Before starting the New Year with a clean slate, let me get a few sports gripes out of the way.
Eliminating kickoff run-backs in the NFL did away with one of the "funest" parts of the game.
Why can't soccer figure out something better than the offside rule so we Americans can indulge
our appetite for more scoring. Five or six points doesn't sound off the wall to me.
All sports on TV. You got to stop hard booze advertising. If not, at least don't make drinking
the hard stuff straight, over the rocks look like it's the fun thing to do. Our youth are watching.
This is shameful.
When will we stop babying our athletes? Is winning so important, the jocks can be ass-h---es or
worse, and management does nothing.
How about making it clear to our pros that getting in fights, and hanging out in strip clubs is
stupid. Isn't Johnny Manziel, Johnny Dumb-Ass or what? Are you listening Cleanthony Early. By
the way, taking your girlfriend to a strip club - real classy, remind me when I advice my grandson
where to take his date. As for you, Derrick Williams, bringing two ladies of the night back to your
apartment for tea and crumpets is an invitation to be robbed.
Lets stop fans voting for All Stars. I don't care how great Kobe is, this game is for this season's
All Stars. Carmelo the ball stopper is not worth a vote either. Dwight Howard,, and All Star? All he does is smile and loose. Also, in the NBA, how about something inventive to make the All Star game more than a bunch of guys playing zero defense and casting up shots from Peoria. Here's a thought: play the game by quarters. If the teams are tied two quarters a piece, have a three on three half court win by two game to settle winners.
I'm so tired of DeMarcus Cousins antics, frown, groans, astonished looks, slow footed
lumbering down the court that I can barely watch a King's game any more.
I hope I'm not the only one, but I believe the 49ers treatment of Colin Kepernick was boorish, and
it is my deepest wish that Balke trades him and the young man comes back and kicks the red and
in the teeth.
Why isn't San Jose up in arms over the the 49ers still calling themselves the San Francisco
49ers? Whose tax dollars are we talking about?
If the Raiders leave Oakland, it will be another sign that the owners don't give a crap about
loyal fans. That it's all about the "bottom line."
Let's be absolutely clear about building new arenas, so far not one that's been built has come
anywhere near improving the community whose tax dollars were used to cover costs. They
are simply a bad use of a city's financial resources. Better to spend tax dollars on schools and police
departments. Hurrah for the Warrior owners who're building the new arena on their own dime.
Darla Moore and Condoleeza Rice, give me a break. Are we supposed to get all teary-eyed
and grateful to the Augusta National Golf Club that they allowed two women to join? Can't
wait for the next pair so honored. They won't be Democrats. And it won't be happening soon.
Cage fighting. A sport? I guess, but should our children, already exposed to enough violence, be
watching it? No way!
Don't B.S. people, NBA, NFL, you know very well that Fantasy Basketball, Football is
gambling. Let's get the kids started gambling early, shall we?
I'm thoroughly disgusted with the NBA league office for creating a rule that coaches can't
call for fouls on their opponents' worst free throw shooters in the last 2 minutes of a game.
The message this is sending to our youth is that fan interest (read bottom line thinking) is more important than a player buckling down and learning to shoot free-throws. It's disgusting that a professional basketball player can't shoot at least 70 % from the line. Disgusting. Disgusting.
And all fans should be made aware that these so-called pros are simply too lazy to care.
After all this ranting I'm not much in the mood for a poem, but here's one small one I wrote about another of my gripes: NBA dance teams. Who choreographs these poor girls? Have they no imagination?
NBA Dance Team
There's a timeout.
The dance team rushes onto the court
and begins dancing the dance of flinging hair.
The music's thumping.
They're humping air.
My wife, sitting next to me, says,
"Sesame Street for the big boys."
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
This & That
Isn't it high time the Kings realize who their center is? If they don't, the answer to the question is an extremely talented basketball center/forward (stretch if you prefer as he can hit 3's) who will be just good enough to be considered great, but not emotionally capable of greatness. Case in point. After the the recent game against the Washington Wizards, he could not admit that he was thoroughly outplayed on both ends of the court by Marcin Gortat, the Wiz's Polish center. No Polish jokes please, this guy is a true pro. He outran, out hustled, out shot, out rebounded and out smarted Cousins at every turn. Cousin's response to the media was to excuse his lack of effort on the coach's the defensive scheme. He was just following orders? Give me a break.
From the very beginning of his career, DeMarcus Cousins has whined, or angered, or complained, or rationalized the fact that it is his responsibility, given his talent, to lead his team (he loves to refer to the Kings as "his" team.) by example. Example is, in fact, the only way to lead a team. One more time with feeling: By example. Not by talk. Talk is as useless as titties on a papa pig. As long as the Kings are not playing my Warriors, I am a loyal King's fan, and I am tired of watching Cousin lumber down the court. He is the last man back on offense and the last man back on defense most of the time. I can't imagine this lack of hustle has not been noticed by the coaching staff and administration, since it is clearly evident by any fan who's not visually handicapped. I've been a part of professional basketball as a player for ten years, and as a coach, both head and assistant, and for many years as a devoted enthusiast of the game, and I know a con-job when I see it during the game and hear it after the game, or read it in the sport pages. I do not doubt DeMarcus Cousins' talent. Countless times, I've turned to my wife after watching some fabulous move Cousins' made that led to a score, and remarked on his skills. So, it breaks my heart when I see those skills at the mercy of a weak temperament. I don't know how Cousins can change. It may be tragically that he will remain throughout a long career averaging 20 pts and 9 boards a game while never getting close to a championship.
In this morning's Bee, a article by my favorite sports writer Ailene Voisin about Omri Casspi. Right on, young man. Don't think the coaches around the league haven't noticed your improvement. Talk about hustle both ends of the court. Israel should be proud.
Good news. Steve Kerr looks like he is close to returning to the Warrior bench. If anyone doubts this will be a smooth transition back to leadership, don't be concerned. This team understands the meaning of the word team from top to bottom.
Enough about basketball. How about a lovely sonnet about archery, a sport not often in the sport pages.
Archery Instructor
My boys walk down the range intent to find
Lost arrows well beyond the target flown.
Tomfoolery forgot, they scuff around
The underbrush, each searching on his own.
To them it's treasure hunting of a kind.
But since it's I who am responsible
For all the archery equipment used.
I wait here hoping they will find them all.
The boys move dimly in the woods. Bemused,
I slowly let the scene be blurred unreal
And dream that I might well be Cupid here
Whose orders were, 'Bring back my misfired darts!'
Except on second thought I feel more sure
That what I'd mean is, 'halves of broken hearts.'
A very foolish fond old man, said Lear.
From the very beginning of his career, DeMarcus Cousins has whined, or angered, or complained, or rationalized the fact that it is his responsibility, given his talent, to lead his team (he loves to refer to the Kings as "his" team.) by example. Example is, in fact, the only way to lead a team. One more time with feeling: By example. Not by talk. Talk is as useless as titties on a papa pig. As long as the Kings are not playing my Warriors, I am a loyal King's fan, and I am tired of watching Cousin lumber down the court. He is the last man back on offense and the last man back on defense most of the time. I can't imagine this lack of hustle has not been noticed by the coaching staff and administration, since it is clearly evident by any fan who's not visually handicapped. I've been a part of professional basketball as a player for ten years, and as a coach, both head and assistant, and for many years as a devoted enthusiast of the game, and I know a con-job when I see it during the game and hear it after the game, or read it in the sport pages. I do not doubt DeMarcus Cousins' talent. Countless times, I've turned to my wife after watching some fabulous move Cousins' made that led to a score, and remarked on his skills. So, it breaks my heart when I see those skills at the mercy of a weak temperament. I don't know how Cousins can change. It may be tragically that he will remain throughout a long career averaging 20 pts and 9 boards a game while never getting close to a championship.
In this morning's Bee, a article by my favorite sports writer Ailene Voisin about Omri Casspi. Right on, young man. Don't think the coaches around the league haven't noticed your improvement. Talk about hustle both ends of the court. Israel should be proud.
Good news. Steve Kerr looks like he is close to returning to the Warrior bench. If anyone doubts this will be a smooth transition back to leadership, don't be concerned. This team understands the meaning of the word team from top to bottom.
Enough about basketball. How about a lovely sonnet about archery, a sport not often in the sport pages.
Archery Instructor
My boys walk down the range intent to find
Lost arrows well beyond the target flown.
Tomfoolery forgot, they scuff around
The underbrush, each searching on his own.
To them it's treasure hunting of a kind.
But since it's I who am responsible
For all the archery equipment used.
I wait here hoping they will find them all.
The boys move dimly in the woods. Bemused,
I slowly let the scene be blurred unreal
And dream that I might well be Cupid here
Whose orders were, 'Bring back my misfired darts!'
Except on second thought I feel more sure
That what I'd mean is, 'halves of broken hearts.'
A very foolish fond old man, said Lear.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
R.I.P. Jungle Jim
In my rookie season with the, then, Philadelphia Warriors, in the Boston Garden, I threw a punch at Tommy Gun Heinsohn because he hit me with an elbow. I missed him. Ready to throw another punch, I felt my arms being pinned behind me. Guess who? Jungle Jim Loscutoff, fellow Russian and San Franciscan had me securely in his grip, just in time for Heinsohn to land a right cross. The skin above my eye opened like a dropped tomato. Thanks 'Loscy.'
I remember Jim as the quintessential NBA enforcer, but not without basketball skills. He was an effective man on the boards at both ends of the court. He set picks that hurt, opening guys like Frank Ramsey and Sam Jones for jumpers. He was a pro's pro. Gave no quarter, took no quarter. He was older than me, but we grew up playing on the same playgrounds in San Francisco. His family was part of the generation of Russian immigrants that came to the U.S. in the late 1800's. I was part of the White Russians who immigrated to the States after World War II. I'd like to think that I was more than an enforcer for the Warriors, but it does seem that on occasion that became my role. So, Jim, from a fellow enforcer, I wish you a safe trip into the universe. My own trip is not too distant, and I'll be looking for you. I owe you one.
The following little poem I wrote that's in my collection: Sweat: New and Selected Poems About Sports fits this blog. The persona in the poem could very well be Jim Loscutoff.
In The Moment
The whistle blows
and I'm caught
between curbing my anger
or hitting the player
who just fouled me.
Oh, what the hell, I say.
I remember Jim as the quintessential NBA enforcer, but not without basketball skills. He was an effective man on the boards at both ends of the court. He set picks that hurt, opening guys like Frank Ramsey and Sam Jones for jumpers. He was a pro's pro. Gave no quarter, took no quarter. He was older than me, but we grew up playing on the same playgrounds in San Francisco. His family was part of the generation of Russian immigrants that came to the U.S. in the late 1800's. I was part of the White Russians who immigrated to the States after World War II. I'd like to think that I was more than an enforcer for the Warriors, but it does seem that on occasion that became my role. So, Jim, from a fellow enforcer, I wish you a safe trip into the universe. My own trip is not too distant, and I'll be looking for you. I owe you one.
The following little poem I wrote that's in my collection: Sweat: New and Selected Poems About Sports fits this blog. The persona in the poem could very well be Jim Loscutoff.
In The Moment
The whistle blows
and I'm caught
between curbing my anger
or hitting the player
who just fouled me.
Oh, what the hell, I say.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Sports News from Monday's Bee
The Sacramento B is not the San Francisco Chronicle, but it will have to do since this paper services my adopted city. My biggest complaint, of course, is lots of news about the Kings, and not much about my Golden State Warriors. Well, Duh, Meschery, why would they cover a team that regularly kicks the Kings in the butt?
Still, the B's sport page generates fodder for this Blog. First, I'd like to comment on the article about the Kings Defense, with a capital D because it is probably the main reason for most of their losses. Fellows, listen carefully if you're reading this, it's not about the defensive scheme; it's about heart and guts and a willingness to attack on D and to close out on every single pass, and I mean every one, not just the first one or the second one, but the third, fourth or fifth pass, and to help each other and to talk to each other. It's that easy. And, that hard. But, men, if you're not willing, you'll never do it.
I was struck by a creative headline for College Basketball: Oklahoma cruises past Villanova at Pearl Harbor. Great verb given the setting.
LeBron is a Nike lifer. Can anybody tell me where Nike is producing LeBron's shoes? Is Nike still paying pauper's wages in Vietnam? Or is it Indonesia? Anyway, Nike won't reveal what it pays workers. I'm guessing somewhere around 50 cents an hour. Maybe LeBron can share some of his wealth with those underpaid folks, huh? Or perhaps the Oregon Ducks who are heavily endowed by Mr. Knight, owner of Nike, might want to skip a couple of snappy uniforms and donate the $ to the workers. Oh, all right, I own up to being knee jerk liberal. But who out there doesn't see a terrible corporate injustice going on?
Class Action OK'd in NCAA Lawsuits. Good deal. The NCAA has to come up with a better solution as to how they compensate athletes in basketball and football who are generating so much wealth for their universities. I don't see it as a money issue. The value of a free ride is enormous in our society today. If my grandson wanted to attend my Alma mater today, he'd have to pay $50 grand a year, tuition, room and board. So, athletes, take your increased stipend and suck it up. It's an education issue. What I see that the universities need to do (must do) is provide their athletes lifetime scholarships. That way if these kids leave school early, they can come back at any time later in their lives to earn their degrees. Same goes for athletes who go four years but don't graduate. Or drop out of college after a couple of years unable to reconcile the high level of training and the required classroom work. Whatever? A formula can be created to identify the worthy and exclude the slackers.
Is Tony Romo snake bitten or what. I've never been a Cowboys fan, not since the days when they advertised themselves as America's team. Give me a break. But I've to fee increasingly sorry for Romo who is a fine quarterback, perhaps an excellent one. This years team despite the loss of Murry could have been terrific. So let's hear it for Romo. The question is when will he finally decide he doesn't have the energy to go through so much rehab? The same can be said for players in all sports who are prone to injuries. Derrick Rose of the Chi town Bulls, for example.
I've probably used this poem before, but it is one of my favorites about skiing, which is finally happening up in the Sierras, according to my daughter, a resident of the mountain town of Sierraville.
Skier by Robert Francis
He swings down like the flourish of a pen
Signing a signature in white on white.
The silence of his skis reciprocates
The silence of the world around him.
Wind is his one competitor
In the cool winding and unwinding down.
On incandescent feet he falls
Unfalling, trailing white foam, white fire.
Still, the B's sport page generates fodder for this Blog. First, I'd like to comment on the article about the Kings Defense, with a capital D because it is probably the main reason for most of their losses. Fellows, listen carefully if you're reading this, it's not about the defensive scheme; it's about heart and guts and a willingness to attack on D and to close out on every single pass, and I mean every one, not just the first one or the second one, but the third, fourth or fifth pass, and to help each other and to talk to each other. It's that easy. And, that hard. But, men, if you're not willing, you'll never do it.
I was struck by a creative headline for College Basketball: Oklahoma cruises past Villanova at Pearl Harbor. Great verb given the setting.
LeBron is a Nike lifer. Can anybody tell me where Nike is producing LeBron's shoes? Is Nike still paying pauper's wages in Vietnam? Or is it Indonesia? Anyway, Nike won't reveal what it pays workers. I'm guessing somewhere around 50 cents an hour. Maybe LeBron can share some of his wealth with those underpaid folks, huh? Or perhaps the Oregon Ducks who are heavily endowed by Mr. Knight, owner of Nike, might want to skip a couple of snappy uniforms and donate the $ to the workers. Oh, all right, I own up to being knee jerk liberal. But who out there doesn't see a terrible corporate injustice going on?
Class Action OK'd in NCAA Lawsuits. Good deal. The NCAA has to come up with a better solution as to how they compensate athletes in basketball and football who are generating so much wealth for their universities. I don't see it as a money issue. The value of a free ride is enormous in our society today. If my grandson wanted to attend my Alma mater today, he'd have to pay $50 grand a year, tuition, room and board. So, athletes, take your increased stipend and suck it up. It's an education issue. What I see that the universities need to do (must do) is provide their athletes lifetime scholarships. That way if these kids leave school early, they can come back at any time later in their lives to earn their degrees. Same goes for athletes who go four years but don't graduate. Or drop out of college after a couple of years unable to reconcile the high level of training and the required classroom work. Whatever? A formula can be created to identify the worthy and exclude the slackers.
Is Tony Romo snake bitten or what. I've never been a Cowboys fan, not since the days when they advertised themselves as America's team. Give me a break. But I've to fee increasingly sorry for Romo who is a fine quarterback, perhaps an excellent one. This years team despite the loss of Murry could have been terrific. So let's hear it for Romo. The question is when will he finally decide he doesn't have the energy to go through so much rehab? The same can be said for players in all sports who are prone to injuries. Derrick Rose of the Chi town Bulls, for example.
I've probably used this poem before, but it is one of my favorites about skiing, which is finally happening up in the Sierras, according to my daughter, a resident of the mountain town of Sierraville.
Skier by Robert Francis
He swings down like the flourish of a pen
Signing a signature in white on white.
The silence of his skis reciprocates
The silence of the world around him.
Wind is his one competitor
In the cool winding and unwinding down.
On incandescent feet he falls
Unfalling, trailing white foam, white fire.
Monday, December 7, 2015
NCAA Football Missing the Boat & etc
It is so perfect that how the NCAA is missing it astounds me. Here's the way the Final Four in Division I football should look like: Final four picks get a by, while waiting for the winners of the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl. The winners of those bowls create an Elite 8 and playoff at the Orange Bowl until Two Winners face each other for the NCAA Championship. Imagine the hype an extended series such as this would create.
World Peace says he'd like to coach, adding that in his playing days he was "reckless" like his only act of recklessness was his fight in Detroit. Can he coach? Does he have the patience and the understanding of the game, the whole court, not just his position? Even if Peace is at Peace with himself, I just think he's too edgy to be a successful coach on any level. But if indeed he isn't afraid to take on any head coaching job, why not start in a high school? God knows high school kids need adults to take an interest in them.
What is Cousins doing shooting tons of 3's. Granted he's got a decent deep ball, but where do you need him? He shows the 3 and who's on the offensive glass?
Warriors let the Nets "hand around" but I was never in doubt the way I was with the Raptors. The minute Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez started backing down their opponents (dribble, dribble, dribble, bump, bump, bump) and the rest of the team stopped moving and watched them, I knew the Dubs were home free. Even Carmelo, the grandaddy of all ball stoppers has made an effort to keep the ball hopping. Time for the Johnson, Lopez and others like them to get on board. It's a new day in the pros. Go Dubs!
No worries Raiders' fans. This is the turnaround year, and turnaround was accomplished. The Raiders are now ready to return to the John Madden, Bill King era. Hear that, Bill wherever you are in the universe.
A quick note to end the Pac 12 football season, consider if the Oregon Ducks hadn't lost their quarterback, Vernon Adams, for three games, would they be playing in the Rose Bowl?
Here's a poem I wrote about football
Why I never Played Football
It's not that I lacked courage,
I was big and weighed enough to make
a decent tight-end or with a little work
an offensive lineman or a fullback.
What I couldn't see myself doing
was getting dirty, playing in mud
or freezing in snow which back then
when I was young is what you had
to endure. Perhaps these days
with covered stadiums I'd think
differently. Still, there was bound
to be more blood playing football,
yours or somebody else's, than
playing another sport. Golf
for example. See how clean
those guys are out on the links,
how civilized in their cardigans,
in their neatly pressed trousers.?
World Peace says he'd like to coach, adding that in his playing days he was "reckless" like his only act of recklessness was his fight in Detroit. Can he coach? Does he have the patience and the understanding of the game, the whole court, not just his position? Even if Peace is at Peace with himself, I just think he's too edgy to be a successful coach on any level. But if indeed he isn't afraid to take on any head coaching job, why not start in a high school? God knows high school kids need adults to take an interest in them.
What is Cousins doing shooting tons of 3's. Granted he's got a decent deep ball, but where do you need him? He shows the 3 and who's on the offensive glass?
Warriors let the Nets "hand around" but I was never in doubt the way I was with the Raptors. The minute Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez started backing down their opponents (dribble, dribble, dribble, bump, bump, bump) and the rest of the team stopped moving and watched them, I knew the Dubs were home free. Even Carmelo, the grandaddy of all ball stoppers has made an effort to keep the ball hopping. Time for the Johnson, Lopez and others like them to get on board. It's a new day in the pros. Go Dubs!
No worries Raiders' fans. This is the turnaround year, and turnaround was accomplished. The Raiders are now ready to return to the John Madden, Bill King era. Hear that, Bill wherever you are in the universe.
A quick note to end the Pac 12 football season, consider if the Oregon Ducks hadn't lost their quarterback, Vernon Adams, for three games, would they be playing in the Rose Bowl?
Here's a poem I wrote about football
Why I never Played Football
It's not that I lacked courage,
I was big and weighed enough to make
a decent tight-end or with a little work
an offensive lineman or a fullback.
What I couldn't see myself doing
was getting dirty, playing in mud
or freezing in snow which back then
when I was young is what you had
to endure. Perhaps these days
with covered stadiums I'd think
differently. Still, there was bound
to be more blood playing football,
yours or somebody else's, than
playing another sport. Golf
for example. See how clean
those guys are out on the links,
how civilized in their cardigans,
in their neatly pressed trousers.?
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Kobe Goodbye and etc
Kobe Bryant will never surpass Michael Jordan on the Greatest Ever pantheon of NBA players, something I believe Kobe has been striving for since he entered the league. Why else would he try to make a comeback this season after all the injuries? Some might speculate that he wanted to make a final tour of the league cities and receive the adulation. But I don't think so. I believe he fantasized that he could replicate the past for a few more years, play until he was forty? Big egos equals big achievements, and Kobe had one of he biggest in the game. And, to be greatly admired, one of the greatest work ethics in the game. So, goodbye Kobe, and welcome to the Legends.
Once again, Steph Curry saves the day with a giant closing three pointer. But was this his victory? Not by a long shot. The night belonged to Draymond Green, snagging the rebound in the closing minutes, passing ahead to Curry, then hustling down court to save Curry's missed layup, which doesn't take into consideration Green's consistent work on D and on the boards all game long. More and more Draymond Green is becoming the Warriors long distance runner to the rest of the teams sprinters.
Guess what? The Kings have their own Curry on the menu. Eight points in one quarter for the little bro in their win over the Mavs. Wouldn't it be fabulous if Seth truly made it into the league as a starter or at least a solid performer of the bench? Can you imagine in the future a Seth/Steph match-up? Might get some high TV ratings, wouldn't you think?
I'm not happy with the 49ers. Trying to turn Kaepernick into a pocket passer was a huge error. The kid has legs, so why not use them? Check out Cam Newton as a model for a future Kaep. It would serve the 49ers right, if they traded Kaepernick away, and he came back and bit them on the ass. One other question, can Tomsala be smart? I wonder.
Remember the first year Kobe was drafted by the Lakers. I wrote a poem about a game he played as a rookie against the Jazz.
Coaching Guilt
Three air-balls in a row
and the face of the cock-sure
Laker millionaire becomes the face
of Billy Harris who I told
to take the last shot
for the city championship
although he was too young,
the only sophomore on the team.
When the ball left his hand
I knew right away it had no chance
and wanted to climb the air
to pull it back before
it fell two feet short, and the fans
began stomping their feet
and pointing their terrible fingers
at him as if you, you, you,
the pronoun of disgrace
didn't already understand
he'd never be the same person
he was before the game began.
Tonight, on TV against the Jazz,
I watch you, Kobe, and believe
it's my fault all over again
because Billy Harris never
got his shot back no matter
what I did or said to him
for the next two seasons.
And what how would I feel
if tonight's game, like Billy's,
ended your promising career?
Once again, Steph Curry saves the day with a giant closing three pointer. But was this his victory? Not by a long shot. The night belonged to Draymond Green, snagging the rebound in the closing minutes, passing ahead to Curry, then hustling down court to save Curry's missed layup, which doesn't take into consideration Green's consistent work on D and on the boards all game long. More and more Draymond Green is becoming the Warriors long distance runner to the rest of the teams sprinters.
Guess what? The Kings have their own Curry on the menu. Eight points in one quarter for the little bro in their win over the Mavs. Wouldn't it be fabulous if Seth truly made it into the league as a starter or at least a solid performer of the bench? Can you imagine in the future a Seth/Steph match-up? Might get some high TV ratings, wouldn't you think?
I'm not happy with the 49ers. Trying to turn Kaepernick into a pocket passer was a huge error. The kid has legs, so why not use them? Check out Cam Newton as a model for a future Kaep. It would serve the 49ers right, if they traded Kaepernick away, and he came back and bit them on the ass. One other question, can Tomsala be smart? I wonder.
Remember the first year Kobe was drafted by the Lakers. I wrote a poem about a game he played as a rookie against the Jazz.
Coaching Guilt
Three air-balls in a row
and the face of the cock-sure
Laker millionaire becomes the face
of Billy Harris who I told
to take the last shot
for the city championship
although he was too young,
the only sophomore on the team.
When the ball left his hand
I knew right away it had no chance
and wanted to climb the air
to pull it back before
it fell two feet short, and the fans
began stomping their feet
and pointing their terrible fingers
at him as if you, you, you,
the pronoun of disgrace
didn't already understand
he'd never be the same person
he was before the game began.
Tonight, on TV against the Jazz,
I watch you, Kobe, and believe
it's my fault all over again
because Billy Harris never
got his shot back no matter
what I did or said to him
for the next two seasons.
And what how would I feel
if tonight's game, like Billy's,
ended your promising career?
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Warriors Set Record and etc
Congratulations to the Golden State Dubs for setting the record coming out of the blocks at Sixteen zip. Why not keep it going for a while? I watched the game on TV, marveling, not so much at Steph Curry, although he deserves marveling, but at the seamlessness of the entire team. Whoever is on the court, starters or non-starters, they all play with the same tempo and with the same selfless interaction. The players move, the ball moves. There's no face up, slow down, bog down, boring offense. I'm not a great fan of the word flow, as it relates to writing, but it is the perfect way to describe Warrior offense. As a river flows to the ocean so too do the Warriors flow toward an NBA championship.
Quickly, about Steph Curry. This morning I read an article comparing Steph to a ballet dancer. Goggle The Artistry of Steph Curry, nytimes.com. Best article about Steph's game I've ever read, which will be no doubt the quintessential description of him - ever. Step Curry as Rudolf Nureyev or vice versa. I went on line immediately and watched Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dancing Romeo and Juliet. The article about Steph had it right. Steph supports basketball as a male dancer supports his female dancer, although I'm sure female dancers would not appreciate being compared to a ball.
Thinking about the gracefulness of basketball, I was reminded that Jamaal Wilkes of the last Warrior Championship team in 1975 was approached by Michael Smuin, then the director of the San Francisco Ballet to audition. That was the brainchild of Bill King, the iconic Warrior broadcaster, who was a close friend of Smuin and a fan of ballet. (That Christmas Bill was the narrator of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.) Wilkes was called Silk for his fluid motion on the court. Forty years later, the same silky gracefulness can be ascribed to Steph Curry.
On to etc: Today's Sacramento B sports page lamented the King's lack of defense. George Karl is a proponent of the running game. With Rajon Rondo leading the way, I think the Kings are getting with that tempo. But their defense as the article points out, is sorely lacking. I don't think there is anything wrong with a run and gun offense, but without a lock down defense, it's a loser. There was no better opportunistic team than the great Boston Celtic teams that won countless NBA championships under Red Auerbach. Red's philosophy was simple. If you (player/s) got down court and had a clear shot within 6 seconds, take it, but if you had the freedom to shot quickly, you had the obligation to play tough defense on the other end. The speed game only works if the team playing it understands and executes tough defense.
Here's one of my poems about basketball, written in the ancient Chinese form called Chueh-Chu.
First Lesson
The shot begins in your feet
Traveling up through legs and chest
Feel it moving through arm to fingertip
Like blood from your heart to your head.
Quickly, about Steph Curry. This morning I read an article comparing Steph to a ballet dancer. Goggle The Artistry of Steph Curry, nytimes.com. Best article about Steph's game I've ever read, which will be no doubt the quintessential description of him - ever. Step Curry as Rudolf Nureyev or vice versa. I went on line immediately and watched Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dancing Romeo and Juliet. The article about Steph had it right. Steph supports basketball as a male dancer supports his female dancer, although I'm sure female dancers would not appreciate being compared to a ball.
Thinking about the gracefulness of basketball, I was reminded that Jamaal Wilkes of the last Warrior Championship team in 1975 was approached by Michael Smuin, then the director of the San Francisco Ballet to audition. That was the brainchild of Bill King, the iconic Warrior broadcaster, who was a close friend of Smuin and a fan of ballet. (That Christmas Bill was the narrator of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.) Wilkes was called Silk for his fluid motion on the court. Forty years later, the same silky gracefulness can be ascribed to Steph Curry.
On to etc: Today's Sacramento B sports page lamented the King's lack of defense. George Karl is a proponent of the running game. With Rajon Rondo leading the way, I think the Kings are getting with that tempo. But their defense as the article points out, is sorely lacking. I don't think there is anything wrong with a run and gun offense, but without a lock down defense, it's a loser. There was no better opportunistic team than the great Boston Celtic teams that won countless NBA championships under Red Auerbach. Red's philosophy was simple. If you (player/s) got down court and had a clear shot within 6 seconds, take it, but if you had the freedom to shot quickly, you had the obligation to play tough defense on the other end. The speed game only works if the team playing it understands and executes tough defense.
Here's one of my poems about basketball, written in the ancient Chinese form called Chueh-Chu.
First Lesson
The shot begins in your feet
Traveling up through legs and chest
Feel it moving through arm to fingertip
Like blood from your heart to your head.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
The Eastern Conference
It looks like same-o-same-o Eastern Conference teams at the top of the heap this season: Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington. But, as these four teams were set in stone last season, this season there might be a few surprises. A number of teams that were down last year have improved their lineups.
Let's go through the East, team by team, starting with my number one pick, second, and so forth.
Cleveland is numero uno, hands down. Too many solid players at each position, especially when Kyrie Irving returns. The Mo Wiliams pickup and the return of a healthy Anderson Varejao bolster an already deep bench. Kevin Love is back. And, although he is not a defensive whiz, Love is a spectacular offensive and defensive rebounder and deep shooter, stretching the floor so LeBron can drive the paint whenever he feels like it. Mosgov can handle the bigs and Thompson can fill in in the paint if the Cavs have to go small and be the power forward when the team wants to go big. Dellavedova (Saint Mary's College star. Go Gaels) can provide defensive harassment and very astute ball distribution. Shumpert, JR Smith and a revitalized Richard Jefferson provide lots of firepower from the perimeter. So, tell me what the Cavs are missing? I can't see any team in the East beating the Cavs as long as they stay healthy, which is a slight worry as LeBron seems to be having back issues. I've suffered through back pain when I played, and it can definitely slow you down As James goes, so go the Cavs.
I like Chicago next. I like them a lot. Their two young players, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, have matured and are ready to provide additional offense. McDermott is earning his nickname, McBucket. Rose is back. Cross your fingers it stays that way. Also, Rose appears to be playing with a great deal more control. He's pacing himself like he's never done before. Not trying to do everything himself. Jimmy Butler is a solid point producer, in my mind a little like Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs. Aron Brooks in his third incarnation is a dependable point guard backup who shows flashes of brilliance and can provide points in a hurry. Kirk Hinrich adds perimeter defensive toughness. Taj Gibson is an underrated power forward. Noah and Gasul sew up the paint. These are two very long presences for drivers to deal with. Both are damn good shot blockers. When he gets back, Donleavy will help stretch the floor. By the end of the season, I predict Bobby Portis will contribute to the success of the team. Love his intensity. And I shouldn't forget Tony Snell, another of the Bulls' young players who appears to be maturing at the right time. New coach, new dynamic, new approach to the game could turn into a problem, or it could be a plus. Do all the pieces fit? What about playing time? If the coaching staff can get everybody on the proverbial same page, the Bulls could upset the Cavs. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. Sorry Delly.
The Atlanta Hawks are my pick for third. Their system best fits their personnel. They lost Carrol to Toronto, but acquired a big in Tiago Splitter to help when the team is faced with the Bigs, like Mosgov of the Cavs. Sefolosha is back healthy to provide defense and take the sting out of losing Carrol.Teague and Schroder in the backcourt will give teams fits. Korver will stretch the floor. Lots of undersized but toughness in the paint. Bazemore looks like he's coming into his own, although I worry about consistency with him. Hardaway needs to get in touch with his defensive self. Once he does, he'll be an offensive asset. The players will move, pass, and cut. Looks like a lot of togetherness and a chip on their shoulders from last season's playoff losses. This team, baring injuries, looks like it can stay consistent and wind up with home court advantage. I don't think they'll drop the ball this time around.
The Toronto Raptors fall into the fourth spot, but might, not likely, but might edge out the Hawks as my third best team. The addition of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, and an under appreciated Louis Scola have been strong additions to make up for the loss of Lou Williams (Sorry, can't call you Sweet Lou as there was only one Sweet Lou, Lou Hudson) and Amir Johnson. The problem with this team, like the Wizards, is they are dependent too much on their backcourt. It also bothers me that Valancunas doesn't seem to have developed much as a player. He is what he is, not what he could be. I find this to be true for a lot of players in the NBA; they make it, then they don't attempt to improve themselves, learn new moves, improve on the ones they have. Can you imagine how devastating DeAndre Jordan would be if he had a jump hook.
The Washington Wizards rely too much on their backcourt duo, Wall and Beale. I pick them fourth in a tie with Toronto. Both teams could be upended by a couple of Eastern Conference teams that have improved their rosters, like Orlando, Boston or the Heat. As long as Beale and Wall are healthy and aggresive, the Whiz will be a Whiz, but any extended loss of either of the two would be catastrophic.The team has paint presence in Gortat. I think they have a problem on the wings. Porter is a good player, but I can't get excited about his game. Humphries will give his all and is tough defensively, but not much on offense. Nene's game doesn't do anything for me and he's always injured. This team has bench problems, and you know how important I feel a strong bench is to the success of a team.
At this point, the rest of the teams to fill out the playoff positions is very much a toss up.
The Boston Celtic are playing well under Brad Stevens. They've added Amir Johonson and David Lee. Both should help provide more muscle on the defensive and offensive boards. Zeller and Sullinger are a good combo in the paint and adequate scorers and protectors. Crowder is the hustle guy every playoff team must have. Olynyk can spread the floor. They have a three guard rotation in Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Isiah Thomas, who never saw shot he didn't like. I've never been an Evan Turner fan, but Coach Stevens is getting max out of him. I've always thought of Jerbko as soft. RJ Hunter could turn into a great 6th man two guard coming off the bench shooting deep. Look for this team to compete for one of the last spots in the playoffs. There's a lot to say for coach and players being on the same page. Right, Sacramento Kings?
Detroit is an improved team but still questionable defensively. Andre Drummond is looking to rival Wilt Chamberlain's rebounding stats, but possesses very little offensive skils. Reggie Jackson is becoming a powerful scoring threat, a mini Russell Westbrook.They added Marcus Morris at the wing. Not as good a shooter as his twin, but adequate. And Ersan Ilyasova will provide strenght and occasional deep shooting at the stretch four. Really? There's such a player as a stretch four??? Caldwell Pope hasn't proved he can shoot consistently, but he's active and can run the floor. When will Brandon Jennings return? And will he be be able to coexist with Jackson? Big Question mark. The little rat Steve Blake will help coming off the bench, always has, always will. I see Steve being a coach one of these days and I wouldn't want to be one of his players if he screws up. Problem with this Pistons for me is I don't see a lot of joy. They sort of take on the personality of their coach, grumpy and dark. If you can't have fun competing, it's tough to sustain enthusiasm for an 84 game schedule.
The Miami Heat have five solid players, an aging superstar in Dwanye Wade, a more than aging Luol Deng, Cris Bosh, in comeback mode, Hassan Whiteside (turning into a consistent shot blocker) and niffty and speedy point guard in Goran Dragjic. The trade for Beno Udrih puts two Slovenians (rumor has it they don't like each other, something to do with the Slovenian Olympic team) on the same team. Talented rookie in Justise Winslow. He will figure out the game and be a factor by the end of the season. Gerald Green looks to be a head case. Dump him. As Pop says, no headcases and mothers' boys. Udonis Haslim will always be a solid pro, but he's long in the tooth. Can't say I have much faith in the rest of the bench. The Birdman will fly, but to what end? You can't win with four or five guys, no matter how good they are. Time for Dwayne and Udonis to join Pat in the front office.
Orlando Magic. Still a year away, but maybe they could sneak in with lots of youth and enthusiasm. Strong young backcourt threesome: At the two, Oladipo with Fournier coming off the bench and at the point Elfrid Payton with Shabass Napier to relieve. Vucevic is a seven footer who can score. Needs to shore up his D. I've always like Tobias Harris, a stretch forward. This years draft choice, Mario Hezonja, has to produce consistently. Aaron Gordon is long and active and developing. The Magic are my surprise team, as in surprise any team that take them too lightly.
Indiana Pacers. I don't want to discount the Pacers. Paul George is back and starting to regain his All Star form. But I just don't see much bench strength at all. I love Monta Ellis, but he's all instinct and no smarts. His defensive skills are marginal. Talk about marginal defense, there's Budinger. If either Hill or George go down for any time, the Pacers can forget the season. Time to rebuild for next year. Miles Turner may turn into a player, but can he be a factor this year? He'll be one of Larry Bird's rebuilding blocks. The Pacers is one of those teams that, aside from Hill and George, and the potential of Turner, are filled with second tier type players. You watch them play and after awhile your eyes glaze over.
The Milwaukee Bucks: A surprise team last year are no long a surprise. That's probably why they are not winning early. They'll get it together, or we'll discover Jason Kidd is not the coach everyone was Oohing and Ahhing about last season. What do I think? I'll let the tone of the previous sentence talk for me. So, on with the team. The addition of Monroe provides paint offense, but not so much defense. Jabari Parker is back and getting into his rookie year, which is what this year is for him. So expect a learning cure. Antetokounmp is an all around stud, plays both ends hard and is the soul of this team. Middleton and Henson are talented players. O.J. runs to hot and cold for my liking. Grievis Vasquez could start a camp to teach kids what it takes to be a backup guard. Has he ever not produced and been an asset? No siree. Big heart and tough hombre. Bayless is adequate. That leaves Michael Carter-Williams under the microscope. He is a conundrum. He can run, pass, get into the paint and score, but he doesn't quite do the job of a true point guard. I would love to see the Buck make it because I've always thought of Milwaukee as an underdog city, and you have to cheer for the underdog, don't you?
I don't mean to place the Charlotte Hornets toward the bottom because that's where I think they will wind up. On the contrary, I have some real hope for this team in the future. I'm not sure the future is this season. Still some acquisitions over the summer have been paying off. What I like about the way the team is that it can go small and big. Al Jefferson has always been a consistent productive center. He's got a lovely touch. Nick Batum has come out of his recent Portland ho-hum play and is starting to produce the way he did early in his career. Jeremy Lin pushes the ball and is getting to be an excellent distributor. I think Frank Kaminsky will eventually be an NBA super star. And how about Jeremy Lamb finally beginning to reach his potential. Coaching is solid, so stay consistent, MJ.
Oh, man, what can I say about the Brooklyn Nets. Come on, Lionel, get it together. Remember what your team was like in Portland when you won the championship- the hustle, the D, the passing, the cutting. There are only two players on the Nets that interest me and they are Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young. Brook Lopez provides offense, yes, but needs to develop his brother's meanness on defense. He's a seven foot woosy. Plus he's always hurt. Jarrett Jack is a quintessential backup guard playing in the number one spot. When he was with the Warriors, he was at his best. That's a loser. Larkin is a keeper, but not as a starting pt guard. Joe Johnson can score, yes, but he is a serious liability on defense. Your owner has big money, unless Putin says otherwise and he should eat part of Johnson's contract and make him more tradeable. Any team with Andrea Barganani on it will not strike fear into the heart of an opponent. Like the Lakers, this might be the time for a GM change.
Philadelphia 76ers. Whatever your strategy is, it ain't working. See Laker and Nets suggestion about a change of GM. A new vision is definately in order before you screw up a wonderful first round draft choice.
Recently I've started putting together small poems about Sports for children, easy and fun rhymes. I'll need an illustrator when I'm finished. Here's one of the first ones I wrote.
A GRIFFIN GRIFFEN
There's a griffin who can dunk
Unlike any other griffin.
He's the envy of the block.
All the girls are Griffen smitten.
He's the envy of the blobs
Who can't jump above the basket.
While they're ordinary yobs,
He's the slam-a-jamma master.
Let's go through the East, team by team, starting with my number one pick, second, and so forth.
Cleveland is numero uno, hands down. Too many solid players at each position, especially when Kyrie Irving returns. The Mo Wiliams pickup and the return of a healthy Anderson Varejao bolster an already deep bench. Kevin Love is back. And, although he is not a defensive whiz, Love is a spectacular offensive and defensive rebounder and deep shooter, stretching the floor so LeBron can drive the paint whenever he feels like it. Mosgov can handle the bigs and Thompson can fill in in the paint if the Cavs have to go small and be the power forward when the team wants to go big. Dellavedova (Saint Mary's College star. Go Gaels) can provide defensive harassment and very astute ball distribution. Shumpert, JR Smith and a revitalized Richard Jefferson provide lots of firepower from the perimeter. So, tell me what the Cavs are missing? I can't see any team in the East beating the Cavs as long as they stay healthy, which is a slight worry as LeBron seems to be having back issues. I've suffered through back pain when I played, and it can definitely slow you down As James goes, so go the Cavs.
I like Chicago next. I like them a lot. Their two young players, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, have matured and are ready to provide additional offense. McDermott is earning his nickname, McBucket. Rose is back. Cross your fingers it stays that way. Also, Rose appears to be playing with a great deal more control. He's pacing himself like he's never done before. Not trying to do everything himself. Jimmy Butler is a solid point producer, in my mind a little like Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs. Aron Brooks in his third incarnation is a dependable point guard backup who shows flashes of brilliance and can provide points in a hurry. Kirk Hinrich adds perimeter defensive toughness. Taj Gibson is an underrated power forward. Noah and Gasul sew up the paint. These are two very long presences for drivers to deal with. Both are damn good shot blockers. When he gets back, Donleavy will help stretch the floor. By the end of the season, I predict Bobby Portis will contribute to the success of the team. Love his intensity. And I shouldn't forget Tony Snell, another of the Bulls' young players who appears to be maturing at the right time. New coach, new dynamic, new approach to the game could turn into a problem, or it could be a plus. Do all the pieces fit? What about playing time? If the coaching staff can get everybody on the proverbial same page, the Bulls could upset the Cavs. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. Sorry Delly.
The Atlanta Hawks are my pick for third. Their system best fits their personnel. They lost Carrol to Toronto, but acquired a big in Tiago Splitter to help when the team is faced with the Bigs, like Mosgov of the Cavs. Sefolosha is back healthy to provide defense and take the sting out of losing Carrol.Teague and Schroder in the backcourt will give teams fits. Korver will stretch the floor. Lots of undersized but toughness in the paint. Bazemore looks like he's coming into his own, although I worry about consistency with him. Hardaway needs to get in touch with his defensive self. Once he does, he'll be an offensive asset. The players will move, pass, and cut. Looks like a lot of togetherness and a chip on their shoulders from last season's playoff losses. This team, baring injuries, looks like it can stay consistent and wind up with home court advantage. I don't think they'll drop the ball this time around.
The Toronto Raptors fall into the fourth spot, but might, not likely, but might edge out the Hawks as my third best team. The addition of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, and an under appreciated Louis Scola have been strong additions to make up for the loss of Lou Williams (Sorry, can't call you Sweet Lou as there was only one Sweet Lou, Lou Hudson) and Amir Johnson. The problem with this team, like the Wizards, is they are dependent too much on their backcourt. It also bothers me that Valancunas doesn't seem to have developed much as a player. He is what he is, not what he could be. I find this to be true for a lot of players in the NBA; they make it, then they don't attempt to improve themselves, learn new moves, improve on the ones they have. Can you imagine how devastating DeAndre Jordan would be if he had a jump hook.
The Washington Wizards rely too much on their backcourt duo, Wall and Beale. I pick them fourth in a tie with Toronto. Both teams could be upended by a couple of Eastern Conference teams that have improved their rosters, like Orlando, Boston or the Heat. As long as Beale and Wall are healthy and aggresive, the Whiz will be a Whiz, but any extended loss of either of the two would be catastrophic.The team has paint presence in Gortat. I think they have a problem on the wings. Porter is a good player, but I can't get excited about his game. Humphries will give his all and is tough defensively, but not much on offense. Nene's game doesn't do anything for me and he's always injured. This team has bench problems, and you know how important I feel a strong bench is to the success of a team.
At this point, the rest of the teams to fill out the playoff positions is very much a toss up.
The Boston Celtic are playing well under Brad Stevens. They've added Amir Johonson and David Lee. Both should help provide more muscle on the defensive and offensive boards. Zeller and Sullinger are a good combo in the paint and adequate scorers and protectors. Crowder is the hustle guy every playoff team must have. Olynyk can spread the floor. They have a three guard rotation in Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Isiah Thomas, who never saw shot he didn't like. I've never been an Evan Turner fan, but Coach Stevens is getting max out of him. I've always thought of Jerbko as soft. RJ Hunter could turn into a great 6th man two guard coming off the bench shooting deep. Look for this team to compete for one of the last spots in the playoffs. There's a lot to say for coach and players being on the same page. Right, Sacramento Kings?
Detroit is an improved team but still questionable defensively. Andre Drummond is looking to rival Wilt Chamberlain's rebounding stats, but possesses very little offensive skils. Reggie Jackson is becoming a powerful scoring threat, a mini Russell Westbrook.They added Marcus Morris at the wing. Not as good a shooter as his twin, but adequate. And Ersan Ilyasova will provide strenght and occasional deep shooting at the stretch four. Really? There's such a player as a stretch four??? Caldwell Pope hasn't proved he can shoot consistently, but he's active and can run the floor. When will Brandon Jennings return? And will he be be able to coexist with Jackson? Big Question mark. The little rat Steve Blake will help coming off the bench, always has, always will. I see Steve being a coach one of these days and I wouldn't want to be one of his players if he screws up. Problem with this Pistons for me is I don't see a lot of joy. They sort of take on the personality of their coach, grumpy and dark. If you can't have fun competing, it's tough to sustain enthusiasm for an 84 game schedule.
The Miami Heat have five solid players, an aging superstar in Dwanye Wade, a more than aging Luol Deng, Cris Bosh, in comeback mode, Hassan Whiteside (turning into a consistent shot blocker) and niffty and speedy point guard in Goran Dragjic. The trade for Beno Udrih puts two Slovenians (rumor has it they don't like each other, something to do with the Slovenian Olympic team) on the same team. Talented rookie in Justise Winslow. He will figure out the game and be a factor by the end of the season. Gerald Green looks to be a head case. Dump him. As Pop says, no headcases and mothers' boys. Udonis Haslim will always be a solid pro, but he's long in the tooth. Can't say I have much faith in the rest of the bench. The Birdman will fly, but to what end? You can't win with four or five guys, no matter how good they are. Time for Dwayne and Udonis to join Pat in the front office.
Orlando Magic. Still a year away, but maybe they could sneak in with lots of youth and enthusiasm. Strong young backcourt threesome: At the two, Oladipo with Fournier coming off the bench and at the point Elfrid Payton with Shabass Napier to relieve. Vucevic is a seven footer who can score. Needs to shore up his D. I've always like Tobias Harris, a stretch forward. This years draft choice, Mario Hezonja, has to produce consistently. Aaron Gordon is long and active and developing. The Magic are my surprise team, as in surprise any team that take them too lightly.
Indiana Pacers. I don't want to discount the Pacers. Paul George is back and starting to regain his All Star form. But I just don't see much bench strength at all. I love Monta Ellis, but he's all instinct and no smarts. His defensive skills are marginal. Talk about marginal defense, there's Budinger. If either Hill or George go down for any time, the Pacers can forget the season. Time to rebuild for next year. Miles Turner may turn into a player, but can he be a factor this year? He'll be one of Larry Bird's rebuilding blocks. The Pacers is one of those teams that, aside from Hill and George, and the potential of Turner, are filled with second tier type players. You watch them play and after awhile your eyes glaze over.
The Milwaukee Bucks: A surprise team last year are no long a surprise. That's probably why they are not winning early. They'll get it together, or we'll discover Jason Kidd is not the coach everyone was Oohing and Ahhing about last season. What do I think? I'll let the tone of the previous sentence talk for me. So, on with the team. The addition of Monroe provides paint offense, but not so much defense. Jabari Parker is back and getting into his rookie year, which is what this year is for him. So expect a learning cure. Antetokounmp is an all around stud, plays both ends hard and is the soul of this team. Middleton and Henson are talented players. O.J. runs to hot and cold for my liking. Grievis Vasquez could start a camp to teach kids what it takes to be a backup guard. Has he ever not produced and been an asset? No siree. Big heart and tough hombre. Bayless is adequate. That leaves Michael Carter-Williams under the microscope. He is a conundrum. He can run, pass, get into the paint and score, but he doesn't quite do the job of a true point guard. I would love to see the Buck make it because I've always thought of Milwaukee as an underdog city, and you have to cheer for the underdog, don't you?
I don't mean to place the Charlotte Hornets toward the bottom because that's where I think they will wind up. On the contrary, I have some real hope for this team in the future. I'm not sure the future is this season. Still some acquisitions over the summer have been paying off. What I like about the way the team is that it can go small and big. Al Jefferson has always been a consistent productive center. He's got a lovely touch. Nick Batum has come out of his recent Portland ho-hum play and is starting to produce the way he did early in his career. Jeremy Lin pushes the ball and is getting to be an excellent distributor. I think Frank Kaminsky will eventually be an NBA super star. And how about Jeremy Lamb finally beginning to reach his potential. Coaching is solid, so stay consistent, MJ.
Oh, man, what can I say about the Brooklyn Nets. Come on, Lionel, get it together. Remember what your team was like in Portland when you won the championship- the hustle, the D, the passing, the cutting. There are only two players on the Nets that interest me and they are Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young. Brook Lopez provides offense, yes, but needs to develop his brother's meanness on defense. He's a seven foot woosy. Plus he's always hurt. Jarrett Jack is a quintessential backup guard playing in the number one spot. When he was with the Warriors, he was at his best. That's a loser. Larkin is a keeper, but not as a starting pt guard. Joe Johnson can score, yes, but he is a serious liability on defense. Your owner has big money, unless Putin says otherwise and he should eat part of Johnson's contract and make him more tradeable. Any team with Andrea Barganani on it will not strike fear into the heart of an opponent. Like the Lakers, this might be the time for a GM change.
Philadelphia 76ers. Whatever your strategy is, it ain't working. See Laker and Nets suggestion about a change of GM. A new vision is definately in order before you screw up a wonderful first round draft choice.
Recently I've started putting together small poems about Sports for children, easy and fun rhymes. I'll need an illustrator when I'm finished. Here's one of the first ones I wrote.
A GRIFFIN GRIFFEN
There's a griffin who can dunk
Unlike any other griffin.
He's the envy of the block.
All the girls are Griffen smitten.
He's the envy of the blobs
Who can't jump above the basket.
While they're ordinary yobs,
He's the slam-a-jamma master.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Team by Team: An Opinionated Analysis of the NBA Western Conference
It looks like same-o-same-o Eastern Conference teams at the top of the heap this season: Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington. But, as these four teams were set in stone last season, this season there might be a few surprises. A number of teams that were down last year have improved their lineups.
Let's go through the East, team by team, starting with my number one pick, second, and so forth.
Cleveland is numero uno, hands down. Too many solid players at each position, especially when Kyrie Irving returns. The Mo Wiliams pickup and the return of a healthy Anderson Varejao bolster an already deep bench. Kevin Love is back. And, although he is not a defensive whiz, Love is a spectacular offensive and defensive rebounder and deep shooter, stretching the floor so LeBron can drive the paint whenever he feels like it. Mosgov can handle the bigs and Thompson can fill in in the paint if the Cavs have to go small and be the power forward when the team wants to go big. Dellavedova (Saint Mary's College star. Go Gaels) can provide defensive harassment and very astute ball distribution. Shumpert, JR Smith and a revitalized Richard Jefferson provide lots of firepower from the perimeter. So, tell me what the Cavs are missing? I can't see any team in the East beating the Cavs as long as they stay healthy, which is a slight worry as LeBron seems to be having back issues. I've suffered through back pain when I played, and it can definitely slow you down As James goes, so go the Cavs.
I like Chicago next. I like them a lot. Their two young players, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, have matured and are ready to provide additional offense. McDermott is earning his nickname, McBucket. Rose is back. Cross your fingers it stays that way. Also, Rose appears to be playing with a great deal more control. He's pacing himself like he's never done before. Not trying to do everything himself. Jimmy Butler is a solid point producer, in my mind a little like Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs. Aron Brooks in his third incarnation is a dependable point guard backup who shows flashes of brilliance and can provide points in a hurry. Kirk Hinrich adds perimeter defensive toughness. Taj Gibson is an underrated power forward. Noah and Gasul sew up the paint. These are two very long presences for drivers to deal with. Both are damn good shot blockers. When he gets back, Donleavy will help stretch the floor. By the end of the season, I predict Bobby Portis will contribute to the success of the team. Love his intensity. And I shouldn't forget Tony Snell, another of the Bulls' young players who appears to be maturing at the right time. New coach, new dynamic, new approach to the game could turn into a problem, or it could be a plus. Do all the pieces fit? What about playing time? If the coaching staff can get everybody on the proverbial same page, the Bulls could upset the Cavs. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. Sorry Delly.
The Atlanta Hawks are my pick for third. Their system best fits their personnel. They lost Carrol to Toronto, but acquired Tiago Splitter to help when the team is faced with Bigs, like Mosgov of the Cavs. Sefolosha is back healthy to provide defense and take the sting out of losing Carrol.Teague and Schroder in the backcourt will give teams fits. Korver will stretch the floor as he's always done. Lots of undersized toughness in the paint with Horford and Milsap. Bazemore looks like he's coming into his own, although I worry about consistency with him. Hardaway needs to get in touch with his defensive self. Once he does, he'll be an offensive asset. The players will move, pass, and cut. Looks like a lot of togetherness and a chip on their shoulders from last season's playoff losses. This team, baring injuries, looks like it can stay consistent and wind up with home court advantage. I don't think they'll drop the ball this time around.
The Toronto Raptors fall into the fourth spot, but might, not likely, but might edge out the Hawks as my third best team. The addition of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, and an under appreciated Louis Scola have been strong additions to make up for the loss of Lou Williams (Sorry, can't call you Sweet Lou as there was only one Sweet Lou, Lou Hudson) and Amir Johnson. The problem with this team, like the Wizards, is they are dependent too much on their backcourt. It also bothers me that Valancunas doesn't seem to have developed much as a player. He is what he is, not what he could be. I find this to be true for a lot of players in the NBA; they make it, then they don't attempt to improve themselves, learn new moves, improve on the ones they have. Can you imagine how devastating DeAndre Jordan would be if he had a jump hook.
The Washington Wizards rely too much on their backcourt duo, Wall and Beale. I pick them fourth in a tie with Toronto. Both teams could be upended by a couple of Eastern Conference teams that have improved their rosters, like Orlando, Boston or the Heat. As long as Beale and Wall are healthy and aggresive, the Whiz will be a Whiz, but any extended loss of either of the two would be catastrophic.The team has paint presence in Gortat. I think they have a problem on the wings. Porter is a good player, but I can't get excited about his game. Humphries will give his all and is tough defensively, but not much on offense. Nene's game doesn't do anything for me and he's always injured. This team has bench problems, and you know how important I feel a strong bench is to the success of a team.
At this point, the rest of the teams to fill out the playoff positions is very much a toss up in my opinion.
The Boston Celtic are playing well under Brad Stevens. They've added Amir Johonson and David Lee. Both should help provide more muscle on the defensive and offensive boards. Zeller and Sullinger are a good combo in the paint and adequate scorers and protectors. Crowder is the hustle guy every playoff team must have. Olynyk can spread the floor. They have a three guard rotation in Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Isiah Thomas, who never saw shoot he didn't like. I've never been an Evan Turner fan, but Coach Stevens is getting max out of him. I've always thought of Jerbko as soft. RJ Hunter could turn into a great 6th man coming off the bench shooting deep. Look for this team to compete for one of the last spots in the playoffs. There a lot to say for coach and players being on the same page.
Detroit is an improved team but still questionable defensively. Andre Drummond is looking to rival Wilt Chamberlain's rebounding stats, but possesses very little offensive skils. Reggie Jackson is becoming a powerful scoring threat, a mini Russell Westbrook.They added Marcus Morris. And Ersan Ilyasova. Caldwell Pope hasn't proved he can shoot consistently, but he is active and can run the floor. When will Brandon Jennings return, and will be be able to coexist with Jachson? Big Question mark. The little rat Steve Blake will help coming off the bench, always has, always will. I see Steve being a coach one of these days and I wouldn't want to be one of his players if he screws up. Problem with this Pistons for me is I don't see a lot of joy. They sort of take on the personality of their coach, grumpy and dark. If you can't have fun competing, it's tough to sustain enthusiasm for an 84 game schedule.
The Miami Heat have five solid players, an aging superstar in Dwanye Wade, a more than aging Luol Deng, Cris Bosh, in comeback mode, Hassan Whiteside (turning into a consistent shot blocker) and niffty and speedy point guard in Goran Dragjic. The trade for Beno Udrih puts two Slovenians (rumor has it they don't like each other, something to do with the Slovenian Olympic team) on the same team. Talented rookie in Justise Winslow. He will figure out the game and be a factor by the end of the season. Gerald Green looks to be a head case. Dump him. As Pop says, no headcases and mothers' boys. Udonis Haslim will always be a solid pro, but he's long in the tooth. Can't say I have much faith in the rest of the bench. The Birdman will fly, but to what end? You can't win with four or five guys, no matter how good they are. Time for Dwayne and Udonis to join Pat in the front office.
Orlando Magic. Still a year away, but maybe they could sneak in with lots of youth and enthusiasm. Strong young backcourt threesome: At the two, Oladipo with Fournier coming off the bench and at the point Elfrid Payton with Shabass Napier to relieve. Vucevic is a seven footer who can score. Needs to shore up his D. I've always like Tobias Harris, a stretch forward. This years draft choice, Mario Hezonja, has to produce consistently. Aaron Gordon is long and active and developing. The Magic are my surprise team, as in surprise any team that take them too lightly.
Indiana Pacers. I don't want to discount the Pacers. Paul George is back and starting to regain his All Star form. But I just don't see much bench strength at all. I love Monta Ellis, but he's all instinct and no smarts. His defensive skills are marginal. Talk about marginal defense, there's Budinger. If either Hill or George go down for any time, the Pacers can forget the season. Time to rebuild for next year. Miles Turner may turn into a player, but can he be a factor this year? He'll be one of Larry Bird's rebuilding blocks. The Pacers is one of those teams that, aside from Hill and George, and the potential of Turner, are filled with second tier type players. You watch them play and after awhile your eyes glaze over.
The Milwaukee Bucks: A surprise team last year are no long a surprise. That's probably why they are not winning early. They'll get it together, or we'll discover Jason Kidd is not the coach everyone was Oohing and Ahhing about last season. What do I think? I'll let the tone of the previous sentence talk for me. So, on with the team. The addition of Monroe provides paint offense, but not so much defense. Jabari Parker is back and getting into his rookie year, which is what this year is for him. So expect a learning cure. Antetokounmp is an all around stud, plays both ends hard and is the soul of this team. Middleton and Henson are talented players. O.J. runs to hot and cold for my liking. Grievis Vasquez could start a camp to teach kids what it takes to be a backup guard. Has he ever not produced and been an asset? No siree. Big heart and tough hombre. Bayless is adequate. That leaves Michael Carter-Williams under the microscope. He is a conundrum. He can run, pass, get into the paint and score, but he doesn't quite do the job of a true point guard. I would love to see the Buck make it because I've always thought of Milwaukee as an underdog city, and you have to cheer for the underdog, don't you?
I don't mean to place the Charlotte Hornets toward the bottom because that's where I think they'll wind up. On the contrary, I have some real hope for this team in the future. However, I'm not sure the future is this season. Still some acquisitions over the summer have been paying off. What I like about the way the team is that it can go small and big. Al Jefferson has always been a consistent productive center. He's got a lovely touch. Nick Batum has come out of his recent Portland ho-hum play and is starting to produce the way he did early in his career. Jeremy Lin pushes the ball and is getting to be an excellent distributor. I think Frank Kaminsky will eventually be an NBA super star. And how about Jeremy Lamb finally beginning to reach his potential.
What about the NY Knicks? To say they're a better team, one must ask compared to what. Anything is better than what they were last year. Carmelo back healthy is a plus, although I've never been a Carmelo fan. Too much of a face-up ball stopper for my liking. Can't keep juking with the rest of the team watching. (Sly half rhyme, huh?) Great and I mean great draft choice, Kristaps Porzingis is the next Dirk Novitski. Robin Lopez is huge in the paint. Interesting how he has become a much more sought after player than his brother Brook. Irony? At all positions, the Knicks helped themselves. I'm a big fan of Jose Calderon at the point. He is a leader and distributor. Aron Afflolo can create points of the bounce and is a strong defender. I'm pretty sure this is not going to be the final incarnation of a revitalized Knicks, but it's going a long way in the direction of a playoff spot. Charles Barkely has predicted the Knicks will make the playoffs this year. As open as the opportunities are in the East, I wouldn't bet against him.
Oh, man, what can I say about the Brooklyn Nets. Come on, Lionel, get it together. Remember what your team was like in Portland when you won the championship- the hustle, the D, the passing, the cutting. There are only two players on the Nets that interest me and they are Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young. Brook Lopez provides offense, yes, but doesn't come close to his brother's meanness on defense. Let's face it, Brooks is a seven foot woosy. Plus he's always hurt. Jarrett Jack is a quintessential backup guard playing in the number one spot. That's a loser. Joe Johnson can score, yes, but he is a serious liability on defense. Nets' Russian owner has huge bucks, unless Putin says otherwise. He should eat part of Johnson's contract and make him more tradeable. Last but not least, any team with Andrea Barganani on it will not strike fear into the heart of an opponent. Like the Lakers, this year might be the year to change the team's GM.
Philadelphia 76ers. Whatever your strategy is, it ain't working. See Lakers and Nets' suggestion about a change of GMs. A new vision is definitely in order before you screw up two wonderful first round draft choices.
Another haiku from my upcoming collections of short poems about sports
Power Forwards
There's a fist in us
Before the first whistle blows
Before the first elbow
Let's go through the East, team by team, starting with my number one pick, second, and so forth.
Cleveland is numero uno, hands down. Too many solid players at each position, especially when Kyrie Irving returns. The Mo Wiliams pickup and the return of a healthy Anderson Varejao bolster an already deep bench. Kevin Love is back. And, although he is not a defensive whiz, Love is a spectacular offensive and defensive rebounder and deep shooter, stretching the floor so LeBron can drive the paint whenever he feels like it. Mosgov can handle the bigs and Thompson can fill in in the paint if the Cavs have to go small and be the power forward when the team wants to go big. Dellavedova (Saint Mary's College star. Go Gaels) can provide defensive harassment and very astute ball distribution. Shumpert, JR Smith and a revitalized Richard Jefferson provide lots of firepower from the perimeter. So, tell me what the Cavs are missing? I can't see any team in the East beating the Cavs as long as they stay healthy, which is a slight worry as LeBron seems to be having back issues. I've suffered through back pain when I played, and it can definitely slow you down As James goes, so go the Cavs.
I like Chicago next. I like them a lot. Their two young players, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, have matured and are ready to provide additional offense. McDermott is earning his nickname, McBucket. Rose is back. Cross your fingers it stays that way. Also, Rose appears to be playing with a great deal more control. He's pacing himself like he's never done before. Not trying to do everything himself. Jimmy Butler is a solid point producer, in my mind a little like Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs. Aron Brooks in his third incarnation is a dependable point guard backup who shows flashes of brilliance and can provide points in a hurry. Kirk Hinrich adds perimeter defensive toughness. Taj Gibson is an underrated power forward. Noah and Gasul sew up the paint. These are two very long presences for drivers to deal with. Both are damn good shot blockers. When he gets back, Donleavy will help stretch the floor. By the end of the season, I predict Bobby Portis will contribute to the success of the team. Love his intensity. And I shouldn't forget Tony Snell, another of the Bulls' young players who appears to be maturing at the right time. New coach, new dynamic, new approach to the game could turn into a problem, or it could be a plus. Do all the pieces fit? What about playing time? If the coaching staff can get everybody on the proverbial same page, the Bulls could upset the Cavs. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. Sorry Delly.
The Atlanta Hawks are my pick for third. Their system best fits their personnel. They lost Carrol to Toronto, but acquired Tiago Splitter to help when the team is faced with Bigs, like Mosgov of the Cavs. Sefolosha is back healthy to provide defense and take the sting out of losing Carrol.Teague and Schroder in the backcourt will give teams fits. Korver will stretch the floor as he's always done. Lots of undersized toughness in the paint with Horford and Milsap. Bazemore looks like he's coming into his own, although I worry about consistency with him. Hardaway needs to get in touch with his defensive self. Once he does, he'll be an offensive asset. The players will move, pass, and cut. Looks like a lot of togetherness and a chip on their shoulders from last season's playoff losses. This team, baring injuries, looks like it can stay consistent and wind up with home court advantage. I don't think they'll drop the ball this time around.
The Toronto Raptors fall into the fourth spot, but might, not likely, but might edge out the Hawks as my third best team. The addition of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, and an under appreciated Louis Scola have been strong additions to make up for the loss of Lou Williams (Sorry, can't call you Sweet Lou as there was only one Sweet Lou, Lou Hudson) and Amir Johnson. The problem with this team, like the Wizards, is they are dependent too much on their backcourt. It also bothers me that Valancunas doesn't seem to have developed much as a player. He is what he is, not what he could be. I find this to be true for a lot of players in the NBA; they make it, then they don't attempt to improve themselves, learn new moves, improve on the ones they have. Can you imagine how devastating DeAndre Jordan would be if he had a jump hook.
The Washington Wizards rely too much on their backcourt duo, Wall and Beale. I pick them fourth in a tie with Toronto. Both teams could be upended by a couple of Eastern Conference teams that have improved their rosters, like Orlando, Boston or the Heat. As long as Beale and Wall are healthy and aggresive, the Whiz will be a Whiz, but any extended loss of either of the two would be catastrophic.The team has paint presence in Gortat. I think they have a problem on the wings. Porter is a good player, but I can't get excited about his game. Humphries will give his all and is tough defensively, but not much on offense. Nene's game doesn't do anything for me and he's always injured. This team has bench problems, and you know how important I feel a strong bench is to the success of a team.
At this point, the rest of the teams to fill out the playoff positions is very much a toss up in my opinion.
The Boston Celtic are playing well under Brad Stevens. They've added Amir Johonson and David Lee. Both should help provide more muscle on the defensive and offensive boards. Zeller and Sullinger are a good combo in the paint and adequate scorers and protectors. Crowder is the hustle guy every playoff team must have. Olynyk can spread the floor. They have a three guard rotation in Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Isiah Thomas, who never saw shoot he didn't like. I've never been an Evan Turner fan, but Coach Stevens is getting max out of him. I've always thought of Jerbko as soft. RJ Hunter could turn into a great 6th man coming off the bench shooting deep. Look for this team to compete for one of the last spots in the playoffs. There a lot to say for coach and players being on the same page.
Detroit is an improved team but still questionable defensively. Andre Drummond is looking to rival Wilt Chamberlain's rebounding stats, but possesses very little offensive skils. Reggie Jackson is becoming a powerful scoring threat, a mini Russell Westbrook.They added Marcus Morris. And Ersan Ilyasova. Caldwell Pope hasn't proved he can shoot consistently, but he is active and can run the floor. When will Brandon Jennings return, and will be be able to coexist with Jachson? Big Question mark. The little rat Steve Blake will help coming off the bench, always has, always will. I see Steve being a coach one of these days and I wouldn't want to be one of his players if he screws up. Problem with this Pistons for me is I don't see a lot of joy. They sort of take on the personality of their coach, grumpy and dark. If you can't have fun competing, it's tough to sustain enthusiasm for an 84 game schedule.
The Miami Heat have five solid players, an aging superstar in Dwanye Wade, a more than aging Luol Deng, Cris Bosh, in comeback mode, Hassan Whiteside (turning into a consistent shot blocker) and niffty and speedy point guard in Goran Dragjic. The trade for Beno Udrih puts two Slovenians (rumor has it they don't like each other, something to do with the Slovenian Olympic team) on the same team. Talented rookie in Justise Winslow. He will figure out the game and be a factor by the end of the season. Gerald Green looks to be a head case. Dump him. As Pop says, no headcases and mothers' boys. Udonis Haslim will always be a solid pro, but he's long in the tooth. Can't say I have much faith in the rest of the bench. The Birdman will fly, but to what end? You can't win with four or five guys, no matter how good they are. Time for Dwayne and Udonis to join Pat in the front office.
Orlando Magic. Still a year away, but maybe they could sneak in with lots of youth and enthusiasm. Strong young backcourt threesome: At the two, Oladipo with Fournier coming off the bench and at the point Elfrid Payton with Shabass Napier to relieve. Vucevic is a seven footer who can score. Needs to shore up his D. I've always like Tobias Harris, a stretch forward. This years draft choice, Mario Hezonja, has to produce consistently. Aaron Gordon is long and active and developing. The Magic are my surprise team, as in surprise any team that take them too lightly.
Indiana Pacers. I don't want to discount the Pacers. Paul George is back and starting to regain his All Star form. But I just don't see much bench strength at all. I love Monta Ellis, but he's all instinct and no smarts. His defensive skills are marginal. Talk about marginal defense, there's Budinger. If either Hill or George go down for any time, the Pacers can forget the season. Time to rebuild for next year. Miles Turner may turn into a player, but can he be a factor this year? He'll be one of Larry Bird's rebuilding blocks. The Pacers is one of those teams that, aside from Hill and George, and the potential of Turner, are filled with second tier type players. You watch them play and after awhile your eyes glaze over.
The Milwaukee Bucks: A surprise team last year are no long a surprise. That's probably why they are not winning early. They'll get it together, or we'll discover Jason Kidd is not the coach everyone was Oohing and Ahhing about last season. What do I think? I'll let the tone of the previous sentence talk for me. So, on with the team. The addition of Monroe provides paint offense, but not so much defense. Jabari Parker is back and getting into his rookie year, which is what this year is for him. So expect a learning cure. Antetokounmp is an all around stud, plays both ends hard and is the soul of this team. Middleton and Henson are talented players. O.J. runs to hot and cold for my liking. Grievis Vasquez could start a camp to teach kids what it takes to be a backup guard. Has he ever not produced and been an asset? No siree. Big heart and tough hombre. Bayless is adequate. That leaves Michael Carter-Williams under the microscope. He is a conundrum. He can run, pass, get into the paint and score, but he doesn't quite do the job of a true point guard. I would love to see the Buck make it because I've always thought of Milwaukee as an underdog city, and you have to cheer for the underdog, don't you?
I don't mean to place the Charlotte Hornets toward the bottom because that's where I think they'll wind up. On the contrary, I have some real hope for this team in the future. However, I'm not sure the future is this season. Still some acquisitions over the summer have been paying off. What I like about the way the team is that it can go small and big. Al Jefferson has always been a consistent productive center. He's got a lovely touch. Nick Batum has come out of his recent Portland ho-hum play and is starting to produce the way he did early in his career. Jeremy Lin pushes the ball and is getting to be an excellent distributor. I think Frank Kaminsky will eventually be an NBA super star. And how about Jeremy Lamb finally beginning to reach his potential.
What about the NY Knicks? To say they're a better team, one must ask compared to what. Anything is better than what they were last year. Carmelo back healthy is a plus, although I've never been a Carmelo fan. Too much of a face-up ball stopper for my liking. Can't keep juking with the rest of the team watching. (Sly half rhyme, huh?) Great and I mean great draft choice, Kristaps Porzingis is the next Dirk Novitski. Robin Lopez is huge in the paint. Interesting how he has become a much more sought after player than his brother Brook. Irony? At all positions, the Knicks helped themselves. I'm a big fan of Jose Calderon at the point. He is a leader and distributor. Aron Afflolo can create points of the bounce and is a strong defender. I'm pretty sure this is not going to be the final incarnation of a revitalized Knicks, but it's going a long way in the direction of a playoff spot. Charles Barkely has predicted the Knicks will make the playoffs this year. As open as the opportunities are in the East, I wouldn't bet against him.
Oh, man, what can I say about the Brooklyn Nets. Come on, Lionel, get it together. Remember what your team was like in Portland when you won the championship- the hustle, the D, the passing, the cutting. There are only two players on the Nets that interest me and they are Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young. Brook Lopez provides offense, yes, but doesn't come close to his brother's meanness on defense. Let's face it, Brooks is a seven foot woosy. Plus he's always hurt. Jarrett Jack is a quintessential backup guard playing in the number one spot. That's a loser. Joe Johnson can score, yes, but he is a serious liability on defense. Nets' Russian owner has huge bucks, unless Putin says otherwise. He should eat part of Johnson's contract and make him more tradeable. Last but not least, any team with Andrea Barganani on it will not strike fear into the heart of an opponent. Like the Lakers, this year might be the year to change the team's GM.
Philadelphia 76ers. Whatever your strategy is, it ain't working. See Lakers and Nets' suggestion about a change of GMs. A new vision is definitely in order before you screw up two wonderful first round draft choices.
Another haiku from my upcoming collections of short poems about sports
Power Forwards
There's a fist in us
Before the first whistle blows
Before the first elbow
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
More of This and That
Recently I read a post on the Golden State of the Mind Blog about Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezili. I agree completely that these two players are essential parts of the Warriors' future. I've been a consistent and vocal admirer of Barnes. I've been in touch with him often to encourage him, to keep working on his game. And he has. Festus is also a much improved player. In my mind he soon becomes the Warriors starting center. Perhaps not this year, but maybe the next. He is more mobile and shoots better than Andrew Bogut, who has lost most of his early offensive game and completely lost his free-throw shooting skill, which was never great to begin with. But that's not to say that Andrew might not work his butt off during this off season and correct these deficiencies. As a consummate pro, I'd expect no less from him. But we'll see. If he doesn't, then he becomes back up to Festus Ezili. and that wouldn't be the worst way to extend his career and, maybe, continue to make a solid contribution to the Warriors. Not for the same money, of course.
Huge kudos to All-Pro line-backer for the Steelers, James Harrison. He is returning participation trophies given to his 6 & 8 year old sons. Harrison says, "You want a trophy in the Harrison household, you'd better 'EARN' it." I'm convinced that self-esteem building by handing out trophies and medals for simply participating devalues achieved performance. There is an equivalent problem in education. The last few years of my teaching career, I realized that my students were beginning to expect A's when they really earned B's, B's when they earned C's. This was particularly true of the advanced classes, where anything below an A was considered failure. What does a trophy mean? What does an A mean? What does a gold medal mean? Gold medals are being handed out to kids like candy no matter how they performed. Believe me, the kids k now the difference between coming in last and coming in first. A small certificate would suffice as a self-esteem builder, or perhaps some candy. So right on, James Harrison for taking a stand for a return to the true meaning of excellence.
HUH? The 49ers get rid of grumpy Jim Harbough, a hard nosed coach, and hire Mr. Folksy Jim Tomsala, a so-called "players' coach." I could barely hold back my groans as I read some of his recent comments in the sports page this morning. Can he really be that silly? If I had to chose between these two extremes, I'd always go with the hard-nosed coach. The buddy, buddy kind of coach never works, not when he has to be the disciplinarian. But why on earth must the pendulum always swing from one extreme to the other?
Loved Jason Day's performance at the PGA Championship, never flinching as Jordan Spieth kept the pressure on him. Time to throw some shrimp on the barbie, Jason, and down some beahs.
From my upcoming collection Sky Hooks, here's a Haiku about golf.
Golf
On the 18th green
Five foot putt for the win
Fly buzzing his ear
Huge kudos to All-Pro line-backer for the Steelers, James Harrison. He is returning participation trophies given to his 6 & 8 year old sons. Harrison says, "You want a trophy in the Harrison household, you'd better 'EARN' it." I'm convinced that self-esteem building by handing out trophies and medals for simply participating devalues achieved performance. There is an equivalent problem in education. The last few years of my teaching career, I realized that my students were beginning to expect A's when they really earned B's, B's when they earned C's. This was particularly true of the advanced classes, where anything below an A was considered failure. What does a trophy mean? What does an A mean? What does a gold medal mean? Gold medals are being handed out to kids like candy no matter how they performed. Believe me, the kids k now the difference between coming in last and coming in first. A small certificate would suffice as a self-esteem builder, or perhaps some candy. So right on, James Harrison for taking a stand for a return to the true meaning of excellence.
HUH? The 49ers get rid of grumpy Jim Harbough, a hard nosed coach, and hire Mr. Folksy Jim Tomsala, a so-called "players' coach." I could barely hold back my groans as I read some of his recent comments in the sports page this morning. Can he really be that silly? If I had to chose between these two extremes, I'd always go with the hard-nosed coach. The buddy, buddy kind of coach never works, not when he has to be the disciplinarian. But why on earth must the pendulum always swing from one extreme to the other?
Loved Jason Day's performance at the PGA Championship, never flinching as Jordan Spieth kept the pressure on him. Time to throw some shrimp on the barbie, Jason, and down some beahs.
From my upcoming collection Sky Hooks, here's a Haiku about golf.
Golf
On the 18th green
Five foot putt for the win
Fly buzzing his ear
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Huh?
Back to blogging with a new idea. In the future, I'm going to include a section in my blog called, "Huh?" I could call it "I don't get it." but "Huh?" to me sums up my gut reaction to certain beyond stupid stuff that happens in sports.
SUCH AS: In today's sporting news, I read that the IOC has refused to conduct viral tests of the waters at the Olympic waterways ahead of the start of the Olympics even though the Brazilian government' own medical labs found the waterways filled with all manner of disease causing viruses and bacteria and our Junior Olympic crew team and other country's teams recently suffered many types of stomach disorders. HUH?
What is going on with NFL Commissh Roger Goodell? Why is he wasting his time on Deflategate when, according to news sources, 206 NFL players were arrested - some repeatedly- during one 260 day period for domestic violence, gun violations, drugs, DUI's and other infractions HUH?
My last blog had Jason Thompson still playing with the Kings. Since then, he's been traded to the 76er's and re-traded to the Golden State Warriors. I had to give this acquisition by my Dubs a lot of thought, and finally decided that Bob Meyers, the Warrior GM, might have pulled off a gem of a move. The Warriors needed a back up for Draymond Green, preferably a defender and a rebounder. Jason at 6'11" can do both well, albeit he has to grow as a consistent rebounder and defender. Consistency has always been his problem - one good game followed by three disappearances. In addition, the kid needs to stop complaining on every call against him, a stupid character trait that the excellent Warriors' coaching staff ought to rid him of pronto. In terms of the rest of his game, if Jason Thompson can ever consistently knock down his 15 foot jumper and consistently shoot his freethrows, the Warriors may have wound up with a strong rotation player. It's every game, not every three games, Jason. You got It? Good, Now go out and make the Warriors proud?
From my upcoming chapbook of poetry entitled Sky Hooks written in the style of the Asian masters, here's a poem written about a soccer match I witnessed in Algeria while I was there coaching basketball.
Football in Algiers 1965 by Tom Meschery
Backwards scissors-kick
Day before the revolution
Crowd on its feet cheering
SUCH AS: In today's sporting news, I read that the IOC has refused to conduct viral tests of the waters at the Olympic waterways ahead of the start of the Olympics even though the Brazilian government' own medical labs found the waterways filled with all manner of disease causing viruses and bacteria and our Junior Olympic crew team and other country's teams recently suffered many types of stomach disorders. HUH?
What is going on with NFL Commissh Roger Goodell? Why is he wasting his time on Deflategate when, according to news sources, 206 NFL players were arrested - some repeatedly- during one 260 day period for domestic violence, gun violations, drugs, DUI's and other infractions HUH?
My last blog had Jason Thompson still playing with the Kings. Since then, he's been traded to the 76er's and re-traded to the Golden State Warriors. I had to give this acquisition by my Dubs a lot of thought, and finally decided that Bob Meyers, the Warrior GM, might have pulled off a gem of a move. The Warriors needed a back up for Draymond Green, preferably a defender and a rebounder. Jason at 6'11" can do both well, albeit he has to grow as a consistent rebounder and defender. Consistency has always been his problem - one good game followed by three disappearances. In addition, the kid needs to stop complaining on every call against him, a stupid character trait that the excellent Warriors' coaching staff ought to rid him of pronto. In terms of the rest of his game, if Jason Thompson can ever consistently knock down his 15 foot jumper and consistently shoot his freethrows, the Warriors may have wound up with a strong rotation player. It's every game, not every three games, Jason. You got It? Good, Now go out and make the Warriors proud?
From my upcoming chapbook of poetry entitled Sky Hooks written in the style of the Asian masters, here's a poem written about a soccer match I witnessed in Algeria while I was there coaching basketball.
Football in Algiers 1965 by Tom Meschery
Backwards scissors-kick
Day before the revolution
Crowd on its feet cheering
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
What's the deal with the Kings?
Is my second beloved city, Sacramento, (I'm a Warrior and Bay Area lifer) about to go through another year of dismal basketball? Considering what's going on these days in the King's front office, the question has to be asked. And answered.
I'm wondering now, why did Ranadive hire George Karl in the first place? He went against the wishes of his GM at that time, Pete D'Alessandro. Pete knew that George, a tough minded, no nonsense coach, would have a hard time pampering DeMarcus Cousins. Karl, when coaching the Nuggets, despised Carmelo and couldn't stomach Javale McGee.
So, now, will the owner give Karl the freedom to coach or is Sacramento going to have to suffer the firing and hiring of yet another coach? Calipari? Not a chance, he's already nixed that possibility. His mother didn't raise a foolish child. Malone? Sorry, the Nuggets snagged him.The irony, of course, is that Vivak Ranadive had the right coach from the start.
Is it possible the team is poised to trade DeMarcus? Cousin's is upset that Coach Karl might have shopped him. Years and years ago in a league far away I learned that if Wilt Chamberlain could be traded, any player in the NBA could. Get over yourself, Cuz. Lose a little weight, get ready to run and play some hoops. And George, you might want to adjust the run and gun a bit to accommodate Cousin's inside game, especially with the addition of the long and lean defender Cauly Stein playing along Cousins and filling the lane on the break. Stein runs like a deer. He also, along with Cousins, gives you a defensive wall teams are going to have a tough time penetrating. Rudy at the three again, where he belongs. Not bad. Jason Thompson off the bench. I can live with that.
You have a point guard in Darren Colleson, remember. Not superb, but adequate for the time being. Ty Lawson would be an upgrade, and Colleson could be back up, where he's really been successful. I can live with that. But Please, please, no Rondo. Not another headcase, star-struck-on-himself type of player. One is enough.
So there it is: a little give and take, a little of this and a little of that, and voila, Ranadive, you got yourself a team. Maybe? If your ego doesn't get in the way. And if Divac has any smarts. So far the jury is out on both subjects.
If this can't happen, the only alternative is to trade Cousins. Willy Cauley-Stein at the five? A gamble, but possible. He could turn into a Tyson Chandler type center, and Tyson helped to win a championship with the Mavs. What could you get in return for Cousins, who appears to be, in my mind, a perennial headache, and not worth the amount of aspirins needed to put up with him? Kings, you'll never know 'till you test the waters. This blogger is hoping that you're doing it as I type this blog. I am aware of Cousin's talent, but I've never been a fan of his as an all around player and team mate. There's just too much "I" in his personality.
Now that the NBA is over, baseball season has arrived. Here's a wonderful little poem about the National ex-pasttime.
The Extra-Inning Ballgame by Halvard Johnson
Wanting things to go on forever,
yet craving the apocalypse.
Reading the last few pages at one word a minute.
Wanting to teeter forever at the brink of the abyss,
and loving every minute of it.
The solid single lased over second.
A shortstop's arm, just long enough to catch it.
I'm wondering now, why did Ranadive hire George Karl in the first place? He went against the wishes of his GM at that time, Pete D'Alessandro. Pete knew that George, a tough minded, no nonsense coach, would have a hard time pampering DeMarcus Cousins. Karl, when coaching the Nuggets, despised Carmelo and couldn't stomach Javale McGee.
So, now, will the owner give Karl the freedom to coach or is Sacramento going to have to suffer the firing and hiring of yet another coach? Calipari? Not a chance, he's already nixed that possibility. His mother didn't raise a foolish child. Malone? Sorry, the Nuggets snagged him.The irony, of course, is that Vivak Ranadive had the right coach from the start.
Is it possible the team is poised to trade DeMarcus? Cousin's is upset that Coach Karl might have shopped him. Years and years ago in a league far away I learned that if Wilt Chamberlain could be traded, any player in the NBA could. Get over yourself, Cuz. Lose a little weight, get ready to run and play some hoops. And George, you might want to adjust the run and gun a bit to accommodate Cousin's inside game, especially with the addition of the long and lean defender Cauly Stein playing along Cousins and filling the lane on the break. Stein runs like a deer. He also, along with Cousins, gives you a defensive wall teams are going to have a tough time penetrating. Rudy at the three again, where he belongs. Not bad. Jason Thompson off the bench. I can live with that.
You have a point guard in Darren Colleson, remember. Not superb, but adequate for the time being. Ty Lawson would be an upgrade, and Colleson could be back up, where he's really been successful. I can live with that. But Please, please, no Rondo. Not another headcase, star-struck-on-himself type of player. One is enough.
So there it is: a little give and take, a little of this and a little of that, and voila, Ranadive, you got yourself a team. Maybe? If your ego doesn't get in the way. And if Divac has any smarts. So far the jury is out on both subjects.
If this can't happen, the only alternative is to trade Cousins. Willy Cauley-Stein at the five? A gamble, but possible. He could turn into a Tyson Chandler type center, and Tyson helped to win a championship with the Mavs. What could you get in return for Cousins, who appears to be, in my mind, a perennial headache, and not worth the amount of aspirins needed to put up with him? Kings, you'll never know 'till you test the waters. This blogger is hoping that you're doing it as I type this blog. I am aware of Cousin's talent, but I've never been a fan of his as an all around player and team mate. There's just too much "I" in his personality.
Now that the NBA is over, baseball season has arrived. Here's a wonderful little poem about the National ex-pasttime.
The Extra-Inning Ballgame by Halvard Johnson
Wanting things to go on forever,
yet craving the apocalypse.
Reading the last few pages at one word a minute.
Wanting to teeter forever at the brink of the abyss,
and loving every minute of it.
The solid single lased over second.
A shortstop's arm, just long enough to catch it.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
2015 Draft
I'm afraid that if the Kings draft Immanuel Mudiay, a 6'5" PG, they'll be drafting another Tyreke Evans, an athletic attack guy who can score but can't shoot.
If the Warriors have demonstrated anything other teams need to pay attention to, it's that all players must be able to consistently put the ball in the hole from distance. Still, the Kings can't go salivating after another so-called downtown 3 point-spread-the-floor-shooter again. They've already drafted Ben Maclemore and Nick Staukus.
So, why the interest in Mudiay? What the Kings need is paint protection. Jason Thompson will never get better offensively. Sorry, Jason. And as far as defense and boards, he's the kind of player I call "pretend tough." Willie Cauley-Stein will provide length and toughness in the paint. And, it's not inconceivable that Coach Karl could play Stein in the more traditional center position and let DeMarcus Cousin's play power forward. Stein can run, which DeMarcus could stand to do a little more of. And why not Mario Hezonga, a 6'8' wing who can shoot and is a superb athlete?
IF I were picking for the Kings, I certainly wouldn't overlook Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky. Pundits have him somewhere around the 11/12th pick. Big K could turn out to be one heck of a power forward. He's got skill moves to the basket, has a solid middle distance shot, and can shoot threes. Haven't scouts noticed?
Some say the Warriors will pick Chris McCullough from Syracuse. A finesse guy, but can't they use a banger on the boards? They're losing David Lee, and Tristan Thompson isn't planning on retiring as far as I know.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Timberwolves go for Okafor instead of Towns. Okafor is probably the most NBA ready to contribute from day one of players in this draft. But they will still probably take Towns, who's got greater scoring potential, leaving Okafor for LA. The Timberwolves ought to be able to get a decent player for Nicola Pekovic, maybe have to eat some of the big man's huge contract to do it.
Rumors also suggest that the Knicks will select 7'.0 "sweet shooting" Kristaps Porzingis. Along with Andrea Bargnani, that will leave them with two "sweet shooting" European shooters. I hope Porzingis can defend and board better than Bargnani, who couldn't guard my grandmother, and she's been dead for a long time.
D'Angelo Russell better be able to live up to his swagger. "The best player in this draft," he calls himself. He may be going to the Philly 76ers, a bone yard for point guards.
I was watching the NBA combine and loved what I saw of Pat Connaugton of Notre Dame., a 6'5" shooting guard with great athletic skills. I like "chip on the shoulder type of guys" in late rounds, and he's definitely out to prove he can play in the NBA.
I believe any team that selects Sam Dekker will be getting a winner. Some Blogs say Miami. Good for the Heat. I'm thinking another Shane Battier.
What's the deal when a kid is down graded because he stayed in school and graduated? For example: "Rakeem Christmas would likely be a lot higher on the board if he wasn't 23 years old." Oh, say it isn't so? That old? Can it be possible the NBA is under the misguided impression that you have to be a one and doner to have the capacity to improve? At 23, is Christma really set in his ways? Give me a break.
Unlike last year, this is going to be a strong draft. Many of its choices will become the future stars of the NBA.
Thinking of a poem for this blog, I thought of the Women's soccer team defeating the team from Columbia, but couldn't find a good soccer poem. I will at some point. But it's also baseball season, so here's a poem about a girl playing baseball.
Pasttime by Emilo De Grazia
A girl, nine years of wonder
Still on her face,
Stands directly on the bag at third
Running amazed fingers along the wrinkles
Of my old leather mitt.
It is the bottom of the ninth,
And everywhere in the world
The bases are loaded.
If the Warriors have demonstrated anything other teams need to pay attention to, it's that all players must be able to consistently put the ball in the hole from distance. Still, the Kings can't go salivating after another so-called downtown 3 point-spread-the-floor-shooter again. They've already drafted Ben Maclemore and Nick Staukus.
So, why the interest in Mudiay? What the Kings need is paint protection. Jason Thompson will never get better offensively. Sorry, Jason. And as far as defense and boards, he's the kind of player I call "pretend tough." Willie Cauley-Stein will provide length and toughness in the paint. And, it's not inconceivable that Coach Karl could play Stein in the more traditional center position and let DeMarcus Cousin's play power forward. Stein can run, which DeMarcus could stand to do a little more of. And why not Mario Hezonga, a 6'8' wing who can shoot and is a superb athlete?
IF I were picking for the Kings, I certainly wouldn't overlook Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky. Pundits have him somewhere around the 11/12th pick. Big K could turn out to be one heck of a power forward. He's got skill moves to the basket, has a solid middle distance shot, and can shoot threes. Haven't scouts noticed?
Some say the Warriors will pick Chris McCullough from Syracuse. A finesse guy, but can't they use a banger on the boards? They're losing David Lee, and Tristan Thompson isn't planning on retiring as far as I know.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Timberwolves go for Okafor instead of Towns. Okafor is probably the most NBA ready to contribute from day one of players in this draft. But they will still probably take Towns, who's got greater scoring potential, leaving Okafor for LA. The Timberwolves ought to be able to get a decent player for Nicola Pekovic, maybe have to eat some of the big man's huge contract to do it.
Rumors also suggest that the Knicks will select 7'.0 "sweet shooting" Kristaps Porzingis. Along with Andrea Bargnani, that will leave them with two "sweet shooting" European shooters. I hope Porzingis can defend and board better than Bargnani, who couldn't guard my grandmother, and she's been dead for a long time.
D'Angelo Russell better be able to live up to his swagger. "The best player in this draft," he calls himself. He may be going to the Philly 76ers, a bone yard for point guards.
I was watching the NBA combine and loved what I saw of Pat Connaugton of Notre Dame., a 6'5" shooting guard with great athletic skills. I like "chip on the shoulder type of guys" in late rounds, and he's definitely out to prove he can play in the NBA.
I believe any team that selects Sam Dekker will be getting a winner. Some Blogs say Miami. Good for the Heat. I'm thinking another Shane Battier.
What's the deal when a kid is down graded because he stayed in school and graduated? For example: "Rakeem Christmas would likely be a lot higher on the board if he wasn't 23 years old." Oh, say it isn't so? That old? Can it be possible the NBA is under the misguided impression that you have to be a one and doner to have the capacity to improve? At 23, is Christma really set in his ways? Give me a break.
Unlike last year, this is going to be a strong draft. Many of its choices will become the future stars of the NBA.
Thinking of a poem for this blog, I thought of the Women's soccer team defeating the team from Columbia, but couldn't find a good soccer poem. I will at some point. But it's also baseball season, so here's a poem about a girl playing baseball.
Pasttime by Emilo De Grazia
A girl, nine years of wonder
Still on her face,
Stands directly on the bag at third
Running amazed fingers along the wrinkles
Of my old leather mitt.
It is the bottom of the ninth,
And everywhere in the world
The bases are loaded.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Victory Parade and NBA Draft
I rode in the Golden State Warrriors Victory parade on Friday in a BMW convertible. Right behind me were the Warriors owners. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. As we waited for the parade to start I was able to talk to Joe Lacob.This is what I told him: "Joe, when I first started teaching high school after I retired as a basketball player and coach and other negligible professions, our high school had great kids and superb teachers. But the school never achieved the ultimate high performing status until we got a superior principal. There are times when the trickle-down-effect actually works. Joe, you and Peter represent that superior principal. The entire culture of the Warriors changed the day you men bought the team."
The honors for the funniest speech at the ceremony went to Coach Steve Kerr who, tongue in cheek, took credit for everything that his players accomplished, teaching Curry to shoot, and Klay how to play defense, and Draymond to rebound and on and on, the crowd and his players loving it. Having Curry as head coach bodes well for the Warriors for a long time. Kudos also to Ron Adams and Alvin Gentry, two brilliant assistant coaches. Congrats to Gentry for getting the Pelicans' job. I only wish we weren't losing him.Honor for the best dancer goes to Justin Holiday.Most emotional honors to to Draymond Green.
I'll be sorry to see David Lee go, which is what all the indication seem to be. He was the first acquisition in the transformation process of the Warriors. I suspect wherever he goes, he'll always think of himself as a Warrior. But maybe not. This had to have been a terribly hard year for him, ring or no ring. Let's hope he ends his career on a high note.
As strange as it sounds, I sort of felt as if I won an NBA Championship along with these young Dubs. This entire season has made all of us old Warriors proud, for their spirit, for their tenacity, skill, and toughness.
I'm starting a chapbook of short/short sports poems. Haiku-like but not really. Here's one for Curry.
STEPH by Tom Meschery
The deep three
Taught by the father
Sparrow
Finding its own nest.
The honors for the funniest speech at the ceremony went to Coach Steve Kerr who, tongue in cheek, took credit for everything that his players accomplished, teaching Curry to shoot, and Klay how to play defense, and Draymond to rebound and on and on, the crowd and his players loving it. Having Curry as head coach bodes well for the Warriors for a long time. Kudos also to Ron Adams and Alvin Gentry, two brilliant assistant coaches. Congrats to Gentry for getting the Pelicans' job. I only wish we weren't losing him.Honor for the best dancer goes to Justin Holiday.Most emotional honors to to Draymond Green.
I'll be sorry to see David Lee go, which is what all the indication seem to be. He was the first acquisition in the transformation process of the Warriors. I suspect wherever he goes, he'll always think of himself as a Warrior. But maybe not. This had to have been a terribly hard year for him, ring or no ring. Let's hope he ends his career on a high note.
As strange as it sounds, I sort of felt as if I won an NBA Championship along with these young Dubs. This entire season has made all of us old Warriors proud, for their spirit, for their tenacity, skill, and toughness.
I'm starting a chapbook of short/short sports poems. Haiku-like but not really. Here's one for Curry.
STEPH by Tom Meschery
The deep three
Taught by the father
Sparrow
Finding its own nest.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
NBA CHAMPS
Although it was not the deciding factor, I'm convinced my wife donning her Warriors 46 gold and white v-neck Basketball shirt contributed to the Warriors winning the NBA Championship.
The shirt has history. Throughout the season, whenever Melanie put it on, the Warriors won. So, you see, there's precedent. To give you a better idea of the shirt's magical powers, we experimented. Sometimes Mel would start watching a game wearing another Warrior T-shirt, a Curry one, for example, or one with my old number on it. Inevitably the Warriors would not play well. But as soon as she changed into her Warriors 46 shirt, the turn around began. The only time the shirt didn't work was at the second game at Oracle. She forgot to put the magic shirt on, and by the time she remembered the Warriors could only mount a comeback.
I'm thinking that my wife's shirt should be hung along side the Championship banner in Oracle Arena.
What a season. I started out not liking the name "Dubs", but I've changed my mind. I think the name does indeed fit. It's very 21st century, and sounds young and enthusiastic and exciting, which is what this group has been from the very beginning.
Listening to Steve Kerr after the game while he was being interviewed, I thought he was being too gentlemanly. Nice to give credit to your opponents, but come on.The Cavs, and the rest of the NBA teams that went down, WENT DOWN to a great Warrior team. HIS TEAM. I know Coach Kerr can't say that, that it would sound too egotistical, but his personality is written all over this group of young men. They would not have won with any other coach.
A big shout to the Warriors owners and management. Successful organization start at the top and their decisions and energy trickle down, all the way down to the ushers and ticket takers.
And finally, a big part of Warrior Nation were the fans, from all over the Bay Area or as it is sometimes pronounce, The Barea, Crazy and loyal and stubborn all these years of supporting with their money and their love.
Ode to the Golden State Warriors, Watching Their Quest for Victory
One small change and the line reads: Good luck,
Timing, and the stars. This morning I'm still seeing
Curry's three float through the sky of the arena
Reminding me of a lesson in geometry:
An arc is a segment of the circumference
Of the circle - that from foot (the flat plane of release)
Arcs in silent degrees over the moon into the hoop.
I am watching it with my arm in a sling
Having had my should replaced with titanium,
A smaller science, in my mind, than the one
Curry, and his teammate, Thompson,
Use to make mathematics fun.
As far as my titanium shoulder will allow,
I raise my arm to salute the Splash Brothers
And their teammates, three out of five,
Bogut, Barnes, and Green
And all the other players off the bench,
No small part of the equation called team.
And raise it up again through pain
To honor the others: players and coaches,
Gentry, Adams, and Kerr for his coaching
That were it not intense, looks much like Joy.
Something so old inside me called desire
Yearns to play again, to shake off years,
Travel through the television screen
And be six-six again, called undersized
Like Draymond Green snatching rebounds,
Playing beyond our skills because we will it,
Because we know that timing give us wings.
And wherever they are, the old Warriors,
Nate and Rick, Al and Jeff, I wonder, if like me,
They're watching these new Warriors, Dubs, seeing
How luck, timing, and the stars triangulate.
I'm loving it, sitting back and watching Victory
Happen with the flick of Curry's wrist.
Tom Meschery
The shirt has history. Throughout the season, whenever Melanie put it on, the Warriors won. So, you see, there's precedent. To give you a better idea of the shirt's magical powers, we experimented. Sometimes Mel would start watching a game wearing another Warrior T-shirt, a Curry one, for example, or one with my old number on it. Inevitably the Warriors would not play well. But as soon as she changed into her Warriors 46 shirt, the turn around began. The only time the shirt didn't work was at the second game at Oracle. She forgot to put the magic shirt on, and by the time she remembered the Warriors could only mount a comeback.
I'm thinking that my wife's shirt should be hung along side the Championship banner in Oracle Arena.
What a season. I started out not liking the name "Dubs", but I've changed my mind. I think the name does indeed fit. It's very 21st century, and sounds young and enthusiastic and exciting, which is what this group has been from the very beginning.
Listening to Steve Kerr after the game while he was being interviewed, I thought he was being too gentlemanly. Nice to give credit to your opponents, but come on.The Cavs, and the rest of the NBA teams that went down, WENT DOWN to a great Warrior team. HIS TEAM. I know Coach Kerr can't say that, that it would sound too egotistical, but his personality is written all over this group of young men. They would not have won with any other coach.
A big shout to the Warriors owners and management. Successful organization start at the top and their decisions and energy trickle down, all the way down to the ushers and ticket takers.
And finally, a big part of Warrior Nation were the fans, from all over the Bay Area or as it is sometimes pronounce, The Barea, Crazy and loyal and stubborn all these years of supporting with their money and their love.
Ode to the Golden State Warriors, Watching Their Quest for Victory
One small change and the line reads: Good luck,
Timing, and the stars. This morning I'm still seeing
Curry's three float through the sky of the arena
Reminding me of a lesson in geometry:
An arc is a segment of the circumference
Of the circle - that from foot (the flat plane of release)
Arcs in silent degrees over the moon into the hoop.
I am watching it with my arm in a sling
Having had my should replaced with titanium,
A smaller science, in my mind, than the one
Curry, and his teammate, Thompson,
Use to make mathematics fun.
As far as my titanium shoulder will allow,
I raise my arm to salute the Splash Brothers
And their teammates, three out of five,
Bogut, Barnes, and Green
And all the other players off the bench,
No small part of the equation called team.
And raise it up again through pain
To honor the others: players and coaches,
Gentry, Adams, and Kerr for his coaching
That were it not intense, looks much like Joy.
Something so old inside me called desire
Yearns to play again, to shake off years,
Travel through the television screen
And be six-six again, called undersized
Like Draymond Green snatching rebounds,
Playing beyond our skills because we will it,
Because we know that timing give us wings.
And wherever they are, the old Warriors,
Nate and Rick, Al and Jeff, I wonder, if like me,
They're watching these new Warriors, Dubs, seeing
How luck, timing, and the stars triangulate.
I'm loving it, sitting back and watching Victory
Happen with the flick of Curry's wrist.
Tom Meschery
Monday, June 15, 2015
Warriors Win, Sixth Game on the Line.
It's essential in the giddy atmosphere of last night's victory over the Cavs in game 5, not to overlook the fact that the Dubs (god I hate that name. Reminds me of those gooey chocolate candies I used to eat in the movies that stuck in my teeth) have only played one full game well, the 3rd in Cleavland, which includes three and a half quarters of last night's game. The Dubs seem to be mesmerized by LeBron's slow down, plodding dribble up court, then are taken by surprise by his sudden bursts of speed. Until, that is, they wear the King down and find their fourth quarter stride, their mojo of games past.
There is no reason except James that the Warriors shouldn't have swept the series. I'm not joking. Look at the supporting cast James has. Tristan Thompson, a one dimensional player, albeit a damn good one, Mosgov, a solid center, but no Jabbar, not even a Dwight Howard. JR Smith is a streak player (D has to foul him hard on his first 3 point attempt, make him think; he's not a thinker.) and Shumpert is not a starter on any of the good NBA teams. I'll give it to Delly for grit, but he does not yet have the skills of a starting point guard in this league like his fellow Gael, Patty Mills possesses.It will come, Delly with hard work.
So, it's a kind of three quarter swoon the "Dubs" go into against the Cavs, as if LeBron is hypnotizing them, "You're getting sleepy, you're forgetting to run, Close your eyes. Vote Republican." Sorry about the politics, but its kind of like that: voting against your best interests.
If the Warriors are going to win in Cleavland, they've got to control tempo from the start with energy, defensive toughness, and team rebounding. No second shots for Thompson, paleeze!
A last note. I noticed that in today's Golden State of the Mind Blog, the writer listed the Warriors and did not include Andrew Bogut. It might be a mistake if the coaching staff forgets about Bogut in this coming Cleavland game. I'm betting Cleavland's coaches are going to go back to Mosgov. They need his offense. Okay, I'm a big Ezili fan for the future, but if Bogut will compete hard, (not just commit hard fouls) he's a vet and knows a lot about the game. He's also a hell of a passer. I don't know why he's played so lousy in the Cavs series, but he could be some help, if only in short minutes against Mosgov on Tuesday night.
Here's part of a poem about track in honor of the Ducks winning both the men's and women's NCAA track Championship in Eugene, Oregon. The poet is William Meissner.
from Death of the Track Star
A magnet pulls at him again
from the finish line, the metal
of his legs is bending, churning.
He feels the choirs of wheezing,
a chestful of cinders.
This is a real running, he thinks, his heart
beating hard in his heels.
No one can touch him, yet he touches
everyone; the crowd arches
as he breaks string after string
with his toughened throat. . .
There is no reason except James that the Warriors shouldn't have swept the series. I'm not joking. Look at the supporting cast James has. Tristan Thompson, a one dimensional player, albeit a damn good one, Mosgov, a solid center, but no Jabbar, not even a Dwight Howard. JR Smith is a streak player (D has to foul him hard on his first 3 point attempt, make him think; he's not a thinker.) and Shumpert is not a starter on any of the good NBA teams. I'll give it to Delly for grit, but he does not yet have the skills of a starting point guard in this league like his fellow Gael, Patty Mills possesses.It will come, Delly with hard work.
So, it's a kind of three quarter swoon the "Dubs" go into against the Cavs, as if LeBron is hypnotizing them, "You're getting sleepy, you're forgetting to run, Close your eyes. Vote Republican." Sorry about the politics, but its kind of like that: voting against your best interests.
If the Warriors are going to win in Cleavland, they've got to control tempo from the start with energy, defensive toughness, and team rebounding. No second shots for Thompson, paleeze!
A last note. I noticed that in today's Golden State of the Mind Blog, the writer listed the Warriors and did not include Andrew Bogut. It might be a mistake if the coaching staff forgets about Bogut in this coming Cleavland game. I'm betting Cleavland's coaches are going to go back to Mosgov. They need his offense. Okay, I'm a big Ezili fan for the future, but if Bogut will compete hard, (not just commit hard fouls) he's a vet and knows a lot about the game. He's also a hell of a passer. I don't know why he's played so lousy in the Cavs series, but he could be some help, if only in short minutes against Mosgov on Tuesday night.
Here's part of a poem about track in honor of the Ducks winning both the men's and women's NCAA track Championship in Eugene, Oregon. The poet is William Meissner.
from Death of the Track Star
A magnet pulls at him again
from the finish line, the metal
of his legs is bending, churning.
He feels the choirs of wheezing,
a chestful of cinders.
This is a real running, he thinks, his heart
beating hard in his heels.
No one can touch him, yet he touches
everyone; the crowd arches
as he breaks string after string
with his toughened throat. . .
Monday, June 1, 2015
Back to Blogging
After six weeks recovering from a shoulder replacement operation, I'm back to blogging just in time to say a few words about my Warriors who are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1975, the year the Warriors won it all with Rick Barry et al, coached by Al Attles. I'm predicting the Warriors will do it again, beat the Cavs, and bring the Championship back to the Bay Area.
So what will be the key to their success. In my humble opinion they must limit the scoring of Shumpert and Smith and not allow Tristan Thompson offensive rebounds and put-backs. James and Irving can't do it alone, no matter how marvelously they play.
After watching the Rockets series, I'm enthusiastic about the growth in confidence of Festus Ezili. I'm also pleased, although not surprised, with how Harrison Barnes has stepped up. They are hitting their stride at the perfect time.
Let's hope Klay Thompson is ready for the first game. The way Steve Kerr has been using this tandem has been extremely effective. Klay's absence will hurt. But if it has to happen, I doubt Kerr will change the makeup of the second unit that he relies on to rest his starters. So, it will probably be Leonardo Barbossa's job to start in place of Thompson. I'm guessing, but it makes sense. The Brazilian flash is capable and experienced.
Since I've been out of commission, I'd like to say something about the "Hack a Whoever" strategy used so much during these Western Conference playoffs. First, it is shameful that players can't learn to shoot at least 65% from the line. These men are making millions of dollars and can't shoot accurately from 15 feet with no one guarding them. Is that ridiculous? And Howard keeps smiling. What's up with that? Is there no one among the various teams inflated coaching staff who can teach freethrow shooting? The NBA should not change the rules to accommodate lousy (lazy) freethrow shooters. Either that or eliminate the freethrow entirely. Common foul over over six, award two points and give ball to opponent. Foul in the act of shooting. Award the two and give the ball back to the team that was fouled. I'd hate to see this happen. But you can't eliminate the intentional foul as a strategy so a couple of refuseniks can't or won't learn to shoot from the line.It drive me carzy to watch guys like Howard, Jordan and (unfortunately our own terrific center, Andrew Bogut) step to the line and see the fundamental form mistakes they make. Almost everything they do in the process of shooting is WRONG, from the position of their feet on up to their fingertip release. WRONG. How about this? For every percentage point at the end of the season under 65%, these guys donate $10,000 dollars to the charity of their choice?
To close, I've got something to say about Saint Mary's great Matthew Dellavadova of the Cavs accused by some to be a dirty player. I was thrilled to hear Shaq and Sir Charles stick up for Delly, a kid who plays "balls out" for every second he's on the floor and that means diving for lose balls. I'm proud of my Saint Mary's alum. Not one coach in the NBA would pass up having a tough-minded defensive point-guard like Delly on his team.
Final note: With Coach Gentry going to the Pelicans, how about hiring the recently fired Monty Williams. He's a terrific coach, that is if some smart team doesn't hire him for a head job.
Ode to the Warriors, Watching Their Quest for Victory
One small change and the line reads: God luck,
Timing, and the stars. This morning I'm still seeing
Curry's three float through the sky of the arena
Reminding me of a lesson in geometry:
Of the circle - that from foot (the flat plane of release)
Travels in silent degrees over the moon into the hoop.
I am watching it with my arm in a sling
Having had my shoulder replaced with titanium,
A smaller science, in my mind, than the one
Curry, and his teammate, Thompson,
Use to make mathematics fun.
As far as my titanium shoulder will allow,
I raise my arm to salute the Splash Brothers
And their teammates, three out of five,
Bogut, Barnes, and Green
And all the other players off the bench,
No small part f the equation called team.
And raise it up again through pain
To honor the others: players and coaches
Gentry, Adams Walton, and Kerr for his skill
That were it not intense, looks much like joy..
Something so old inside me called desire
Yearns to play again, to shake of years,
Travel through the television screen
and be six-six again, called undersized,
like Draymond Green snatching rebounds,
Playing beyond our skills because we will it,
Because we know that timing gives us wings.
And wherever they are, the old Warriors,
Nate and Rick, Al and Jeff, I wonder, if like me,
They're watching these new Warriors, seeing
how Luck, timing and the stars triangulate.
I'm loving i, to sit back and watch Victory
Happen with the flick of Curry's wrist.
Tom Meschery
So what will be the key to their success. In my humble opinion they must limit the scoring of Shumpert and Smith and not allow Tristan Thompson offensive rebounds and put-backs. James and Irving can't do it alone, no matter how marvelously they play.
After watching the Rockets series, I'm enthusiastic about the growth in confidence of Festus Ezili. I'm also pleased, although not surprised, with how Harrison Barnes has stepped up. They are hitting their stride at the perfect time.
Let's hope Klay Thompson is ready for the first game. The way Steve Kerr has been using this tandem has been extremely effective. Klay's absence will hurt. But if it has to happen, I doubt Kerr will change the makeup of the second unit that he relies on to rest his starters. So, it will probably be Leonardo Barbossa's job to start in place of Thompson. I'm guessing, but it makes sense. The Brazilian flash is capable and experienced.
Since I've been out of commission, I'd like to say something about the "Hack a Whoever" strategy used so much during these Western Conference playoffs. First, it is shameful that players can't learn to shoot at least 65% from the line. These men are making millions of dollars and can't shoot accurately from 15 feet with no one guarding them. Is that ridiculous? And Howard keeps smiling. What's up with that? Is there no one among the various teams inflated coaching staff who can teach freethrow shooting? The NBA should not change the rules to accommodate lousy (lazy) freethrow shooters. Either that or eliminate the freethrow entirely. Common foul over over six, award two points and give ball to opponent. Foul in the act of shooting. Award the two and give the ball back to the team that was fouled. I'd hate to see this happen. But you can't eliminate the intentional foul as a strategy so a couple of refuseniks can't or won't learn to shoot from the line.It drive me carzy to watch guys like Howard, Jordan and (unfortunately our own terrific center, Andrew Bogut) step to the line and see the fundamental form mistakes they make. Almost everything they do in the process of shooting is WRONG, from the position of their feet on up to their fingertip release. WRONG. How about this? For every percentage point at the end of the season under 65%, these guys donate $10,000 dollars to the charity of their choice?
To close, I've got something to say about Saint Mary's great Matthew Dellavadova of the Cavs accused by some to be a dirty player. I was thrilled to hear Shaq and Sir Charles stick up for Delly, a kid who plays "balls out" for every second he's on the floor and that means diving for lose balls. I'm proud of my Saint Mary's alum. Not one coach in the NBA would pass up having a tough-minded defensive point-guard like Delly on his team.
Final note: With Coach Gentry going to the Pelicans, how about hiring the recently fired Monty Williams. He's a terrific coach, that is if some smart team doesn't hire him for a head job.
Ode to the Warriors, Watching Their Quest for Victory
One small change and the line reads: God luck,
Timing, and the stars. This morning I'm still seeing
Curry's three float through the sky of the arena
Reminding me of a lesson in geometry:
Of the circle - that from foot (the flat plane of release)
Travels in silent degrees over the moon into the hoop.
I am watching it with my arm in a sling
Having had my shoulder replaced with titanium,
A smaller science, in my mind, than the one
Curry, and his teammate, Thompson,
Use to make mathematics fun.
As far as my titanium shoulder will allow,
I raise my arm to salute the Splash Brothers
And their teammates, three out of five,
Bogut, Barnes, and Green
And all the other players off the bench,
No small part f the equation called team.
And raise it up again through pain
To honor the others: players and coaches
Gentry, Adams Walton, and Kerr for his skill
That were it not intense, looks much like joy..
Something so old inside me called desire
Yearns to play again, to shake of years,
Travel through the television screen
and be six-six again, called undersized,
like Draymond Green snatching rebounds,
Playing beyond our skills because we will it,
Because we know that timing gives us wings.
And wherever they are, the old Warriors,
Nate and Rick, Al and Jeff, I wonder, if like me,
They're watching these new Warriors, seeing
how Luck, timing and the stars triangulate.
I'm loving i, to sit back and watch Victory
Happen with the flick of Curry's wrist.
Tom Meschery
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Basketball At It's Best
Last night's Warrior's game against the Clippers that they won clinched it for me. I have not seen a team as pleasing to watch ever and that includes the great Celtic teams of Bill Russell's years. Trying to figure out why, I came up with a number of the team's characteristics that influenced my thinking.
They are as follows: Continuity, Freedom, Unselfishness, Intensity, Fun, and Intelligence. Juggle these characteristics around any way you want and come up with an acronym. We can start a campaign, make signs. Create a new formula called From San Antonio to Golden State, an Evolution: How to Play Basketball at the Highest Level. We can send copies of said formula to the NBA teams that are boring us to death, playing something akin to basketball, but NOT basketball.
Short Blog requires a short poem.
Haiku for Curry by Tom Meschery
Swoops over our heads
Bird trapped in the arena
Curry's shot takes flight.
They are as follows: Continuity, Freedom, Unselfishness, Intensity, Fun, and Intelligence. Juggle these characteristics around any way you want and come up with an acronym. We can start a campaign, make signs. Create a new formula called From San Antonio to Golden State, an Evolution: How to Play Basketball at the Highest Level. We can send copies of said formula to the NBA teams that are boring us to death, playing something akin to basketball, but NOT basketball.
Short Blog requires a short poem.
Haiku for Curry by Tom Meschery
Swoops over our heads
Bird trapped in the arena
Curry's shot takes flight.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
I Don't Get It
All around our country, school districts - ravaged by financial woes - are eliminating high school sports programs. Also going by way of the Dead Sea are art, music, creative writing, and theater programs for our youth.
Then, this morning in the newspaper I read that Amazon's Jeff Bezos spent $24.5 million for a Beverly Hills compound; Sean Parker, of Napster and Facebook fame, dropped $55 mil to buy Ellen DeGeneres's Holmby Hills mansion, and Markus Person, a Swedish tech billionaire spent $70 million for an "epic" custom mansion in Beverly Hills, wow! and it's fitted with iPad controlled fountain, vodka and tequila bars. Double Wow!
Should I be impressed? Should anyone be impressed?
Bezos might have been able to find a pleasant little cottage for, say, two mil. I'm reasonable sure Sean Parker would have found comfort and happiness for 5 million, and, gee, isn't it possible that Persson could have found something in the range of 7 mil, maybe forgo the vodka bar? The three could have followed Justin Yoshimura's example, who spent a paltry 2. 04 million on his Santa Monica home that he only visits on - weekends.
I figure the accumulated savings at approximately 150 million could go a long way toward getting our sports and arts programs back on their feet.
But maybe tech folks don't like sports and art and theater and music and children and education. And how dare I, in a capitalist society, suggest they don't have the right to spend their hard earned cash anyway they want?
I don't get it. I'll never get it. How some people can live conspicuously obscenely consuming. As far as I'm concerned, if you've seen one 20 million dollar mansion, you seen them all. Shame on all of you. One caring high school coach is worth the lot of you put together.
Continuing with the theme of Spring Training:.
Couplet by Donald Hall
When the tall puffy
figure wearing number
nine starts
late for the fly ball,
laboring forward
like a lame truckhorse
startled by a garter snake,
- this old fellow
whose body we remember
as sleek and nervous
as a filly's -
and barely catches it
in his glove's
tip, we rise
and applaud, weeping.
On a green field
we observe the ruin
of even the bravest
body, as Odysseus
wept to glimpse
among shades the shadow
of Achilles.
Then, this morning in the newspaper I read that Amazon's Jeff Bezos spent $24.5 million for a Beverly Hills compound; Sean Parker, of Napster and Facebook fame, dropped $55 mil to buy Ellen DeGeneres's Holmby Hills mansion, and Markus Person, a Swedish tech billionaire spent $70 million for an "epic" custom mansion in Beverly Hills, wow! and it's fitted with iPad controlled fountain, vodka and tequila bars. Double Wow!
Should I be impressed? Should anyone be impressed?
Bezos might have been able to find a pleasant little cottage for, say, two mil. I'm reasonable sure Sean Parker would have found comfort and happiness for 5 million, and, gee, isn't it possible that Persson could have found something in the range of 7 mil, maybe forgo the vodka bar? The three could have followed Justin Yoshimura's example, who spent a paltry 2. 04 million on his Santa Monica home that he only visits on - weekends.
I figure the accumulated savings at approximately 150 million could go a long way toward getting our sports and arts programs back on their feet.
But maybe tech folks don't like sports and art and theater and music and children and education. And how dare I, in a capitalist society, suggest they don't have the right to spend their hard earned cash anyway they want?
I don't get it. I'll never get it. How some people can live conspicuously obscenely consuming. As far as I'm concerned, if you've seen one 20 million dollar mansion, you seen them all. Shame on all of you. One caring high school coach is worth the lot of you put together.
Continuing with the theme of Spring Training:.
Couplet by Donald Hall
When the tall puffy
figure wearing number
nine starts
late for the fly ball,
laboring forward
like a lame truckhorse
startled by a garter snake,
- this old fellow
whose body we remember
as sleek and nervous
as a filly's -
and barely catches it
in his glove's
tip, we rise
and applaud, weeping.
On a green field
we observe the ruin
of even the bravest
body, as Odysseus
wept to glimpse
among shades the shadow
of Achilles.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Greedy, Grubby Grab for Bucks.
Don't tell me there are 64 plus college and university basketball teams worthy of the Big Dance, the NCAA spectacle now taking place at various arenas around the country. Don't tell me, I don't believe it. Don't tell me Lafayette @ 20-12, or SMU @ 20--13, or Northeastern @ 23-11, or Texas Southern @ 24-12 or poor Hampton @ 17-17 (about to be throttled by Kentucky) have earned the right to dance with the best. The NCCA tournament is no longer a graceful waltz or an enthusiastic samba but has turned into a sleazy lap dance with Television execs and advertisers sitting around the stage slipping Big Bucks into NCAA g-strings. It is way past time to get back to 32 teams. Maybe then, the first round of the tournament will be worth watching again.
Allow me a NBA emeritus moment to talk about the Sacramento Kings. Sacramentans, don't despair. Those of us who've played the game or coached it can assure you that despite the losses, the Kings are a better team. My optimism is not based on wins and losses, but on the players' improved basketball smarts. Like high schools students, they are demonstrating progress in CORE areas of the game. They are not ready to graduate yet, but I suspect with a little summer school (ready a full training camp under George Karl) they will be ready for their senior year, perhaps even graduating into the playoff ahead of time.
I have a theory about what makes a winning NBA team. It goes like this. It doesn't matter how many super stars you have per team, what matters is if your team is comprised of consistent players. Super Stars as well as players off the bench must be consistently at their BEST (point production, rebounding, shot blocking whatever their particular fortes are plus, all out D and Energy) for every game. I submit that there are inconsistent stars and inconsistent bench players. Whether you agree or disagree, let me provide some examples. On the Mavericks: in my opinion, Chandler and Ellis are consistent stars. Parsons, Rondo and Nowitski are not. Off the Mavericks' bench Barea is consistent, the rest are not. On the Cleveland Cavs, for example, Kevin Love is an inconsistent star. JR Smith, off the bench is not consistent as well as others. The Wizards have two inconsistent stars Nene and Paul Pierce, Pierce because of age and Nene, because he can't be depended on to give the team a consistently strong performance each and every game. Right now, I'm afraid that the Spurs have a number of inconsistent players who were consistent last year: Belinelli, Green, Diaw, and Mills. On the Blazers, Afflalo and Batum, in my mind, are inconsistent. This is how I evaluate teams. The Hawks are a terrific team, but their bench is suspect. Bazemore, Antic, and Scott are inconsistent in my mind. I can name a whole slew of players that don't give it every single night. But you look through rosters and ask yourself, this season, who are the players you can absolutely count on? So, the team with the least inconsistent players has the best chance to win it all. In my mind, if you have two on your team, coach, you're in trouble.
I read an important article written by Dave Zinn about Chris Borland after only one season and at the age of 24 choosing not to play any longer in the NFL. The article lauded his decision pointing out the intelligence of selecting the future over the financially beneficial present. Well and good for Borland, a university graduate in history, from a solid middle class home, with any number of prospects beyond sports. But what about the poor kids, stuck in some poddunk town or dangerous slum, perhaps from a broken home, with a parent working three jobs to keep the family, what's left of it, afloat? What if that kid is a heck of an athlete and football happens to be his sport? He's well aware of his talent. Most good athletes do at an early age. He looks at kids in his poor neighborhood, sees the dead-end jobs most of them are in or destined for, and suddenly comes along THE COACH from BIG TIME U. He offers a free education, but also the hope of big money in the NFL,maybe in as short a time as two years. Big money means helping Mom. Or Dad. Or a brother just out of jail. Or a pregnant sister. Does this kid think CONCUSSION? Not a chance. He thinks about being a good son.
This is not meant to be condescending to poor kids, a great many of whom find ways other than sports to get higher educations and to earn money and help their families. But reality dictates that for many young athletes, the modeling leads in the direction of a career in sports not in the direction of academics or business or some other life career.
I love Chris Borland's intelligence, but in many ways I admire as much those kids who will risk their health to help their families. I wish it wasn't so.
To end on a more pleasant note. Recently my wife, Melanie, and I were watching a Warrior game on Television. I had to go to the kitchen for something, and called out to her to tell me what was going on. Here is the play by play she yelled to me: Steph Curry is dribbling the ball past midcourt, he passed to Klay Thompson, and Thompson passed it to Bogut, Bogut threw a pass into the corner to Harrison Barnes. Harrison is looking very handsome today.
This is the wife who told me this morning that playing to the crowd is OK as long as you don't lose.
It's Spring Training, so how about a baseball poem
The Extra-Inning Ballgame by Halvard Johnson
Wanting things to go on forever,
yet craving the apocalypse.
Reading the last few pages at one word a minute.
Waiting to teeter forever at the brink of the abyss.
and loving every minute of it.
The solid single lashed over second.
A shortstop's arm, just long enough to catch it.
Allow me a NBA emeritus moment to talk about the Sacramento Kings. Sacramentans, don't despair. Those of us who've played the game or coached it can assure you that despite the losses, the Kings are a better team. My optimism is not based on wins and losses, but on the players' improved basketball smarts. Like high schools students, they are demonstrating progress in CORE areas of the game. They are not ready to graduate yet, but I suspect with a little summer school (ready a full training camp under George Karl) they will be ready for their senior year, perhaps even graduating into the playoff ahead of time.
I have a theory about what makes a winning NBA team. It goes like this. It doesn't matter how many super stars you have per team, what matters is if your team is comprised of consistent players. Super Stars as well as players off the bench must be consistently at their BEST (point production, rebounding, shot blocking whatever their particular fortes are plus, all out D and Energy) for every game. I submit that there are inconsistent stars and inconsistent bench players. Whether you agree or disagree, let me provide some examples. On the Mavericks: in my opinion, Chandler and Ellis are consistent stars. Parsons, Rondo and Nowitski are not. Off the Mavericks' bench Barea is consistent, the rest are not. On the Cleveland Cavs, for example, Kevin Love is an inconsistent star. JR Smith, off the bench is not consistent as well as others. The Wizards have two inconsistent stars Nene and Paul Pierce, Pierce because of age and Nene, because he can't be depended on to give the team a consistently strong performance each and every game. Right now, I'm afraid that the Spurs have a number of inconsistent players who were consistent last year: Belinelli, Green, Diaw, and Mills. On the Blazers, Afflalo and Batum, in my mind, are inconsistent. This is how I evaluate teams. The Hawks are a terrific team, but their bench is suspect. Bazemore, Antic, and Scott are inconsistent in my mind. I can name a whole slew of players that don't give it every single night. But you look through rosters and ask yourself, this season, who are the players you can absolutely count on? So, the team with the least inconsistent players has the best chance to win it all. In my mind, if you have two on your team, coach, you're in trouble.
I read an important article written by Dave Zinn about Chris Borland after only one season and at the age of 24 choosing not to play any longer in the NFL. The article lauded his decision pointing out the intelligence of selecting the future over the financially beneficial present. Well and good for Borland, a university graduate in history, from a solid middle class home, with any number of prospects beyond sports. But what about the poor kids, stuck in some poddunk town or dangerous slum, perhaps from a broken home, with a parent working three jobs to keep the family, what's left of it, afloat? What if that kid is a heck of an athlete and football happens to be his sport? He's well aware of his talent. Most good athletes do at an early age. He looks at kids in his poor neighborhood, sees the dead-end jobs most of them are in or destined for, and suddenly comes along THE COACH from BIG TIME U. He offers a free education, but also the hope of big money in the NFL,maybe in as short a time as two years. Big money means helping Mom. Or Dad. Or a brother just out of jail. Or a pregnant sister. Does this kid think CONCUSSION? Not a chance. He thinks about being a good son.
This is not meant to be condescending to poor kids, a great many of whom find ways other than sports to get higher educations and to earn money and help their families. But reality dictates that for many young athletes, the modeling leads in the direction of a career in sports not in the direction of academics or business or some other life career.
I love Chris Borland's intelligence, but in many ways I admire as much those kids who will risk their health to help their families. I wish it wasn't so.
To end on a more pleasant note. Recently my wife, Melanie, and I were watching a Warrior game on Television. I had to go to the kitchen for something, and called out to her to tell me what was going on. Here is the play by play she yelled to me: Steph Curry is dribbling the ball past midcourt, he passed to Klay Thompson, and Thompson passed it to Bogut, Bogut threw a pass into the corner to Harrison Barnes. Harrison is looking very handsome today.
This is the wife who told me this morning that playing to the crowd is OK as long as you don't lose.
It's Spring Training, so how about a baseball poem
The Extra-Inning Ballgame by Halvard Johnson
Wanting things to go on forever,
yet craving the apocalypse.
Reading the last few pages at one word a minute.
Waiting to teeter forever at the brink of the abyss.
and loving every minute of it.
The solid single lashed over second.
A shortstop's arm, just long enough to catch it.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
George Karl
Welcome to the Kings, George Karl.The headaches the Kings are presenting you with will not go away with a couple of aspirins, but only with a lot of tough decisions. I'm sure you're aware of this. I'm sure you've already started making some.
Good luck, George.
When I was coaching the Reno Bighorns in the old CBA, we played George's Montana team. He beat the pants off of us. The Bighorns were a so-so team with a lousy coach; the Montana team was a so-so team with a great coach. Well, he wasn't great yet, but he was on a fast-track to greatness.
The Sacramento Kings' GM, Pete D'Alessandro, made a wise choice hiring George Karl. Why George remained un-hired up to now is a mystery to me and a gift to the Kings. I believe George belongs in that category of elite coaches which include Auerbach, Holtzman, Hannum, Sharman, Wilkens, Riley, Daly, Brown, Jackson, and Popovich, the defining characteristics of which is four-fold: basketball smarts, razor sharp instincts, the ability to teach, and passion. Of all of these, I rank Passion the highest. The smarts, the instincts, the teaching goes sideways without passion.
George was passionate about the game, I suspect, from the first time he picked up a basketball, but I saw it first when I watched him play as a intelligent point guard at North Carolina. And later, as I watched him coach in the NBA.
If George has ever failed as a coach, it's been his inability to coach selfish players. Selfish players don't respond to coaching. I don't see any selfish players on the Kings. Some people have laid that accusation at the feet of Demarcus Cousins. Cousins, no doubt has his faults - brooding, complaining, whining, obstinacy, self importance to name a few, but no one watching the big fellow can say that he lacks passion.The fact is Demarcus Cousins has improved in the above mentioned areas of personal behavior, so George if fortunate to inherit a more manageable player to begin his tenure. .
We will see if the still young Cousins has matured enough to embrace the kind of straight talk he'll hear from Coach Karl. Carmelo Anthony couldn't, and still can't, his problem being a hard wired genetic case of selfishness. Gary Payton (known for being difficult and stubborn) could, and grew into a Hall of Fame basketball player under George's tutelage.
There is one other attribute that should be pointed out, not something George would emphasis, but I will and that is his battle and victory over two cancers: of prostate and throat. Having overcome three types of cancer myself, I'm in awe of my fellow cancer survivors. I'm not sure it makes one stronger, but it sure teaches one patience, the importance of a sense of humor, and how to live day by day, all of which George will bring to his coaching this year. The Kings may be lucky in that they nabbed George at the moment when he has reached the pinacle of his humanity and, as a consequence, the height of his ability to coach.
George, you will love Sacramento. The Capital City is on the rise, with an aggressive, future thinking Mayor, a beautiful new arena, a revitalized downtown, an energetic university and arts community, good schools, involved citizens, a city with more trees in the world except for Paris. And lots more attributes too numerous to count.
Last Saturday I sat in on a poetry workshop run by Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley. I was there as his guest to talk about my recent collection of poems: Sweat: New and Collected Poems About Sports. One of the members of the group wrote a wonderful poem about basketball I'd like to share with a wider audience.
Roundball by Stan Zumbiel
I always dreamt of being a basketball player,
A dream that only I believed in.
David Duchovny
I could shoot. Don't get me wrong
about that. Hours and year on the
driveway tossing the ball against
the wooden backboard and into the
metal net meant I was a deadeye.
Sometimes the balls were oblong
from being run over with the car
or worn completely smooth by
constant contact with cement and
the black-top of the street.But I could
shoot. From the edge of the lawn,
guarded by the boxwood hedge,
from the complete backcourt of
the sidewalk, I would hear the
ringing song of the chain link net.
When I was a freshman, we had a contest
in P.E. For two minutes, we alternately
shot freethrows and lay-ups retrieving
our own misses. Two points for the
freethrow and one point for the lay-up.
And for the entirety of one lunch
period, I held the school record at
thirty-two points, was the talk of
the cafeteria. Until Bruce Lee,
the captain of the freshman team,
got forty-one that afternoon.
I could shoot. There was no doubt
about that. But, let's not deceive
ourselves, I couldn't play. I was slow,
short, couldn't jump and hated contact -
worthless during a game.
But I could shoot, on my driveway
I could fill it up like mad.
Good luck, George.
When I was coaching the Reno Bighorns in the old CBA, we played George's Montana team. He beat the pants off of us. The Bighorns were a so-so team with a lousy coach; the Montana team was a so-so team with a great coach. Well, he wasn't great yet, but he was on a fast-track to greatness.
The Sacramento Kings' GM, Pete D'Alessandro, made a wise choice hiring George Karl. Why George remained un-hired up to now is a mystery to me and a gift to the Kings. I believe George belongs in that category of elite coaches which include Auerbach, Holtzman, Hannum, Sharman, Wilkens, Riley, Daly, Brown, Jackson, and Popovich, the defining characteristics of which is four-fold: basketball smarts, razor sharp instincts, the ability to teach, and passion. Of all of these, I rank Passion the highest. The smarts, the instincts, the teaching goes sideways without passion.
George was passionate about the game, I suspect, from the first time he picked up a basketball, but I saw it first when I watched him play as a intelligent point guard at North Carolina. And later, as I watched him coach in the NBA.
If George has ever failed as a coach, it's been his inability to coach selfish players. Selfish players don't respond to coaching. I don't see any selfish players on the Kings. Some people have laid that accusation at the feet of Demarcus Cousins. Cousins, no doubt has his faults - brooding, complaining, whining, obstinacy, self importance to name a few, but no one watching the big fellow can say that he lacks passion.The fact is Demarcus Cousins has improved in the above mentioned areas of personal behavior, so George if fortunate to inherit a more manageable player to begin his tenure. .
We will see if the still young Cousins has matured enough to embrace the kind of straight talk he'll hear from Coach Karl. Carmelo Anthony couldn't, and still can't, his problem being a hard wired genetic case of selfishness. Gary Payton (known for being difficult and stubborn) could, and grew into a Hall of Fame basketball player under George's tutelage.
There is one other attribute that should be pointed out, not something George would emphasis, but I will and that is his battle and victory over two cancers: of prostate and throat. Having overcome three types of cancer myself, I'm in awe of my fellow cancer survivors. I'm not sure it makes one stronger, but it sure teaches one patience, the importance of a sense of humor, and how to live day by day, all of which George will bring to his coaching this year. The Kings may be lucky in that they nabbed George at the moment when he has reached the pinacle of his humanity and, as a consequence, the height of his ability to coach.
George, you will love Sacramento. The Capital City is on the rise, with an aggressive, future thinking Mayor, a beautiful new arena, a revitalized downtown, an energetic university and arts community, good schools, involved citizens, a city with more trees in the world except for Paris. And lots more attributes too numerous to count.
Last Saturday I sat in on a poetry workshop run by Sacramento Poet Laureate Bob Stanley. I was there as his guest to talk about my recent collection of poems: Sweat: New and Collected Poems About Sports. One of the members of the group wrote a wonderful poem about basketball I'd like to share with a wider audience.
Roundball by Stan Zumbiel
I always dreamt of being a basketball player,
A dream that only I believed in.
David Duchovny
I could shoot. Don't get me wrong
about that. Hours and year on the
driveway tossing the ball against
the wooden backboard and into the
metal net meant I was a deadeye.
Sometimes the balls were oblong
from being run over with the car
or worn completely smooth by
constant contact with cement and
the black-top of the street.But I could
shoot. From the edge of the lawn,
guarded by the boxwood hedge,
from the complete backcourt of
the sidewalk, I would hear the
ringing song of the chain link net.
When I was a freshman, we had a contest
in P.E. For two minutes, we alternately
shot freethrows and lay-ups retrieving
our own misses. Two points for the
freethrow and one point for the lay-up.
And for the entirety of one lunch
period, I held the school record at
thirty-two points, was the talk of
the cafeteria. Until Bruce Lee,
the captain of the freshman team,
got forty-one that afternoon.
I could shoot. There was no doubt
about that. But, let's not deceive
ourselves, I couldn't play. I was slow,
short, couldn't jump and hated contact -
worthless during a game.
But I could shoot, on my driveway
I could fill it up like mad.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Mid Season Comments
A solid analysis of which teams have a chance to win the NBA title won't be possible until the trade deadline passes and all the lineups are in place. However, my picks up to this point are the following teams. In the West: Golden State Warriors, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Houston Rockets. In the East: the Atlanta Hawks, I hesitate to add any other teams from the East, but I'll hedge my bets by adding Washington Wizards, and, yes, Cleveland Cavs. The addition of Mosgov, Shumpert, and JR Smith creates a whiff of possibility. But, after last night's win against the Warriors, I'm sold on Atlanta's game. Like the Warriors, they can go deep into their bench for productivity.
About that game, it appeared to me, the Hawks bench was more physically aggressive than the Warriors' bench. During last night's game the Hawk demonstrated a slight edge over the Warriors in that bench play. I don't believe that will be the case come playoff time. The key will be the improved play of David Lee. Notice, I said "will be, not might be." Right now, I don't see Lee playing at the high level we're used to seeing. He seems reluctant to shoot that good mid-range jumper of his, and the banker in the paint, that was his bread and butter is a tad off the mark. Other than that, the Warriors have all it take to win the title. As an Old Warrior, it warms my heart to watch them play, the way they pass, cut, set picks, board, look to help each other.
One last comment. It seems to me that whoever wins the title, it will be because of the following: Paint protection (driving to the basket must be significantly curtailed and and an opponents' offensive rebounds virtually eliminated); a solid eleven man rotation (at this point in the season, there are only four teams that have eleven trustworthy players - Warriors, Grizzlies, Houston, and Atlanta. There are lots of teams with 8 or 9 solid players, but that won't cut it to win a championship.
I found a wonderfully funny and surreal sports poem. The title of the poem is the key to the humor. I'm sort of a history/political junkie, so that added to the fun.
LOUISVILLE FEARED IN MIDEAST by Steven Bryan Bieler
after a newspaper headline
You can't buy baseball bats in Israel.
You can't bring them in, either.
(The batting gloves tucked in your belt give you away)
God forbid you could poke somebody's eye out.
Louisville feared in Mideast.
You can't make crime pay in Egypt
Egyptian justice will track you down.
Your cell has no windows, no telephone, no Reader's Digest.
They turn on the TV
NCAA basketball playoff.
Louisville feared in Mideast.
You can't predict the price of oil
With the tools of supply and demand.
The Arab oil ministers use their own tools
"And in today's results
Chiropractor ran last in the fourth.
While Stormin' Norman failed to show."
Louisville feared in Mideast.
About that game, it appeared to me, the Hawks bench was more physically aggressive than the Warriors' bench. During last night's game the Hawk demonstrated a slight edge over the Warriors in that bench play. I don't believe that will be the case come playoff time. The key will be the improved play of David Lee. Notice, I said "will be, not might be." Right now, I don't see Lee playing at the high level we're used to seeing. He seems reluctant to shoot that good mid-range jumper of his, and the banker in the paint, that was his bread and butter is a tad off the mark. Other than that, the Warriors have all it take to win the title. As an Old Warrior, it warms my heart to watch them play, the way they pass, cut, set picks, board, look to help each other.
One last comment. It seems to me that whoever wins the title, it will be because of the following: Paint protection (driving to the basket must be significantly curtailed and and an opponents' offensive rebounds virtually eliminated); a solid eleven man rotation (at this point in the season, there are only four teams that have eleven trustworthy players - Warriors, Grizzlies, Houston, and Atlanta. There are lots of teams with 8 or 9 solid players, but that won't cut it to win a championship.
I found a wonderfully funny and surreal sports poem. The title of the poem is the key to the humor. I'm sort of a history/political junkie, so that added to the fun.
LOUISVILLE FEARED IN MIDEAST by Steven Bryan Bieler
after a newspaper headline
You can't buy baseball bats in Israel.
You can't bring them in, either.
(The batting gloves tucked in your belt give you away)
God forbid you could poke somebody's eye out.
Louisville feared in Mideast.
You can't make crime pay in Egypt
Egyptian justice will track you down.
Your cell has no windows, no telephone, no Reader's Digest.
They turn on the TV
NCAA basketball playoff.
Louisville feared in Mideast.
You can't predict the price of oil
With the tools of supply and demand.
The Arab oil ministers use their own tools
"And in today's results
Chiropractor ran last in the fourth.
While Stormin' Norman failed to show."
Louisville feared in Mideast.
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