Basketball from a fans perspective
The last angry man
I feel like the last angry man in America regarding sports media at times. As much as you and I depend on the media they often believe their own hype. I heard a statement the other day from ESPN’s Skip Bayless the same one made months earlier by a local sports talk radio guy. To paraphrase both they said; “We are professionals we are paid to know the game etc. etc. etc.” I say baloney to that statement; those who play the sport or coach it have far more insight into the intricacies of the game than the media. The media is similar to you and I except they have greater access to athletes. This allows them to conduct interviews however are the questions always insightful?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6A2ZgKV6n0
Success
It’s my belief sometimes we measure success unfairly. We believe a coach is unsuccessful unless he wins an NBA or NCAA Championship. I ceased writing about coaching changes in the collegiate ranks, once the regular season was over a trickle of coaches being fired became a tidal wave. A number had short tenure while others such as Travis Ford at Oklahoma State had been on the job for nearly 9 years. Alumnus, athletic department head, students and fans want a winning program and guess what---they are not very patient. Coach K. is one of the barometers we look to as an example of coaching success however there is more to the story.
I’d written this fact previously beginning his fourth year at the helm Duke was below .500 under its coach. Coach K’s teams won 38 games while losing 47, 1983-84 was much different than the pressure coaches face now. North Carolina’s teams were 8-9, 15-6 and 12-12 in Coach Dean Smith’s first three years at Chapel Hill. I have mentioned on more than one occasion my suffering with Mizzou’s program so I get it. An NBA coaching success story is that of Gregg Popovich, he’s won a number NBA Championships and his Spurs are always in the playoffs. He wasn’t a winner coaching in college in eight years his Pomona-Pitzer Division NCAA Division II team was 76-129. We all want winning programs but time is often required for that process to occur.
I try
It’s difficult for me at times; I try to not get too excited about a future NBA prospect. I’m not going to call out any particular player, over the years the list has been extensive. The do “everything” rookie cannot extricate himself from the bench because of his defense or offense shortcomings. We must exclude injuries which often curtailed a promising career Greg Oden and Andrew Bynum come to mind. Check out the 2006 NBA draft, the Blazers struck gold picking LaMarcus Aldridge with the second pick as for others.
The Raptors chose Andrea Bargnani with the number one pick while the Bobcats (Hornets) chose Adam Morrison with the third pick. Bargnani has been serviceable but certainly not the career expected of a number one pick. As for Morrison he’s bounced around the league and has been out the NBA since 2010, he last played with a Turkish team in 2012. How about the 2013 NBA draft, we find Anthony Bennett the top choice that year and are now playing in the D-League. We discussed the difficulty adjusting to play in the NBA; a number of players had significant college and Euro careers but just couldn’t adjust to NBA play.
The coach
This time I’m not referring to the 76ers or the Lakers it’s the Kings. The Knicks firing Derek Fisher caught many of us off-guard, when the Kings fire George Karl practically nobody should be surprised. I’m not sure of the problem(s) but the coach manages to either get himself fired or has walked away from every NBA head coaching job he’s held. He and Boogie Cousins have been butting heads almost continuously since Karl was hired.
An NBA team with a talented yet moody player. In addition we have a coach who is losing guess which one is leaving? I applauded the Kings hiring Nancy Lieberman as an assistant coach last July word is she too is in Karl’s dog house. The Golden 1 Center has a planned fall opening just in time for the 2016-17 NBA season. Moving into a new building says the Kings might want to head in a different direction, just saying’!
