HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Julius Hodge

I want another shot at the NBA!

My agent has been communicating with a couple of NBA teams so far but as of today my #1 objective right now is to keep BBCD in Pro A.

I have been given here an opportunity to excel on the court, good coaching, and a tremendous amount of on-court experience which I have fully taken advantage of.

For example, I’ll be the first to admit I used to see the game at the PG position as it progressed in present-tense, but now with this added experience and mental growth I see more than just the next pass after mine (which I call the hockey assist), I now see the next 3-4 plays and what pace to play at just by quickly examining whose hot on my squad, whether or not we’re scoring consistently, and the defense being played.

Coach has definitely took the time out to teach me this. Because as a basketball player you always hear since your a young kid “think the game” and its true. Basketball is a bunch of fun for me again I must admit.

We had a very important game and although I scored 19 points and had 10 rebunds and 8 assists, we lost by 7. We’ve got four games left in order to stay in Pro A. We have a number of injuries so I need to step up my game to a higher level.

Coach told me that now I’m the leader of the team. It’s not only about the points, the assists, it’s about making my teammates better.

As for the NBA teams interested, I came here to get experience and improve my jump shot, and I’ve done those things.

We’ll see during the summer, I’ll keep working to get better… like picking the NCAA champ! I had Pittsburgh, but you know, it’s so easy to pick the usual suspects (the Dukes, the North Carolinas…).

Seriously, I’ve read that it seems the Nets are committed to keep the core intact. Coach Lawrence Frank was very honest when he told me last summer that I was the final cut; he let me know which areas I had to improve so I would get to play in the NBA again.

Finally, it’s play off time! I see Cleveland winning the championship because of the maturity of LeBron James, and the fact that everybody on the team knows their role. LeBron can score 30 points, get 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and everybody on the team loves him. He’s been the MVP of the season and he will be the MVP of the Finals.

That’s all!

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Hi everybody,

Recently I’ve been in contact with some urban clothing company and I thought about doing ad modeling. When I told my mom about this, she said, “You will not do any underwear modelling, right? And remember that you have to focus on your jump shot to make the Nets’ roster.”

Good advice, mom!

I’m feeling good, really good about my chances to make the Nets roster. I’ve been talking with the coaching staff and the managers as well and they agree that I’ve improved my shooting, my defense and leadership on the court.

Right now, my agent keeps telling me that some international teams have called saying they are interested in signing me, but he doesn’t tell me any names because I’m really focused on achieving this goal of getting a spot on the Nets’ roster.

Recently, we had a mini-camp and I played with very good players, like Keyon Dooling, who is a truly winner; Bobby Simmons… you know, Bob is a pro’s pro, period. And Eddie ‘Mr. Hustle’ Najera. I have heard that he had some issues with a property down in Oklahoma… And obviously, Vince Carter. You know, having all these guys on the court playing, it’s a better version of the Golden State Warriors from two years ago.

I’ve also had the chance to play with the rookies. Man, they are good. Brook Lopez is a force down low, Ryan Anderson can shoot it from outside and CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts) is a tough wing player to defend.

The intensity was high at the Nets facility. I was trying to get a rebound when I was double-hit hard: in the back and in one bone of my left arm. It hurt, but I decided to make sure I got the call so I started to act a little bit, screaming more than Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson at the Oscars… Coach Lawrence Frank ran my way and asked, “Are you alright?” “Coach, I didn’t know you cared so much about me,” I replied, and everybody started laughing.

Now I’m hearing a lot of stuff about the Spanish team flopping all the time and the U.S. team travelling in every possession in the Olympic finals. Man, let’s be straight: No Tim Donaghy could fix that game. That was an amazing game, with two high-skilled teams going at each other, and the U.S. won because they play defense, they run well in transition and they have players like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and, especially, Kobe Bryant, who took over in the fourth quarter. This U.S. team has seven or eight future Hall of Famers, they wanted that gold medal and they earned it.

I talked about the slalom kayaking in my last post. Well, I do like the sport although I can only remember who won the silver medal: France. I also liked swimming a lot. Not only because Michael Phelps, but also the amazing 4×100 freestyle victory trailing from behind.

Back to my routine, right now I live ten minutes away from NYC, and I really mean it when I say, “I’ve been training all summer.” I say from Monday to Sunday. 24/7. After practicing, I go to a gym and do yoga and Pilates classes. Compared to the beginning of the summer, my legs are much stronger now and I can easily dunk with both hands. As I said, offseason work is paying off and I’m feeling more comfortable on the court.

Finally, I want to set out to all those football fantasy general managers that the new Jets with Brett Favre and his long passes are going to be really better, so watch out!

That’s it for now. I’ll keep doing my basketball/yoga/Pilates routine and improving my game… The modeling stuff will have to wait!

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