F Chris Jent (Former Assistant BBall Coach)

[LitlBuck]

Beck when Chris was in high school, I followed basketball recruiting very closely and the one thing that Chris was noted for was that he was one of the best perimeter shooters in the entire country.

It is also nice to know that he still hates sCum.

 

[Buckskin86]

Jent is behind James' jumper
By Chris Beaven
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted May 02, 2009

No one ever questioned LeBron James? ability to score. He averaged 20 points a game as a rookie and was at 31 a game by his third season with the Cavs.

What has been a work in progress, though, has been his ability to shoot the basketball. Through his own hard work and some coaching from Chris Jent, James is seeing vast improvement in that part of his game.

?Shooting is a very delicate thing,? Jent said. ?It?s a tough thing. It?s a confidence, slash, ego thing. To allow someone to help you with that, you really got to let your guard down.?

Jent has gained James? trust during the past three seasons as a Cavs assistant coach.

?After the first year, that summer was when we really got to work,? said Jent, an outstanding shooter at Ohio State who played 10 years of pro ball, including two seasons in the NBA.

James told Jent he wanted to improve his shooting. Jent?s message was simple: ?Well, you?ve got to work at it.?

That has resulted in James taking thousands of shots in practices and offseason workouts.

?He?s worked hard to change a lot of things on his shot,? Jent said. ?His balance, his form. All last summer was all form shooting.

?Things have changed. He shoots the ball very differently. I think he distributes his weight much better now. And that?s allowed him to be better off the dribble.?

James shot a career-best 48.9 percent from the floor this season. He made a career-high 132 3-pointers. Take away his 1-for-19 start this season shooting the 3 and James would?ve shot a career-best 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.

?Becoming a great shooter is (about) shooting the same shot,? Jent said. ?It?s allowing yourself and (having) the confidence in your own shooting ability to no matter what, make or miss, the next shot you take, you take the same shot.?

Jent is behind James' jumper - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com

 

[Buckskin86]

James' offseason: Stretch, lift, shoot
by Terry Pluto
Friday July 03, 2009

For LeBron James, the journey to repeat as the NBA's Most Valuable Player begins Monday morning.

That's when the Cavs star will meet assistant coach Chris Jent at the team's practice facility in Independence.

"LeBron is driven to win a championship," said Jent. "Most people have no idea how hard he works. He wanted to start last week, but I told him to rest his body. Let's start after July 4th."


James will begin his day by meeting assistant trainer Mike Mancias. Sometimes, they lift weights. Sometimes, it's yoga. It always involves some stretching.

"Six days a week, LeBron does some sort of workout, that's not counting his shooting drills," said Jent. "They do things to help his flexibility and balance. LeBron also has his own chef. He is extremely serious about being a better player."

They will then begin 90 minutes of shooting drills. Most of the shots will come from 14-to-19 feet. They begin with six different spots on the court, but also at different ranges.

Then they come back at night, for more shooting.

"From now on, he'll shoot at least once a day, probably six days a week," said Jent. "Sometimes, it will be twice a day."

James is starting his seventh season, yet he's only 24.

Jent said it was after the Cavs were swept out of the 2007 Finals that James pushed his training to a higher, more demanding level. A former sharp-shooter at Ohio State, Jent had joined the Cavs as an assistant during the 2006-07 season.

Jent often played 3-on-3 with some of the Cavs reserves after practices or before games when they wanted extra work. James watched Jent swish shots over younger players. Daniel Gibson told James that Jent knew a lot about shooting.

So James asked Jent if the coach would be willing to work with the Cavs star in the summer of 2007.

"I like Chris and I trust Chris," James has often said.

Jent knows that James doesn't trust most people, especially with something as important as tinkering with his jumper.

"To a player, a shot is his signature," said Jent. "It's not easy for them to change it."

James' offseason: Stretch, lift, shoot - cleveland.com

 

[Buckskin86]

January 28, 2010
Fit for a King

What do you do when your job is to make the best in the world a little bit better?
Is it like giving Jimi Hendrix guitar lessons or acting as Pablo Picasso?s muse? How do you do it?

Cavaliers? assistant coaches working with LeBron James try to figure that question out on a daily basis, but none more than Chris Jent ? Number 23?s offseason shooting guru.

There was a time that LeBron?s jumper was viewed as the weakest part of his game. In his first two years, James took heat for deferring to his teammates rather than taking the big shot himself.

That seems like a long time and a hundred big shots ago. And behind much of LeBron?s transformation has been Jent, the former Buckeye who ? for the third straight summer ? traveled the world, mirroring the Chosen One?s globetrotting offseason schedule. And once again, it?s paid off on the hardwood.

Jent talks about the origins of his relationship with LeBron, how they worked on his shot, and how he deals with the rigors of the road ? even on the trail of King James.

How did your relationship with LeBron start?
Chris Jent: It started the first season I was here. Obviously, when you?re first working with a professional team, you just kind of fly under the radar. You work for players, you just try to rebound for them and when you feel as though you can have some input ? when you feel they have some trust in you ? you start to input little by little. (At least that?s the approach I took.)

So it started little by little, and I asked him some pointed questions about his shooting. Does he want to get better? What?s his plan? I think all that stuff was already in the works in his mind before I said anything.

LeBron James on Chris Jent ...

"(Chris) has meant a lot to me. I?m a loyal guy and any time you get an opportunity to find someone who?s as loyal as you are, you like to stick with those guys. And Chris Jent is a very loyal guy.
No matter what time it was, no matter what day it was, even when he was with his family, he wanted to get workouts in. And he?s helped me become that guy. No excuses; get a workout in.

I remember him being a player development guy and now he?s an assistant coach sitting on the bench. So, any time you get a guy that works hard in what they do and want to become the best, you tend to gravitate toward people like that. And I?m happy I?m associated with him.

I used to see, every day, the rookies getting work in. And I always tried to find someone who could work with me every day. During the season you work with all the assistant coaches. But in the offseason, I was looking for someone I could be loyal to. And Jent was that guy.

I had a good relationship with him. I had known him, not personally. But knowing he played at Ohio State, we could talk about some things other than basketball.

To have him around is great."

Cavaliers: Fit for a King

 

[Buckskin86]

While Brown was being dusted, majority owner Dan Gilbert and general manager Danny Ferry have yet to pink-slip top assistants Chris Jent, Melvin Hunt and Mike Malone. All three remain under contract through the end of next season.

The most important of the three in the derby for James is Jent.

The 40-year-old Ohio State alumnus has been James' personal shooting coach since 2006. If James stays with the Cavs, an even higher profile for Jent might be a primary demand.

''If LeBron stays,'' a source familiar with James said, ''Jent could wind up as the team's new head coach.''

Undrafted out of Ohio State, Jent checkerboarded through a five-year professional playing career that included stays with the Houston Rockets (1993-94) and New York Knicks (1996-97). He also played in Australia, Italy, Spain and Greece.

The 6-7 California native then began an NBA sidelines odyssey that crescendoed when he succeeded Johhny Davis as interim coach of the Orlando Magic for the final 18 games of the 2004-05 season. Under Jent's direction, the Magic finished 5-13.

In November 2006, Ferry and Brown hired Jent as director of player development, a move that began Jent's bonding with James. Specifically, James has credited Jent with improving elements of his jump shooting and free-throw accuracy.

According to Cleveland media, ''As a trusted coach who knows James' personality and work habits well, there is a good chance Jent will be a desired assistant no matter what team James decides to sign with.''

Cavs seek structure with James in mind :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bulls

 

[Buckskin86]

staying with Cavs....bron has to get a new shooting coach

Jent returns to the Cavaliers coaching staff for his second season as an assistant coach. He spent the previous two seasons as the director of player development/assistant coach. Before joining the Cavaliers, he was an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic during the 2004-05 season before being named Orlando?s interim head coach for the final 18 games of the season. Jent spent the 2003-04 season with the Philadelphia 76ers as assistant coach/player development. He was a member of the 1994 NBA Champion Houston Rockets and also played for the New York Knicks during the 1996-97 season. He played four seasons (1988-92) at Ohio State and helped lead the Buckeyes to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 1991 and 1992.

Cavaliers: Cavaliers Name Assistant Coaching Staff

 

[tundra1]

staying with Cavs....bron has to get a new shooting coach



Cavaliers: Cavaliers Name Assistant Coaching Staff

Now that the "clutch shot" has turned into "pass to Wade"...why does bron need a shooting coach at all?

 

[jlb1705]

I'm glad he's sticking around. He's working with JJ Hickson now, and once JJ develops a mid-range jumper he's going to be a baaaaaad man.

 

[Buckskin86]

Sparta legend Jent faces life after LeBron in Cleveland
By PETER STEIN
[email protected]

SPARTA -- Though the focus of his job may have changed a bit, some things will never change for Chris Jent.

As a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, Jent was until recently LeBron James' shooting coach. With his star pupil now on the Miami Heat roster, Jent will face new responsibilities, new challenges as a member of the Cavaliers' coaching staff.

But Sparta will always be Jent's home, the place where he became a high school basketball legend in the 80s. Monday, he was back, conducting a basketball camp at Sparta's Dreamfield complex. There will be plenty of time for Jent to worry about how the Cavs will find their way through a new era without their superstar. This week, Jent is concerned with molding younger players, perhaps the next decade's superstars.

"I really think going into a camp -- and I haven't done a camp in a long time -- if there's one thing that the kids can take away from it, it's a way, an avenue, or a philosophy within themselves in order to try to get better," Jent said. "I understand that it's great to have that passion, but if your passion doesn't lead in some way to a little bit of success, individual success, and you don't get better, it could go away.

"So I think that if you see just little improvements -- you might learn a different way to handle the basketball to get you from A to B, or a little better way to shoot the ball, or even if you can be a better defender -- if you can carry that as an individual, and it helps you to be a better team during the course of the year, that's fantastic."

Jent says he and LeBron have had some contact since the announcement.

"A few days after that, I corresponded with him," Jent said. "We just kind of e-mailed each other -- 'Hey, good luck to you, whatever. I still want to have that talk with you.' I've been trying to track him down and have a conversation about some things that I wanted to say to him after the ending of last year that I haven't yet gotten time to do. He was like, 'yeah, for sure, we'll do that.' But we haven't talked since."

New Jersey Herald ?€? Sussex County newspaper for news, sports, schools ?€? njherald.com

 

[Buckskin86]

Jent is thrilled to still be on staff in Cleveland
By JASON LLOYD
Akron Beacon Journal

Chris Jent always had a great shot during his playing days at Ohio State. But when he was out job hunting during the summer, he was doing a whole different kind of shooting.

After working closely with LeBron James for the past four years, Jent spent his summer shooting down the idea that he was simply James' personal shooting coach. It was a long, grueling fight.

Jent spent the past four years on Mike Brown's staff. When Brown was fired and James left for the Miami Heat, suddenly Jent's coaching future was very much uncertain - and he didn't like what he was hearing around the league.

A self-admitted poor networker, Jent contacted nearly every team in the NBA to gauge its interest in him. The responses were all the same: He had been labeled as James' guy.

"It was a myth I had to dispel," he said. "People were saying, 'Were you even employed by the Cavaliers?' So yeah, I was worried about that."

Cont...

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/28/2478166/jent-is-thrilled-to-still-be-on.html#ixzz16fv03J1k

 

[Buckskin86]

A Day with Cavaliers Assistant Coach Chris Jent

CLEVELAND, OH - February 10, 2011 - As part of the NBA Coaches for Kids program, ten children from the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland had the privilege of learning from the experiences of Cavaliers Assistant Coach Chris Jent before the Cavs took on the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, February 9th. Hard work and team work were the themes of the evening as Coach Jent shared lessons he has learned throughout his playing and coaching career. Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison took a break from warming up to help Coach Jent answer the kids? questions. After the talk, the children had a chance to watch the players warm up for the game. Coaches for Kids was developed by the NBA Coaches Association in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of America and NBA Cares. It allows the NBA Coaches, general managers and the Athletic Trainers Association to give back to their communities and promote the sport to deserving NBA fans of the future.

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/community/jent_110210.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Sources say former Ohio State men's basketball player Chris Jent is pondering an offer from coach Thad Matta to return to his alma mater as an assistant coach.

Jent, 41, will have to decide whether taking a stab at college coaching is worth uprooting his family yet again and giving up his current job as an NBA assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jent was a staff volunteer at Ohio State during the 2005-06 season while he completed his undergraduate degree. He said then that his goal was to be a college or NBA coach, and he was hired by the Cavs later that year.

If Jent doesn't fill the void created last week by the resignation of Brandon Miller, former Matta associates Todd Lickliter or Kevin Kuwik could.

Lickliter, 56, and Matta go back to their days at Butler. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on June 14 that Lickliter had been hired as an assistant at Miami University, and that the hiring would be announced by the end of last week. But it hasn't been, possibly because Lickliter is waiting to see what Jent does.

Kuwik, 37, was video coordinator at Ohio State the past two years before taking an assistant's job at Dayton in April.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...24/rumblings-6-24-art-gqdd57lg-1.html?sid=101

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

 

[BengalsAndBucks]

Amazing news.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Chris Jent heading back to Ohio State

Chris Jent will leave the Cavaliers to join Ohio State's basketball staff as an assistant coach, a source confirmed to The Plain Dealer.

Jent played for the Buckeyes from 1988-92, scoring 1,007 career points while helping Ohio State to back-to-back Big Ten titles and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He'll fill the spot created by the resignation of Brandon Miller, who stepped away two weeks ago to spend more time with his family.

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