“Hired to be fired! “
Those of you older might be familiar with the headline. It refers to the fact that managers and coaches in all sports are hired to be fired. Cavs Coach David Blattt might be fired because there might be problems with LeBron. Bulls Coach David Thibodeau has been rumored on the hot seat since the beginning of the season. Question do you fire a guy who might lead your team to the NBA Championship? You can if you are the Bulls who have history of terminating coaches-----remember a guy by the name of Phil Jackson?
Monty Williams actually did get fired by the Pelicans after five seasons. NBA analyst Tim Legler questions why now and I agree. Monty Williams is not the second coming of any front-line coach we might believe. Despite this fact he managed to lead his Pelican squad into the playoffs in the tough Western Conference. His team’s record was on an upward trend, last season it was 45 wins the year before 34. In 2012-13 the win total was 27. Pelicans owner Tom Benson must have a little known motive not fully elaborated.
Made me eat my words
The Clippers may not win an NBA Championship this season but they managed to shut me up. A number of you might remember I’ve written several disparaging columns regarding the Clippers in the past. To my surprise the series with the Rockets is over, they lead 3-2 (as this is written) and the fat lady is tuning up. I’m quite sure not a single Clippers player (including Austin Rivers) used Words eye view as a basis for raising their level of play. From this point on I’ll be careful writing anything negative regarding the Clippers.
Don’t’ kid yourself
Are you one of the folks that still believe it’s the school rather than the coach? Forget about responding it’s the coach, don’t believe me? The latest example might be Brandon Sampson Rivals number 42 who committed to St. John’s. Coach Steve Lavin and St. John’s agreed to part ways and you know what comes next. The 6-4 shooting guard from Baton Rogue decided it might be best to remain at home. He’s headed to LSU and will join Rivals number two prospect power forward Ben Simmons and number 13 prospect shooting guard Antonio Blakeley.
This might appear a problem Sampson and Blakeley play the same position. Bet Coach Johnny Jones and staff will manage to accommodate the talent of both. Expected to be foundations were sophomores Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey who declared for the NBA Draft. Despite the loss of these players the incoming crop of talent should continue producing winning basketball for LSU. Is the trio plus returnees talented enough to give Kentucky a run for the SEC dominance?
NBA Draft Combine
I don’t follow the NFL to the degree I do the NBA, I believe its incumbent for NFL prospects to attend the draft combine. I’m unsure if the same situation exists for the NBA Draft Combine. Several of the likely lottery picks have indicated they do not plan on attending. This is not the first instance of potential lottery picks by-passing the combine. If you follow any mock draft sites the absentees are likely familiar to you. They are; Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, Kristaps Porzingis, Mario Hezonja and Emmauel Mudiay. It’s highly likely the agents for these athletes have informed them “All indications are you are a lottery pick no need to risk injury during workouts. “
Speaking of the draft
The legend that will never fade away, I speak of Patrick Ewing and the bent card. For those who might be unaware of this course allow me to explain. On the ESPN NBA page I paraphrase; “30 years ago today (Tuesday) the NBA Lottery was held where the Knicks chose the card that allowed them to draft Patrick Ewing from Georgetown.” This is proof positive we are generations from the event yet the story will never ever go away. This is my view of that lottery, the Knicks an original NBA franchise had fallen on hard times. Several other teams had also suffered through poor seasons as well. If the Pacers, Clippers or Sonics had chosen “that” bent or frozen card the myth would never have existed.
That’s funny
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich always with the last word. We recognize Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are playing on very old legs and bodies. Khawi Leonard, Danny Green and Patty Mills and others are likely to return so the roster is not exactly decimated. We can speculate day and night but really have no idea the composition of the Spurs next season. If the three main stays return they will come back a year older. Popovich was questioned about 2015-16 in the post-game press conference. The coach said; "It's all psycho babble. I have no clue. We'll probably come back. Paycheck is pretty good. You think I‘m lying."
