khandor’s sports blog

Read the following article from today’s version of TrueHoop:

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Keith Richards’ school of Public Relations

Tough talk
Richards’ story is a macho one — women play minor roles, ex-convicts are his real friends. He presents himself as a swashbuckler, entirely unafraid of pulling a gun (unlicensed, of course), throwing a knife, picking a fight or, for that matter, ingesting a mighty eight grams of pure Merck pharmaceutical grade cocaine — the high lasted days — on a dare.

There is no shortage of tough talkers in this world, but Richards stands way the hell out for keeping his tough guy hat on even when it’s time to tell what actually happened.

Many of the most important relationships of his life — with Jagger, with the family of his wife Patti Hansen, with the mother of his older children Anita Pallenberg, with record companies, promoters and drug dealers — all got rocky and are all discussed in reckless specificity. He pilots his pen like he piloted his Bentley — with a lot of scrapes. Let the chips fall where they may.

If there’s value in honesty, this is an international treasure. That kind of truth won’t please many PR experts and I’m sure the lawyers had conniptions, but you’ve got to hand it to the guy. He sure keeps things from straying too far from the truth, and that’s exhilarating. What a lovely break from the saccharine sanitized version of things. It may be ugly, but at least it’s real. And in the case of Richards, his frankness is informative. His rules are interesting. No mainlining the heroin, for instance — only in the muscle. No crack. No freebasing. And only the absolute highest grade of everything. If the heroin gets out of hand, these are some remedies. These are the real stresses of the spotlight. This is what groupies mean to rock stars. This is what friendship feels like in the eye of the media hurricane.

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then, thoroughly examine the following sentence which appears in the middle of the piece:

“And yet, there is all kinds of evidence that Richards’ approach has more than succeeded.”

and ask yourself the following question:

What does the Life & Times of someone like Keith Richards really demonstrate about the True Meaning of the word Success?

In the opinion of this corner, the real answer to THAT question is:

“Unfortunately, not very much at all.”

Related:

Wisdom from the Wizard of Westwood

At different times stories in the world of sports seem to take on a life of their own … without actually having much [any?] basis in fact [truth?].

Please witness:

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Exhibit A

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still angry at Michael Olowokandi

For Kareem, it was a frustrating few years. Though Olowokandi was probably overrated at the time of his top selection — he was a project, no doubt, but also 23 when he finished his senior season at Pacific — he did boast significant gifts that could have made him an All-Star at some point. But despite his age (for comparison’s sake, Andrew Bynum(notes), the more malleable Kareem student, is about to enter his seventh NBA season, and he’s 23 as well), he was far from a willing pupil.

Abdul-Jabbar mentioned as much in a column he penned for ESPN.com today:

I have seen this process firsthand. When I coached for the Clippers, I had to deal with Michael Olowokandi, a player who perfectly fit the description “talented but uncoachable.” At practice, I would attempt to point out Mr. Olowokandi’s faults to him, ones he constantly repeated and resulted in lost possessions for the team or personal fouls that sent him to the bench. His reaction to my attempts to correct his bad habits was to take my input as a personal insult and embarrassment. He told me point-blank that he would not be criticized in front of the team. He stuck to his word and, as a result, had very few successful moments on the court playing the way he wanted to play. He took his place on the list of athletically gifted washouts who have been in and out of the league in the past 10 years.

which is an article that was written today, by Kelly Dwyer, in a US national/international on-line publication.

This is not the crux of Kareem’s column, but an aside in a well-reasoned piece that, as I did this morning, points to the fact that the NBA’s owners have to decide how they’re going to settle their revenue sharing issues in-house before they can demand massive “piece-of-the-pie” cutbacks for the players who have earned those record revenues and inspired those increased ratings.

Abdul-Jabbar, though, is still smarting. He’s long been known as someone who can keep a grudge with the best of them, and in ‘Kandi (pictured above with former Clippers coach Chris Ford) not only did Kareem see a project with potential that he could claim his own, but also a possible entryway into the world of NBA head coaching. To be charged with, almost singularly, changing the fortunes of one player and then watching as that player continually tunes you out? I’d be ticked, too.

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The known facts about this matter would actually be the following:

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote a column which was published today on ESPN.com.

2. In part of this column, Kareem mentions that:

i. He spent time trying to coach Michael Olowokandi, when the latter played for the LA Clippers;

ii. In his opinion, Olowokandi was not responsive to the type of coaching that Kareem was able to provide.

iii. The type of coaching which he provided included making criticisms of Olowokandi’s play in a public way at Clippers’ practices [i.e. in front of other Clippers' players].

iv. In his opinion, Olowokandi continued to make the same mistakes repeatedly, at least, in part, because Michael was someone who did not wish to make changes in his own play based upon this type of coaching … unlike Andrew Bynum, who has also worked with Abdul-Jabbar in the past.

v. As a result of Olowokandi’s poor attitude/approach to learning, in this specific type of setting, he should rightfully be placed in the category of  the “athletically gifted washouts” who have been in and out of the league over the last 10 years.

3. Kelly Dwyer wrote a column today which was published by Yahoo! Sports.

4. In part of this column, Kelly mentions that:

i. In his opinion, Kareem is still “smarting”, concerning his work with Olowokandi.

ii. In his opinion, Kareem “… has long been known as someone who can keep a grudge with the best of them.”

iii. In his opinion, Kareem ” … [saw Olowokandi] as a project with potential that he could claim his own, but also a possible entryway into the world of NBA head coaching.”

iv. In his opinion, it must have been difficult for Kareem ” … To be charged with, almost singularly, changing the fortunes of one player and then watching as that player continually tunes you out?”

v. If he had been in Kareem’s shoes, working with Olowokandi, as a coach with the LA Clippers, then, he “… would be ticked, too”.

5. In his column today for ESPN.com, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar actually makes no mention, whatsoever, of being “angry”, “mad”, or ticked” with Michael Olowokandi; or, with being “smarting” in any way based on his past work with the ‘Kandi Man’.

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In the opinion of yours truly …

It is now Kelly Dwyer who owes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a sincere apology, as far as this matter is concerned.

Related: Seems as though Kurt Helin [Pro Basketball Talk] now owes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar an apology, as well, for misrepresenting what ‘The Big Fella’ actually had to say about ‘The Kandi Man’ in today’s article for ESPN.com.

Baseball’s Hall-Of-Fame induction ceremony took place yesterday and, once again, former Blue Jays’ titan, Pat Gillick/GM, was a virtuoso performer.

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Better late than never, but Blyleven still bitter

On the press-conference stage, Pat Gillick leapt to Blyleven’s defence, but did so clumsily. His fellow Hall of Fame inductee talked about the stats that he thought were important in baseball.

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Congratulations Lawrence Patrick David [Pat] Gillick! You have always been a straight-arrow shooter.

… Rick Adelman, if the following report is accurate:

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Wolves will interview Don Nelson Sunday

Don Nelson has been in town all week prepping for his interview with the Wolves on Sunday.

OK, so maybe he arrived here from Hawaii early this week to spend some time with his daughter, a schoolteacher, and his grandkids in Minnetonka.

Point is, he’s here in town and next on a list that started with Terry Porter on Monday, Mike Woodson on Tuesday and continues with Bernie Bickerstaff today and Rick Adelman on Saturday.

There might be one or two others after that.

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and:

1. David Kahn actually knows what he’s doing, as the GM for Minnesota;

and,

2. The REAL goal for this franchise is to make gradual and consistent progress building towards an upper echelon team in the Western Conference over an extended period of years.

If Rick Adelman has legitimate interest in the T-wolves job, then, he is by far the best fit for this team, since their present roster is chalk full of talented young players in need of constructive direction by a highly successful, veteran, head coach with a track record of being able to communicate effectively with them.

According to published reports last week … the three leading candidates to fill the newly ‘created’ GM-only position in the Raptors basketball organization are said to be Ed Stefanski, Dennis Lindsey and Jeff Bower.

Amidst these reports, however, it has also been suggested that Bryan Colangelo intends to maintain “final say” on all basketball-related matters, as the Raptors’ President and the former holder of both of these two positions.

If this is indeed the case, then, according to yours truly, it will most likely be the case that each of the three people currently atop the Raptors’ wish list to fill this present vacancy will decline the opportunity to join Toronto’s team, in favour of staying in their current jobs, or moving to a different organization, altogether, in some other capacity … and the person who will eventually fulfill this role in Toronto will be someone else that has yet to be identified publicly, since Stefanski, Lindsey and Bower do not seem to be the type who would be interested in playing ’2nd fiddle’ for the Raptors.

In this instance …

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Arrogance of Ownership: NFL Lockout Goes Into Overtime

Despite the awesome weight of ownership, media, and personal financial pressure, the players are holding firm to actually reading and discussing this mammoth 10-year labor agreement before signing off and good for them. I fully expect the lockout to end shortly. There is too much money at stake, too much expectation for football to go forward as planned. But after a 132 day lockout, the players have every right to actually understand in full what it is they’re voting upon. The owners would be lucky if the NFLPA doesn’t look at the number of publicly funded stadiums, look at the star-power of their own players and say to the owners, “Why do we need you again?”

This is bigger than the NFL. This is about the arrogance of Capital in a period of austerity. The actions of the owners are little different from the arrogance of the Republican leaders of congress, Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio, Jerry Brown of California, Andrew Cuomo of New York and all who believe that it’s belt-tightening time for everyone but the fat-cats and to hell with democracy, due process, or any semblance of thought for the greater good. This is about those at the top of society who want “socialism” for the rich and an apocalyptic Ayn Randian nightmare for the rest of us. As Troy Polamalu, the All-Pro safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers said,

“I think what the players are fighting for is something bigger. A lot of people think it’s millionaires versus billionaires and that’s the huge argument. The fact is its people fighting against big business. The big business argument is ‘I got the money and I got the power therefore I can tell you what to do.’ That’s life everywhere. I think this is a time when the football players are standing up and saying, ‘No, no, no, the people have the power.”

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yours truly happens to be in complete agreement with the opinion of Dave Zirin.

According to published reports yesterday, the Detroit Pistons have agreed to hire Lawrence Frank, as their next head coach … which is what this corner suggested last week they should eventually end up doing, if they are truly committed to hiring someone with prior NBA head coaching experience.

Q1. What should Pistons fans expect to see from Lawrence Frank?

A1. Expect him to establish a solid 8-9 player rotation for the Pistons, clarifying each of their roles and creating a definitive pecking order for the remainder of the roster.

This is something which good NBA coaches do in their sleep [so-to-speak] … and something which John Kuester was unable to ever do over the course of his 2 seasons as Detroit’s head coach.

Expect Lawrence Frank to do a good job coaching the Pistons and for him to un-muddy the waters fairly quickly for the Pistons at the crucial PG, OG and SF positions, re: the collective mess that exists with:

Rodney Stuckey – No. 1 PG, until further notice
Brandon Knight – No. 2 PG, until further notice
Will Bynum – No. 3 PG, or traded
Richard Hamilton – No. 1 OG, or traded
Ben Gordon – No. 2 OG, or traded
Terrico White – No. 3 OG, or traded
Austin Daye – ensconced at the Forward position with, either, Tayshaun Prince or Jonas Jerebko [if Prince is not re-signed or traded] and Kyle Singler [No. 3?]

For each of the last 3 seasons, the Pistons have had solid [although far from great!] NBA-level talent that has simply not been used properly by Michael Curry and then John Kuester.

In this same regard, at least, Lawrence Frank actually knows what he’s doing as a legitimate NBA head coach.

With this specific hire, by Tom Gores [i.e. their new owner] and Joe Dumars [i.e. their old GM], the Pistons are now substantially ahead of where they were just 2 days ago, in spite of the League’s current lock-out situation … and, the fact that their overall roster does not yet have the talent level required to move into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.

In conjunction with:

A) Today’s official announcement made by the Rockets’ “Gentle Giant“:

Yao Ming officially retires from the NBA

and,

B) Yesterday’s unofficial internet roasting of the Lakers’ “Baby Huey“:

Andrew Bynum parked in a handicapped spot. Come on, Andrew Bynum.

it is very interesting to take a brief journey back in time … to approximately 3 years ago … when the first of three separate blog entries about Yao Ming and Andrew Bynum appeared in this space:

Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum … You make the call [Wednesday, July 30, 2008]

which was then followed by blog entry #2:

Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum … Part II (the call) [Thursday, August 7, 2008]

and, eventually, by blog entry #3:

Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum … Part III [The Playoff Series] [Monday, May 4, 2009]

which appeared during the next season’s playoffs, as the Rockets faced off against the Lakers.

In summary:

1. There should now be no doubt, whatsoever, that the great Yao Ming is deserving of an honoured place in the Naismith Basketball  Hall Of Fame, one day in the future, as an outstanding player with a terrific skill-set who [i] conducted himself with poise, dignity and class, at all times, and [ii] was a fantastic ambassador of the game;

and,

2. Andrew Bynum was, indeed, The Correct Choice in the poll conducted here 3 years ago.

As a follow-up to the blog entry below …

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You’re invited to expand on your answer more fully in the comments sections.

According to Dennis Velasco:

The 10 best small forwards of the past three decades

According to yours truly …

An accurate ranking of the 10 players listed by Mr. Velasco [#] should actually look like the following:

1 Larry Bird [1] … a legitimate GOAT contender

2 Scottie Pippen [2] … the best other “all-around” player on this list

3 LeBron James [2] … in every situation on the court, an inferior player compared to Scottie Pippen

4 Paul Pierce [6] … under-rated, in general, by non-basketball experts

5 Dominique Wilkens [4] … over-rated, in general, by non-basketball experts

6 Bernard King [10] … THE best interior scorer on this list, career unfortunately curtailed by injury

7 Adrian Dantley [5] … an old school scorer, in the true sense

8 Alex English [7] … as a mid-range shooter, could fill it up with the best of them

9 Chris Mullin [9] … most questionable member of this list, however, was a fine [e.g. multi-dimensional] offensive player

10 James Worthy [8] *

NOTE: * – Does not belong on this list, at all, since he actually played the Power Forward [PF] position.