Teaches Hoops' David Lee Camp Keeping Tradition Intact By Zach Smart Newly minted Golden State Warrior David Lee stood a half court heave away from the basket, as a sea of young onlookers' eyes were pasted on the 2010 NBA All-Star, Friday at Sleepy Hollow High School. The 6-foot-9 forward immediately dashed towards the baseline and popped out towards the corner. Lee, who many devout Knicks are sad to see depart, received a crisp pass from Teaches Hoops head honcho Terry Teachout. Showcasing a new spot up, a new form, and an increase of range that was visible following the All Star game, Lee launched jumpers and three-pointers in succession. Teachout fed him the ball. The young fans raved when Lee swished and "ahhhed" when he misfired. After netting 8 out of his first 10 shots, including three straight from beyond the arc,it was clear that extending his jumper helped augment Lee's offensive arsenal. Teachout, along with Knicks assistant Phil Weber, were instrumental in helping Lee establish a mid-long range game. "Being undersized as a Center in the NBA, I concentrated and made a consistent effort to add that facet to my game," Lee said. "I owe them (Teachout and Webber) for staying on me and working with me." The southpaw, who rarely took shots outside of the key during his stay at Florida under Billy Donovan, benefited from the increased range on his once- funky sling shot jumper.

He shot a

thread below 55 percent from the field for the Knicks during the 2000-10 campaign. Despite a being dealt to Golden State for Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, and Kelenna Azubuike, David Lee renewed his commitment to Teaches Hoops for the third consecutive summer. David Lee Basketball Camp originally launched at Dobbs Ferry High School in 2008. Westchester-based Teaches Hoops has maintained its partnership with David Lee ever since. Teachout, who authored a four-year career at Duquesne and had tryouts with the Cleveland Cavs and Indiana Pacers. Though he never made it as a player, Teachout's training and shooting instruction has offered significant contributions to the NBA.

Teachout additionally has run basketball camps and clinics with Cleveland Cavs guard Daniel Gibson and Washington Wizards forward Andre Blatche, who came into his own this past season. In October of 2009, Teachout coached in the NBA fit program. He coordinated events for the program in New Jersey and Jamaica, Queens with former Knick forward Al Harrington. And while Lee, whose boyish love for camp, basketball, and motivating the kids keeps him coming back to Westchester, Teachout prides himself on cultivating a solid staff to supplement Lee. "You can hire people who coach, or you can hire people who can supervise," explained Teachout. "Our guys coach. We know their backgrounds. They come in and they can raise the level at camp just by making the kids feel more important and by not only telling them how to get better, but really caring about if they do get better or not. You know they (Teaches coaches) answer questions, give one-on-one instruction, they work relentlessly with the kids to teach them how to expand their game and shed bad habits. That's really been the solid advancement of us, as far as standing the test of time for now, 23 years." Those camp staff members Teachout references are former high-scoring guard Concordia Johnathon Duperon of Mount Vernon and Troy Young, a current shooting guard on Concordia's basketball team. Pleasantville's Nolan Robinson (who will play football for Catholic University in the fall), Hamilton basketball legend Ural Hogans, and Mickey Carey, an electrifying guard at Valhalla during the 1990s, round out the staff. Though Lee had his introductory press conference with Golden State on Monday, he will return to Westchester the week of Aug.9-13 to run David Lee camp at the Bell School in Chappaqua. For Lee, who loves engaging in games of knockout with the kids, jumping in on the campers ' 5on-5 games (while he ran the floor, passed the ball, Lee did not attempt a single shot in any of the camper games, choosing to instead creating scoring opportunities for the youngsters) answering questions and helping better kids' games, it his his third consecutive summer camp in Chappaqua. "Each year, I see more and more new faces," said Lee. "It is also gratifying to see kids that we've worked with come back each summer having improved. When we started back in 2008, our

message was fairly simple. Get better, respect your coaches, learn, have fun, and perform admirably both off and on the court. It's really nice to see that everyone has bought into that." What about Lee's new hardwood home in California? What about leaving New York, where he was drafted and grew from reliable bench player to the Knicks only All-Star in Nine years? "I'm super excited," said Lee. "Monta Ellis is one of the top scorers in the NBA, Steph Curry is probably one of the best shooters I have played against. With Biedrins, I've got someone to help me out in the post. A lot of people (in New York) have been coming up to me on the street and saying, "It's tough to see you go. I'll always be appreciative of the fans and their support."

Teachout, a personal trainer of Lee's, believes his All-Star client is tailor-cut for the Golden State Warriors' system. "I think what he has done as far as get to a new team and the type of team Golden State is, I think that's a fantastic step in his career," said Teachout. "He's got some young guys with talent that are going to go up and down. Stephen Curry is not just a great scorer but a great passer. Monta Ellis is going to run the court with David Lee. You know, David scores a lot of his points in transition and hustle points. These guys are going to be going up and down right with him." Teachout continued, "Probably one of the best hidden things of all this between the great contract and the great players, now he has a chance to finally make the playoffs. He probably will, with that team."