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JACOB HILERJacob has successfully trained high school, college, NBA, Olympic athletes, and professional dunkers to increase both their quickness and vertical leap. Jacob is a regular contributor to our workout section.

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EDITORIAL > CONTRIBUTORS > LISTINGS

GAME ON!There’s something in the air at the moment. It genuinely seems as if all the stars are aligning for basketball in Britain right now. I felt it when I saw NBA legends holding clinics on a full-sized court in the Westfi eld shopping centre in London in March I felt it as I sat in � e O2 Arena, watching the fi rst regular season games ever to be played in Europe. I felt it when FIBA announced we would be participating at London 2012.

I felt it when the news came that Team USA’s men and women will be playing our guys and girls in Manchester next July. Suddenly I’m getting emails and phone calls from media organisations wanting to do stories on basketball, from companies asking about putting on basketball events, and from people who aren’t even fans of the game asking if I can get them tickets for the Olympics (which I can’t - so quit bothering me!!). Everyone in the British basketball community has been hoping for years that 2012 will be the springboard the sport needs in this country. Well, not trying to jinx it, but the signs of that are certainly starting to show...and it’s all VERY exciting!

We have, of course, got the Olympic decision (and the strings attached to the deal) covered in this issue. Mark Woods was there in Lyon to hear the announcement made and has all the reaction to the news. I meanwhile speak to NBA Europe chief, Sophie Goldschmidt, about how the League sees the future of the game in Britain, given all the recent developments. Mark also has a fascinating interview with GB forward Nick George who candidly reveals, for the fi rst time, why he chose to ‘retire’ earlier this season. And, continuing his string of exclusives, Mark speaks to Dwight Howard, who tells us why his drive to win an NBA title is no joke. Speaking of pressure and the NBA, it’s looking more and more likely that there will be a lockout next season as owners, offi cials, players and agents argue about money. When I spoke to seven-time champion Robert Horry recently, he told me that NBA ballers should be paid less, given the current economic climate - a view shared by David Stern and millions of fans around the world. So make sure you enjoy the play-off s this spring / summer, as unfortunately, it could be the last NBA action you see for quite some time!

Keep ballin’ Greg Tanner

MVP247.COM 05

STEFANO LEONARDIStefano is a photographer from Glasgow currently based in Hong Kong/China His work has been published on book (Serpents Tail, Harper Collins). Stefano brilliantly captured Hong Kong for this issue.

KEVIN JOSEPH A regular contributor to MVP, Kevin recently shot our exclusive tete a tete with Kobe. Ranging from fashion to Nudes, Kevin shot Simon Wade the Sneaker Freak for this issue.

VILLE VUORINENVille has worked as a professional photographer for over fi ve years - but in the last few years has become a full-time basketball photographer. He has shot Trey Moore and NBA LDN for this issue.

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> REGULARS10 | OVERTIME Angel delight for Manchester...and Brit fans set to get sneak peek at Team USA

24 | MARK’S VIEW POINT

Basketball is a numbers game. It’s time we changed that.

38 | GALLERY: HONG KONG

The city’s secret world of night time playgrounds.

48 | FASHION

All the kicks and clothes you need to stay fresh this summer.

64 | WORKOUT

Jacob Hillier’s tips for defensive domination.

> FEATURES14 | RUFF RIDERSThe Brits making NCAA history in New Jersey

16 | DURHAM WILDCATSClawing their way to the top

22 | WOMEN’S EUROBASKETWhy success for Team GB in Poland will be measured in more than just the win column

26 | GAME ON!Britain gets those all-important Olympic spots - but with serious strings attached

28 | NBA IN LONDONA triple-overtime thriller makes the League’s Euro adventure a huge success

32 | DWIGHT HOWARDOrlando’s funny-man-in-the-middle gets serious

60 | JORDAN JUNKIEMeet the man with over 100 pair of Js

62 | BOBBITOThe multi-skilled mogul who helped shape NY’s hoops heritage

> BALLER12 | NICK GEORGEThe Great Britain forward reveals, for the fi rst time, why he called time-out on his career

18 | CHARLES OAKLEYHow Jordan’s former arch enemy ended up coaching Money’s team

20 | TREY MOOREThe Newcastle Eagles guard is the BBL’s ultimate competitor. He’s never known anything else.

FRONT COVER: ADIDAS / 3D ARTWORK

KIERAN HALIL TOP TO BOTTOM:

ADIDAS, RINCHEN ATO & VILLE VUORINEN

48

28

MVP ISSUE 4 OUT JULY 21ST 2011Follow us on twitter (@MVP_247) and Facebook (@MVPMag) for daily news, exclusive features and competitions.

< INSIDE

MVP247.COM 07

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16 MVP ISSUE 03

“I’ll tell you a true story,” says Durham head coach Dave Elderkin as we sit watching his team get ready to face Brixton. “We met two of these guys in

the pub on the way down here. Tey were going back up to Durham from a Division Four game and we told them ‘you’ve got to come with us or we don’t have enough players.’”

With their visitors missing four of their strongest six players, Brixton are in for a stat-padding victory, right? However the Wildcats have other ideas. Tey run their hosts close to the final buzzer, having several shots to go ahead in the final minute, before ultimately falling 76-70.

For anyone who has followed Durham for the last few years, this kind of performance was no sur-prise. Only five years ago, the Wildcats, attached to the city’s university, lan-guished in the third tier of the English Basketball League. Tey narrowly missed out on promotion before enduring an injury-riddled campaign. Finally, the following year, they reached D2. Eeven then they could not have envisaged what would come next.

Te arrival of Scott Morton from NCAA Division III school Geneseo University sparked an upwardly mobile charge, culminating in an unprec-edented triple success for the Wildcats. Morton sparked the team to see off Westminster in the Patron’s Cup final before the league and play-off crowns were added for good measure. Elderkin – a former England international who spent much of his playing career in the BBL - calls their arrival to the top flight of the EBL his proudest moment in charge of the club.

“It was the culmination of five years of programme building,” he declares. Mor-ton departed following his graduation from Durham University. However the Wildcats’ new-found status meant there were now two spots open for interna-tional recruits. Enter Ivy League duo Kevin Bulger (Columbia University) and Paul Nelson (Yale) both of whom arrived for one-year Masters courses. “[Te Americans] have a big impact on our local players in terms of motivation, raising the skill levels and aspirations,” Elderkin acknowledges. “Continuity is important but we have to accept that the one-season players got us moving in the right direction and will be the norm for some time.”

Bulger and Nelson will soon end their stays, leaving two vacant slots to fill.

Te recruitment plans are already under way. “Turnaround is something we are learning to deal with,” admits Elderkin. “Te programme began with the recruitment of under-graduates and post-graduates were the second step. We now have a recruitment and scholar-ship strategy in place for both. Te first group of players into our programme will graduate this summer and we hope they will remain with the programme; this will obviously help continuity.

Also, we are trying to recruit players who fit the roles of players leaving.”

Durham University has been a major contributor to the club in a number of ways, supplying them with free training facilities, access to a

strength and conditioning coach and nutritional advice, in addition to providing them with administrative and promotional support. But the offering of scholarships is something that Elderkin identifies as especially important. “[Te university] has a high international profile, particularly in the US. And we hope the scholarship route will attract the quality of player we need to service and deliver the programme.”

Despite their foreign legion, the heart of the club is firmly home-made in the form of Mark and Paul Elderkin, the coach’s two sons. Te pair have been ever-present during their team’s rise through the ranks. Elderkin Senior acknowledges that developing local

talent is one of the club’s primary aims. “We want to build from the bottom up and enter age-group teams in national league at every level, “ he asserts. “Te ‘local

talent’ knows right from the start they can aspire to play at the highest level. We work with School Sports Partnerships to introduce the sport in primary schools.” Having travelled so far, Elderkin sees no reason to think small. “Te community programme will be expanded to cover every district of County Durham. Men playing BBL and Europe. Women in EBL One, and Europe. Emulating the cricket club on the international stage is very important to Durham County Council.”

Five years into the future, with the team possibly competing at home and abroad; with youth teams at every level, and with international ambitions, they might look back and smile about the day they had to pick up two guys in a pub on the way to a game. MVP

> EBL: DURHAM WILDCATS

The Durham Wildcats have risen from D3 to EBL1 in just five years, And they don’t plan to stop there.

“ We want to build from the bottom up and enter age group

teams in national league at every level ” - DAVE ELDERKIN

Words By:

JOHN HArrIS Photos By:

STUArT YOrK

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> NBA LEGEND - CHARLES OAKLEY

18 MVP ISSUE 03

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“ The league is bad … the talent level is so bad. It’s unbelievable ”

MVP247.COM 19

You’ve heard those familiar clichés that arise up when the name ‘Charles Oakley’ is being dropped. Blue

collar worker. Ironman. Enforcer. And with good reason - Oak was a beast. He’s 14th on the all-time most NBA games played list. He led the league in rebounds twice, despite being relatively under-sized. And he was the defensive cornerstone of the brutal New York Knicks who beat up on MJ and Bulls during the 1990s.

Now, as an assistant coach at the Charlotte Bobcats, he’s trying to pass on his knowledge of the art of hard-core defence to a young crop of big men.

“You have to be aware who you are playing against,” he says. “Tere are many different things you can do on the defensive end depending on who you are guarding. Know what you can do when the ball is away from you. When the ball moves, you move. Ball moves up, you move up. Ball moves down, you move down. It’s really that simple. “Just know what you can do on the floor at all times. I mean, the defensive philosophy is not easy but if you come up with a good game plan, some good defensive schemes, it works. Te most important thing you have to do as a team is work hard, work together.” Sometimes, Oak feels, it’s like banging his head against a brick wall. “It’s really bad.

I mean the players are all athletes but their [basketball] education is bad. I see it first hand every day around the league. A lot of players are letting themselves go.

Tat’s why I said that the league is bad because you’re scouting teams, preparing for a team and you see that the talent level is so bad. It’s unbelievable.” Occasion-ally, he not-so-gently reminds his own players to wake up and smell the coffee. “Players complain a lot these days. ‘You can’t do that’ I tell them. ‘You’re nobody. You’re not getting any calls. Stop complaining.’ I mean, when you are winning 65 games a year the refs might know you. But if you’re losing, you are getting less atten-tion. You’ve got to get it together.” Bobcats head Coach Paul Silas says Oakley is the bad cop to his good cop: “He’s on these guys a lot. I’m not on them as much. It’s just a matter of him being old school and wanting these guys to do the right thing. And today’s athletes, they don’t take to that too well. But he demands it, which is good.” With MJ as owner and Oakley as assist-ant coach, there is plenty of muscle

As Hard As Oak

Words By:

GrEG TANNEr Photo By:

rOBErT WuNSCH

to crack down on anyone who puts a foot out of line. Once rivals, the pair share common goals. But just how does Charles feel about work-ing for Mike?

“No, no - I work for Paul Silas,” he quickly, and firmly, points out.

“MJ is the owner. He is like the president and CEO, he runs the business and I work for Paul right now.” Glad we’ve got that straight.

But what does he think of other contemporaries who’ve got the media route? Guys such as Charles Barkley and reggie Miller? Even now - approaching the age of 50 - Oakley pulls no punches. “I don’t really care about that because nine times out of ten they don’t know what they are talking about.”

From his place on the bench, he can make his voice heard to the audience which matters most. And he’s still enforcing his will on a nightly basis. “I always knew I was able to [coach],” he says. “To bring that type of leadership as a captain before and during the game. I just want to make sure everybody does it right when they are out on the court.” MVP

Remember when Charles Oakley and Michael Jordan were arch-enemies, going head to head, each standing their ground? Now he’s an assistant coach at the team MJ owns. But he’s still not holding back.

MVP CO copy.indd 3 5/4/11 10:44:13

Great Britain captain Drew Sullivan stared impatiently at Twitter waiting for five years of hard work and

commitment to get their just reward. Hundreds of miles away, in a hotel in Lyon, FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann put him – and the rest of British basketball – out of their misery. “Yes,” he said. “Te two teams should play at the Olympics.” Sullivan’s phone erupted. Te ticket requests began. In the room where the historic decision was taken, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Jo Leedham hugged and imagined what it will feel like to play on sport’s biggest stage. Automatic qualification, voted by a 17-3 majority of FIBA’s Central Board, means their dreams will be realised. “I’m really looking forward to getting the chance to actually walk the GB team out at the Olympics for the first time, especially with it being in front of our home nation,” beamed Sullivan. “Tat makes it even more special for me.”

Baumann was not quite finished. Te sport’s governing body had been convinced that the hosts – both men and women - would be worthy participants at their own Games after proving themselves on the court. But there were strings attached. “By 30th June 2012, British Basketball and the home nations (must) figure out the best way for the future governance

of the sport,” he stated. “Te British Basketball Federation and the home nations have until that date to decide what mode of governance they want to go forward with after the Olympic Games end.”

It may be the toughest challenge of all. England, Scotland and Wales must be persuaded to give up their independence - or disband Team GB and return to fielding their own separate teams. Te exemp-tion which has allowed Scottish and Welsh sides to continue at all levels – and for England to compete at Under-18 and below – will continue until 2016. In practice Baumann views a GB-only focus as the best way to deliver the legacy promises which were a key part of the Olym-pic lobbying dossier. “Whenever you have more than one boss, typi-cally, it’s not good,” said Baumann. “Tey’ve told us they want to have a women’s league. Tey want to host a Eurobasket. Tey want to work with the British Basketball League. For this you need one strong body.”

Politics will now come into play but there is no simple solution. A proposal has been drawn up to merge the Team GB set-up with the British Basketball League. Yet even if Eng-land Basketball were to vote to merge with their counterparts in Scotland and Wales in an all-powerful body, there would still be complications.

> OLYMPIC DECISION

24 MVP ISSUE 03

The Games are OnTeam GB is headed for the 2012 Olympics. But the deal that delivered a Games spot will force the sport to decide where it goes next.

Words BY:

MArk WOODS Photos BY:

ODA/ AnTHOnY CHArLTOn – GB

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Great Britain’s elite programme gets around £2million annually from UK Sport. However, basketball’s grassroots development programmes in each of the home nations receive their financial support from their respective sports councils. Tey deal with the national federations direct-ly. A unique solution would need to be found which sits within the rules they set. “Tere’s no reason why you can’t still have some kind of separate body for each of the home nations,” argues British Basketball Federa-tion vice-chairman Terry Donovan. “But we can’t play internationally in official competitions as GB after 2016. Te problem is if you can’t play internationally as Scotland, England and Wales, how do the three sports councils feel and will they still provide funding?

“If we go down the route of a single body, then we’d have to look at having some sort of contract where we delivered specific grass-roots and other development plans in each of the home nations.”

Unification comes with a big if. Basketball Scotland, in particular, is expected to hear vocal opposition to giving up its independent status. As with England, any change to its status must be approved by its membership. However, warnings are already being sounded that a rejec-tion of Baumann’s scheme would send the sport back into obscurity. “If England competed on its own post-2016, it wouldn’t get the same level of funding which GB gets now,” said one observer. “Scotland and Wales might not like that they don’t get a separate vote. If they were doing a great job, they might have a point. But they aren’t. Te GB solution is best for everyone.” Over the next 15 months, the debate will rage on. At least, there is one guarantee. Britain’s finest will be marching into London’s Olympic Stadium, ready to fly the flag against the best of the best. On and off the court, the real hard work is far from over. MVP

What should happen next? Email your thoughts us at info@mvp247.com

MVP247.COM 25

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> COVER STORY

32 MVP ISSUE 03

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Behind the smile, and the jokes, and the costumes, there is another Dwight Howard you may not know. And the alternative version will only be happy when he gets his hands on the prize.

Words By:

Mark Woods

Photos By:

adidas/

NBaE/GEtty

3d artWork By:

kiEraN Halil

MVP Main Article copy.indd 3 5/4/11 11:23:56

> HONG KONG BALLIN’

40 MVP ISSUE 03

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Words &

PHoTos BY:

Stefano

Leonardi

MVP247.COM 41

Beneath the neon lights of Hong Kong lies a secret world of night time playgrounds. Stefano Leonardi takes us there.

MVP hong kong.indd 3 5/4/11 11:29:02

Models: President OPOku, ChlOe BurrOws, elOdie trOuilleremily mCdOnald at Models 1

> FAsHIoN

48 MVP issue 03

> Nike Lebron 8 v2 All Star Game 2011 - Foot LockerJeans: mOdels OwnsOCks h&m

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PHOTOS BY:

Rinchen Ato

When you’re Jammin’ you need your kicks to be Slammin’. Here we have a selection of the sickest and slickest kicks on road.

MVP247.COM 49

Jammin’Kicks

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60 MVP ISSUE 03

The Retirement PlanBasketball coach Simon Wade doesn’t have a pension fund. But he’s hoping his 150+ pairs of Jordans (and a heap of other collectables) might just see him through his old age.

A s we all know, this is the Age of Austerity. But it’s not just council workers and students feeling the pinch.“It’s tough to find the work at the moment,” basketball coach Simon Wade told MVP. “It’s a shame because with the Olympics coming,

you’d think there’d be a lot more work around. But obviously the government is cutting funding left, right and centre. Basketball is my passion, but at the moment I’m leaning towards not doing it anymore.

Because I’m not making enough money.” Fortunately, the 35-year-old is sitting on a little goldmine. Over the last 20 years, Simon has built up a staggering collection of Michael Jordan merchandise.

“150 pairs of Jordans is what I’m up to now. I’ve got about 60 jerseys. I only have Jordans, nothing else. No Air Forces, nothing like that. Just Jordans. “The thing that really started it off was the ‘Come Fly With Me’ video. I was just blown away by it - and it started the ball rolling really. The first pair I got were the Air Jordan IVs, second-hand off a friend, white and cement grey. The first new pair I got were the Air Jordan Vs in black. And it’s just gone from there really. “I’m from The Cotswolds originally, and back in the day there were just a couple of select sports shops that would get Jordan stuff in.

I used to go to America a lot – we’d have our family holidays in Florida – so that was handy, I’d get stuff from the States. But it’s a great deal easier now with eBay and the Internet. There are certain pairs that I always wanted but could never get my hands on – but now, with eBay, you can. “I prefer the older stuff – the Jordans between I and VI, the XIs...and the XIIIs are my favourite. I basically just deal with numbered Air Jordans...from I to I think we’re on XXVI or XXVII now. All the fusions and the hybrids – I’m not really into all that.

All my clothes are Jordan, I’ve got hundreds of T-shirts, shorts. It’s all I wear really.” Amongst Simon’s most prized possessions are a signed photograph of MJ, the original 1985 Air Jordan Is and a very rare North Carolina college basketball card. So just how much has he actually spent over the years? “I’ve tried to think about it. I’m not sure. But it’s gotta be over 50 grand I’d say. I’m staring at it all right now and it’s gotta be that much. 150 pairs of trainers, jerseys, books, cards.“One day, I might have to sell it all. The idea is that it’s a bit of a pension for me – because I haven’t got a pension! So it’s nice to know it’s worth a fair bit. Ideally, I’d like to keep it forever, but you never know really.” MVP

> SNEAKER FREAK

Words By:GreG TANNer

Photo By:KeVIN JOSePh

MVP247.COM 61

“ It’s gotta be over 50-grand,

I’d say. I’m staring at it all right

now and it’s gotta be that much ”

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