For
current college basketball players who are looking to
improve their games over the summer before returning to
NCAA action in the winter, there are only a handful of
options available. Most players’ choose to hang around
their particular school and play various pick-up games,
scrimmaging against other nearby schools on various
days. But for those who want to make a bigger jump, like
brothers
Seth Tarver and
Josh Tarver of Oregon State
University, they travel to Sacramento for a few weeks to
train with
Guss Armstead, the Co-founder of
2 the Hoop. It’s where you go to get good.
Armstead, the lead trainer
for current NBA players like
Ryan Anderson,
Matt Barnes,
DeMarcus Nelson and
Mike Taylor, with additional
clients throughout the NBA, the NBDL and International
Leagues, is well-known as one of the
top basketball trainers on the West Coast. Armstead’s
reputation, plus his work with their older brother,
former UCLA guard Shon Tarver, is what led the OSU duo
to Sacramento.
“We came here to get
better,” Josh said. “That’s the biggest thing for both
us. There are a lot of players, professional, college
and high school players, who all come to Guss to
improve.
“That’s what our brother
did,” Seth said, referring to Shon Tarver. “He worked
out with Guss as well. Ryan (Anderson) is here too; he
carved us up in his career at Cal. And now that we’ve
been here a bit, we can see why. He trained with Guss
and he got to compete against all these players before
he even went to Cal.”
“Guss is a great teacher
too.”
“So for us, you know,
getting to talk with other players who played overseas
and in the NBA and train alongside them, this is the
best. We couldn’t have found a better situation for a
couple of weeks.”
Anderson, Taylor, Nelson
and Barnes are just a handful of the success stories
from 2theHoop that are now professionals. There are
numerous other players at the college and high school
level from all across the country that have walked away
better players after working with Armstead in
Sacramento.
“We like it here a lot,”
Josh said. “This is great, you know, you’re not that far
away from the Bay Area, and its California but it’s not
like real busy like Los Angeles.”
“It’s just a good place to
get better.”
The Tarver brothers’ are
certainly quick studies with outstanding bloodlines.
Their father, John Tarver, is a former NFL player, and
they have a number of siblings who have competed in
college athletics. And when you speak with Josh and
Seth, you’ll find they both have a free and easy
dialogue that’s almost country in a way. They are what a
lot of folks would simply call good people; the type
where you always walk away enjoying the conversation.
Working with Armstead, who
customizes his workout programs for future NBA players,
current NBA players, college and high school basketball
players, comes on the heels of what was fulfilling
junior seasons in Corvallis for the Tarver’s.
“Yeah, it was a fun
season,” Seth said. “It was the type of year that had
its ups and downs, but in the end it was all good. We
came together as a team and as a program for the first
time really since I was at Oregon State.”
“It felt good in a lot of
ways,” Josh added, recalling a few of the victories.
“You come to a program hoping to change some things, and
for the first time it felt like that.”
As a program, the Beavers
were one of the biggest surprises in the country in
2008-09. Led by
first-year OSU head coach Craig Robinson,
the Beavers, who placed 8th, 9th,
and 10th in the Pac-10 between 2005 and 2008
with an overall record of 30-64, shed off their cellar
dweller label and notched 8 Pac-10 wins, which tied
their total Pac-10 wins from the previous three seasons.
The Beavers also went on to win their first postseason
College Basketball Championship ever, topping UTEP 81-73
on the road for the
College Basketball Invitational Championship
in early April.
“That was a lot of fun,
playing for the first time deep into March and then even
in April,” Josh said. “We also had some good comebacks
and we showed some toughness in games. Who doesn’t love
to win? We are no different.
“I think the biggest thing
for us was just playing smarter with a system. For
years, we always had guys out of place. We had a big guy
playing in the post just because he was big, and that’s
not always how it works. Coach Robinson taught us a lot
about that.”
Seth, who averaged 8.0
points in the low-scoring Beaver system, and led the
team in rebounding (5.4) and steals (1.7). He started
every game as a junior, and could be one of the biggest
rising seniors in the Pac-10 next year. Josh started 20
games and averaged 3.9 points, and also has some big
goals for his senior year.
“We want to win the
Pac-10, and we think we can,” Josh stated. “As players,
we definitely want to improve our shooting. We are
working on that here as players, and I know you noticed
that with us out here shooting a lot today. We know we
can do better than we’ve done, and with Guss’ help,
we’ll do better next year.”
Barnes
hopes to stay with Suns
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - It has been nearly seven years since
Matt
Barnes was drafted in the second round
by the Grizzlies and promptly traded to Cleveland, which
cut him before the season began.
That started a pro basketball vagabond's journey in
which he returned to the same team only once, but even
that didn't work out as hoped.
When he had his time to strike it rich after becoming
a starter for
Golden
State during its 2007 run, Barnes
declined a four-year Warriors offer for nearly $4
million annually and signed a one-year, $3.5 million
deal. When he aimed to duplicate that success during the
2007-08 season, his mother's death rocked him, and it
was reflected in his play.
His market value crashed. Returning to a
minimum-salary deal ($926,678) this season with Phoenix,
with overtures of starting, was supposed to invigorate
his numbers.
Clippers'
Mike Taylor is a quick study
The rookie point guard, drafted out of the Development
League, provides instant, fast-moving energy, whether
coming off the bench or, more recently, in starting
lineup.
Mike Taylor, the fast-moving, Skittles-eating rookie
point guard, proves his originality nearly every day in
the laboratory of individuality known as the Clippers
locker room.
And no, he doesn't need batteries to keep the
never-ending energy stream moving, according to his
fellow rookies
Mike
Taylor helps spark big rally
His career-high 35 points, Zach Randolph's 33, lead a
comeback from a 19-point deficit.
Associated Press, March 26 2009
New York - Another big game at Madison Square Garden for
Zach Randolph, another ill-timed technical foul for Al
Harrington against the Clippers. Everything in this one
had been seen before -- except the performance from Mike
Taylor.
Ryan Anderson puzzled by role with New Jersey Nets
Now Ryan Anderson doesn't know what to think.
They love him, they hate him. They love him again, they
hate him again. And now they've given him some other
guy's job, perhaps permanently.
When you're 20, you tend to be overwrought by the
smallest, perceived slights, and your black-and-white
thinking gets you ... well, it gets you to thinking.
But now the Nets have come back to him again, calling
him down from the end of the bench -- where he doesn't
even need to tie his shoes on most nights -- and
throwing him into the starting lineup. Make no mistake,
Anderson is gratified by the opportunity. He just knows
how the others were all too fleeting to enjoy for long
Barnes steers Suns past Lakers
Matt Barnes scored seven straight points to upstage the
battle between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal and lift
the Phoenix Suns to a 118-111 triumph over the Los
Angeles Lakers.
The Suns were holding a tenuous lead late in the
fourth quarter - tenuous because momentum had swung back
and forth for the entire half - when Barnes drew a foul
and buried a pair of free throws, extending the lead to
109-103.
The lanky forward then pulled up from long range and
buried the trey to push the lead to nine with time
running out. Bryant finished with 49 points - his 96th
career performance with at least 40 - but Shaq and his
33-point, seven-rebound showing won out.
Guard
Hart could be Denver bound
The Nuggets expect to sign guard Jason Hart early next
week, an NBA source said. He was waived Friday by the
Los Angeles Clippers.
Women's
basketball player, Boyer leads team by example
Standing six feet tall, Atty Boyer, a senior
forward-center on the women's basketball team, can look
intimidating to someone more vertically challenged.
However, her friends and teammates said she has a sense
of humor and is a lot of fun to be around.
Boyer moved to America when she was 12 years old. She
grew up in Italy with a very close-knit family. Eating
meals with extended family members was a common event
and the small community she lived in was also very close
to one another.
Boyer noticed differences in her Italian neighborhood
and the Sacramento community she lives in now.
Barnes
coming up big for Suns
Part of the reason the Suns signed Matt Barnes this
summer was because he was a decent shooter.
False advertising. He's been one of the NBA's top
shooters so far.
Barnes, thriving since sacrificing his starting role
for Grant Hill, hit the big shots that nearly made the
difference for the Suns in a loss at Portland on Friday.
He hit three 3-pointers in a second-quarter span of
1:40, pulling the Suns away for a while. He also had the
Suns' final field goal, putting Phoenix ahead 117-115
with 2:57 to play when he made his fifth 3-pointer and
sent his customary 3-finger kiss toward some fans.
Barnes shot 29.3 percent from 3-point range last
season but has made nearly as many 3-pointers this
season (51) in 21 games as he did all of last season
(53).
