How you play has a lot to do with what you say

A linguistics professor is teaching the sport's lingo in Europe and Asia.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- When Alan Juffs talks about "basketball English," the University of Pittsburgh linguistics professor isn't talking about putting some spin on the ball.
Juffs is in China teaching the game's jargon to 50 standout youth players from Asia and Australia so that if they make it to America or an international league, they won't be thinking food when someone calls for a "feed."
"You need to understand very quickly ... Or you get flattened. Or you lose the game," Juffs said. "If they all share the same language, then they'll all be on the same playing field."
Juffs is teaching the players as part of the Adidas Superstar Camp, where top players will get the chance to play at an Adidas camp in Atlanta in July. The language aspect of the program, which runs through Monday at the Shanghai Sports Academy, is the first of its kind, according to Adidas.
The camps
Juffs, who directs the university's English Language Institute, said Adidas approached Pitt about the idea for the language program, which will also be offered at another Adidas' camp in Europe in July.
Lawrence Norman, Adidas' head of global sports marketing for international basketball, said he thought of the need for a common understanding of basketball terms while playing in Israel several years ago.
He didn't speak Hebrew and wound up on his backside a few times until he learned the Hebrew word for "pick" and was able to stay with the play.
Norman said he's seen some international NBA players' lack of English hold them back. For instance, Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, who is from Brazil, uses an interpreter. Norman said Barbosa could have gone higher in the draft had he been able to speak English.
"The demand and the passion for basketball is growing worldwide. But as the demand grows, it doesn't mean the demand for English is going up," Norman said.
However, Terry Lyons, the NBA's vice president of international public relations, said most of the NBA's international players pick up English pretty fast, usually in a year.
Still, he agreed that the game is becoming increasingly international. The regular season ended in April with a record 67 international players from 33 countries.
"Anything where the sport is being used to bring people together, in any shape or form, is great," he said of the program.
The terminology
At the camp in Shanghai, Juffs spends 45 minutes a day teaching about a dozen key terms and phrases such as "pick-and-roll," "hedge" and "alley-oop." The players, most of whom speak little or no English, will also be given CDs with dozens of additional terms and definitions to continue studying.
"We aren't overly ambitious in the four-day period," Juffs said. "The key is to motivate them."
Even if the Asian players don't make it to the United States, they may end up playing with international players elsewhere and would benefit from English. "It's a life skill that they're getting," he said.
Trash-talk, that in-your-face mental aspect of sport is also a topic, but it's not the focus.
"As a basketball player I can tell you those phrases are relevant, but that's not the main focus," Norman said.
"They're going to encounter that kind of thing," Juffs said. "Obviously, we would not be doing our job if we did not alert them that they would be hearing that kind of language."
Juffs said there's a cross cultural aspect to trash talk that doesn't always translate. Someone engaging in trash talk in their nonnative language may come off as arrogant, he said, so his message is to be self-confident and that players don't have to talk trash.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.