Jack’s Blog

The coaching carousel just began, so hop aboard for one of the wildest rides in coaching history.  Although I’m sure it’s happened before (probably within the last year or so), I just can’t recall a time that two jobs like Kentucky and Arizona were open simultaneously.

The buzzards have been circling over Tucson ever since Lute officially announced his retirement, but when UK went public with what most had been thinking was possible, they check mated ‘Zona.  The reason many were surprised at UK’s decision is that 1) very few coaches I know doubt Billy Gillespie’s credentials as a coach - from a recruiting, teaching and motivating point of view and 2) he’d only been there two years.

On the flip side, he never truly understood the magnitude of the job at Kentucky, all the way through his going away press conference.  Throughout his remarks, one had the feeling that this is what he would have said if he’d been fired anywhere.  And that was the rub with the UK supporters.  They don’t - and never will - consider the University of Kentucky “anywhere.”  Since it hasn’t been taken, I somewhat surprised they haven’t changed their name to the University of Nirvana.

One remark he made was “Tough times don’t last but tough people do.”  With all that went on in Lexington this season, the residents didn’t consider it “tough times.”  It was more like Armageddon.  Seasons like this just don’t happen here (sure, once before when the savior, Rick Pitino, descended on campus and did nothing short of parting the bluegrass).  Of course, to the people who took him in and gave him the premier job in all the land, that traitor is still descending and will continue to do so as long as he remains employed on the other side of the state.

Gillespie simply did things that were beneath the dignity of Kentucky basketball - and I’m not just talking about losing to Gardner Webb (granted, that wasn’t something that endeared him to too many, especially those who wear blue everywhere, including the shower).  Offering a scholarship to an eighth grader!  That’s something a school with no class at all - like Indiana - would do.  Why, there’s not an eighth grader in the nation who wouldn’t accept a scholarship to the best ____________(fill in the blank) school in the nation.  UK people might acknowledge their theology and religion program isn’t as good as, say, a church affiliated school’s, and even would reluctantly admit that they didn’t even have one, but, if they did, it would be the best in the nation world!  Piss them off enough, and a few will go into a back room, write some checks, and voila, theology and religion - country style.

Billy never got that.  He knew he was being compensated better than he was at UTEP and Texas A&M (combined), but, just like those schools, sometimes you just have to have a little patience and things will turn around.  What!!!  Patience?  That’s something doctors have, not UK basketball coaches (and certainly not UK’s fans).

I remember scouting a game in Lexington one year (in the mid-’80s while I was an assistant at Tennessee) when their opponent was Mississippi State, who had Jeff Malone, one of the all-time high scoring wing men ever in the SEC, and, at that time, MSU was a very formidable foe.  The Wildcats won by 25 points or so and I can still hear those fans, exiting Rupp Arena, saying, “Now, that’s more like it.”  They weren’t even pleased, they were held at bay and Joe B. Hall had just extended his reprieve - until Saturday.  And he won a National Championship for these people!    

It takes a guy with awfully thick skin, a major league ego (but with the organizational skills, basketball knowledge and recruiting expertise to back it up), who has a total grasp on what the University of Kentucky basketball program means to their faithful. 

Great news, Wildcat fans!  It’s time to rejoice.  In John Calipari, you got exactly what you want, what you’ve become accustomed to and, better yet, a guy who I happen to think is a better choice for UK than all the other names mentioned.

Now the focus turns to the U of A.  Who is perfect for their job?  Not as richly steeped in tradition as the other ‘Cats, this brand of feline feels they’re the updated model of Kentucky, i.e. they are to basketball now, what Kentucky used to be. 

Names?  To start, how about Rick Pitino?  He’s about the age people move to Arizona and there might not be enough room in one state for those two.  Jamie Dixon?  West Coast guy, who could bring a toughness to the Pac-10 that his former boss, Ben Howland, did to the team formerly known as the University of California for Low Achievers.  It didn’t take Ben long to get to the Final Four.  U of A has been (in fact, won it all in 1997) to several Final Fours and Pitt can’t lay claim to that figure.

How about Mark Few - or Jay Wright.  Those two guys are probably where they ought to be.  Remember Jimmy V’s quote from two days ago?  “Don’t mess with happy.”  It seems like these guys are very happy but, then again, so did Calipari at Memphis.  But, as successful as Cal’s been, you have that sneaking suspicion that he adheres to Somerset Maugham’s quote:

It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”Â

It seems every basketball analyst is jumping on the question, “Why in the world did Pitino decide to start the game in zone?”

I’ve known Rick Pitino since 1972, when I was a graduate assistant at the University of Vermont and one of the other Yankee Conference members was UMass, whose backcourt was junior Rick Pitino and senior Al Skinner.  If you think Vermont was overmatched, consider that UConn was also in the league back then.  Like all other college coaches, I’d go to the Five-Star Camp where Rick was a counselor.  Once he entered the coaching profession, our paths would often cross.  On more than one occasion, when all the games were over, coaches would get together and talk X’s and O’s.  No one was more astute, more a student of the game, more analytical, than Rick.  Then, when we started our self-improvement clinic for assistants (see 8/7/08 blog), we got a call from a young coach who was a grad assistant for Rick, asking if he could attend our clinic.  That GA was Jeff Van Gundy and the Rick Pitino stories he told were legendary.  A few were on preparing for upcoming opponents and Jeff, no slouch in the area of understanding the intricacies of, and successfully communicating that information to, his players, said, in no uncertain terms, if two coaches had equal talent and were given the same amount of time to prepare for a game, that if one was Rick Pitino, that’s where Jeff’s money would be - every time - independent of who was coaching the other squad.

The reason for the lengthy intro is that I realize that there are some former coaches (many who sport gaudy records and accomplishments) doing television work now, including Bob Knight, Digger Phelps and, believe it or not, Dick Vitale, who had so much success at the University of Detroit, he parlayed it into taking over the Detroit Pistons (where, and this is not so hard to believe, his rah-rah, win-one-for-the-Gipper approach didn’t work - in a league where each team played 82 games).  Each and every one of them, if not critical of Pitino’s starting the game in zone, mention that it was certainly in Michigan State’s best interest to do exactly that.

One idea that can be put to rest early is that he did it on a whim, that it wasn’t carefully thought out (possibly by the assistant who scouted the Spartans, but who also would have to convince Rick to the point Rick was comfortable with such a move).  Pity that poor guy if, in fact, that was the case.

Pitino was well aware MSU wanted to play a game in the 60s.  He also was well aware of how Tom Izzo so thoroughly prepares his club for a game (especially one that had the implications this one did, i.e. not only winner goes to the Final Four, but goes to one that would be played in Detroit).  Izzo is such a task master - yet so commands the respect of the players - that often, a combination like that turns players into robots, so ready to follow the game plan exactly as they were told, that by not showing it to them right away, it might screw them up a little - so that, shortly after the game began, Louisville could switch to it and shake up the Spartans who wouldn’t be as prepared.  I could be way off base with that analysis, but I can guarantee anyone out there, Rick Pitino had a sound theory as to why he did it.

Then why wouldn’t he come out and explain it, making himself look a little better.  For the same reason when you throw in a poker hand, you don’t let the other players see your cards.  Let them guess if you were bluffing, or got beat with a legit hand. 

One thing I have noticed is that Rick has changed dramatically since he first got into the coaching profession.  Back then, he had the attitude of “I’ll take on all comers; I’m not afraid of anyone, no matter which coaching giant you are or what powerhouse team you have, because I know I can either outcoach you or get my guys to play harder than yours.”  Whether he changed some due to all the success he had (hence, no longer needing to prove anything to anybody), or because of the many tragedies that he and his family were forced to endure (deaths of a young son, his brother-in-law and best friend, Billy Minardi as well as others close to him) or maybe, the humbling experience he had coaching the Boston Celtics (while certainly not all his fault, his detractors chose to look at it that way because of all the money and power he was given in addition to the fallings out he had with some people associated with the “Old Celtics”).  It may have been a combination of these. 

However, keep in mind, I’m positive he never thought that his bunch of terrific athletes would get none - ZERO - fast break points, that Terrence Williams would be shut out in the first half (taking only one shot) or that a team of his would seemingly panic - by taking so many bad shots (I heard a former coach I respect as much as any I’ve known say that if you didn’t know who the team was and who the coach was, you’d have thought it was some guy who just rolled it out there and let the guys do as they wanted).  The ‘Ville was jacking up shots off of one dribble, early in the shot clock, giving their teammates no chance to offensive rebound, since they’d never seen their guys play that way.  And, they were getting outrebounded on essential rebounds - the kind that if you didn’t get, you were assured of losing, i.e. the kind of rebounds that the Cardinals got throughout their late season run.  Hey, you don’t get to be the #1 overall seed by winning a drawing.  That was the reason for a couple of uncharacteristic early times out by Pitino because he could feel at that time the game was getting out of control.  

It looked like Michigan State was the mentally tougher team, something Pitino will have an awfully tough time accepting.  Or maybe, now that the smoke has cleared, Tom Izzo was the better diplomat of the two coaches, if Lester Pearson’s definition of a diplomacy is right:

“Diplomacy is letting someone else have your way.”Â

It’s been said on many occasions that in addition to having excellent coaching and talented players, luck always plays a part in winning NCAA Tournament games.

Take a look, for example, at this year’s Iowa State women’s basketball team.  They played very well in the extremely competitive Big 12, finishing tied for third with Texas A&M at 11-5 in the league, 24-8 overall.  That was good enough to be awarded with a #4 seed.  After a first round win against East Tennessee State, they figured they could be in for a reeeeeal long night trying to keep up with another team from Tennessee, the Lady Vols of UT, #5 in the region, their lowest seeding ever.

However, if #12 seed Ball State thought the basketball gods were smiling down on them, the Lady Cyclones felt a little of that love as well.  No matter what they said, Ball State had to be shocked after they, rather easily, defeated UT - and that’s only to be expected.  ISU defeated Cinderella 71-57 two nights later.  But the magical season was to continue, not because of their play, but because the number one seed, Duke, had been eliminated by Michigan State.  The Spartans were no slouches but, come on now, who would anybody rather play, assuming they wanted to keep playing - a #1 seed or a #9? 

As the game progressed, the answer looked like maybe Duke wouldn’t have been such a bad team to play, as much trouble as Iowa State was having trying to shut down MSU.  But, somehow, the Lady ‘Clones scored 8 points in 70 seconds and the Lady Spartans missed a couple at the end (a little luck involved with that, too, as there could have been a foul called on those shots).  But no matter, the ISU Lady Cyclones march on to the Elite Eight to face #2 seed Stanford.  The forecast needs to be identical to what it’s been thus far for Iowa State - dark at night, followed by light in the morning and patches of luck raining down on the girls from Ames.      

First, I must admit I am a big Lady Cyclones fan.  It’s not because I’m originally from Ames or because I’m fascinated with cyclones.  The ladies’ coach at ISU is Bill Fennelly, whose first head coaching job was at the University of Toledo. 

I got to TU in 1987 and Bill came on in 1988.  Staunch women activists, aka Feminazis, are quick to point out that women must be twice as good as men in the workplace to get a job and, even then, will be paid a lot less than one of their male counterparts.  Well, in order for a man to get a job coaching a women’s basketball team, men would happily settle for having to be twice as good.

I’m not at all saying there’s no inequity in pay between men and women in the work force.  After hearing and reading the research, only people with their minds already made up would deny that there’s a double standard.  And that’s exactly what happened to Bill.

He came into a women’s program with, not only no tradition, but, if memory serves me correctly, Toledo’s women hoopsters never had so much as a winning season!  Bill wasn’t even the favorite.  I know because, when the job opened, I was asked by TU’s senior women’s administrator to call Pat Summitt (since I’d worked at Tennessee from 1980-87) and ask if she had one of her assistants or someone she knew who would be a good candidate.

Pat (whom I’ve said as far back as a quarter of a century ago, could not only coach men, but would be a big winner doing so) told me neither of her female assistants were interested, but one of her former players would be a good choice.  I asked her if she could get the young lady to send in a resume and assured her she would be strongly considered.

Sure enough, the job came down to the former Lady Vol and Bill.  One day, the SWA came into my office and told me Bill Fennelly was the most organized, impressive coach (from style of play, recruiting philosophy and, even, community service ideas) they’d ever interviewed in any sport, men or women.

Bill and I became fast friends, as our philosphies on many issues regarding coaching coincided.  For a few years, we had lunch from Monday through Friday together - in my car, parked in the parking of the local supermarket, x’ing and o’ing in the front seat.  Yet, although his teams won better than 3 out of every 4 games, he couldn’t get anything more than a form rejection letter when the “big” schools had openings - including one team which his Toledo squad had beaten by 60, in their own arena!

He finally caught a break when Gene Smith, the director of athletics at Eastern Michigan (a team in the MAC, the same league in which TU was a member), and a man who would watch EMU’s women’s basketball team, year after year, get punished by Toledo twice a year (unless they played in the MAC Tournament, then it would be three times), was named the AD at Iowa State.  When the women’s basketball coaching position opened, Smith, an African-American and someone who fully understood how difficult, regardless of qualifications, securing a job could be, knew whom he wanted to lead his women’s team. The fact Bill, and his wife, Deb, were both from Iowa, only made the decision that much easier.

How people get jobs isn’t nearly as important as what they do once they start working.  Bill took a Lady Cyclones’ program that, while not in as bad shape as Toledo’s had been over the past several decades, wasn’t exactly considered a plum, and immediately began changing the culture, recruiting better players (mainly shooters, something very integral to his philosophy on how to win if you’re not as physically talented as your opponents) and, most important, winning. 

The Lady ‘Clones are a fixture in March Madness (women’s style) every year and he has a lifetime contract at ISU.  How does that happen?  It’s when the school realizes that they have as good a person as they do a coach, know that he and his family are happy and he’ll continue with the incredible work ethic he’d displayed over his first 8-10 years.  In addition, he is someone who loves the community - and, in turn, is loved by them.  He signed it for the same reasons.  Are there better jobs out there in terms of giving him a chance at the National Championship?  Sure, but as Jimmy Valvano said, when guys used to ask him if they should go after this job or that:

“Don’t mess with happy.”

While tradition is something to be proud of, it’s also something that often clouds reality.  When Tubby Smith finally felt uncomfortable enough at the University of Kentucky - after averaging 27 wins a year and making the NCAA Tournament field every year he was head coach - he left for, of all places, that basketball hotbed, the University of Minnesota, meaning Tubby thought it would be more fun and rewarding (although not from a financial standpoint) coaching at a school, and in a community, known more for hockey and fishing than for hoops.

Kentucky, because they currently own the record for more college basketball wins than any other school in the country, thinks that fact means they’re #1!  A great deal of those victories came a long, long time ago, when, even the most ardent supporter was probably being potty trained.  Since the good ol’ days, hundreds of basketball programs in the country have been trying to match Kentucky’s prowess in the sport.  Don’t look now, UK fans, but North Carolina is about to swoop in and overtake your beloved Wildcats.  No one wants to be the coach at Kentucky when North Carolina passes them for most wins ever.   Can anyone even fathom the amount of pressure on UK’s coach if UNC is one behind and both teams play on the same night?

A couple major factors in becoming a power are: 1) one player (of course, he must be the right one), can raise the level of play - and the win totals - all by himself and 2) it’s not a sport where there is a tremendous amount of money involved - in terms of facilities and equipment.  So, since the Baron, Adolph Rupp, roamed the sidelines, many up and comers and even, some “Johnny-come-lately’s” are creating quite the stir.  Subsequent to the “man in the brown suit” retiring from coaching, teams such as Gonzaga, UNLV and even UConn, have hit the national stage and become powerhouses, the latter two having won National Championships.

Yet, tradition is something we cling to, like the mini-basketball given to every male baby born in the Bluegrass State - a practice no longer legal (and if you don’t believe me, check out the 508 page NCAA manual Jim Calhoun referred to yesterday’s game).  UK basketball got so good it had to move out of their campus facility Memorial Coliseum and  that was so long ago that, the new home, cavernous Rupp Arena is now outdated.

So when it comes to coaching at a place like this, everything is bigger.  Salaries, expectations, media scrutiny, fan involvement in the program (there are a few chapters in the 508 page NCAA Manual strictly devoted to fan invovlement).  When a coach gets the Kentucky job, he’d better be incredibly ready to be overwhelmed with requests for everything and anything, all of which take up valuable time.

Each coach since Rupp - from Joe B. Hall on, seems to have had a presence, all of them incredibly confident and passionate.  When I was an assistant at Tennessee from 1980-87, Joe B. was finishing his tenure as Lexington’s number one most admired/despised man (and some fans were members of both clubs).  I don’t think Joe B. had thought about retiring as coach.  It’s just that he wasn’t the old man, so any loss that wasn’t acceptable (which was every loss) was blamed on him.

At this time, Kentucky had done whatever was necessary to set themselves apart from the rest of the basketball world by constantly one up’ing their competition with ideas the rest of the nation didn’t think of, or do, or couldn’t afford, e.g. Wildcat Lodge (which the NCAA deemed was illegal and subsequently, cancelled all athletics dorms).  Many in the coaching profession used to kid that Kentucky had the best team money could buy.  There were so many stories, undoubtedly most are apocryphal, but even if 95% are fabrications or exaggerations, the other 5% put UK in another world.

I think Kentucky got the reputation that if there was a problem, the answer was throw money at it.  This philosophy carried over to coaches too.  If one wasn’t producing, get rid of him - independent of how much the school (or community members) had to come up with to relieve him of a job they deemed over his head. 

Essentially, Joe B. Hall was forced out (even though he had won a National Championship) and, wouldn’t you know, the year it happened, the Final Four was in Lexington.  Rumors were rampant as to who was coming in to replace Joe B.  Since the annual Coaches’ Convention is held in conjunction with the Final Four, every coach in the country would be there.  It seemed as though cameras were everywhere, especially in the lobby of the coaches’ hotel headquarters.  Sportscasters were interviewing every coach who walked by.  The late Abe Lemons, who coached at Oklahoma City, Texas and Pan American was the all-time funniest coach, as well as most irreverent, who ever prowled the sidelines.  When a reporter asked Abe if he would be interested in the Kentucky job, Abe deadpanned, “Yeah, and they wouldn’t even have to pay me.”  He paused for effect before saying, “All I want is the same deal Rick Robey got.”  Robey was UK’s 6′10″ center and, naturally, paying a player would be the ultimate in breaking the NCAA rules.

The line got a great laugh - from everyone but the UK faithful.  The man who eventually got the job was Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton, who, early in the process, made the statement, “I’d crawl from Fayetteville to Lexington for this job.”  It turned out Sutton, a highly successful coach (one of a only six coaches to take four different college teams to the tourney), would wind up crawling, but it was out of Lexington, as he left in shame, under a cloud of an NCAA investigation.

At this time, long-time head coach C.M. Newton, a UK alum who’d played for Rupp, was UK’s director of athletics.  He knew exactly which coach he wanted to hire.  His choice was Rick Pitino, who had just finished a stint in the NBA, coaching the New York Knicks.  He inherited a program on NCAA probation and immediately captured the hearts of Kentuckians by producing a winner - squeezing every drop of hustle and skill out of them. Eventually, another NCAA Championship banner would be hanged in the rafters.

After Pitino left to coach the Boston Celtics, Newton already had decided who the next coach would be and he felt the guy was a “can’t miss” coach.  Once again, he proved to be a prophet when he selected Orlando “Tubby” Smith, who is responsible for the last NCAA Campionship banner, hanging in Memorial Gymnasium. 

The stress and demands of the job, along with the criticism he started to receive, mainly because he hadn’t won another National Cahmpionship weren’t giving Tubby the ROI (return on investment) he deserved and he must have come to the conclusion it was time to leave.

No problem.  UK had the perfect replacement in one of Pitino’s former Wildcat assistants, none other than back-to-back National Championship coach, Billy Donovan.  Make that one problem.  Donovan turned down his former employer.

Did panic set in?  Or did the university just try to get a workaholic, a coach who was currently successful and someone with a deep passion for the game.  Billy Gillespie turned around the program at UTEP and then left and had accomplished similar results at football-minded Texas A&M.  A quick, whirlwind courtship and UK had their man.

Conflicts would break out due to basketball consuming Gillespie’s life and, suffice to say, the chemistry at UK just doesn’t wasn’t working.  Toss in a trip to the NIT and a recipe for disaster was imminent.  So Gillespie’s gone.  Donovan has already come out with a statement, claiming he’s not interested and the list is Missouri’s Mike Anderson (who’s on a roll and, independent of what anybody says, Missouri has a better shot at getting to the Final Four than about 340 other D-I schools, including Kentucky), John Calipari, Jay Wright, Rick Barnes and Tom Izzo, each of whom are deified in the respective state they’re in and may keep the rumors floating around because of the economic situation in the country.  After the way Tubby Smith left and now, the way Billy Gillespie’s dismissal is being handled, many coaches (particularly the ones who’ve been mentioned), may use the opportunity to interview as leverage.  With all the success those guys have had, UK may or may not get any of the top notch coaches.

One they can have, and a coach with a good, albeit short, track record is UK alum Travis Ford, currently the coach at Oklahoma State.  However, some may see Ford as a Matt Dougherty, an alum of UNC, but whose experience level was limited - and UK fans remember how that situation turned out at Carolina.  Unfortunately, Kentucky doesn’t have a Roy Williams, an alum who had always said the best job in the country and most people in the know felt Roy would eventually wind up at UNC.

The job is not as attractive as it once was.  Today’s kids aren’t as enthused about Kentucky as they were in my day,or even as they were, say, 20 years ago.  The problem with Billy Gillespie was not his coaching and he’s a master recruitier so it looks like there’s not going to be a dearth of talent.  Allegedly, Gillespie’s personality is what expedited his dismissal.  He violated the second half of Jack Welch’s rule:

“If you’re good at what you do and get along with people, you’re 90% of the way there.”

There’s supposedly an old coaching adage that says, “You can’t win in the NCAA Tournament without a great defense.”  I’ve heard this so often I thought it had to be true.  Until a few years ago when I stopped and thought about it.

Sure, it’s true that you can’t win in big games without a great defense.  But you can’t win in big games without a great offense, either.  A couple examples were the Duke-Villanova and Memphis-Missouri games.  Villanova did stifle the Dookies but the Blue Devils had just as difficult time keeping the ‘Cats guards in front of them (a Duke staple for years), because they like to pressure the next pass, which means it’s more difficult to get help over in time to stop drives.  The other area where ‘Nova completely dominated Duke was on the offensive glass.  If someone didn’t know who was coaching that defense, they’d swear blocking out was never taught, much less emphasized.  The truth of the matter was that Jay Wright’s boys was quicker to the glass and anticipated misses better than Coach K’s guys.

As far as Memphis and Mizzou, it’s true that Missouri generates a good deal of their offense from their pressing, trapping D, but they also were taking Coach Cal’s players off the dribble and, unlike the Villanova- Duke contest, it wasn’t because their players were quicker than Memphis’ (as could be said for the ‘Cats vs. the Devils).  Missouri also had more points off the offensive boards than Memphis, something that doesn’t happen too often.

Anytime a team wins as much as a Duke or a Memphis does, people (haters) enjoy when they lose. Which only shows who the real loser is - the critic - because anybody with even a tiny bit of basketball knowledge understand what amazing coaches Mike Krzyzewski and John Calipari are - and how remarkable a job each did this season.

Neither had one of his better teams.  Anyone judging potential success of a team realizes the need for a point guard and Duke has been searching for one since the season started.  Yet, somehow Mike prodded his club to an ACC Tournament Championship without a true point - or at least one he felt comfortable to hand over his team to (as he did with Bobby Hurley and Jason Williams, for a couple of examples).  Mike’s really into the little things, like “body language” and how the guys on the floor interact with each other.  Both were lacking last night, which only goes to show what a sensational coach he is.  Some will feel it’s Coach K’s fault they didn’t go farther and on this, I totally agree.  It’s his fault he set the bar so high these people have come to believe it’s Duke’s bithright to be in the Final Four year after year.  Hey, who wants to go to Detroit during the first week in April anyway?  What are you going to do in your spare time, tour the GM plant?

For Coach Cal, let’s dissect his failure as a coach.  For the fourth year in a row, his team won over 30 games.  This ain’t baseball Memphians.  You only get to play about 35 of ‘em, so try to act graciously in defeat, which you don’t have to face very often.  You still have Graceland and the birthplace of FedEx - two businesses which will always thrive, no matter the economy.  Plus, if we put, side-by-side, the contributions made by you on one side and Cal on the other, toward what’s made the University of Memphis a basketball power, even you would have to admit he has had more of an influence over the team’s incredible success - even if you would have fouled in the waning seconds last year, showing, if only the school’s administration to hire him to coach the season and you to coach the last three seconds of one game), there would be a banner hanging in Fed Ex Arena. 

From a basketball standpoint, it’s been discussed hundreds of times.  In order to go deep in the NCAA’s, a team needs a big post presence, a great wing man and a point guard who can control the tempo of the game and make everyone on the floor better.  The Tigers lost, off of their National Championshop team (minus those unforgettable three seconds): Joey Dorsey ( a guy who looked like he forgot to take the shirt off the hanger before he put it on), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Tayshaun Prince’s clone) and a guy who was the number one pick in the last NBA draft and who will be the NBA Rookie-of-the-Year (if I have to tell you his name, you’re probably reading this blog by mistake - or you lost a bet).  Yet, people in Memphis are disappointed!  Maybe it’s because the Tigers had been annointed the best defensive team in the nation and Missouri just hung a hun and a deuce on them.  Just keep in mind Tiger fans, if Final Four appearances aren’t Duke’s birthright, they sure as hell ain’t yours, y’all.

Seeds held to form in the other two games, although Pitt had to come back yet again to win a game in this tourney.  The Panthers haven’t played a really solid 40 minutes yet in the NCAA Tourney which some folks claim will be their downfall as the competition gets tougher.  Others have the feeling that a team as good as Pitt playing three subpar games only means that they’re due.  I’ll leave the answer to that up to the reader.

The UConn Huskies got just what they needed with this NCAA probe.  What!  Isn’t it a distraction?  Not to these guys.  Their coach, Jim Calhoun, is, by his own admission, a tough Irishman and, since a team takes on the personality of its coach - now there’s an adage that’s absolutely true - nothing better unifies a group of tough guys more than an attack on its family.  Besides, like one of their guys said in the post-game press conference, “When we get out on the floor, we can totally focus on playing basketball” - which is what they do best.

Last night they slugged it out with a tough, but much less talented Purdue club, who finally caved in.  Now it’s back to answering those annoying questions, asked by people over and over again (”Is this NCAA probe a distraction?”)  Please say no, so when you lose, I’ll be able to print the column I already have written.  Or say yes and lose, so I can claim even the players were distracted (same column).  Bottom line: Just lose, baby!

In some cases, the line that’s used with individuals also applies to great teams (and, make no mistake about it, to get this far, you have to be a great team):

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

As I’ve mentioned (so many times, faithful readers are doubtless tired of reading it), I serve as co-host for The Jerry Tarkanian Show every Wednesday night throughout the college basketball season.  Last night, we went over every game in every bracket, up to and including the Final Four and that was what I had planned to write about in this blog - Tark’s picks and his resons for doing so or, simply, his comments on certain games.

What many people also know (and you don’t have to read this blog to know it), Wednesday (last) night was also a huge night for the television show that has captured the attention of the country, American Idol.  If you totaled up all that needed to be done to keep a family functional and, dare I say, thriving, my wife, Jane, does much more than her share of those necessary tasks.  With three men (and even a male dog, in bassett hound, Bubba), you can imagine how much she does and, if she didn’t what a shambles our house lives would be. 

However, when it’s time for American Idol, everything in our family comes to a screeching halt, because Jane, not much for television, is absolutely devoted to that show.  The number of episodes, competitions, performances or whatever it is that makes up Idol that I’ve seen you can count on one hand - and you wouldn’t need to be polydactyl to do it. Last night, I was grading some quizzes in the family room (with the 52″ TV tuned into an NBA game), when she asked me if I was going to continue to grade them in there because, if I was, she’d go back to the bedroom to watch Idol on the new HD flat screen I got for her for Christmas.

When she told me that the songs that were going to be performed were from Motown, I decided I’d keep grading them where I was and join her in watching a show which was playing my favorite music.  The guest stars for the show were Berry Gordy, founder of Motown, and the incomparable William “Smokey” Robinson.

Not only was Motown my favorite type of music (the height of its popularity was during my college years - the late ’60’s to early ’70s), but this reminded me of a great story - one that, somehow, slipped my memory for two and a half years when I would jot down stories that would ultimately make up the contents of my book, Life’s A Joke.

So, I’ll tell it here.  I went from feeling sorry for one of our SC players just before the story, to feeling sorrier for me after I found out the answer.

During the 1993-94 season, we had a freshman guard on the team from Washington, DC named Claude Green.  During the basketball season, the players don’t get much of a break for Xmas, since it occurs during the heart of the season and there are so many (exempt) tournaments going on (meaning the games the teams play does not count against the NCAA limit of 28, or whatever the number was at that time).  Therefore, teams usually find it a great opportunity to take a nice trip and/or go up against some top notch competition just before conference play begins.  Players are fortunate if they get a two, or maximum of a three-day break from hoops.

This brief “vacation” certainly wasn’t feasible from a time or money standpoint for Claude to make a trip all the way across the country.  The day after Xmas, I said to Jane, “Oh, I feel so bad.  I totally forgot about Claude” (who as a freshman, probably was spending the holiday season away from home for the first time in his young life).  We should have invited him to spend it over here.”

Our first day of practice after the break, I made it a point to go up to Claude to apologize for not extending an invitation to our house.  Then I asked him, “Did you survive your first Xmas away from home alright?”

“Yeah,” he replied.  “I went to my girlfriend’s house and I had a great time.  After dinner, we gathered around the piano and sang Xmas carols with her dad.”

One of my jobs, in addition to coaching, scouting and recruiting, was taking care of complimentary tickets, so I got to know the guys’ parents and their girlfriends since the NCAA had started closely monitoring ticket lists because for years, players were selling their tickets to “big hitters” and really cashing in, (obviously a major violation).  It had gotten to be where so much money was changing hands, kids were making their college choice, based on which institution they could make the most money for their tickets.

I did a double take when Claude smiled that, “How about that!” smile after he told me.  I opened my eyes about as wide as they could go and said to him, “You went to Tamla’s house for Xmas!?!”  

He nodded and smiled ear to ear as he walked away.  I felt sorry for him no more, as his girlfriend was Tamla Robinson, daughter of Smokey Robinson.  To this day, it brings a grin to my face when I think of apologizing to him because he missed the opportunity to join Jane, Andy (who had just turned five), Alex (who was two months old) and me for, I think, a spirited game of Chutes & Ladders, and instead, having him be burdened with having to sing Christmas carols around a piano with Bill “Smokey” Robinson.  Wonder if there was a tip jar on the piano?  Nah, probably not. 

I guess Claude subscribed to Emily Dickinson’s theory:

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”       

P.S. Tark’s Final Four picks were Michigan State, Memphis, Pitt and North Carolina.

After President Obama spoke, I watched the “post-game” analysis on both CNN and FOX.  Whether it was Larry King, Anderson Cooper, David Gergens or Paul Begala (CNN) or Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Karl Rove or Dick Morris (FOX), how either of those two stations refuse to admit they have a predetermined, personal bias when any politician, but especially the president, speaks, is not giving the American people enough credit for possessing even one collective brain among us.

Larry King has paid his dues in longevity if nothing else, so he’s got a pass to be open with his political beliefs because he’s been on the air since he covered - live - the Gettysburg Address.  I have to admit I am an ardent admirer of his, if for no other reason than his Rolodex.  He is to getting guests on The Larry King Show what, on a much lesser level, Jerry Tarkanian is to getting guests on his radio show.  I’m sure there were some people who refused to go on with him (I remember Larry discussing the regrets he had regarding people whom he never got to interview - and I know it wasn’t because his people didn’t make an attempt) but that list is a mighty short one.  Same with Tark and coaches.  Each guy has his flaws, but I admire the heck out of both.

As for Cooper, Gergan and Begala, Larry King is making them into household names - outside of their own households.  It’s understandable that each has a belief regarding how the government should function, but they shouldn’t even try to come off as even handed in their comments.  It was overly apparent they began listening to the president last night, waiting for something they could praise.

On the other side, Hannity makes no bones about which side he’s on (according to him, the right side - waaaaaaay right), but, in O’Reilly’s case, he made a point of asking each of his guests (from the left) if they thought his show was presented in a fair manner.  Certainly, it was fair to have both sides represented, but was his assessment and view fair?  Hardly, and it never is - because, when it comes down to it, he’s a conservative.  It’s not a vulgar word, just a descriptive one.  When he listened to the president speak, it was with as jaundiced an ear as the CNN guys did, only he was waiting for something he could pounce on and tear to shreds.  When it comes to political beliefs, he feels all men are created equal, just that some are more equal than others (just like the person he has on frequently, the one God ruined making a perfect asshole by giving her teeth, Ann Coulter).  The amazing thing about both Hannity and O’Reilly (and Coulter) is they do their shows indoors.  Whoever constructed those studios need to be applauded.  How anyone could build something enclosed that would be able to house the egos of those three is remarkable.  But I’d better be careful what I say - O’Reilly will call me a pinhead (since I’m Jewish, I already know, from her appearance on Donnie Deutsch’s The Big Idea, that Coulter sees me as imperfect - and if she’s perfect, I want to be as far from perfect as I can be.  Besides, I have a similar name for those two, but the first part isn’t “pin.”

Rove and Morris are what they are - and both are articulate and well read on the subjects they discuss, Rove having a rather shaky past, but if someone didn’t know, they’d have to find his analysis extremely enlightening.

Speaking of backgrounds - or other flaws in character - it’s almost comical the way each side presents its case for whatever issue is the topic of the day.  The first four men mentioned will constantly refer to President Obama inheriting this mess. to which O’Reilly retorted, “Yeah, but he didn’t inherit AIG.”

When President Bush was in the Oval Office, few people heard O’Reilly saying anything derogatory of the way the economy was handled.  Now, that the worm has turned, it’s time to deflect criticism where it belonged - the absolutely irresponsible job the Bush administration did handling the budget to the absolutely irresponsible job the Obama administration has done with the AIG fiasco.  So it’s not about who is screwing up the country (worse), it’s about placing blame.  And, most of all, … being right.

One note of interest to anyone else who watched both networks.  CNN kept heaping praise on “our own Ed Henry” who asked the president why he waited so long to make a public statement about the AIG mess.  I didn’t think anyone could speak so highly about someone asking a question that, visibly pissed off a guy who few have ever seen ruffled.  That is, until I saw Ed Henry being interviewed and saw how much adulation he had for himself. 

Although CNN made that question out to be the sharpest and most direct asked of a president since Dan Rather asked his famous, “No, sir, are you?” to Richard Nixon, when Nixon asked Rather if he were running for something (public office).  Funny, but that question was never even brought up, never mentioned, on FOX.  Maybe they didn’t hear it.  Or maybe, by acknowledging the “other” station asked it, they would be giving credibility to CNN - and we know that can’t happen, because there’s only room for one “Big Man” (station) on TV. 

Regarding King, Cooper, Hannity or O’Reilly, it’s all about ratings.  Every one of these gentlemen talk about the plight of “Average Joe” and how, whoever’s in power isn’t looking out for us - like those four and the rest of us middle class Americans are getting shafted.  These guys are so far out of our league, if we ever stopped and thought about it, they are nothing more than entertainers.  And high priced entertainers at that.  I wonder if anybody thinks even one of those guys - and now I’m including all eight, and probably every other “regular” on those shows - received a stimulus check last year.

None of the people who are on those shows a number of times as a contributor, has filled out the short form in quite a while.  To them, it’s a game, a ruse, if you will, to inform the public, but mainly to outdo the other guys’ shows so that their ratings are higher, meaning they influence more people than their competitors (and don’t think that they don’t look at their colleagues’ numbers, those who inhabit the same side politically).  It’s a metter of money, fame, ratings, power and ego.

Who’s the winner?  I’m not sure but I can tell you who the loser is - and it’s the guy typing this blog and the people who are kind enough to read it.  It’s been said there’s no “I” in “TEAM.”  True, but there is “ME.”  That’s why the cheer has become:

“T-E-A-M, Goooooo ME!”    Â

Yeaterday’s blog was on a caller to a radio sports talk show and the host of that show talking smack on Tyler Hansbrough.  It’s unknown at this point how this negative publicity has affected Psycho T, but since his team is still alive in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and no NBA personnel happened to be listening to the show (along with 99.95% of the rest of the country), chances are Hansbrough won’t be scratched from the next game - even after being subjected to this brutal attack on his competence as a player.  Considering neither of the two protagonists possess anywhere near his ability (or effort) at what they do, it’s understandable that neither his approach to the next contest nor the point spread will be influenced.  When having such a dialogue, those engaged in it need to be reminded if they’re going to criticize someone, they themselves need to have some credibility.

This brings me to an article I recently read in the April, ‘09 edition of Esquire, a magazine with a great deal of cred.  There were four articles on Tiger Woods and one, in particular, stunned me.  Possibly, it was written tongue in cheek, but as sarcastic as I am (and have been most of my life, having grown up in New Jersey in the ’50s and ’60s), I think I’d be able to pick up on that type of work immediately.  If that is, in fact, the case, then I apologize for leading the readers of this blog astray.

The article was done by Chris Jones and is entitled “My Vacation from Hate.”  That right there is a hint and a half.  It begins with the author commenting on his assignment to write a story on Tiger’s comeback.  He says, in a one sentence paragraph, obviously left by its lonesome to attract the reader’s attention, “I entirely hate Tiger Woods.”

From what follows in this piece of journalistic, albeit well-written, trash is that the hatred sprung from a time when Jones had to follow Woods for about a month in order to do a story on the man who might be the greatest golfer in the history of the sport.  I can almost hear the howls of derision from Chris Jones, rattling off statistics on Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan.  Probably others, too, if his hatred for El Tigre (a moniker I’m certain rattles his cage) is to the magnitude he claims.

In his Esquire article, he nit picks about things as trivial as Tiger’s teeth, his sniffing after he drops a putt, what Tiger calls himself while he’s playing (which I’m sure is meant for Tiger and no one else - I mean, what does Jones think the golfer’s trying to do, impress the writer with the nickname he gives himself because his play isn’t impressive enough?), with Tiger’s attire and the people with him - each of whom is doing the job he’s being paid to do.  He inserts neatly into the middle of the piece the main criticism of Tiger by people who think Tiger (as well as Michael Jordan and, I’m certain, a laundry list of others these complainers could furnish) doesn’t live his life in the manner these people throwing stones would if only they had the opportunity, meaning if they had enough talent to influence.

I’ve never met Tiger but, for the past seven summers, I’ve worked Michael Jordan’s Flight School, a summer camp in Santa Barbara, in which there are two sessions of approximately 750 youngsters in each.  On the second day of each session, MJ sits and takes pictures - with each of the 64 teams (8 per league, 8 leagues) and an individual picture with the coach.  Also getting in line for “Michael & Me” pictures are the eight commissioners, directors and co-directors, trainers, security and equipment personnel, plus “friends of the camp.”  In every picture (between 150-200), Michael has that same winning smile and, to my knowledge, he’s never had to do a retake - for his eyes being closed, looking in another direction, whatever.  To me, watching him go through this, joking with the kids, yet taking the picture and getting it right every time, commands a great deal of focus.

On picture day last summer, I kidded Michael after I took my picture with him, saying, “All those people who wish they could be Michael Jordan, they ought to try this one.”

What he said to me is what I imagine Tiger and anyone in that sort of constant limelight would say.  And this is what amazes me about writers like Chris Jones, who, rather than appreciating someone who performs his job as close to perfection as can possibly be hoped for - all the while, with a charisma matched only by those chosen few mortals like them, for someone who overcomes adversity (like the flu during a big game, yet putting up big numbers and, more importantly, leading his team to victory, or a hacked shot into the woods, settling behind a tree, yet scrambling to make par) and trying to find out what it is that makes them better, these people hell bent on negativity search high and low for a flaw, so they can say, “Hey, look here everybody.  I found something wrong with this person all of you think is a god.”

Michael’s line to me when I mentioned how no one would want to be him on the day he had to sit still all morning and take up to a couple hundred photos, without blinking, was pretty revealing.  As much as many would like to “Be Like Mike,” there are days, Mike would like to “Be Like You.”  All he said was:

“Today?  Try the other 364 days too.”Â

Although I thoroughly enjoy listening to audiobooks while I’m driving, this time of year, aka March Madness, trumps anything else on television or radio (if TV’s not possible).  Also, as co-host of The Jerry Tarkanian Show, it’s my responsibility to watch and listen to as much about the tourney as possible so I can make educated comments to the listeners.  The other co-host has built-in credibility from a career in which he coached - and won BIG! - at the high school, JC and Division I levels.

I absorb all I can and filter all the (relevant) facts and (rational) opinions (not those which are spoken from a personal agenda, e.g. Hubert Davis and Carolina or Digger and ND - both of which are understandable, but impossible to be balanced), then come up with what I think is something that makes sense and that I can justify (even though no one’s opinion should ever be etched in stone).

When I do listen to sports talk radio, I’m reminded why I prefer a good book (I just finished Donnie Deutsch’s The Big Idea and currently have Warren Buffett Speaks in the CD player).  After hearing what those two gentlemen have to say about areas in which each has had enormous success, what a caller or even a host, will spit out, which is full of their built-in prejudices, usually in the form of hatred (toward someone they don’t know nor has ever done anything harmful to them - other than causing the “haters” to maybe lose a few shekels) can’t be compared in terms of intelligent dialogue.

The frequent “sports talk show caller” is a different breed, many of whom live their lives next to a radio, with phone in hand, ready to hit the number of the station.  You can bet it’s only one number they hit, too, because pitiful souls such as these most certainly have their stations (better known as their main source of social interaction) on speed dial.  Worse, though, is the host, who feels being loud, outrageous and obnoxious (see 2/24/09 blog for an example) will either drive up ratings (insuring they keep their “dream job” or get them discovered as the “new Jim Rome”).  Rome has spawned (cloned) a whole generation of these “anti-” people and must laugh while he cashes (or is it “cay-shes”) his large salary checks.  Jim Rome’s path to becoming who he is was carefully designed, as opposed to the untalented duds who worship him and think all somebody has to do is take down a star with sarcasm and mean spirited vocab, making sure the word suck is used on a frequent basis. 

Here’s what was coming out of the radio yesterday.  The subject was about Tyler Hansbrough and how much he’s worth to the Tarheels. 

Caller: “Tyler Hansbrough is a stiff and is going to get punked in the NBA.”

Host: “He’s a great college player, but I agree with you.  He’s going to be no better than a sub when he gets to the League” (wow, he calls it “the League” - he must be a real insider).  “All that hustling around, banging people won’t get him squat because it’s all about having mad skills up there.”

OK … and what, exactly does that have to do with whether he can help lead North Carolina to the Final Four or National Championship?  If you don’t like a guy because he wears Carolina Blue, or because he’s the reigning POY, or because he’s white, or because so many in-the-know people claim that no one in college basketball plays harder than he does, that’s your opinion.  But to say, “He sucks.  Wait ’til he gets to the pros,” only exposes you as a person who is evidently jealous of someone who puts out so much effort. In fact, I don’t think I’d be going out on a limb when I say he comes much, much closer to his potential as a basketball player than you do to whatever it is you do - which could be what’s at the root of all that vile you spew.

Regarding Tyler Hansbrough, the one line that sums his play up more than any I’ve heard the haters - or even the Carolina kool aid drinkers fans - give is:

“No one attains much success by doing what’s required.  It’s the extra effort that gets it done.” Â

First round games for teams seeded near the top of the NCAA field occasionally don’t bring out their best effort.  Maybe it’s because deep down, they know they can turn it on whenever they need to and will still be able to come out on top; maybe it’s because they’ve overlooked their opponent in favor of taking a peak at their next opponent victim or maybe, or this is one no macho, egotist player ever admits, that the butterflies refused to fly in formation and caused them to do things they themselves didn’t recognize.

Whatever the case was, those squads can bet their coaches will be on their collective butts about what they (the coaches) consider sub-standard performance, the number 1 killer in a one-and-done tournament.  Film (for us old codgers) or video (for the N-Geners) will undoubtedly be played and mistakes (certainly those relating to lack of focus and/or effort) will be shown (over and over and over and …) in an effort to awaken the first round underachievers, noting that a repeat performance in the second round will, in all likelihood, conclude the season.

This was the case for a couple of last Thursday’s opening round winners - namely Memphis and Villanova.  Coaches John Calipari and Jay Wright made the right (politically correct) statements in the post game press conference, but don’t think they were as forgiving of the individual perpetrators behind closed doors as they were in public.  Now is no time to worry about hurting a player’s feelings when an identical performance hurts the entire team’s feelings - and as badly as they could possibly be hurt.

The reason why these two coaches and their respective teams are considered among the legitimate contenders for berths in the Final Four - and possibly, the National Championship, is because they do just that.  They will criticize their teams - in a constructive, truthful (albeit blunt) manner - and the players will respond to that criticism, realizing it’s not personal.  To someone not used to being criticized, however, hearing something the likes of which these two Easterners will say (not that it really matters, but men from that part of the country seem to get tagged with that label more than coaches from elsewhere in the U.S.) might evoke a different emotion.  

The result, usually, is what the country saw in the second round.  Each team (Memphis and Villanova) came out smoking - definitely from an effort standpoint and that translated into rather easy victories over Maryland and UCLA respectively, both of whom were vastly superior to Thursday’s opponents - Cal State Northridge and American, respectively.  The Tigers and Wildcats both came out breathing fire and never gave either the Terps nor the Bruins a chance.

Look for a similar scenario today from Louisville and Pitt.  Neither team wants to make the same mistake they did on Friday by not doing what’s in their power, i.e. dictating the pace of the game, thus enabling a lesser foe to “hang around” and make the game tougher than it ought to be.  Unlike many people in society today, the players from these two teams understand, respect and accept leadership, so they don’t become part of the group Norman Vincent Peale was alluding to when he said:

“Most people would rather be killed with praise than saved by criticism.”Â