenders).

He did NOTHING toward making them better, more rounded
players. And I won't dispute that Jordan was probably the
best guy ever at hitting the clutch shot. But hitting
that shot was the only way he was clutch. The truly great
were clutch at EVERYTHING. The Paxon excpetion that SD
pointed out was probably the LAST time Jordan ever passed
a ball when a last second shot was in order. It was certainly
the LAST time one or his teamates LOOKED for such a pass.

And none of that means he wasn't a great player. Just not
the greatest, because they way i define 'greatest" means you
have to be good/rgeat at everything, not just overwhelming
at 2 or 3, and medicocre, or even subpar in some other areas.
And being individually great, doesn't mean you make players
around you better, no matter how much you might WISH it.

[Stardust]

From someone who has demonstrated a stunning clueslessness about basketball at times, that's a pretty hilarious reply. But looks like you're
basically a lemming in the herd that proclaims Jordan the "greatest".

As long as basketball is a TEAM game, a player that played the way
Jordan did, can't be the greatest.

One of the most STUPID replies in the history of BGR! You are maybe the most ignorant basketball aficionados in the history of mankind. Your ignorance baffles your own words.


So brainiac, Jordan fits one of two scenarios in your blindness:

1. Jordan is the greatest basketball player to every lace up $150.00 sneakers. He won 6 NBA championships all-by-himself! His teammates sucked and were terrible, thus he won 72 regular season games and the NBA championship all by himself!

OR

2. Jordan was the GREATEST leader since Jesus as he led the pitiful and terrible players to greatness and made that team of scrubs the greatest 4 insignificant players in the history of the game.

I love seeing the CRAP that spews out of your keyboard. It's entertaining for its dullness :notworthy If I am clueless about the game, then you have never seen the game because you have absolutely NO idea of what you are talking about :truestory:

[WideRight05]

Jordan did an excellent job of pigeonholing the players around
him into the strictly defined roles they would play. And in
taking advantage of those roles to lead his teams to titles
(during a perido when there erally just weren't any other
really good contenders).

He did NOTHING toward making them better, more rounded
players. And I won't dispute that Jordan was probably the
best guy ever at hitting the clutch shot. But hitting
that shot was the only way he was clutch. The truly great
were clutch at EVERYTHING. The Paxon excpetion that SD
pointed out was probably the LAST time Jordan ever passed
a ball when a last second shot was in order. It was certainly
the LAST time one or his teamates LOOKED for such a pass.

And none of that means he wasn't a great player. Just not
the greatest, because they way i define 'greatest" means you
have to be good/rgeat at everything, not just overwhelming
at 2 or 3, and medicocre, or even subpar in some other areas.
And being individually great, doesn't mean you make players
around you better, no matter how much you might WISH it.

Not every player is going to be a guy that scores 30 points a game and will grab you 6 or 7 assists and rebounds in the process. Role players are crucial to a team. You NEED those guys to complement the skills of somebody like Jordan and Pippen. Every NBA championship team in history just about has had a couple of superstars surrounded by good role players except for a few. Jordan will be the first to tell you how important it was to have the players around him that he did. Some players can shoot the 3 ball well, some are good rebounders, some are lockdown defenders - and that's where you have to use them in the right way.

Using your logic, I will go through a few superstars from previous NBA champions...

Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - These guys had "strictly defined" role players around them. Kurt Rambis' role was to make a big hustle play. Michael Cooper's role was to be a lockdown defender. Byron Scott's role was to bury outside shots. Mychael Thompson's role was mostly as a rebounder/defender backing up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Judging by your logic, does that make Magic, Worthy, and Karrem selfish since they "pigeonholed" these players?

What about the San Antonio Spurs? They had a few different variations of lineups, but for this example I will go with their 1999 starting lineup of Avery Johnson, Mario Elie, Sean Elliott, Tim Duncan, and David Robinson. A young Tim Duncan was the major superstar on that team. Robinson at age 33 was beginning to age and averaged 5 minutes per game less than last full season in 1995-1996 before he injured himself (his minutes did go down by two after 97-98 but that was after the injury), but he was still playing very well. Avery Johnson, the starting point guard, didn't score a lot or do anything flashy. His role was to provide consistent leadership and set up the offense smoothly. Since the Spurs relied on a lot of their scoring to come from the inside duo of Duncan and Robinson, shooting guard Mario Elie and small forward Sean Elliott were defined to more outside shooting roles. Off the bench, 6'7 Malik Rose was undersized on the inside (similar to Chuck Hayes) but he came in and had the role of rebounding and making hustle plays. Jaren Jackson also came off the bench, and his goal was to provide a scoring spark from the outside. Steve Kerr also provided a 3 point threat. Antonio Daniels' role was to keep the consistency of the offense like Avery Johnson did when he was the game. Jerome Kersey and Will Perdue, at ages 36 and 33, provided extra leadership off the bench. I guess that Duncan/Robinson pigeonholed their role players so that the Spurs wouldn't win the title that year, right?

The point is - every team has their share of superstars and their share of role players. Both are important. To say that Jordan "pigeonholed" his players into defined roles is extreme. Kobe and Shaq, Duncan/Robinson, Jordan/Pippen, the 80's Lakers with Magic, Worthy, and Kareem, etc. all had a balance of superstars and role players that played an important part of winning their titles. If the superstars on the team were selfish, you wouldn't be able to define these superstar duos/trios as successful because we would not be talking about them being NBA champions if they were.

[DSRfan]

One of the most STUPID replies in the history of BGR! You are maybe the most ignorant basketball aficionados in the history of mankind. Your ignorance baffles your own words.


So brainiac, Jordan fits one of two scenarios in your blindness:

1. Jordan is the greatest basketball player to every lace up $150.00 sneakers. He won 6 NBA championships all-by-himself! His teammates sucked and were terrible, thus he won 72 regular season games and the NBA championship all by himself!

OR

2. Jordan was the GREATEST leader since Jesus as he led the pitiful and terrible players to greatness and made that team of scrubs the greatest 4 insignificant players in the history of the game.

I love seeing the CRAP that spews out of your keyboard. It's entertaining for its dullness :notworthy If I am clueless about the game, then you have never seen the game because you have absolutely NO idea of what you are talking about :truestory:

The one thing that's readily apparent on this forum is, that the criteria for being a moderator do NOT include reading comprehension or the ability to
logically think, or reason.

Jordan was a great player. The Greatest? NO. At least not if
you define it as I do as being very good/great in all phases
of the game. And he did NOT make his fellow players better.
Playing with Jordan was a stifling experience for those on
his team. Everything was subjugated to him. Unlike playing
with a Bird or Magic who by their style of play further
engaged their teammates and helped them add to and develop
their games, and to see more of the whole floor as they
played.

And I did NOT say that Jordan did not have any good players
on his teams. Reinsdorf and Krause made sure to slot
in good players they needed to fill the roles around Jordan.
Thye just had to understand that they would NOT stray
from those roles, and Jordan was completely indifferent
to them becoming better players, because by then the
NBA had degenerated into what it remains, a iso-centric
gaem in which 5 man team basketball is almost non-existent.
5 men remain on the floor for each team. But possession
by possession 2 to 3 on each team might as well be on the
bench. And that played directly in to Jordan' wheelhouse
allowing his own vastly superior one on one talents to
be maximized. Jordan's teams were the best of his time,
but they, and titlists now, couldn't hope to compete
with those of the Bird/Magic era, or even the Pistons,
because those teams stil played as a whole.

Now go "entertain" yourself by looking at the pretty lights
that are still up for the holidays. Trying to do any more
would be taxing your intellect too much I fear.

[Stardust]

^ Well, we at least get to pass the "stupid test", and based on the rubbish above you will sit alone with your thoughts because no one else here is that ignorant to basketball knowledge like yourself.....

You fit....
[Image: http://edge.ebaumsworld.com/picture/Verc...Stupid.jpg]

[Stardust]

The one thing that's readily apparent on this forum is, that the criteria for being a moderator do NOT include reading comprehension or the ability to
logically think, or reason.

Jordan was a great player. The Greatest? NO. At least not if
you define it as I do as being very good/great in all phases
of the game. And he did NOT make his fellow players better.
Playing with Jordan was a stifling experience for those on
his team. Everything was subjugated to him. Unlike playing
with a Bird or Magic who by their style of play further
engaged their teammates and helped them add to and develop
their games, and to see more of the whole floor as they
played.

And I did NOT say that Jordan did not have any good players
on his teams. Reinsdorf and Krause made sure to slot
in good players they needed to fill the roles around Jordan.
Thye just had to understand that they would NOT stray
from those roles, and Jordan was completely indifferent
to them becoming better players, because by then the
NBA had degenerated into what it remains, a iso-centric
gaem in which 5 man team basketball is almost non-existent.
5 men remain on the floor for each team. But possession
by possession 2 to 3 on each team might as well be on the
bench. And that played directly in to Jordan' wheelhouse
allowing his own vastly superior one on one talents to
be maximized. Jordan's teams were the best of his time,
but they, and titlists now, couldn't hope to compete
with those of the Bird/Magic era, or even the Pistons,
because those teams stil played as a whole.

Now go "entertain" yourself by looking at the pretty lights
that are still up for the holidays. Trying to do any more
would be taxing your intellect too much I fear.

LOL, you are just completely lost in your own imagination :biglmao:

Isocentric - A technique where all beams used in a radiation treatment have a common focus point


Maybe someday you will bet to post something that makes sense to someone other than yourself and the Pet Rock you own....