Every professional athlete bears and often suffers the yoke of a coach. Coaches, similarly, make their living teaching someone else how to better execute in the game environment. Sometimes, that responsibility can grow; many players cite their coaches as role models, surrogate parents, and sometimes non-legal guardians in whom all trust can be placed. In most sports, coaches receive the benefit of the doubt and can stake a claim to the high ground of wisdom and knowledge. As in the case of Bobby Petrino, some coaches abuse that pedestal, not understanding their special place in the hearts of younger men and women. Still, rarely have players received the emphasis and the higher ground, until the last few years in the NBA.
On Tuesday, the Orlando Magic announced coach Stan Van Gundy would not return to the team. Despite statements to the contrary, I find it extremely likely that star center (and large child) Dwight Howard asked Magic officials to change to a coach he can understand better and would be willing to play for. Many insiders cite Howard’s disinterest in hard practices as causing the player-coach rift in this regard, but regardless of reasoning the point still stands: one star player forced out a top-5 coach who strung together more 50-win seasons that any Magic coach before him and drove the Magic to a Finals appearance. And in their statement, Magic brass claimed Van Gundy and his staff did not meet the standards the club had come to expect. A fantastic reason…unless the coach you’re ousting hadn’t created those same standards.
The superstar, in this case, made his recommendation over the course of this season and, eventually, the team listened. The next coach of the Magic will need to be lighter in practice and less competitive with Dwight to salvage the situation next year.
But Howard is by no means the first star to tank his coach, but the first to do so openly and seemingly without remorse. Two seasons ago Jerry Sloan, the longtime bench general of the Utah Jazz, resigned midseason rather than be fired for not getting along with star point guard Deron Williams. Sloan, a 23 year institution for Utah, left over the objections of almost anyone in the Jazz front office, seeing the writing on the wall that Utah would rather keep their superstar than him. All because he couldn’t get along with a superstar, albeit a great superstar. A similar attitude pervaded the decision to fire Mike Brown in Cleveland. Despite multiple 60-win seasons, the team did not value his efforts enough to keep him after the LeBron era. Much like what happened to Jim Caldwell of the Colts, the team purged all at once rather than bridge eras with holdover personas. That makes a little more sense, but the guy won Coach of the Year and tons of regular season games. It was never about Brown but about LeBron. At points, I’ve wondered if the only coaches safe from superstars are those like Phil Jackson, who was begged back to the Lakers so he could deal with the egos running around LA’s locker room.
Of course teams must placate their stars. Teams invest heavily in these players and want to see their investment fulfilled through championships. But the modern NBA continues to act as if players and not coaches have a stranglehold on basketball knowledge. And the truth hurts for lots of coaches: really good coaches are more abundant than really good players, the kind of players who can bring large amounts of revenue to the league and teams individually. Without Dwight Howard, the Magic receive very little acclaim. No one comes to see Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich, they buy seats to watch Kobe and Duncan. Player jerseys not coach’s blazers grace the shelves in stores around the world.
So it’s easy to understand why teams will dump coaches even if their star player refuses to act his age and be professional. Even then, the trend disturbs me because franchises are following the example of fans all over the world who clearly underestimate the effect of coaching. NBA players might have vacant stares during timeouts on the bench, but behind closed doors coaches act as confidants and instructors, helping players work on different facets of their game. Obviously some teams become very good with subpar coaching (Miami Heat anyone?) but good coaching can elevate teams to a higher degree of efficiency and, concordantly, success. Coaches matter, but less and less it would seem.
Like most fans, I don’t like watching grown men act unprofessionally and get bailed out by their teams, but such is the reality of the business in the NBA. Business, however, should not be totally about money. Football understands that while T.O. might catch 10 touchdowns, his locker room attitude does not justify keeping him for more than a year. Granted, there are plenty more football players on the roster in football than basketball, but in that environment players must get along with their coach or else they are released, not vice versa. I would support seeing teams like Orlando support their coaching staffs more when the staff does not represent the impediment to a championship. Even when Howard played well for the Magic, they could not win the championship. But as long as elite coaches in the mold of Jackson and Popovich continue to be scarce, NBA franchises will work hard to please their stars above all else. Stan Van Gundy is the most recent, and arguably the highest-profile, coach to suffer from this change in NBA business, and he deserved better than to be blamed for the team’s faults. But he will not be the last by any means and business will never be fair to all parties, no matter what.
Bit #1: Pacers-Heat getting chippy and showing some bias
I rarely agree with Charles Barkley. He might be the worst analyst ever, but he gives his opinions with aplomb and without reservation. A few nights ago on TNT, he told his studio buddies how tired he is of the Heat expressing disgust at the antics of the Pacers. LeBron James, after raising elbows to the facial area of Danny Granger, called Granger’s reactions “stupid.” Dwayne Wade couldn’t believe how much the Pacers celebrated after winning Game 2, despite the Heat’s celebrations at beating the Celtics last year (a lot like the Orioles when they beat the Red Sox at the end of the season).
What bothers me is this: the Heat want every team to kiss their feet. Every one of the Granger reactions came about due to a needlessly high elbow from LeBron James during basketball plays, typical in any hard-fought playoff game. Sure, the Pacers are young and must learn some reserve, but don’t let the media attention fool you into thinking the Pacers caused lots of this. The Heat commit hard fouls like any playoff team, and you know if someone raised an elbow to either James or Wade they’d run to a ref and probably get the call or at the very least would complain after wards about being “disrespected.”
What’s worse: that principle seems to apply to the entire team. On Tuesday in Game 5, Tyler Hansbrough of the Pacers committed a flagrant-1 on Dwayne Wade (good call by the refs) for unnecessary contact, often following through after making initial contact. Hansbrough connected with Wade’s arm then his head, so the call seems fine. On the other end of the floor, however, Udonis Haslem fouled Hansbrough hard, bringing two hands down hard on his head and not even acting like he wanted to block the ball. Fits the flagrant-2 definition of excessive and unnecessary contact (not to mention a revenge foul) and should have resulted in an ejection, but I can understand refs not calling that in Miami’s arena.
The third flagrant of the game, however, might deserve a suspension. On a rebound, Pacers forward Lance Stephenson hurtled into the paint looking for the board, only to be clotheslined in his throat area by the Heat’s Dexter Pittman. Stephenson made a choking gesture from the bench in Game 3 when LeBron missed a free throw, so the foul by Pittman not only exacted revenge but also could have truly injured Stephenson.
The Heat are important and deservedly so. And, the officiating did nothing to decide the outcome of this blow-out. But, the NBA cannot let these kinds of fouls to continue. That refs called Hansbrough’s foul as equivalent to those of Haslem and Pittman exhibits the omnipresent double standard in the NBA: prove you’re worthy and refs will judge in your favor more often. But, are Haslem and Pittman truly worthy of that status?
Bit #2: Mark my words…Dustin Brown will make headlines in the Cup finals
Dustin Brown, the captain and emotional leader of the Finals-bound Los Angeles Kings, makes an impact in every game. In truth, he makes tons of them, physically intimidating and hitting anyone possible. His play has resulted in an 8-0 road record for the Kings in the playoffs, a feat never before accomplished by an NHL club. His hit on Coyotes defenseman Michal Rozsival in overtime of Tuesday’s game caught Rozsival with his head down, a hit guaranteed to arouse an opponent’s anger. He will not moderate his play, but I don’t think will get off so easy in the next round.
If the Rangers play LA, Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle will not let Brown make those kinds of hits on their players. I bet now that Brown will engage in some kind of feud with one of those guys if the Rangers win. On the Devils side, David Clarkson would take issue with Brown. Brown benefitted this past round from playing a Coyotes team without its main tough guy, Raffi Torres, to keep the peace. That will be something to watch in the Finals.
Bit #3: Jerry Sloan in Charlotte?
I have yet to decide if former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan would work with the Charlotte Bobcats or even the Orlando Magic. If offered both jobs, he’d have some considerations. While Dwight Howard plays great defense (Sloan’s forte) he also seems unable to work with a coach that pushes his players hard, another calling-card of Sloan’s style. For the Bobcats, he would be paired with maybe the worst owner in basketball but there’s nowhere to go but up for the Charlotte Bobcats.
One great aspect about Sloan as a coach is his ability to work in a smaller market. Charlotte and Orlando attract lots of attention now (for totally opposite reasons) but his ability to reach the playoffs consistently in Utah while keeping local excitement for the team high set the standard for small market success (since duplicated and surpassed by the San Antonio Spurs). Charlotte would be a good landing place for Sloan, as he would be without diva stars who refuse to buy into his system. Overall, I’m excited he might be coming back.
Bit #4: Tennis talent to retire
Few sports are as top-heavy right now as men’s tennis. Four guys (arguably three) rule the world. When it comes to majors, we might see one of the Big Four miss out on the semifinals but one of them always seems to win for the past three years.
At one point, women’s tennis was like that, dominated by the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, and Kim Clijsters. On Tuesday, Clijsters snnounced she will retire after the 2012 U.S. Open, on the face of it just another retirement by a former champion.
But Clijsters has a great story. Winning five Grand Slam titles before her first retirement in 2007, Clijsters had reached number one in the world before citing injuries for retirement. In 2009, she elected to return to professional tennis. Fourteen matches later, she held the US Open trophy, defeating the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 13th, 18th, and 20th ranked players in the world during those matches. Last year, she completed the career Grand Slam and has won a total of three majors after her return to the game. Very impressive stuff and while she’s not flashy (i.e. doesn’t scream like a banshee on the court), Clijsters played well enough to deserve recognition as a great tennis player.
Bit #5: Long wait over for Roman Abramovich
At one point I considered myself a Chelsea fan before realizing it’s difficult to hate the Yankees and like Chelsea. That’s the approach taken by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, a Russian oil magnate who lured top tier talent to Chelsea annually in pursuit of a title. His fiddling and experimentation resulted in 3 Premier League titles and plenty of other championships, but never the ultimate prize of a Champions League title.
This past weekend, he watched Chelsea win its first Champions League title in dramatic fashion. Didier Drogba, the Ivorian striker with a penchant for late game heroics and midseason slumps, scored the tying goal against Bayern Munich in regulation before scoring the deciding penalty kick in the shootout. For those who remember my Bits well, you know Chelsea won all of this under an interim head coach, the previous coach a victim of Abramovich’s patented purges at season’s end.
But the owner can finally rest easy. His team won the biggest club championship in the world, defeating heavily-favored Barcelona in the semis (somehow) and beating Bayern in their home city. While Drogba announced he will be leaving Stamford Bridge for greener pastures, the win ends his Chelsea tenure perfectly, as a champion.
Bit #6: April 22, 2003 – Sorenstam competes on PGA Tour
On this day in 2003 Annika Sorenstam became the first woman to compete on the PGA Tour in 58 years. She missed the cut at the Colonial in Fort Worth, TX but opened a firestorm of controversy. My mother hates Vijay Singh to this day after Vijay vocally commented he felt she did not belong on the men’s tour, and then withdrew from the event in protest. Since 2003, Michelle Wie has competed on the men’s tour 13 times, only making the cut once in Japan. PGA rules do not preclude women from competing now but the women who want to would be unable to win, decreasing their desire to ever play. An interesting idea might be to use the tennis model of shared events where the men and women play on the same course at the same time. Courses would hate it (and ultimately I bet that would eliminate the possibility) but as we progress into an era wishing to lessen differences between male and female athletes, this may become an issue in the future.
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