http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-0606050084jun05,1,904892.column?coll=cs-bulls-utility
Stern to coaches: cool it on complaints
BY SAM SMITH
Chicago Tribune
It's spring, which means planting flowers, playing golf and, if you're an NBA player or coach, complaining about officiating.
There has been quite a bit of that in these playoffs, and it didn't help when the NBA rescinded a technical against Michael Finley from San Antonio's overtime game against Dallas. As their series wound down, the Suns and Mavs were sending dueling complaints to the league office about the other's alleged cheap shots and dirty play.
NBA Commissioner David Stern said he has had about enough. He believes the actions of the players and coaches trickle down to the fans and cast doubt on the game. He has quietly told the players and coaches to button it.
"We've sort of delivered the message to the coaches," Stern said. "(When) a coach loses a game because a call went the wrong way, I'm never going to say you can't let off some steam.
"When we started the season we said, `Let's tell the assistant coaches they don't have a lot to add to the dialogue with the officials,'" Stern said. "Next season's project will be to persuade the players. Since I've been commissioner there have probably been 35,000 calls a season times 22, and the next call that gets overturned because a player complained will be the first. So it's not a productive enterprise."
But if the NBA really wants to help the officials, it could do something about the block/charge, which remains the call most frequently questioned. So many players are flopping, you wonder if the "skill" is taught before dribbling in Europe.
The league installed the small circle under the basket as a restricted zone where a player cannot draw a change. But the best way to end the bogus practice is to stop calling so many charges. A charge should be called only when a defender plays good defense and moves his feet and still gets run over by the player he is guarding.
Even though zones are allowed now, hardly anyone plays them for more than a few minutes. Sliding over to get in front of a driver is hardly good defense. It's a trick, and it's time the NBA recognized that.
KNICKS' SOAP OPERA
"Dead man walking" was Larry Brown's description last week of his amazing situation in New York, where a classic game of chicken goes on. The Knicks want Brown to quit so they don't have to pay him the $40 million he is owed for four more years. Brown wants it. So Brown's bosses are not talking to him as he works out draft prospects. They hope Brown will violate his contract by not showing up at the predraft camp this week. Others say Brown will go to the camp to network for another job.
Only a year ago New York reporters were staking out Brown's Long Island home and getting comments from him about becoming Knicks coach to save the franchise. Now they're yelling questions in a similarly surreal scene as Brown leaves the Knicks' training facility each day. Police were called one day to keep the reporters back.
They now huddle on a traffic island near the facility. Last week, they watched as Brown's and general manager Isiah Thomas' cars nearly collided in the rain as the two sought to avoid the media. Typical of the Knicks' situation, they missed.
Reporters then followed Knicks owner James Dolan when he played with his band, JD and Straight Shot, at a New York club. Knicks staffers attended to keep reporters away from Dolan.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
It wasn't a great conference finals finish for Tim Thomas, who fouled out with eight points trying to guard Dirk Nowitzki after Nowitzki had 50 in Game 5. But Thomas had a remarkable playoff run, averaging 14.7 points and shooting 50 percent overall against the Mavs and 52 percent on threes.
"Getting Tim Thomas was a stroke of luck," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Getting him when Kurt (Thomas) went down saved the season. . . . without him we couldn't have done all this."
But again, Thomas would not have worked so well with the Bulls. They could not have gotten anything for him without giving up almost all their salary-cap room because they would have had to take on $14 million in contracts.
"His body," D'Antoni said, "is kind of that slow-twitch kind of thing where you think sometimes he's really not putting out all the effort." Even though he was the tallest Sun on the court, the 6-foot-10-inch Thomas averaged only 4.6 rebounds against the Mavs as the Suns positioned him to shoot three-pointers.
Suns owner Robert Sarver, meanwhile, may have been a little premature in declaring that former GM Bryan Colangelo would not get a ring if the Suns won the NBA title. They were tied 2-2 with Dallas in the Western Conference finals at the time and didn't win another game.
"Bryan doesn't work for the organization, so it wouldn't seem to make sense," Sarver said.
He was saved from that delicate issue with the Mavs' win.
WEB OF TRUTH?
The Nuggets and George Karl said Karl was misquoted in suggesting he will take over team personnel with Kiki Vandeweghe gone. The Nuggets' Web site is pressing the issue, recently posting this: "A word to the wise, Nuggets fans: Don't believe everything you read in the paper, see on television or hear on talk radio."
The message claimed certain reporters "will deliberately refuse to report the facts" and went on to cite situations with two unnamed columnists. One refused to meet with team officials to clear up alleged misconceptions and another refused to identify a source when the Nuggets asked, violating, according to the site, "the No. 1 rule of journalism."
Only on the site can fans be assured of getting the Nuggets' side of the story, it declared, and it will act as a journalism review for the benefit of fans.
The Denver Post, meanwhile, talked to Shawn Kemp, who said he is trying to return to the NBA and would like to rejoin Karl, his coach in Seattle.
1 LESS SHAQ-HACKER
Not that it should alter the series, but the Mavs lose six fouls to go against Shaquille O'Neal for four games with DJ Mbenga's suspension for going into the stands. Mbenga was not in uniform, and Mavs reserve Darrell Armstrong said he told Mbenga to go into the stands to help coach Avery Johnson's wife, who was in a dispute with fans after asking them to sit down. Johnson apparently suspended his wife for one game because she didn't attend Game 6 in Phoenix.
SHORTER STORY
In another installment of Amazing Atlanta Hawks tales, general manager Billy Knight told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he wouldn't rule out drafting still another 6-8 swingman.
"I always take talent," Knight said. "I like good basketball players, and there are a lot of 6-foot-8 players in the draft. And 6-foot-8 is the ideal size."
Knight has an ally in 76ers GM Billy King. "I'd like to get two more 6-6 or 6-8 athletes," King said. "In watching the playoffs, you watch Dwyane Wade, you watch LeBron (James), you watch Shawn Marion - you need more athletic 6-6, 6-8 guys. A lot more teams are going small, playing a 6-8 small forward at the power forward position."
DOUBLE DRIBBLES
Eric Musselman takes over in Sacramento after the Kings talked with WNBA coach John Whisenant and Golden State assistant Mario Elie . . . Another assistant's name starting to gain notice with Dallas' run to the Finals is Rolando Blackman. . . . Karl Malone is easing back into the NBA. He worked with the Jazz in analyzing draft prospects last week and said he was contacted by the Hornets before Hurricane Katrina about perhaps working for them back home in Louisiana.
Stanford's Danny Grunfeld, son of former Knicks GM Ernie, worked out for the Knicks and hopes to be a second-round pick. . . . Former Bull Jay Williams worked out for the Raptors and is expected to work out for the 76ers and Cavs. Scouts said he didn't seem to be as explosive as he was, but it's an amazing comeback. The first word the Bulls heard after his 2003 motorcycle accident was his leg would be amputated.
Little-used center Kelvin Cato is a free agent and mentioned the Bulls as a team he believes he can help. The Pistons "just never really had any confidence to use me," Cato said. . . . One of Pat Riley's playoff motivational efforts was taping Yogi Berra quotes to players' lockers. Udonis Haslem never heard of Berra and told reporters Riley gave them Yogi Bear quotes. . . . Byron Scott is selling his New Orleans house and has a home now in Oklahoma City. Scott said it was just a good time to sell with market conditions.
Antonio McDyess, the only Detroit core player without a championship ring, took it hard when the Pistons lost to Miami in the Eastern finals. "This feels like the end," he said. "It doesn't feel like I'm ever going to come close to that ring again. It seems like I had the best chance of winning it last year. And now it seems like it faded away, and I don't think it'll ever come back."
Stern to coaches: cool it on complaints
BY SAM SMITH
Chicago Tribune
It's spring, which means planting flowers, playing golf and, if you're an NBA player or coach, complaining about officiating.
There has been quite a bit of that in these playoffs, and it didn't help when the NBA rescinded a technical against Michael Finley from San Antonio's overtime game against Dallas. As their series wound down, the Suns and Mavs were sending dueling complaints to the league office about the other's alleged cheap shots and dirty play.
NBA Commissioner David Stern said he has had about enough. He believes the actions of the players and coaches trickle down to the fans and cast doubt on the game. He has quietly told the players and coaches to button it.
"We've sort of delivered the message to the coaches," Stern said. "(When) a coach loses a game because a call went the wrong way, I'm never going to say you can't let off some steam.
"When we started the season we said, `Let's tell the assistant coaches they don't have a lot to add to the dialogue with the officials,'" Stern said. "Next season's project will be to persuade the players. Since I've been commissioner there have probably been 35,000 calls a season times 22, and the next call that gets overturned because a player complained will be the first. So it's not a productive enterprise."
But if the NBA really wants to help the officials, it could do something about the block/charge, which remains the call most frequently questioned. So many players are flopping, you wonder if the "skill" is taught before dribbling in Europe.
The league installed the small circle under the basket as a restricted zone where a player cannot draw a change. But the best way to end the bogus practice is to stop calling so many charges. A charge should be called only when a defender plays good defense and moves his feet and still gets run over by the player he is guarding.
Even though zones are allowed now, hardly anyone plays them for more than a few minutes. Sliding over to get in front of a driver is hardly good defense. It's a trick, and it's time the NBA recognized that.
KNICKS' SOAP OPERA
"Dead man walking" was Larry Brown's description last week of his amazing situation in New York, where a classic game of chicken goes on. The Knicks want Brown to quit so they don't have to pay him the $40 million he is owed for four more years. Brown wants it. So Brown's bosses are not talking to him as he works out draft prospects. They hope Brown will violate his contract by not showing up at the predraft camp this week. Others say Brown will go to the camp to network for another job.
Only a year ago New York reporters were staking out Brown's Long Island home and getting comments from him about becoming Knicks coach to save the franchise. Now they're yelling questions in a similarly surreal scene as Brown leaves the Knicks' training facility each day. Police were called one day to keep the reporters back.
They now huddle on a traffic island near the facility. Last week, they watched as Brown's and general manager Isiah Thomas' cars nearly collided in the rain as the two sought to avoid the media. Typical of the Knicks' situation, they missed.
Reporters then followed Knicks owner James Dolan when he played with his band, JD and Straight Shot, at a New York club. Knicks staffers attended to keep reporters away from Dolan.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
It wasn't a great conference finals finish for Tim Thomas, who fouled out with eight points trying to guard Dirk Nowitzki after Nowitzki had 50 in Game 5. But Thomas had a remarkable playoff run, averaging 14.7 points and shooting 50 percent overall against the Mavs and 52 percent on threes.
"Getting Tim Thomas was a stroke of luck," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Getting him when Kurt (Thomas) went down saved the season. . . . without him we couldn't have done all this."
But again, Thomas would not have worked so well with the Bulls. They could not have gotten anything for him without giving up almost all their salary-cap room because they would have had to take on $14 million in contracts.
"His body," D'Antoni said, "is kind of that slow-twitch kind of thing where you think sometimes he's really not putting out all the effort." Even though he was the tallest Sun on the court, the 6-foot-10-inch Thomas averaged only 4.6 rebounds against the Mavs as the Suns positioned him to shoot three-pointers.
Suns owner Robert Sarver, meanwhile, may have been a little premature in declaring that former GM Bryan Colangelo would not get a ring if the Suns won the NBA title. They were tied 2-2 with Dallas in the Western Conference finals at the time and didn't win another game.
"Bryan doesn't work for the organization, so it wouldn't seem to make sense," Sarver said.
He was saved from that delicate issue with the Mavs' win.
WEB OF TRUTH?
The Nuggets and George Karl said Karl was misquoted in suggesting he will take over team personnel with Kiki Vandeweghe gone. The Nuggets' Web site is pressing the issue, recently posting this: "A word to the wise, Nuggets fans: Don't believe everything you read in the paper, see on television or hear on talk radio."
The message claimed certain reporters "will deliberately refuse to report the facts" and went on to cite situations with two unnamed columnists. One refused to meet with team officials to clear up alleged misconceptions and another refused to identify a source when the Nuggets asked, violating, according to the site, "the No. 1 rule of journalism."
Only on the site can fans be assured of getting the Nuggets' side of the story, it declared, and it will act as a journalism review for the benefit of fans.
The Denver Post, meanwhile, talked to Shawn Kemp, who said he is trying to return to the NBA and would like to rejoin Karl, his coach in Seattle.
1 LESS SHAQ-HACKER
Not that it should alter the series, but the Mavs lose six fouls to go against Shaquille O'Neal for four games with DJ Mbenga's suspension for going into the stands. Mbenga was not in uniform, and Mavs reserve Darrell Armstrong said he told Mbenga to go into the stands to help coach Avery Johnson's wife, who was in a dispute with fans after asking them to sit down. Johnson apparently suspended his wife for one game because she didn't attend Game 6 in Phoenix.
SHORTER STORY
In another installment of Amazing Atlanta Hawks tales, general manager Billy Knight told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he wouldn't rule out drafting still another 6-8 swingman.
"I always take talent," Knight said. "I like good basketball players, and there are a lot of 6-foot-8 players in the draft. And 6-foot-8 is the ideal size."
Knight has an ally in 76ers GM Billy King. "I'd like to get two more 6-6 or 6-8 athletes," King said. "In watching the playoffs, you watch Dwyane Wade, you watch LeBron (James), you watch Shawn Marion - you need more athletic 6-6, 6-8 guys. A lot more teams are going small, playing a 6-8 small forward at the power forward position."
DOUBLE DRIBBLES
Eric Musselman takes over in Sacramento after the Kings talked with WNBA coach John Whisenant and Golden State assistant Mario Elie . . . Another assistant's name starting to gain notice with Dallas' run to the Finals is Rolando Blackman. . . . Karl Malone is easing back into the NBA. He worked with the Jazz in analyzing draft prospects last week and said he was contacted by the Hornets before Hurricane Katrina about perhaps working for them back home in Louisiana.
Stanford's Danny Grunfeld, son of former Knicks GM Ernie, worked out for the Knicks and hopes to be a second-round pick. . . . Former Bull Jay Williams worked out for the Raptors and is expected to work out for the 76ers and Cavs. Scouts said he didn't seem to be as explosive as he was, but it's an amazing comeback. The first word the Bulls heard after his 2003 motorcycle accident was his leg would be amputated.
Little-used center Kelvin Cato is a free agent and mentioned the Bulls as a team he believes he can help. The Pistons "just never really had any confidence to use me," Cato said. . . . One of Pat Riley's playoff motivational efforts was taping Yogi Berra quotes to players' lockers. Udonis Haslem never heard of Berra and told reporters Riley gave them Yogi Bear quotes. . . . Byron Scott is selling his New Orleans house and has a home now in Oklahoma City. Scott said it was just a good time to sell with market conditions.
Antonio McDyess, the only Detroit core player without a championship ring, took it hard when the Pistons lost to Miami in the Eastern finals. "This feels like the end," he said. "It doesn't feel like I'm ever going to come close to that ring again. It seems like I had the best chance of winning it last year. And now it seems like it faded away, and I don't think it'll ever come back."
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