Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

So a while back I got into a friendly argument with someone about the firing of coaches in professional sports, with me advocating a theory that the NHL fires more head coaches during the season than any other professional sport. How’s that position worked out for me so far this season? Not so good.

Having just barely passed the quarter-season mark of their respective seasons there have already been 5 firings of head coaches in the NBA, compared with only 3 (I believe) in the NHL. The NBA coaching carnage timeline:

November 22nd – Oklahoma City Thunder fire coach P.J. Carlesimo after an abysmal 1-13 start. This team just stinks. I’m not kidding. They are seriously bad and could well threaten the NBA record worst season ever mark of 9-73 set by the Philadelphia 76ers during the 1972-1973 season (the Thunder are currently 2-21). Getting fired is never a “good” thing, but once he’s got some distance on it P.J. may actually come to the conclusion that in this case it wasn’t necessarily a “bad” thing either.

November 24th – Washington Wizards fire coach Eddie Jordan after a 1-10 start. Even though the Wizards have been without franchise player and All-Star Gilbert Arenas the entire season, the team still has enough talent that they should have been able to make a better showing than that. The early season problems had nothing to do with an inability to score – the team averaged 95 points a game through its first 11 – but rather a total lack of defense. Since Jordan was ousted the team hasn’t improved much in that area, going 3-6 and allowing an average of 104 points a game by the opposition.

December 3rd - Toronto Raptors fire coach Sam Mitchell after a disappointing 8-9 start, including the worst defeat in team history, a 132-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Of all the firings this one is probably the most “unfair” to blame on the coach as the team was seriously hampered early on by injuries to key players Jermaine O’Neal (knee) and Jose Calderon (hamstring). Of course the mediocre record was probably just an excuse for GM Bryan Colangelo to get rid of Mitchell. Colangelo, who inherited Mitchell when he became GM in 2006, prefers to run a much more up-tempo, European style offense and Mitchell’s approach is more traditional and conservative. If not now, Mitchell’s firing was most likely inevitable simply because of the philosophical differences between him and the front office.

December 8th – Minnesota Timberwolves fire Randy Wittman and replace him with Kevin McHale. Yes, that Kevin McHale, and this pretty much signals the beginning of the end for him in MInnesota. Anytime an owner asks the GM to come out of the front office and start coaching it’s inevitably a precursor to the GM getting the ax. In essence, the owner is saying to the GM, “You made this mess, you clean it up.” And McHale won’t be able to; the Timberwolves are a floundering mess at 4-18, prevented from being the cellar dwellers in the Northwest Division only because they’ve got the putrid Oklahoma City Thunder in the same division.

December 13th – Philadelphia 76ers fire Maurice Cheeks, despite having given him not one but two contract extensions in the past 12 months. Though the 76ers are a disappointing 9-14, they did add Elton Brand over the off-season and it does sometimes take a little bit of time to fully integrate a new, key piece and shake the kinks out. Of all the coaches kicked to the curb it is Mo Cheeks that I feel the worst about. Not only is Cheeks a 76ers legend, having been one of the team’s starting guards during their championship ‘82-’83 season, but he’s also just an unquestionably class act. He’ll get another head coaching position soon, and any team should be proud to have him.

So, 45 days into the season and 16% of all NBA head coaches have already been fired. And it may not be over yet, as rumors abound that Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus and Memphis Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni may be next on the chopping block. And though I still maintain that year-in and year-out over the past 20 years the NHL has fired more coaches during their active season – and earlier in the season – than the other professional leagues, there can be no denying that this year the NBA is king of the coaching carnage.

I have to admit, being an NBA fan in Savannah makes me feel a little like Rich “Hockey Guy” McGowan feels being an NHL fan in this town. I’m sure there must be other fans of “The Association” in Savannah… they’re just well hidden! In any event, I love the NBA, I have strong opinions, and I like writing so I’ll be doing some NBA blogging this season…. even if it turns out to be a “tree falling in the forrest” experience with nobody there to hear (read) it.

So, without further ado, my first blog of the 2008-2009 NBA Season….

Welcome To The NBA Rookie

There are several big name rookies to keep an eye on this year.

Greg Oden (Portland Trailblazers) – After sitting out all of his first year recovering from micro-fracture knee surgery, Oden made his debut as a technical / statistical rookie this year in a game against the L.A. Lakers… and promptly got injured 13 minutes into his first NBA game having not scored a single basket. While tests have determined that it is just a sprained ankle that should only keep Oden out for 2-4 weeks, fans in Portland surely had visions of Sam Bowie flashing through their minds wondering when – if? – the highly touted big man would begin to make a difference on the court, and not just on ticket and merchandise sales.

Rudy Fernandez (Portland Trailblazers) – Fortunately for Trailblazers fans while they are waiting for Oden to actually play his first full game they can enjoy the play of Rudy Fernandez. Spanish native Fernandez comes to the U.S. as an NBA “rookie” fresh off his national team’s silver medal winning performance in the Olympics. The 6′5″ shooting guard has dynamic ball handling skills and scores by cutting and flashing to the basket, which has Trailblazers fans hoping for the second coming of Manu Ginobili.

Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) – In only 1 year at the University of Memphis Rose lead the Tigers to the NCAA Championship Game, showing tremendous poise and leadership for a freshman. The #1 pick in last year’s NBA draft, Rose has proven his college success wasn’t a one-hit fluke, charging hard out of the NBA gate and leading the Bulls to a 3-0 start while averaging 18 PPG / 4 APG / 4 RPG. If Rose continues to play like the real deal the Bulls could be looking at a franchise point guard the likes of Chris Paul or Deron Williams.

Michael Beasley (Miami Heat) – The 2nd overall pick in the draft, the explosive 6′9″ forward lead the NBA summer league in scoring but has gotten off to a slow start with the Heat in the regular season. He only played one year of college ball though, so the slow start shouldn’t necessarily be cause for concern as the youngster transitions into his NBA career.

O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) – Since Mayo plays for the Memphis Grizzlies this may be the first and last time you hear his name this season, which is unfortunate because he’s made a great showing in his first few NBA games. The 6′4″ combo guard has averaged 14 PPG / 5 RPG in his first 3 starts, while playing 38 minutes a game and not showing any early tendencies to turn the ball over or get into foul trouble.

The Lopez Twins – Want to see two overgrown 10 year olds who play ball for the sheer love of it? I give you the 7′0″ Lopez twins, Brook (NJ Nets) & Robin aka “Sideshow Bob” (Phoenix). The twins served as “twin towers” for Stanford for 2 seasons before entering the NBA draft after their sophomore year. Though neither is destined to be an All-Star center in the NBA (Brook is the better player of the two), both are high energy, high basketball IQ players who should be solid contributors for many seasons. And they’ve got tons of personality!

Notable Player Moves

As always in any off-season there was a fair amount of player movement in the form of trades and Free Agent signings. Those that I found to be the most notable in their potential impact on the teams who lost and gained they players are:

Ron Artest (Sacramento Kings to Houston Rockets) – No doubt Artest will forever be saddled with the stigma of the “Malice At The Palace” brawl that took place between the Pacers and Pistons in 2004. However, those who know basketball and are willing to look beneath the bad P.R. know that Artest is, in fact, one of the best all around players in the league. A smothering, shut-down defensive player, Artest’s skills on the offensive end are often overlooked (he averaged 21 PPG in ‘07-’08). Adding Artest to a Houston team that already starts All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady could well be the missing piece/third scorer the Rockets need to take them to the next level.

James Posey (Boston Celtics to New Orleans Hornets) – This may well end up being the biggest, yet under-the-radar, acquisition of the off-season. Posey played a key role on Boston’s championship team, giving the Celtics solid defense, veteran leadership, and clutch 3’s. He’s also the ultimate team/glue guy. His loss will hit the Celtics hard over the course of the season, and will be a major addition to the already up-and-coming Hornets.

Elton Brand (L.A. Clippers to Philadelphia 76ers) – This was a great pick up for Philly, who has been hampered in the past couple of seasons with not much of a half-court game. Brand will give the 76ers a solid low post presence, forcing defenders to stay honest and freeing things up (even further) for Andre Iguodala to operate in space while seeing fewer double teams.

Baron Davis (Golden State Warriors to L.A. Clippers) – This is a huge loss for Golden State. Despite having injury issues the past few seasons, Baron Davis was without question the heart and soul of the Warriors, not to mention their best player (20+ PPG / 7+ APG / 2+ SPG the past two seasons) and one of the best point guards in the league when healthy. The once laughable Clippers continue their march toward respectability with this outstanding acquisition.

Josh Childress (Atlanta Hawks to Olympiakos, Greece, Euroleague) – The Hawks gambled that swingman Childress wouldn’t actually go overseas when they chose to lowball him on their contract offer and Childress called their bluff. Childress becomes the first “name” NBA player to go to the Euroleague while in the prime of their career, signing a 3 year $32.5 million dollar deal that includes Olympiakos paying all income taxes and providing Childress with a villa and car… not a bad gig if you can get it! While obviously not a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant level talent, Childress was nevertheless a key player for the Hawks, providing 11+ PPG / 5+ RPG and a great energy spark off the bench as the 6th man in the Hawks rotation. Whether Childress’ move to the Euroleague signals a possible future trend is debatable, and probably the topic for another blog at some point.

Contenders

It’s obviously early, but going into the season there are a few high powered teams with all the pieces in place that, barring injury, should be playing deep into the playoffs.

Boston Celtics – Can they repeat? They have a darn good chance to. Their “Big Three” (Garnett, Allen, Pierce) are all back, injury free, and well rested not having participated in the Olympics. Add to that the fact they play in the weak Eastern conference and the Celtics should be able to make another legitimate run at the championship. However, the loss of James Posey shouldn’t be dismissed too easily; he was a key and clutch contributor off the bench for Celtics last season.

Houston Rockets – The key to the Rockets being able to make a serious run to the Finals will be whether or not they can keep Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady healthy and on the floor at the same time. Ron Artest has been an early good fit, performing well on the floor and behaving off of it. Key role players Shane Battier (shut down defense), Luis Scola (lots of energy and solid scoring) and Aaron Brooks and Rafer Alston (a nice one-two punch at point guard) will also need to contribute on a consistent basis.

L.A. Lakers – The rubber meets the road this season for the Lakers. Andrew Bynum performed well before getting injured early in the season last year, and mid-season acquisition Pau Gasol clicked with Kobe to help take the Lakers to the finals. However, it will be important to see if Bynum and Gasol can coexist on the floor at the same time or whether they will step on each others toes. And keep an eye on Lamar Odom, who is in the last year of his contract and may have started the clock ticking on a prima donna meltdown over his “demotion” to rotational player.

New Orleans Hornets – Possibly the most exciting, up-and-coming young team in the NBA. Break out All-Star point guard Chris Paul makes this team dangerous all by himself… but he doesn’t have to. “Baby Bull” Tyson Chandler is flourishing in N.O. and the Paul-to-Chandler connection was one of the most consistent, and devastating, in the NBA last season. Peja Stojakovic is a tad past his prime, but is still on his game, while David West’s mid-range game allows Paul to work outside, Chandler to work inside, while West picks opponents apart in the middle. Oh yeah, and they added some guy named James Posey during the off season… all he did was serve as the essential “glue guy” on the Celtics championship winning team last season.

Pretenders?

Three teams that have been great in recent seasons are all in the position of seeing their window of opportunity to make a run at the Finals closing fast.

San Antonio Spurs – Other than Tony Parker this is a rapidly aging team. Add to that the recurring problems with Manu Ginobil’s ankle – which is still a question mark – and the Spurs may have a tougher hill to climb than they can handle in the cutthroat SouthWest Conference.

Phoenix Suns – The sun may well be setting on the Suns. While Nash is still an elite point guard, he is nevertheless 34 years old with 12 seasons of tread on the tires in a conference with up-and-coming turks like Chris Paul and Deron Williams. The great Shaq experiment – which was fair to middling at best last season – enters year two with Shaq another year older, slower, and more bitter. Get used to the hack-a-Shaq big guy, you’ll be seeing a lot of it!

Dallas Mavericks – I still don’t know what Cuban was thinking trading for Jason Kidd. He may be a Hall of Fame point guard, but he is definitely on the down side of his career. He never really seemed to mesh with the Mavs offense last season and was routinely overmatched by the guard play he encountered after coming over to the West from the East in a trade that sent young PG Devin Harris to the NJ Nets, where Harris finished the season with the highest PPG (16) and APG (7) numbers of his 4 year career. Cuban gambled by giving away a potential future franchise point guard to win now with Kidd… only they didn’t. So now what?

Train Wrecks

There are contenders, there are pretenders, and then there are teams that are just train wrecks.

Exhibit A: Charlotte Bobcats – Michael Jordan was a great player – possibly the greatest ever – but he can’t GM his way out of a wet paper bag. Add to that a head coach prone to throwing his own team under the bus (Larry Brown), head scratching personnel moves ($72 million to Emeka Okafor? Adam Morrison over Brandon Roy???), and a disillusioned fan base and the Bobcats may well have entered a downswing heretofore experienced only by the L.A. Clippers of old.

Atlanta Hawks

OK, the Hawks just haven’t been that good in recent years. But, they’re usually still fun to watch because of their up tempo style of play, and they did make positive strides last season including making it to the playoffs and taking the eventual NBA champion Celtics to Game 7 in the first round. Unfortunately they lost a key player in Josh Childress, and Acie Law and Mo Evans are going to have to seriously take up the slack left by the loss of their key “glue guy” / 6th man.

Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford all had good seasons last year, but they all need to take their games to the next level if the Hawks have any hope of being decent and making the playoffs again this year. That said, they have started off the season quite well with wins against quality Eastern Conference teams in Orlando (on the road) and Philadelphia. If they can gel as a unit they may just surprise people.

Are you Kidding Me?!

This week’s “Are you kidding me?!” moment is brought to you by Al Harrington of the Golden State Warriors who made it through a grand total of 1 game before expressing his displeasure at being with the Warriors and asking for a trade. In fairness to Harrington, the desire to be gone from Golden State is a carry over from last season and his clashes with head coach Don Nelson… who has been known to rub a player or two the wrong way in his day.

I hear this comment, or something similar, far too often when talking with people about basketball and how it is officiated:

“You should never expect the officials to make a game-deciding foul call in the final seconds. It’s not going to happen, nor should it.”

I should “never expect” a call in the final seconds? “Not gonna happen, nor should it”?! I am sooo sick of that attitude. I think it is complete BULL$#!@ to say refs should “swallow the whistle” just because it is (1) a star player, (2) the end of the game, (3) a playoff / championship game, (4) insert your own excuse du jour here.

That “sliding scale” attitude about when a foul should be called is just wrong. If you’d call it in game one of the regular season, you should call it in Game 7 of the Finals. If you’d call it in the first 2 minutes of a game, you should call it in the last 2 minutes… either it gets called always, or not at all. A foul is a foul is a foul.

People argue that the refs blowing the whistle in a last second situation would be taking the game out of the hands of the players and having the officials make a game-deciding call. Well, I say that officials not calling a foul in that situation is just as much the officials deciding the game by allowing a foul to take place with impunity.

I hear this one a lot too:

“Officials who do make calls in those situations are going to catch major heat and be ridiculed.”

So what?!? So they shouldn’t make a correct call just because some pundits, talking-heads, and homers will blast them and make fun of them? That is ridiculous! Hey, I don’t want sour-grape “whining” in my sports, but I do want justice. And if an official doesn’t have the cojones to make the tough call at the end of a game / in hostile territory then they shouldn’t be officiating. Period.

Word on the street is that by the time the day is over Shaquille O’Neal will officially be traded from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns. If this trade goes through the Heat will have pulled off a major deal and given their fans serious hope for next season (this season is irretrievably shot) and beyond.

Inarguably one of the greatest players ever to step on the court, the brutal truth is that Shaq is currently so far over the hill he’s down in the valley. He hasn’t contributed when he’s been on the court, fouled out of 5 straight games at one point (and was sat down by the coach or it would have been 6), didn’t make the All-Star team for the first time in 14 years, and has already missed 14 games (and counting) this season. And yet he’s guaranteed $20 million a year… for two more years!!

Getting Shaq off their books will give the Heat more room to sign a young, desirable free agent in the off season, which will be a key to keeping All-Star (and arguably the best player in the league) Dwyane Wade, who can opt out after next season and has intimated he will do so if he doesn’t see serious change in the team’s focus and direction (“We’ve got to do everything in our power to try to change it hopefully this season, and if not this season, then change next season,” he said. “We don’t want to go through this constant losing, like the last year and a half.”). The Heat also get Shawn “The Matrix” Marion in the trade, a career 16 & 10 player and 3 time All-Star.

The Suns, on the other hand, inherit a $40 million dollar anchor who can’t run, is perpetually injured, is having a career low year in scoring, rebounds, and minutes played (even when “healthy”), can’t shoot free-throws, and who (according to insiders) wasn’t wanted by the head coach or All-Star and 2 time NBA MVP point guard Steve Nash. Yeah, sign me up for that.

The Suns run up and down the court like thoroughbreds, yet they’re trading for a Clydesdale… it just doesn’t fit. The only hope I can see for this to turn out well for the Suns is if Shaq can get healthy enough to play immediately following the All-Star break and somehow manages to swallow his MASSIVE ego long enough to want to stick it to the Lakers now that he’s back in the West. But to do that he is going to have to be willing to take a back seat to both Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, and make an honest effort to haul his big butt up and down the court at a pace faster than a glacier.

Maybe, just maybe, if it all comes together just right the Suns can catch lightening in a bottle long enough to make a serious finals run… this year. But Shaq is not a long term solution for the Suns as currently structured and, in fact, his acquisition makes me wonder if the team is planning a major overhaul after this season and trading for Shaq is a last ditch effort to make a final run at the title with the personnel they have now.

We’ll see.