Jack’s Blog

It’s off to SoCal and an AAU tournament - the first that son Alex will perform before NCAA coaches.  No pressure on him.  How he does could determine the course of his life - for the next 50+ years.  Relax and enjoy it.  Jack’s Blog will return Sunday.

Yeah, it’s good news - for David Lee.  We often hear about “character” guys in professional sports.  David Lee is the poster child for character guys.   No one with the talent Lee possesses and the effort he exerts - every night - should be stuck in such a mess as is the current Bockers.  Now that they’ve shelled out a max contract for Stoudamire, the Knicks will be forced to let Lee go.  Hooray for Lee! 

Some have asked why Amar’e would go to a club like the Knicks - a perennial loser with awful chemistry, led by Stoudamire’s former coach (whom he butted heads with often in Phoenix) and with no one at the point closely resembling Steve Nash?  Amar’e is considered a defensive liability - so that would explain why he’d want to play for Mike D’Antoni, a brilliant offensive mind who feels defense is something to be tolerated until you can get the ball back.  As for his feelings for Nash, please see my 7/1/10 post regarding Amar’e and it will explain why he doesn’t mind leaving his meal ticket.  Hint: I think he felt if anyone was anyone’s meal ticket, he (Amar’e) was the benefactor.  

Money is the one word answer that explains his decision.  In most players’ minds, that’s what matters.  “Rings” may separate players from each other but money is what separates them from the rest of society - especially the “haters” as they’re referred to.  Teachers are often placed in that category.  And why shouldn’t money be a determining factor?  After all, only one team is going to win the championship and each team begins the year as a 29:1 underdog.

Plus, should there be a lockout after next season, as many expect, Stoudamire doesn’t exactly possess an abundance of skills outside of those that make him one of the game’s best power players, so to lock in that kind of cash sets him up for life.  All his talk at the press conference about the tradition of the Knicks, being in New York and winning championships means squat when someone is putting a nine-figure deal in front of you.  Ditto for Joe Johnson and his agent’s spiel about how, now that Joe inked a max deal - 6 years for $120 million (put your arms around those numbers), his next move is to woo other stars to join him in Atlanta.  Yeah, Joe, the city that’s possibly the worst major market professional sports city in America.  One of the reasons you said you were looking to move.  Could leaving approximately $30 mil on the table had you signed anywhere else have been a factor in you choosing to stay with the Hawks?

Money means a lot to a good portion of society, more so in the NBA because, paraphrasing Mark Victor Hanson:

“Some people tie their self-worth to their net worth.”

As the world knows by now, this is the “Year of the Free Agent.”  Never before has there been so much proven talent available to NBA teams.  Although LeBron James is the pearl of this free agent class, followed by Dwayne Wade and then Chris Bosh, there are several other players who have put up BIG numbers.  And those stats weren’t accumulated during high school, college or even in an overseas professional league.  These figures come out of the NBA office.

Some of the gaudiest totals belong to Amare (excuse me for excluding the accent, but I’m not nearly familiar enough with the fonts, etc. to figure out how to include it) Stoudamire.  Basketball people, media members and fans have often compared Steve Nash and Stoudamire to John Stockton and Karl Malone.  Each duo is composed of a crafty (relatively) little white guard and a physically imposing, skilled black forward - with both of the pairs executing pick & roll basketball to perfection, winning way more games than they lost, yet unable to win a championship.  The comparison is an understandable one.

To briefly make my point (and for those who know me, being brief will be more shocking than had I put the accent in his first name), a major difference I’ve observed between the Stockton-Malone combo and the Nash-Stoudamire pair is that Karl seemed to appreciate John a whole heckuva lot more than Amare does Steve.  “Why?” you might ask.  Since I spent 30 years in the world of college basketball, I tend to overemphasize the importance of “the college experience.”

For quite some time I’ve felt that guys who made the jump directly from high school to the NBA (excluding Kobe Bryant whose “out-of-high-school” education came from growing up in a foreign country) haven’t been exposed to enough of a variety of people, be they of similar age (fellow students) or older (coaches, professors, secretaries, staff, etc.)  While it may not necessarily be the determining factor to greater maturity, in my experiences, those youngsters (for the scope of this blog, from the U.S.) don’t seem as socially ready for NBA life.  This is not to infer that attending a university will mean a college player who enters the NBA will be fully (or, in some cases, even partially) mature, nor will the year(s) spent on a college campus eliminate selfishness from a player.  The counterexamples to that statement would be a figure that could be expressed in scientific notation (with 10’s exponent being a positive number for those technical critics).  It’s just that the social experience, if nothing else, adds a little something extra to a person’s life.

I’m not saying that they learned it at Gonzaga and Louisiana Tech, respectively, but Stockton and Malone seemed to have a unique mutual respect for each other, kind of like, “Sure, I could go it alone and be successful, but I’d never reach the level of proficiency I have without you.”  Maybe it’s my personal prejudice against guys who made the leap directly into the league that’s obscured my hearing but I don’t recall Stoudamire being anywhere near that appreciative of Nash.  While I’m not saying Nash claims he can’t survive without Stoudamire, keep in mind that Amare isn’t the first player for whom Steve has gotten easy looks, i.e. while they’re dynamite together, I believe the big guy needs his current partner more than vice versa.

Stoudamire is reportedly miffed that no one (to date) has offered him a max contract.  Whether my theory is the reason he isn’t receiving the love (and money) he feels he has “earned,” it would still be wise for him to follow the advice of Dr. Christine Northrup:

“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”�

This year is Larry King’s 25th anniversary with CNN.  There can’t be anyone with more connections than Larry King.  He gets nearly everyone he wants on his show.  His guest last Friday night was this (or any other) year’s most sought after NBA free agent, LeBron James.

LeBron, looking extremely relaxed, fit and comfortable (as well as completely recovered from the Cavaliers’ season-ending defeat in the second round of the NBA playoffs), answered the questions Larry (I’ll go to a first-name basis since they’re both referred to as “The King”) posed.  Naturally, a good many of those dealt with his impending decision regarding where he’ll be playing next, and likely, several more years to come.

When Larry brought a small sheet with notes and queried LeBron if he planned on getting together with the other free agents, this being the greatest assembly of talented free agents ever (Wade, Bosh, Stoudemaire, Johnson, Nowitzki, Lee, others) and plotting where each would play, LeBron joked about that being like a “Free Agent Committee.”  Larry agreed, stating that since they all were free agents, the league couldn’t prevent them from doing that - a suggestion I’m sure which was well-received by David Stern.  LeBron, who emphatically agreed with Larry’s crowning him the ringleader of such a group, seemed to think that, while it might not be “to that extent,” it would be intriguing.  I’m not certain LeBron used the word “intriguing,” yet for a guy who never went to college, he was remarkably poised, although he did occasionally butcher the English language as well as repeated the word, “absolutely” a seemingly infinite number of times.

“You go play here and I go here, . . . ” Larry hypothesized, to which LeBron answered something to the extent that it would be interesting for those guys to get together and do what they could to improve the league, another welcome idea for Stern and the league office to ponder.  Just for kicks, let’s say that these “power-brokers” in fact did decide to plot each other’s course - naturally, with the sole intention of making the league stronger. 

LeBron even mentioned that if it were baseball, they all could go to the same team.  (Hey, why not send Bud Selig to the asylum to give David Stern some company)?  Since they couldn’t, LeBron did propose that some guys could pair up while others would go to locations to be determined by this new cartel.  Since there are 30 NBA teams and, at last count, there aren’t nearly that many free agents who could improve all of the franchises, how, exactly, would this news be welcomed in one of the have-not cities?  Sounds like the makings of a sequel for George Orwell.

As far as where LeBron might wind up, does anybody else find it strange that the Cavs fired their coach and Danny Ferry, their GM, just resigned?  Could those moves mean that, in addition to being able to offer LeBron more money than anyone else, Cleveland might just let him have “considerable” say to who the new coach and general manager would be?  The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken after actress Gena Rowlands who once said:

“I can never have a poker face.  Anybody looking at me can tell exactly what I’m thinking.”        �

After the first two games of each conference finals, it looked like both were complete mismatches.  Coaches from the Lakers and the Celtics, although they’d never admit it, might have even begun to think about matchups and preparations for the impending NBA finals.

Then Game Three of the Western Conference finals began and the left-for-dead Phoenix Suns rose from the ashes to beat the visiting Lakers.  It was Pat Riley who said, “In the playoffs, nothing happens until a visiting team wins a game.”  So far, that hasn’t occurred in this series.  The Suns’ two worst defenders,  Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire (according to Charles Barkley, who ought to know a poor defender when he sees one - and that’s an admission from Sir Charles himself - although he claims he made up for some of his defensive liabilities with ferocious rebounding), have decided to overcome their defensive shortcomings by simply blowing up the offensive end of the floor.

So now the Suns must protect home ice again in order to tie the series and place the pressure back on the Lakers.  Los Angeles, who throttled the Suns with their size and length at home, got a meagdose of exactly why Steve Nash was a two-time NBA MVP and Stoudemire looked every bit the manchild he is known for by scoring and rebounding and scoring and rebounding and . . .

After watching Game Three of the Eastern finals, that series had every mortician in New England pounding on the visiting team’s locker room door.  No one, this blogger included (heck, everyone included - and you can put the Magic players in that group after hearing their post-Game Three comments), gave Orlando an iota of a chance in Game Four.  After all, it was being played in Boston, fans notorious for understanding the importance of putting a team away whenever possible - and then go out and begin liquid celebrations.  

Maybe the Magic sandbagged the Celtics because the visitors started strong, hung in there after falling behind to begin the fourth quarter and even fought off match point after missing their last try for a win in regulation.  Boston rebounded, eschewed a time out and went into FUBAR mode on its turn to prevent OT.  Doc Rivers might be second guessing himself for not calling a time out, if only to rest his guys, who looked their age down the stretch and throughout the overtime period.

Now that series, although 3-1 in favor of the Men in Green, is headed back to DisneyWorld and to fans who thought the next time they’d see their beloved Magic they’d be in street clothes.  Doc has said all year that his guys, who during the regular season blew several late leads, couldn’t stand prosperity.  In these economic times, that reminded me of the quote:

“Most people can’t handle prosperity.  Then again, most people don’t have to.”�

Your team is in the playoffs and you must win.  Forget tomorrow.  The future is now.  Which point guard would you rather have - Rajon Rondo or Steve Nash?  Tough question.

Does it matter who’s on your team?  Maybe these two phenom guards just happen to be perfectly suited for the club they’re currently leading?  Was the franchise built with their skills in mind?  Could the Celtics be even better with Nash?  Or would he dominate the ball too much and lessen the talents of KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen?  What about the Suns with Rondo?  Could they play even faster?  Or would Amare miss his assist machine - although it’s not like Rondo doesn’t drop dimes the way Rockefeller used to.

Wouldn’t it be great if, just for one game, Phoenix would play Boston - with their point guards in each other’s jerseys?  Experience over enthusiasm?  Would Nash get the max out of his new teammates or would Rondo push his guys harder, upping their offensive production, making them even more difficult to beat?

Well, we might as well dream about it because as a line from the X-Files went:

“Dreams are answers to questions we haven’t yet figured out how to ask.”

Every coach, with the exception of Paul Westhead, will tell you great defense is a must if a team plans on winning a championship.  Yet, when a Phoenix Suns game comes on, all the talk is how they’re the number one scoring team in the NBA.  So, it would stand to reason that if they want to win, they’d better light up the scoreboard.

While listening to the talking heads, all the conversation regarding the Suns is about how they have to push the tempo and score in transition.  However, head coach Alvin Gentry has been preaching defense to his club.  Many a commentator has made the statement that a team can’t focus on both offense and defense.  They have to have an identity.

Does Gentry want his team to race the ball, get the opponent in the open court and let Steve Nash dictate the game - penetrate and score, kick it out to three-point shooters or pick and roll with Amare Stoudemire finishing at (or usually above) the rim?

The talk about defense sounds good, but the Suns’ calling card is outscoring the opposition.  Yet, in order to win the championship that’s eluded the franchise, they will at least need stops at crucial times in the game.

All this reminds me of a blog I posted on 7/20/07.  Read it and I think you’ll see the connection:

Consider the quote from the philosopher Goethe:                                                         “Treat people as they are and they will remain as they are.  Treat them as they can and should be and they will become that.”

Now think about the following quote from leadership expert Warren Bennis:
“Accept people as they are, not as you want them to be.”

Obviously, I enjoy reading and collecting quotes from bright, talented and famous people.  These two quotes above appear to be in direction opposition to each other.  How can we make sense of that?  This quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald may explain it:                               �
“The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

One of the industries hardest hit by the economy is college athletics.  With administrators coming to the conclusion (between 30-35 years later, depending on the institution) that when Title IX was passed in 1972, it meant it was a law, something that, if you didn’t follow, you would wind up paying dearly.  

No budget-slashing idea has caught on at the University of Tennessee where they make certain they’re in compliance, yet still manage to find upwards of $3.3 million - for salaries for their assistant football coaches.  That means if the Vols went 13-0 (a respectable year, from the fans’ viewpoint), their football staff, not including head coach Lane Kiffin (whose annual package is in the seven figure category, similar to the way it was when I got there in 1980 - except all seven figures are to the left of the decimal point, not just five of them like it was in those days), would cost the school over a quarter of a million dollars per game - and you’d be hard pressed to find a single soul in Knoxville who wouldn’t think every cent was justified.  Possibly because if they went 0-13, the cost would be even more - the $3.3 mil, plus moving expenses, a nationwide search and even more for the next coaching staff.  Orange might be the favorite color in TN, but green follows closely behind.

On the professional front (for some reason, UT is still considered amateur), Eli Manning recently signed a contract which will pay him an average of $15.3 million annually, exceeding his brother, Peyton’s, contract of $14.17 mil per year.  But don’t feel too sorry for his older bro; he’s more than making up the difference in endorsement dough (a talent he seems to have that might not equal his QB skills, but only because his QB skills are the best in the game - which, by the way, is why his next contract will be even more than Eli’s).  

And there will be a few other signal callers who will sign mega-deals, thanks to Eli - and David Tyree, the receiver who trapped the ball against his helmet, keeping what turned out to be the game winning drive alive - in the Super Bowl!  In the process, it cost me $240 in our annual  pool, which is based on scores of each of the participating teams at the end of each quarter (as if watching the Super Bowl isn’t entertaining enough).  One of my “boxes” (I sprung for $20 for two of them) had the AFC team’s final score ending in 4 and the NFC’s participant ending in 0, so a 14-10 Patriots’ victory would have suited me just fine.  Not because I wanted them to win - a Giants’ 20-14 would have been just as nice. 

So, with all my that money riding on the game, Tyree’s miraculous catch - under that kind of pressure - was nothing short of remarkable.  I guess that’s what separates the great ones from the guys who sit on the edge of their chair, waiting for the game to end, knowing if the Patriots can just shut down the Giants - and close out a 14-10 victory, I get what amounts to someone else making (one of) my February car payments.    

This past basketball season, many teams in the NBA “tightened their purse strings” during the free agency signing period, waiting to open up the pocketbooks and “let the green flow” when next year’s uber-crop of free agents hit the market.  The names of those who won’t have to worry about filling out the short form for quite a while are: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd.

This year’s belt tightening meant Hedo Turkoglu who, at 6′10″ can run the NBA’s offense-du-jour-decade (the pick & roll/pop), left Orlando, where he played more than a bit part in leading the Magic to the NBA Finals, to chase the money - all the way across the border, to Toronto, for the sum of $53 million over five years.  Chicago’s Ben Gordon, this century’s version of Vinnie “the Microwave” Johnson, i.e. a guy who can churn out points in huge numbers in a hurry (at both ends of the floor, but fans only know how many are at the offensive end - because those are the ones that are printed in the paper), turned down a $56 million/5 year offer from the Bulls before the season, then was offered only $51M/5yr following their playoff defeat to the Celtics in an epic seven-game battle.  He showed Chicago - by turning down that puny offer to sign a deal for an additional $4,000,000 from the Detroit Pistons (coincidentally, the Micro’s old squad).  What this means is he actually lost a million from the original offer he turned down.  You’re thinking, “So, he lost a million.  He’s still making an average of $11 mil/year for the next half decade.”  Go ahead, pooh-pooh it.  Just remember, a million here, a million there, it starts to add up.

The “making lemonade out of lemons” award goes to the Lakers who were snubbed by their young, talented forward, Trevor Ariza, a critical piece of their run to the title.  Ariza bolted LA for Houston and its five-year, $33 million offer.  How would the World Champs deal with the depletion of such a critical rotation player?  Simple.  Make the identical offer to Houston’s Ron Artest, essentially trading youth for experience - and, arguably, improving the champs’ roster.  And all it took was $53 million over five years.  Not sure I’d have made that deal but, then again, not having that Super Bowl money Tyree’s catch cost me is probably clouding my thinking.  

But for sheer, unadulterated spendthrifting (if that’s a word - and if it’s not, he could buy its way into Webster’s), Jerry Jones is right where he wants to be - at the top.  The size of scoreboard alone of his newest toy, the football stadium for his Dallas Cowboys, is 160′ x 72′ and weighs 1.2 million pounds - yet isn’t high enough to avoid a booming punt.  Jerry paid $1.15 billion (yeah, the amount Dr. Evil finally came up with) - and, I believe I read somewhere that with transactions such as these, all sales are final.  Somehow, I don’t think Jerry’s going to tire of his hobby anytime soon.  Anything over a cool bil kinda locks you in forever.       

The sporting world seems to have fallen in line with Oscar Wilde’s feeling toward “doing it huge:”

“Moderation is a fatal thing.  Nothing succeeds like excess.” �

In a word: both.  End of debate.

And I don’t see how any unbiased, level-headed individual could see it any other way.  Why so adamant?  Consider the following:

We’re seeing athletic accomplishments today we’ve never seen before - ball handling, passing and shooting (from deep) by players who are as much as a half a foot taller (or more) per position (think about it: how many 6′7″-6′9″ guards did we see 40 years ago?), jumping ability (the game is now played above the rim and players are dunking like never before, be it a can-you-believe-he-got-up-that-high/stayed-up-that-high-for-so-long, or did you see that little guy throw it down?) and the number of eye-catching, physical specimens (while Wilt was considered a physical freak back in his day, he’d be one of many today, e.g. Shaq, LeBron, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudamire and even Ben Wallace, Carlos Boozer, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady).

How did this happen?  Medical and equipment breakthroughs that allow today’s players to eat better, more nuitritional foods (during and in the off-season - prepared by personal chefs, as opposed to the typical NBA player of the ’60s who never gave a second thought that the cigarettes he was smoking might have been harmful to his health); modern strength and conditioning ideas and the hiring of people who monitor such activities; state-of-the-art body building machines, custom made shoes, uniforms that breathe and fit better (the jury’s still out concerning whether today’s “longs” compared to the “shorts” that were worn 40 years ago are an improvement to a player’s game or not); better consistency of the ball used today and in general, improved playing surfaces, rims and overall facilites. 

As far as the selfish aspect, society itself has transformed into a more me-first world, than the total team concept it had long ago.  Several other factors encourage selfish play, including: 1) The lack of power and control coaches now have as compared to what used to be the norm, mostly due to the owners caving in to players’ demands rather than stand by the man they hired. 2) Cable television - now every fan in the nation gets to see all the teams (naturally, the high-profile teams and markets are shown more, but back in the early days, you were fortunate to see your local team) and don’t think each player isn’t vying to be the lead-in to SportsCenter.  When someone throws the perfect, fundamental bounce pass at the end of the break which leads to a layup, can you imagine hearing Stuart “Maybe I ain’t got mad skills, but I’m a still a mega-star” Scott opening with, “Watch this play where the floor leader is okie-dokin’ the bounce pass while the forward is freakin’ the layup.”  3) Maybe the greatest reason for the change to today’s selfish player is - yes, they are probably are necessary and, yes, there are some good ones - the profession known as the sports agent.  At the core of the problem is the fact that the agent is looking after two people’s best interests - the client he represents and the person he loves more than anyone else in the world - himself.  If that’s a hard concept to grasp, remember this: the sole source of income for the agent is the player and to get on someone’s good side (the side that gives you 2, 3, or 4% of his salary, along with 10-15 or maybe even as high as 20% of his endorsements), the agent’s most likely will lean toward the side of, how’s the best way to put it - kissing his client’s ass and saying anything and everything his meal ticket wants, as opposed to ought - to hear.  This is mandated by the fact that he’s one childish tirade (and don’t think for a minute that many of today’s NBA players aren’t just a notch above a child when it comes to disciplining themselves or hearing unflattering remarks) from getting pink-slipped.  In keeping with the realism theme, how many of the agent’s competitors do you think would feel sympathy if their colleague lost a client?  A condolence card would be forthcoming - right after several calls to the, now unrepresented, breadwinner.  4) Escalating (completely out of sight) salaries - see 3).  5) Finally, a new factor has entered the world of the NBA during the past (probably) decade or so - the phenomen known as the player’s posse, usually composed of his high school buddies (you know, all the guys who took the oath, “If one of us makes it, he takes care of all of us”) and the star wasn’t bright enough to see that he was 8″ taller and 100 times more skilled than his “peeps.”  Living the high life using someone else’s cash might be an even better gig than being the star, mainly because you don’t have to produce for your keep.  Just pucker up, tell him how his 2-20 shooting/2 rebounds/6 turnovers night was the coach’s fault and, every once in a while, bring up how much you appreciate “your main man” keeping his word.

Although both sides represent progress (I guess, we’re forced to take one if we want the other), Phil Jackson, in his last (but certainly not his final) book, stated:

“In the 1960s and ’70s, players asked, ‘Where do I fit in?’  Now they ask, ‘How do I get what I want?’  Given this selfish mind-set, it is remarkable, actually, that teams play with any cohesiveness.”

The three candidates are the original one, the one that made it famous and today’s.  Once again, we have entered an unwinnable, unprovable argument.  Still, it’s fun to compare and even more fun to hear it debated - live - at your local pub.

The old-timers point out that team play was at its best back then.  By “back then” we’re including the NBA all the way up to the 1969-70 Knicks and the 1971-72 Lakers.  Proponents will claim that sound fundamentals were more prevalent (admittedly because the players didn’t possess the innate ability of today’s freakish athletes).  Only the best played because there were only eight teams (1960, 14 in 1970), salaries were such that players had off-season jobs - and that didn’t include shooting commercials for endorsement deals - the men played for the true competitive aspect of the sport so winning was of paramount importance (playoff shares weren’t pocket change for the superstars, but coveted income) and guys had roommates on the road.  The people claiming this era say over and over, the game was pure.  Note: it is somewhat of a stretch including the ‘69-’70 Knicks and the ‘71-’72 Lakers in this group but the line had to be drawn somewhere - and it’s my blog.

What wouldn’t be a stretch is making the statement that the best and most dominant team of all-time was Red’s (and Russell’s) Celtics.  A team composed of Cousy, the Jones boys (Sam and K.C.), Ramsey, Heinsohn, Luskie, Nellie (yeah, that Nellie), Satch, Hondo and, of course, the greatest winner ever, Big Russ himself.  Before anyone says that era was simply the NBA’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, consider the ‘69-70 Knicks of Clyde (talk about style & class), Monroe, Bradley, DeBusschere and the captain, Willis Reed and the ‘71-’72 Laker dream team of former great Bill Sharman, made up of the Logo, Elgin, Goodrich and the greatest athlete who ever lived, Wilt. 

Chronologically, the next era was the one that introduced the world to the NBA.  It was the time ruled by the “Showtime” Lakers, the Bad Boys of Motown (that’s Detroit, for those who just recently arrived in this country) and Michael & the Jordanaires.  This is the one that gets my vote because of teamwork, superstars and entertainment value.  It tops the three eras discussed in this blog.  Remember, it’s my blog - feel free to post comments if you agree/disagree.

It was a time of salaries the common folk could understand, if not see in their own pay stub (I still recall the amazement over Magic’s 25-year, $25 million contract with Los Angeles), teams clinging to the idea that roommates helped players bond (which is especially true when those stories are told today), a league that expanded the number of teams but simultaneously expanded the pool of talent, with not only black players as the norm rather than the quota, but also foreign-born players (making it the real world-wide sport).  Teamwork and sizzle could be found when watching the Lakers of Magic, Scott, Worthy, Perkins and Kareem.  Teamwork and muscle were on display when the Pistons won back-to-back titles with cocky, but talent to match Isiah, classy 2 guard Joe Dumars, instant “O” off the bench with the microwave, Vinnie J, the enforcer, Rick Mahorn, the originator of the “pick-and-pop” center (as opposed to “roll”), Bill Laimbeer, and a tatoo-less, relatively normal (i.e. pre-Madonna), rebounding machine named Dennis Rodman.  Putting together teamwork, flash and D - as well as six championships - the Chicago Bulls of Pippen, a less than normal, but still rebounding machine, Rodman, Horace Grant, Ron Harper, shooters Paxson & Kerr, center by committee and the best who ever played, MJ, showed the world how the game was meant to be played.

There was no dearth of confidence during this time, either, as a rookie point guard decided he’d play center when his mentor was injured (and Magic pulled it and the Finals’ MVP off), coupled with the famous (and identical) lines, first by Larry Bird (when, during a time out late in the game, head coach K.C. Jones was hesitant about which play to call), “KC, just give me the bleepin’ ball and everybody get the hell out of the way” to Doug Collins’ explanation in the post-game press conference of the play they called that won it: “We call it the ‘Give the bleepin’ ball to Michael and everybody get the hell out of his way’ play.”  I’m not one who enjoys trash-talking, but at least, back then, you had to be great to do it, not after one shot block become a fool who will stare his opponent down, pound his chest and shout expletives, yet, as one current head coach mentioned recently to his team, be a guy “who hasn’t yet pissed a drop in this league.”

Magic showed us all how a 6′9″ guy could play the point, Bird how the “common man”  type of superstar, someone who wasn’t particularly quick or could jump all that high, could steal an inbounds from a guy as talented and smart as Zeke, feed DJ and win an all but lost contest and MJ could go out night after night and get everyone to want to “Be Like Mike.”

Today’s game, with fewer fundamentals, but greater natural skill (Kobe, KG), with team play taking a back seat to physical, overpowering dominance (Shaq, Amare, Dwight Howard and, of course, LeBron - 275 pound LeBron), yet with a group of point guards from Jason Kidd and Steve Nash to Chris Paul and Derrick Rose as good as any who’ve ever put on a uni - from any era - is still an entertainment phenomena.  To America -and the rest of the world’s - youth, it’s the only basketball they know and it’s more popular than ever.  So how can someone knock the current style of ball - even if there is more jumping teams, complaining publicly about minutes, shots or strategy?  Keep in mind if the internet had been around in earlier times, maybe the eras would be closer to the same in certain areas.  There’s remarkable talent although it’s watered down due to expansion, e.g. Washington, Charlotte and Oklahoma City (is there really a team in Oklahoma City?) makes it possible for teams like the Celtics, Lakers and Cavs to acquire such glossy records.  (Oh yeah, there used to be teams in Fort Wayne and Rochester, huh)?

This type of talk will surely raise blood pressure and bring out loyalties, with everyone having their favorites.  Who knows who’s truly the best?  The best line, by far, that I’ve heard when it came to comparing eras was the one the great Bill Russell said in response to a reporter’s question: “Bill, how do you think you’d compare against the centers of today?”  Big Russ paused, looked at the scribe and calmly said:   

“Young man, I think you have that question backward.”�

Steve Kerr was a star player at the University of Arizona, a golden boy who could do no wrong.  As a pro, he was certainly serviceable, definitely a clutch shooter who has four (straight) championships to prove it.  He is revered in Arizona, so much so that a U of A graduate and fan, Robert Sarver, who bought the Phoenix Suns, fulfilled what probably was a lifelong dream by bringing back the guy he cheered for (idolized?) at U of A to serve in the dual capacity of General Manager/Director of Basketball Operations.

Unfortunately, being a good player and a fan favorite doesn’t amount to a hill of (refried) beans when it comes to handling those two jobs.  While he did pull the trigger on a major deal during the season (as other former “good” players Danny Ainge and Mitch Kupchak did), his happened not to work out as the Suns were eliminated in the first round - in large part because of an unlucky draw - having to play the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.  On his blog, when asked the question of whether he would take the head coaching job, Kerr responded, “I don’t have experience…coaching is a job that requires training and I haven’t coached at any level…In short, I’m not ready.”

Are there parallels to his current positions?  Those jobs would seem to be equally as difficult.  But all that doesn’t matter.  He’s got them and his most pressing problem is finding a replacement for the extremely successful - and popular - Mike D’Antoni who, in a momentary lapse of sanity, took the identical position, but without the identical players, with the New York Knicks.  His main reason was he was really looking forward to working with the Knicks’ version of Steve Kerr, Donnie Walsh.  That could be viewed as an indictment of tampering by Kerr and others in the organization.

Yet, Kerr’s problem is not only finding someone who can coach the Suns.  What he does need, probably first and foremost is to find someone who can relate to and bring out the potential in the most dominant player on their roster - and it’s not the guy he made the deal for (Shaq), but someone of that same physical stature, although a player with no championships to date, Amare Stoudamire.   He’s a stronger, more athletic version of Kevin Garnett, albeit without the leadership skills.  It’s well-known in NBA circles, at least according to the numerous NBA coaches and scouts I’ve spoken with that Stoudamire’s immaturity is the major impediment to his becoming the face of a championship franchise. He has a love affair with dunking and tends to judge his performance based on how many “throw-downs” per game he has.  D-fense is something that comes in between C-fense and E-fense.  (Maybe that’s why the NBA now forces high school kids to spend at least a year in college).  His troubled childhood is well-documented: his father died when he was twelve and his mother’s been in and out of prison.  On his bio page, he claims what kept him going during that time was God and Tupac Shakur.  Finding someone who combines the qualities of those two might be a tad overwhelming.    

Shaq is another story (but, then again, hasn’t he always been)?  On 4/25, I posted a blog claiming we’d seen the end of Shaq.  Can he surprise?  Hasn’t he always?  However, it’s unlikely and here’s why.  Every year season since the 1999-2000 (when he averaged a high of 40 minutes a game), his minutes have gone down (with the exception of ‘02-’03).  He now averages in the high 20’s.  He missed a quarter of the games this past season, half of the games the season before and a quarter of the games the season before that.  Can he come back?  He’s such an amazing speciman that it can’t be ruled out, but time and the pounding a 7′1″, 325 pound, 36-year-old body takes after 16 years in the NBA is a factor that can’t be overlooked.  Throw in the “Hack-a-Shaq” (legal) shots he’s taken as well as the multitude of beatings (illegal) he’s had to endure over that time (and adding to that equation the four championships he has) and the question becomes, “Is there enough motivation?”  His salary is $21 million and even with a costly divorce going on, he’s probably not going to be in need of financial assistance for quite a while.  With or without him, the Suns have problems.

In Steve Nash, the Suns have one of the premier point guards in the league who could probably serve as the team’s “offensive coordinator” while he’s on the floor and mentor Leandro Barbosa or whoever fills in for him while he rests and attempts to milk another grueling NBA season out of a chronically bad back.  Defensively, he’s become somewhat of a liability, especially against the ultra-quick new generation of young NBA points, but he will always account for more, a lot more, points than he gives up.

The rest of the Suns’ roster has promise and they own the 15th pick in the upcoming draft, a selection that should bring in a talented player who ought to be able to contribute, even if it’s not until midway through the season.

So, Kerr needs to find a coach with a true grasp of the defensive end and can get the players to buy in and a babysitter/mentor/motivator/Lord/rapper for Amare, the courage to pay off Shaq and live with the consequences if the big fella becomes more of a distraction/injured list regular/defensive liability (see last year’s playoff performance of defending pick & rolls) and someone to provide Kerr himself with some direction for the jobs he got prior to any true experience.  His current “interview-a-candidate-a-day” philosophy isn’t instilling confidence to the Suns’ faithful. 

One thing he’s definitely not worried about is the old adage that dooms many leaders:

“We’ve never done it that way before.”