Archive for January 2007
Problems in the ACC: The Trouble Behind the Duke-Clemson Game; A White, “Black Face” Party to Remember
A white, “black face” celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday at Clemson.
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ACC country is not a nice place to be – if you’re the head coach of the men’s basketball team, or a black student, that is. The most recent incidents of favoritism – at least – and racism – most certainly – in the Antiquated Colored Conference took place against and at Clemson University. By now, most NCAA hoops followers know of the “timing error” that took place at Cameron Indoor Stadium last week. Duke beat Clemson 68-66 on a last second layup by David McClure as time expired. Unfortunately, the timekeeper at Duke failed to start the clock when Duke’s Jon Scheyer touched Josh McRoberts’ inbound pass. Rather than review McClure’s basket to ensure that it had indeed beat the clock and in doing so spot the error, the referees involved in the game sprinted for the tunnel as Blue Devil fans made their way to the court in celebration.
Oliver Purnell, Clemson’s head coach was more diplomatic in his response to the on-going referee and clock issues at Duke than most coaches in the country – anybody remember Oklahoma football head coach Bob Stoops’ response to a similar clock problem at Oregon this past season that may have cost the Sooners a shot at the national championship – would have been:
“I spoke with John Clougherty of the ACC this morning and we discussed what took place at the end of the Duke game last night,” Purnell said during a Friday news conference. “He acknowledged that there was a timing error and the matter will be handled internally. I am satisfied with their review in this matter.
“I think mistakes were made,” he told The (Columbia, S.C.) State. “[But] I told our players after the game to forget about it. Forget the clock situation because we’ve got to play better to get it done.”
Purnell, though, apparently was either never appraised of, or forgot to mention the incident in its entirety. Here’s how the whole thing went down:
Duke’s McRoberts, throwing the ball inbounds, made a stunning, errant pass to Hamilton. The Tigers’ sharpshooter caught the ball and shot, but the clock didn’t begin until the ball was only a few feet above the rim.
After Hamilton‘s shot sailed through the nets, the clock continued to run to 1.8 seconds. In the last minute of each game, the clock should stop when the ball goes through the net. But it wasn’t stopped on Hamilton‘s game-tying basket.
Officials studied the television monitor and determined 4.4 seconds were left when the ball went through the basket. But they were unaware the clock had not started when Hamilton touched the ball, so how much time elapsed during that catch, set, and shoot sequence wasn’t calculated.
The Blue Devils then won in dramatic fashion, inbounding the ball from the backcourt with 4.4 seconds showing and scoring as time expired when David McClure sank a close-range shot.
A referee, who wears a Precision Time device on his belt, is supposed to start and stop the clock. The game was officiated by Mike Kitts, John Cahill and Tom Lopes. The timer at Thursday’s game — whose name Duke would not reveal — also is required to do the same. The [Raleigh] News & Observer confirmed the timer was Tommy Hunt, the ACC supervisor of football officials who has often served as timer at Duke games.
Hunt, who lives in Durham, could not be reached for comment.
Had they known of the tardy clock start, officials could have deducted seconds by reviewing Hamilton‘s shot.
ESPN calculated 2.6 seconds expired on Hamilton’s shot, which would have left Duke 2.4 seconds instead of 4.4, analyst Jay Bilas wrote on ESPN.com. Bilas is a former Duke player and assistant coach.
Reached by The N&O, Duke assistant athletics director Jon Jackson declined to comment.
Remember last season’s mysterious double technical foul costing Florida State a victory over Duke? Remember Duke shooting an amazing 37 free throws to Boston College’s 13 in an 83-81 win last season?
What’s the common denominator between Clemson’s Oliver Purnell, Leonard Hamilton (FSU’s coach in 2005-06), and Boston College’s Al Skinner?
They all happen to be black.
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Unfortunately the troubles at Clemson didn’t end with the horrific ending to the Duke basketball game – or should I say, begin at Duke.
A week previous to the Duke game a party was held on the Clemson campus the day before Martin Luther King’s birthday. The party’s theme was, “Living the Dream,” a fitting name for a celebration commemorating Dr. King’s birthday. But two days ago, the party’s true colors came to light. According to a report posted on the WYFF News 4 (Greenville, S.C.) website:
A party held by some Clemson University students two weeks ago is causing controversy after pictures taken at the event ended up on the Internet….
Pictures of the party were posted on facebook.com, showing at least one person in black-face paint, with others dressed in knitted caps and jerseys and some girls with stuffing padding their pants to make their behinds look larger. There’s an image of party-goers holding 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor.
University administrators said the behavior at the party is unacceptable and they met with hundreds of angry students on Monday night to discuss the situation.
Officials also said that they plan to meet with those who attended the party and eventually bring the two groups together. Students who planned the party and who were willing to talk to WYFF News 4 did not want their identities revealed because of fear of harassment. One student said, “We have a lot of theme parties where you dress up and have fun. We decided we’d have a “gangsta” party for fun. You know, the gangsta’s like the hip hop culture. So we dressed up. We did not know it would offend so many people…and we did. We feel so bad about it. We realize we can’t begin to apologize to all the people we offended.”
The decided to have a gangsta party for fun on or near Dr. King’s birthday, call it “Living the Dream” and you didn’t know it would offend people (click here for party images from WYFF News 4)?
Sure you didn’t. But that’s life in the Antiquated Colored Conference.
(Addendum: Two similar inflammatory MLK birthday parties took place that were caught by cameras, one “Up South” at UConn and another at Tarleton University in the great racist state of Texas.)
Kobe’s Suspension: Time for Stern to Look in the Mirror
The time has come for the NBA League offices to take a step back and enter into a period of self-examination.
Kobe Bryant’s one-game suspension for unintentionally – at least that’s what all parties involved stated publicly – landing an arm-elbow across the bridge of the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili’s nose clearly illustrates the need for David Stern and his office employees to look inward.
Why was Bryant suspended? Stu Jackson, NBA vice president of basketball operations and resident disciplinarian, told Greg Anthony of ESPN that Bryant’s move was an “Unnatural, non-basketball move that was intentional.” Since there is no rule penalizing Bryant’s action Jackson had to ascertain that Bryant, with .02 left in a crucial game, would chance receiving what would be a flagrant foul and allowing the Spurs to win the game at the free throw line. Additionally, because of Ginobili’s injury, the Spurs could choose their shooter to enter the game to make one of two free throws to win the game.
Though Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express-News wrote that, “Ginobili and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich both said they thought Bryant didn’t intend to hit Ginobili. No foul was called on the play,” ESPN’s Greg Anthony, in his conversation with Jackson reported vastly different news concerning how the incident came to the attention of the NBA League office’s attention:
“This wouldn’t even get on the League’s radar if the team in question, the Spurs, didn’t notify the NBA League offices about the incident.”
So, apparently the Gregg Popovich lied to the press, not an unusual move for coaches or players, except in a case that concerns arguably the best all-around player in the Association. Since this case concerns Bryant Popovich’s move is both unusual and stupid. However, Jackson failed to fully review the case. He failed to take into account the veracity of the Spurs public versus private statements and failed to query players and the referees directly involved with the game. This resulted in levying a suspension in an all-time record speed of less than 24 hours.
The crux of the case, though, lies in Jackson’s statement to the Associated Press:
“Some of the determining factors were the fact that there was contact made with Ginobili above the shoulders and the fact that this particular action by Kobe was an unnatural basketball motion. Following a shot, he drove a stiff arm in a backward motion and struck Ginobili in the head. “We did not view this as an inadvertent action.”
So in addition to Jackson’s other failures in properly reviewing this case, he failed to take into account the game circumstance I previously mentioned.
But even more important, is Jackson’s fast-and-loose interpretation of Bryant’s actions and how it can be construed in other cases. I’ll pose these cases as questions:
If a player fakes a charge, flops, falls backward, and “drives a stiff arm in a backward motion” striking an opponent behind him in the face, will he get a one-game suspension?
Or how about the same circumstance where said flopper falls and drives his stiff arm into the knee of an opponent and blows out the opponent’s knee? Does this player receive a remainder of the season suspension?
And since you had time to review the video, why didn’t Ginobili receive a fine for flagrantly following through after his block in an unnatural basketball motion and hitting Bryant in the head? Did you ever stop to think that that was the reason Bryant flailed his arms to draw the referee’s attention in the first place?
And of course the whispers of impropriety begin. They sound like this: Kobe received the suspension because David Stern wants the Knicks to make the playoffs. If you don’t want to hear this kind of stuff, in this case nonsensical as it may sound, then stop it. If you don’t want to hear that your actions appear to be a purposeful effort to decimate the integrity of the game and render it an NHL-class citizen, then stop.
Stop the overreaction to imaginary problems – or real problems, for that matter. Regain your sense of self (if you truly had one in the first place) and present an assured, measured, and reasonable image to the NBA and sporting world.
Start, David Stern, by looking in the mirror – because the League is a reflection of you.
O.J. Mayo Update: Michael Wilbon of PTI Freaks Out On Mayo
First, an update: O.J. Mayo and the five reserves involved in the fracas at Capital High received a court injunction and will be able to play tonight.Update 2: Click here for Lazo’s statement (thanks J Funk).
Michael Wilbon, on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption (PTI) called O.J. Mayo a “punk” and the people around him “sycophants” and stated that “they should be ashamed of themselves.” Additionally Wilbon said the adults who defended and allowed Mayo to play – the judge, that is – want to be on the Mayo “gray train.”
I guess Wilbon, who’s sitting on his bully pulpit in sunny-sultry South Beach feels that there must be some sort of payola coming to all those involved in coming to Mayo’s defense for indefensible actions by a referee crew led by Mike Lazo.
Perhaps Mike should attend a party or two less (he’s known for making the rounds during Super Bowl week) on the strip and actually briefly research the topics to be covered on his program. It’s not like there isn’t plenty of mainstream press coverage of the Mayo incident for him to Google, plus there’s the video of the incident to be viewed on You Tube or local West Virginia newspaper’s websites – and right now he just made himself look like an ignorant, uniformed gas bag like much of the so-called talent on ESPN; kind of like Jay Mariotti or Skip Bayless.
Previous O.J. Mayo posts:
O.J. Mayo, Five Reserves Ejected from High School Game by Rabid Ref
O.J. Mayo: I’d like a “Ref Dive” on Rye – With Extra Mayo and a Large O.J.
O.J. Mayo: I’d Like a “Ref Dive” on Rye – With Extra Mayo and a Large O.J.
Update: Mayo and the five reserves involved in the fracas at Capital High received a court injunction and will be able to play tonight.
This O.J. Mayo double tech for nothing, ref named Mike Lazo taking a dive and his boys banding together to eject five reserve players that was all caught on tape incident is taking on a life of its own. As I reported yesterday, Mayo, who plays for #2-ranked (nationally) Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia, dunked on a player from Capital High School in Charleston, W. Va. and was teed up for “taunting” by referee Mike Lazo. Mayo walked up the floor while a perky little guy from Capital was whispering something other than niceties in Mayo’s ear. Mayo turned to confront the Capital player then proceeded to turn again – and got hit with a second technical. O.J. turned to talk with Lazo, following him three or four steps, when Lazo flew like Vlade would at the thought of Shaq setting up in the post. Lazo hit the ground and appeared to be holding his crotch.
Because Mayo was ejected from the game West Virginia state rules require Mayo to sit out two games no matter where they are played. Tonight, Huntington High is scheduled to take on #11 nationally-ranked Artesia High School of Lakewood, Calif., in the Hoophall Classic in Durham, N.C.
Now there’s new news and for Lazo and his crew, it’s not pretty. In a Huntington Herald-Dispatch article by Crystal Quarles spectators gave their impression of the game and the Lazo flop:
As Huntington High awaited a final ruling on a likely two-game suspension for basketball star O.J. Mayo, Tri-State fans were grumbling about the officiating that led to his ejection from Friday night’s game against Capital High.
“I could not believe what I was seeing out of a licensed referee,” said Brian Lodwick of South Point, Ohio. “As a neutral bystander, this was the most biased referee I have ever seen.
“It was so obvious that all the refs purposely tried to hold down the momentum of Huntington‘s pace to keep the score as close as possible,” Lodwick said.
Mayo, regarded as one of the top three high school players in the country (he committed to Southern California), attracts a wide audience to his games and this one was no different. With that audience, though, comes unbiased observers:
Teddy F. Lambert II said he bought the tickets as soon as they went on sale and drove two hours to see what he called “an embarrassment of a basketball game.”
“Top players in the nation (were) playing with their hands handcuffed behind their back,” said Lambert, a baseball coach at Tolsia High School. “I was just hoping to see a fair game, and the ball was taken out of the players’ hands.”
Shane Nicely has been to every Huntington High home basketball game with the exception of one, and said Mayo has been a class act at every one. Mayo never starts any confrontation or jawing on the floor,” Nicely said. “He is a kid defending himself in a basketball game, and who can blame him? I think he is a kid with great potential just trying to have fun and play a game that he has spent hours perfecting his skills.”
The aforementioned statements imply that something was wrong with the game, but the following quote is a direct indictment on Razorbill Bands, a Charleston attorney, said Huntington High’s success is a once in a lifetime event, and he hopes Friday’s game does not harm their season.
“I think O.J. Mayo should have controlled himself better. But this ref took a dive,” Bands said. “He wasn’t pushed. It wasn’t that necessary. It was definitely the worst officiated game I’ve seen on any level.” (Bold mine)
Enough for the local papers. This story is so large that the New York Times trotted out Pete Thamel to – make some phone calls. Here’s some of what Thamel turned up:
After being whistled for the technical, he walked to midcourt, where players from both teams had gathered and were jawing. Mayo then walked away, tucking in his shirt and looking at the sky.
The second technical was called after Mayo walked back toward the players gathered at halfcourt. On the video, he did not appear to say or do anything.
But when the official Mike Lazo walked over to the scorer’s table to report the technical, Mayo followed him. Mayo appeared to make subtle contact with Lazo, his shoulder brushing up against Lazo’s back. Lazo then dropped suddenly to the ground. On the video, it appears that little contact was made and that Lazo’s fall was exaggerated.
Of course, the West Virginia high school athletic commission didn’t return Thamel’s calls and predictably Lazo couldn’t be reached for comment.
Of all the reports and comments on the Mayo ejection, perhaps this statement is the one that brings us closest to the heart of the matter:
“It’s hard for a Huntington team to play in Charleston anyway,” said Jeremy Coles. “I figured something was going to happen. But I didn’t think it was going to be this bad, though.”
O.J. Mayo, Five Reserves Ejected from High School Game by Rabid Ref
(Click here for the video of the incident – thanks J Funk)
In an apparent “I hate O.J. Mayo and other famous young athletes” high school referee spree, some nameless ref (Mike Lazo, actually) went after Mayo for what I don’t know.
Was it because he flexed after a dunk?
According to the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch, it was the infamous “taunting” rule, as in you must dunk politely, stop, shake the hand of the fool you just posterized and thank him for valiantly attempting to defend you with his Yellow Pages vertical while you just skied 40 or so inches above the floor and had your ummmm, privates, hanging out somewhere near his mouth that was agape in awe at your otherworldly ability or else you’ll get teed up:
Mayo received the first technical foul for taunting Capital player Tyrone Goard after a breakaway dunk that gave Huntington a 61-43 lead with 5:15 left in the game. Mayo did not react to the call and walked to the opposite end of the court but was followed by Capital players. A verbal confrontation escalated between Mayo and Capital players before Lazo assessed the second technical foul to Mayo but none to a Capital player.
Allegedly Mayo approached Lazo and bumped him. There was a video of the incident over at True Hoop but it no longer functions. I checked around the internets but while the tubes were full of Mayo videos, the incident with Lazo was apparently removed from view.
However, from other reports, Mayo never touched Lazo. The fearful ref must have tripped over his own feet in an attempt to extricate himself from close proximity to a young, 6’5″ black man.
In a new development, the parents of the five Huntington High reserves ejected from the game along with Mayo have filed a complaint about the incident:
The parents of five Huntington High reserve basketball players who were ejected from Friday night’s game against Capital for leaving the bench amid a flurry of technical fouls filed a complaint Monday in Cabell Circuit Court.
Meanwhile, senior guard O.J. Mayo met with his attorney Monday to weigh his legal options. No decisions were made, though the star player could file a complaint as early as Tuesday morning, said Mike Woelfel, Mayo’s attorney and assistant coach for the Highlanders.
Update: The video clearly shows that Mayo said not a word to a Capital player, particularly not the one who was talking to Mayo as he walked up the floor. It is equally clear that Lazo took a dive. It will be interesting to hear what Lazo has to say about the fall.
King Roger, King Roger
Roger Federer and Fernando Gonzalez felt the moment, an Australian Open final, and the first set was tight; both the score, and the players. But as that first set wore on Gonzalez found his forehand that produced innumerable winners during the first six matches of the fortnight, was suddenly coming back to him. Too often it was coming back faster than when it left his racket. And by the time the first set was over, a 7-6 (7-2) Federer win, Gonzalez was left with a sore right shoulder and an even more damaged game.
The remainder of the 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 Federer win looked like many others. His opponent was often forced to battle valiantly just to hold serve, while Federer breezed through his service game. The seventh game of a set is often a very important swing game. If the server holds making the score 4-3, the pressure shifts greatly to his-her opponent as one service break can mean a quick end to a set. If a server gets broken to go down 3-4 he or she knows the server is but two holds away from running out the set. And at 3-3 of the second and third sets Roger Federer broke Fernando Gonzalez. It was as if the pressure of the moment made Gonzo somehow forget the task at hand – at all costs, hold serve. In each 3-3 chance his first serve became wayward allowing Federer to seize the offensive. By the end of each seventh game, Gonzalez was a beaten man.
All respect to Pete Sampras, but Roger Federer is the best men’s tennis player to ever grace a court. He has shots in his repertoire that others can only dream of possessing. His conditioning is stellar; perhaps better than that of any other player. His resolve and his fire is unmatched. And as Andy Roddick found this week, it’s best to be quiet before playing Federer as he doesn’t take lightly verbal challenges from those who he considers less than gracious, less than his equal.
In an interview aired during the final against Gonzalez, Federer bluntly said he is the dominant player on the tour. To prove his point he beat, in straight sets, a player in Fernando Gonzalez who, if not for Roger’s presence, would probably be gazing at the Australian Open winner’s trophy in his hotel room right now.
Instead, after 21 sets of tennis, Roger Federer is on his way to his home away from home in Dubai, a tenth grand slam trophy his and a beaten, demoralized field left to ponder how to justify accepting no better than being a runner-up.
When a Grizzled Vets Speaks…
Charlie Rosen wrote the, “You can’t write that!” line. It’s that line that inspires the quietest of white folk to rise up all indignant and full of self-righteousness. That line that, when they think about it on a walk alone at night they bust out with a “Hey!” to no one at all, as if their mind-to-mouth connection was remote controlled.
Rosen’s comment should be immortalized on the blogsphere – and further immortalized in the national sports-NBA media. But it won’t be – at least not in the national media. Hopefully the real hoops heads will fill the internets tubes with comments about this truth.
That truth? It’s the first question onthe most recent FOX Sports NBA Mailbag with Charlie Rosen:
The question…
Hi, Charley. I enjoy your excellent no-nonsense critiques of the NBA and its players. I have a couple of questions about the Celtics. Whatever happened to Sebastian Telfair? Wasn’t he supposed to be the Celtics point guard of the future? Shouldn’t Rajon Rondo start ahead of Delonte West? And why does Rivers insist on playing Wally so much? Much thanks. — Adam
The answer…
Telfair is a much better passer on the run than he is in half-court situations. And since the Celtics do not have the wherewithal to run, the best part of his game is rendered useless. His outside shooting is iffy, he makes too many bad decisions with the ball, and he can’t defend. Why, then, did Ainge make such a lopsided deal to get him? Beats me.
Rondo is quick and has the capabilities of someday being a lockdown defender. Someday. For now, he has too much trouble putting the ball in the basket to rate a starting position. West can shoot, has the requisite experience, and is tougher than he looks.
Not-so-wonderful-Wally has to play for several reasons, not the least of which is his gargantuan contract. But the biggest reason is a matter of pigmentation. Think Hondo. Think Cowens. Think McHale. Think Bird. Think Boston. (bold and italics mine)
Think Up South. Know it’s for real – and not just in Beantown.
Other awesome quotes from Rosen’s Mailbag….
On player IQ:
“By my lights, here are the most intelligent NBA players I’ve ever seen: Nash and Kidd, for sure. Also Jerry Lucas, Larry Bird, Lenny Wilkens, Bill Walton and Bill Bradley, plus both Nate and Jim McMillian….”
On MVP voting:
I can only repeat what I’ve been saying for all these years — that the entire concept of a most valuable player is absurd, and exists only to create controversy (and attention) in the media. I mean, what are the criteria for an MVP? The best player on the best team? The best player in the league? Is a scorer better than a rebounder? Is a passer better than a top-notch defender? Who’s to say which player, and the role he happens to play, is more or less indispensable than another?
So count me out of any discussion that perpetuates the MVP hype.
On Ex-Celtics (and great players, in general) as GMs:
[Danny] Ainge is simply as lost as a sneeze in a windstorm.
On Flip Saunder’s inability to inspire the Pistons’ players:
…when Saunders’ rants, raves and chews his players out for making egregious mistakes, or not hustling, or not being prepared to play, too many of them fail to take him seriously….
And check out his sideline chin-twitch, surely a sign of undue psychic distress.
On charging calls:
Because too many referees don’t have a high enough basketball IQ (there’s that phrase again!) to truly understand the development of a play, however, they tend to favor the offense — and calling charges is a cheap way of evening out their bias. And that’s why there’s so much flopping going on.
Blame the referees for not being able to discern advantageous from incidental contact.
On the best five players never to grace an NBA arena:
The absolutely best player who never played in the NBA has to be Bob “Foothills” Kurland, a shot-blocking 7-footer who anchored back-to-back NCAA championships in 1945 and 1946 for Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State).
The second best was Sherman White. In the late 40s at LIU, White was simply the finest hooper in the game. He was 6-8 but could handle and run like a guard. Indeed, White was the progenitor of all the high-flyers that succeeded him: Julius Erving, Connie Hawkins, Michael Jordan, as well as the current batch.
Floyd Layne was an extremely talented guard for the CCNY double-championship team in 1950, who was also denied the opportunity to play in the NBA.
Johnny O’Brien was a high-scoring 5-9 pivotman from Seattle U. who couldn’t make the transition.
And then there was Len Bias.
(I know Rosen’s talking about college players, but the question left it open for any player. And from the old heads I knew in Chocolate City who made the pilgramages to various playgrounds around the country, and believe me there are many, the best player all of them saw was Earl Manigault.)
When a Grizzled Vets Speaks…
Charlie Rosen wrote the, “You can’t write that!” line. It’s that line that inspires the quietest of white folk to rise up all indignant and full of self-righteousness. That line that, when they think about it on a walk alone at night they bust out with a “Hey!” to no one at all, as if their mind-to-mouth connection was remote controlled.
Rosen’s comment should be immortalized on the blogsphere – and further immortalized in the national sports-NBA media. But it won’t be – at least not in the national media. Hopefully the real hoops heads will fill the internets tubes with comments about this truth.
That truth? It’s the first question onthe most recent FOX Sports NBA Mailbag with Charlie Rosen:
The question…
Hi, Charley. I enjoy your excellent no-nonsense critiques of the NBA and its players. I have a couple of questions about the Celtics. Whatever happened to Sebastian Telfair? Wasn’t he supposed to be the Celtics point guard of the future? Shouldn’t Rajon Rondo start ahead of Delonte West? And why does Rivers insist on playing Wally so much? Much thanks. — Adam
The answer…
Telfair is a much better passer on the run than he is in half-court situations. And since the Celtics do not have the wherewithal to run, the best part of his game is rendered useless. His outside shooting is iffy, he makes too many bad decisions with the ball, and he can’t defend. Why, then, did Ainge make such a lopsided deal to get him? Beats me.
Rondo is quick and has the capabilities of someday being a lockdown defender. Someday. For now, he has too much trouble putting the ball in the basket to rate a starting position. West can shoot, has the requisite experience, and is tougher than he looks.
Not-so-wonderful-Wally has to play for several reasons, not the least of which is his gargantuan contract. But the biggest reason is a matter of pigmentation. Think Hondo. Think Cowens. Think McHale. Think Bird. Think Boston. (bold and italics mine)
Think Up South. Know it’s for real – and not just in Beantown.
Other awesome quotes from Rosen’s Mailbag….
On player IQ:
“By my lights, here are the most intelligent NBA players I’ve ever seen: Nash and Kidd, for sure. Also Jerry Lucas, Larry Bird, Lenny Wilkens, Bill Walton and Bill Bradley, plus both Nate and Jim McMillian….”
On MVP voting:
I can only repeat what I’ve been saying for all these years — that the entire concept of a most valuable player is absurd, and exists only to create controversy (and attention) in the media. I mean, what are the criteria for an MVP? The best player on the best team? The best player in the league? Is a scorer better than a rebounder? Is a passer better than a top-notch defender? Who’s to say which player, and the role he happens to play, is more or less indispensable than another?
So count me out of any discussion that perpetuates the MVP hype.
On Ex-Celtics (and great players, in general) as GMs:
[Danny] Ainge is simply as lost as a sneeze in a windstorm.
On Flip Saunder’s inability to inspire the Pistons’ players:
…when Saunders’ rants, raves and chews his players out for making egregious mistakes, or not hustling, or not being prepared to play, too many of them fail to take him seriously….
And check out his sideline chin-twitch, surely a sign of undue psychic distress.
On charging calls:
Because too many referees don’t have a high enough basketball IQ (there’s that phrase again!) to truly understand the development of a play, however, they tend to favor the offense — and calling charges is a cheap way of evening out their bias. And that’s why there’s so much flopping going on.
Blame the referees for not being able to discern advantageous from incidental contact.
On the best five players never to grace an NBA arena:
The absolutely best player who never played in the NBA has to be Bob “Foothills” Kurland, a shot-blocking 7-footer who anchored back-to-back NCAA championships in 1945 and 1946 for Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State).
The second best was Sherman White. In the late 40s at LIU, White was simply the finest hooper in the game. He was 6-8 but could handle and run like a guard. Indeed, White was the progenitor of all the high-flyers that succeeded him: Julius Erving, Connie Hawkins, Michael Jordan, as well as the current batch.
Floyd Layne was an extremely talented guard for the CCNY double-championship team in 1950, who was also denied the opportunity to play in the NBA.
Johnny O’Brien was a high-scoring 5-9 pivotman from Seattle U. who couldn’t make the transition.
And then there was Len Bias.
(I know Rosen’s talking about college players, but the question left it open for any player. And from the old heads I knew in Chocolate City who made the pilgramages to various playgrounds around the country, and believe me there are many, the best player all of them saw was Earl Manigault.)
Sharapova’s Heart Got Stole (thanks, Serena); A Very Brief Note on the Men’s Final
Serena Williams, Australian Open champion. It has a nice ring to it – and a proper one.
I am relieved Maria Sharapova did not emerge victorious for one reason; a Sharapova win would have too clearly illustrated the paucity of real tennis players in the women’s ranks. As I wrote in an earlier post this week, women’s tennis has few quality players in its ranks. And I don’t mean women without quality strokes, I mean players who are able to think their way through a match without succumbing to the perceived emotional stress of the moment. Those who watched the Williams-Sharapova final witnessed this with Sharapova. Sure, she was woman-handled in the first set by Serena. But rather than take the few seconds of introspection it requires to realize that the manner in which she normally plays is not working, Sharapova instead decided to pack in her sticks and wait impatiently for the match’s end. Cursory thought was all that was required to understand, or remember, that Serena relishes playing against an opponent who feels she can overpower her and that the way to mute her power is to feed her – nothing.
Serena said she watched the video of Fernando Gonzalez dismantling Tommy Haas. Sharapova would have bee well-served to watch Gonzo’s dismantling of Rafael Nadal. Through a viewing of that match she would have witnessed the blueprint for beating, or at least leveling the playing field, Williams. Gonzalez first showed Nadal that he was going to make the effort to run down each and every shot Nadal hit. Second, Gonzalez hit slice backhand after slice backhand to Nadal, thereby forcing Raffa to generate his own pace to keep his shots deep and hard. Gonzalez then hit his fair share of soft, looping forehands to Nadal, providing him with time, but again making Nadal generate his own pace.
It takes a visible toll on a tennis player when he or she must swing harder than normal to create as opposed to redirecting the pace of the oncoming shot. Think of it as Ali rope-a-doping George Foreman in Zaire. Gonzo, for the most part, absorbed Nadal’s blows and when Nadal served up a short groundstroke offering, Fernando blasted it harder than anything Nadal showed. And the fear and disconsolation with knowing his game wasn’t, as it stands, enough to beat a fearless thinking player was written all over Nadal’s body.
This is what Sharapova could have done to Serena Williams.
And this is why shooting commercials and endorsing products around the globe has no place in a 17 to 19-year old’s life. Maria Sharapova has won too often against a diluted women’s field to know her weaknesses. She doesn’t know that her forehand is an abominations and that under pressure it will, because the stroke is not fundamentally sound, betray her when matches are close and a player must know with certainty that their technique will carry them through their nerves. By winning so much, so easily, she hasn’t learned how to think on a tennis court beyond running an opponent side-to-side until she forces an error. She hasn’t developed the touch required to come to net and hit angled volleys or to take a short groundstroke against a retreating opponent and always be able to execute a drop shot should she choose.
Maria Sharapova has not learned how to play tennis. But perhaps with this debilitating beat down at the strokes and will of Serena Williams, Sharapova and her omnipresent and seemingly tennis stupid father got the message that between now and late-February and early March, Maria must head back to the woodshed and expand her game.
Oh yeah, and to the rest of women’s tennis, let it be known that, other than perhaps at the French Open, where savvy dirtballers with limited games rule, all the other majors (barring injury, or an unforeseen family death) belong to Serena Williams.
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On the Men’s Final tip: Do Not be surprised if Fernando Gonzalez beats Roger Federer. ‘Nando fears no player – not even Federer. He knows he has enough speed to match Roger and enough variety in his game to match Fed, pretty much, stroke for stroke. If he can get into Federer’s head, he will win. Conversely, if Federer feels good from the beginning of the match, he will fight off the game Chilean.
NBA Thoughts: a Liz Robbins-fest; Sports Media Watch Lays the NBA Bare; Cubes Speaks; Skip Bayless Goes Nazi
Damn Liz Robbins of the New York Times went slam off this week and wrote like 4500 words! Well, looking around the blogsphere at some websites, 4500 ain’t that much for a week, but when you’re attempting to free Darko (all puns intended as a nod to Shoals & the fellas) in mainstream print and riding on the “White Chocolate Thunder Love Plane” (complete with extra-long flexi-straws so a writer can continue sucking from their home office) with the Phoenix Suns, you are puttin’ in work (as a garden tool with clear heels?).
But the question is, what did she really say? Robbins asks the question of the year of any athlete who hasn’t reached his/her potential, but is full of it – ummm, potential, that is:
“But what kind of responsibility does Milicic take for his career?”
I’m ready to read Darko’s deepest thoughts from the darko corners of his Serbia-informed mind. Instead, this is what we get for an answer:
“Everybody wants Darko to be very good,” Magic General Manager Otis Smith said in a telephone interview this week. “But Darko will only be as good as he wants to be.”
No no no !!! That quote wasn’t there. After that question?! Was it – really and truly?! Yes, sadly it was. Maybe she was thinking more about the potential for debauchery, Victoria Island style. So, let’s track the Phoenix articles and get the real scoop (oops “scoop” equals Jackson to NBA bloggers – if my blog gets hacked, blame it on Yay Sports! – just jibin’).
The only item of sorta-interest from the Milicic piece was the following:
If Milicic was once the target of laughter, he now displays the ability to have people laugh with him. Ask him for an impression of another outsider, albeit a fictional one, and he will hilariously mimic Borat, the Sacha Baron Cohen character in a popular movie.
“He is a great guy, a fun person to be around, keeps us laughing,” Howard said. “He’s always looking to clown around. Once he gets his confidence, the sky’s the limit for him.”
Darko gives good Borat and the sky’s the limit for him. Thanks Liz.
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The paragraph following her lead to the article, Suns Work Hard to Make Their Games Look That Fun hints at the bias of the piece to follow:
They are this decade’s incarnation of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Showtime, averaging a crowd-pleasing, league-high 111.9 points per game, connecting on more 3-pointers than any team in the league and leaving opponents breathless while they have extended their winning streak to a league-best 14 games.
Slurp, slurp. Robbins did not cover the 1980s Lakers, and I’m unsure whether or not she watched them that closely. The Suns’ interchangeable parts (other than Amare) and lack of overall size remind me of the films I’ve seen of the late 1950s, early 1960s Boston Celtics with Bob Cousy and Bill Russell as Steve Nash’s and Amare Stoudamire’s granddaddies. Seriously. The 80s Lakes, with their ability to play grind it out half court ball whenever they wanted and run whenever they needed, were a different beast altogether.
So, we’re off to a less-than auspicious start.
Let’s see, the Suns like to run (yawn) Steve Nash, at 33, shows no signs of slowing down (except when his back blows up later in the season and into the playoffs), and Amare makes the Suns a better team. Illuminating. Oh oh, I forgot to add that Robbins informs us that not all of Phoenix’s players are as fast as Leandro Barbosa and Stoudemire:
“We have two of the fastest guys in the league in Marion and L. B.,” D’Antoni said of Shawn Marion and the sixth man, guard Leandro Barbosa.
“Amare, he’s probably the fastest five and most powerful on the move. Steve is an Energizer bunny and Raja, too,” D’Antoni added. “They’re not extra fast but going and going and going. And that makes us tough to handle. And Boris, he hides his speed. He has the best vertical jump on the team.”
But Liz does get one good quote – from Gilbert Arenas:
“That’s the type of basketball I like, up and down, no rules to the game, you need that once in a while,” the Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas said before the game. “When you see them on TV, you want to watch them, you want to watch Nash dribble around and see what passes he can make.”
Her article, titled, For Nash, 3M.V.P.’s Can’t Take Place of Title, is the best of her third week in January NBA triumvirate.
I’ve been a critic of “Little Stevie Wonder-Nash.” Naw, that’s not even fair. I’ve slammed Nash. Ciphered his stats into oblivion. Got in cross-country pissing contests with NBA-only bloggers about B.C.’s second most wanted import. Attributed his two MVP awards to white mainstream media bias (which I maintain is most def’, in part, true).
But.
I’ll step off Mr. Nash as a baller. I’m almost always one to take the word on an insider, a coach, an athlete or ex-athlete, or GM, over the word of me, another blogger, or the most-respected sportswriter in the country. And I will do the same now. Check out what Russ, that is Bill Russell, had to say about the man I will henceforth refer to as, “Mr. Nash” or “Mr. Steve Nash” or “Little Stevie Fingertips” (for his role in getting the Sam’s Microfiber Club Quasi-Euro-Ball” banished to appearances on NBA and NBA-related commercials filmed prior to the start of the season):
“I think, on the world stage, he’s one of our great athletes in all sports,” Russell said last night by telephone. “I’m a big fan. The two M.V.P.’s he got, he deserved. Part of the reason that he’s so good and so effective is that the guys like playing with him. He creates an atmosphere where they win games.”
Unfortunately, “Mr. Salty,” Isiah Thomas, who still isn’t given his due as one of the three best PGs ever (Magic and Clyde being one and two, Isiah three, Couz and Mr. Nash tied for fourth) chimed in with just a bit more than a touch of bitterness:
And yet, when asked if Nash needed to win an N.B.A. title to be considered great, Thomas said that the M.V.P. award used to have different criteria.
“When I came in, you had to win; that was the bar that the media set,” Thomas said last night before Nash had 22 points and 14 assists. “It was always to me — what Cousy won. Till you win, you can’t be talked about in the same breath as Cousy.”
Then Russ comes back with the comeback:
Russell won 6 of his 11 titles with Bob Cousy at point guard, including in 1956-57, the only season Cousy won his M.V.P. award. Russell said that Thomas’s argument was legitimate, but that Nash’s lack of a title did not diminish his accolades.
“I think that the M.V.P. is for the regular season,” Russell said. “I will say this — first of all, his career is not over. A lot of guys that won championships, they won it after their prime.
And a lot of guys did not win it at all, he added. “Do you consider Charles Barkley great?” said Russell, 72, who was also the M.V.P. in 1957-58 and 1964-65. “You have to consider the body of their work. I’ve been watching the N.B.A. since 1950. And so I’ve known what I was watching, and Steve Nash is one of the guys that stands out over that period.”
Russell went on to provide me, at least, with the ultimate insider quote on the criteria set for dispensing MVP awards:
Russell said he was curious to see how the rest of the season unfolds for Nash and the Suns. In New York to attend a board meeting of his foundation, the National Mentoring Partnership, Russell dismissed talk of Nash’s suspect defense. It is not as if Nash is the only superstar whose defense has been questioned.
“Get in line,” Russell said.
Finally, Mr. Russell inadvertently backed up my earlier statement about the nature of the Suns and what team they are most like:
Asked if Russell would have loved to have played with Nash, he answered with a chuckle. “I played with a guy just like that — and it was fun,” Russell said.
Bob Cousy had something, however, that Nash does not have, Russell added: “He had me.”
Hope ya heard your graddaddy, Amare.
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IMHO, Every true NBA head should read Sports Media Watch’s two-part series on the demise of the NBA: The ABCs of ruining the NBA, Part 1 and Part 2.
They expose the Disney-owned ABC-ESPN production for the sham that is. The two-parter begins with a series of body blows:
On June 12, 2002, the NBA died. That was the night of Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals, when the Los Angeles Lakers finished off the overmatched New Jersey Nets. That was also the last night that NBC Sports aired an NBA game.
Since that night, NBA ratings have plummeted. The amount of games on network television have done the same. Only six NBA games since that night have averaged a rating of 10 or higher, and no games have had a rating higher than 13.8.
and…
9 million viewers is the high watermark for ABC (outside of the NBA Finals). It has only been reached once (the second most viewed non-Finals game on ABC was Cavs/Pistons Game 7 last year, with 8.8 million viewers). NBC had at least 9 million viewers nine times in 2002.
Damn.
But Part 2 comes with a sweet jab, jab, overhand right combination that sends David Stern’s decision to air NBA games on anything ABC or ESPN-related spinning. and a sweeping left hook sends the Stern decision to the canvas for the duration.
Jab one:
In the immediate aftermath of a big shot, ABC always cuts away to a player on the bench, one of the coaches, or a group of fans — usually so quickly that it doesn’t allow for the viewer at home to even sink in what just happened on the court. It was especially bad during the 2006 NBA Finals, when several clutch shots were followed by an abrupt split screen between Avery Johnson and Pat Riley, the respective coaches. Those shots interrupt the flow of the game telecast, not that this matters to ABC.
Reaction shots don’t just come after big plays. ABC routinely cut to attractive women in the stands in its early years of covering the NBA; during the 2003 NBA Playoffs, it was almost guaranteed that when any player hit any type of shot, the viewer was about to be treated to a pair of breasts attached to some woman in the stands.
Jab two:
Do The Pussycat Dolls mean NBA basketball? Do The Pussycat Dolls watch NBA basketball? Likely not; one of their members wears an outdated #8 Kobe Bryant jersey in their NBA on ABC music video. Who is ABC targeting with The Pussycat Dolls? Their music does not resonate with most sports fans. One would assume that the network is once again attempting to draw the casual fan.
ABC attempted to draw casual fans in 2004, when the network hired Justin Timberlake to sing “Can’t Get Enough” as the theme song for NBA telecasts. ABC did it again later that year, with The Black Eyed Peas. And again in 2005 with Destiny’s Child and Rob Thomas. And yet again in 2006 with Tom Petty.
These musical selections were not made for NBA fans. Only The Black Eyed Peas have any true appeal to the 18-34 male demographic that watches the NBA. Just as ABC’s camera shots marginalize the game itself, the network’s music choices marginalize the game’s hardcore fans — alienating them in the hopes that some twelve year old girl will hear music she likes and stick around to watch the rest of the game.
Overhand right:
So maybe Floorcam and The Pussycat Dolls aren’t to blame. Maybe it has more to do with a general philosophy at ESPN and ABC, one that seems to designate that the NBA is simply not a big deal. The epitome of that belief was Al Michaels, who broadcast the 2004 and 2005 NBA Finals for the network.
Al Michaels deemed the NBA so important that he decided to roll out of bed six times a year during the regular season. Not only that, but of the thirteen total regular season games he broadcast, eleven of them were in Los Angeles or Sacramento. Michaels lives in LA. One would suppose then that the NBA and ABC were scheduling games around Michaels’ living conditions; in 2005, when the Lakers were out of contention, ABC didn’t bother to drop any of the team’s games, even one against the Kings — when both teams were doing terribly. To pay the NBA and ABC back for their kindness, Michaels apparently decided to sleep in on the day of Game 1 of the 2005 Western Conference Finals, which was on ABC’s air.
Michaels was the voice of the NBA, and his decision making made it clear to America how much he valued the league. America returned the sentiment in kind, as only 8.2 percent of the viewing public tuned into the 2005 NBA Finals — the last that Michaels broadcast.
And the left hook:
Constant change means bad decision making. And bad decision making means that the people in charge of the NBA on ABC don’t know what they are doing in the first place. Mike Pearl, the man in charge of the NBA on ABC, somehow managed to help craft the gold standard over at TNT. Unfortunately for NBA fans, he has not had the same success at ABC….
Considering how awful a job the network has done with the NBA, one tends to wonder if this isn’t just some sort of massive conspiracy to take down the league; no network can be so horrible by accident.
Stern is down! Stern is Down! Stern is down!
And so too will be his product if he continues with his present course of actions.
Oh Yeah: I know it’s everywhere, but it’s worth repeating:
“David Stern is the NBA. … There’s a lot of things he’s just amazing at, he’s great at, and then there’s certain areas where I think he sucks. … I’m sure he feels the same way about me.”
— Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, on NBA Commissioner David Stern (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 1/25).
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Finally, on a Skp Bayless, “First and Ten” note, quote:
“I think all professional athletes should give up their right to provacy and take a drug test once a week.”
Sieg Heil, Bayless, you bitch.
Sports Goggles 