This blog is in no way a criticism of Keith Smart's coaching job this season. I thought he did well under adverse conditions (one of them being the worst first round draft choices in the history of the world and the underworld since Chris Cohan bought the Warriors). What's that old saying about you can't make a horse race outta horse manure? Smart may indeed become a good coach in the NBA. And I hope he gets his chance.
That said, I humbly point out that there is a great coach available, no OJT required. That coach is Rick Adelman, late of the Houston Rockets - the lateness due to Rocket management brain damage, or that illness owners of teams often succumb to called "lackachampionship."
Indeed Adelman has not won an NBA Championship, but does that mean he is not a great coach? Not by my standards. To my way of thinking a great coach produces consistently competitive playoff teams. The key word being consistent. As for a Championship, Adelman and his worthy Sacramento Kings should be wearing the rings gifted to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002 by some of the most shameful and disgraceful refereeing in league history.
Adelman's only lackluster years were the two as the coach of the Warriors, but with every other NBA team he has coached, his teams have been successful. Adelman teams play hard on both ends of the court. He is intelligent and creative, and most importantly he is respected by the vast majority of the players he has coached.
Signing Rick Adelman unfortunately means not renewing Keith Smart's contract, which is a shame. Smart deserves a chance to prove himself. But how the heck can the Warriors pass up an opportunity to sign Rick Adelman?
Perhaps the Rockets should hire Smart. And if Irony rules the universe, which I'm convinced it does, Smart will go on to win an NBA championship in Houston.
And what will Rick do as the Warriors' coach? What he has always done, produce tough-minded, competitive NBA playoff teams, ones that the Bay Area fans can be proud of and deserve. Will he produce a championship team? We'll never know unless the Warriors hire him.
Michael Harper was my son's poetry professor at Brown University. I've read and enjoyed many of his great poems, but none were about sports until I found this one. Harper weighs about 300 pounds, so I can't see him shooting jumpers.
Makin' Jump Shots by Michael Harper
He waltzes into the lane
"cross the free-throw line,
fakes a drive, pivots,
floats from the asphalt turf
in an arc of black light,
and sinks two into the chains.
One on one he fakes
down the main, passes
into the free lane
and hits the chains.
A sniff in the fallen air -
he stuffs it through the chains
riding high:
"traveling" someone calls -
and he laughs, stepping
to a silent beat, gliding
as he sinks two into the chains.
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