. May your stay be more pleasant than those of Leonard Hamilton, Tim Floyd, Mike Montgomery, and the gold standard for college-to-NBA failure, Rick Pitino.
I don't know if there's anything inherent to college coaches that makes them likely to bomb in the big leagues.
I'd like to say that if you can coach, you can coach. But the NBA does bring a whole new set of challenges.
You're going from coaching a bunch of young, happy-go-lucky, enthusiastic guys who like being around each other to coaching a group of 12 millionaires, about nine of whom believe they're more important than the coach, who don't like hanging out with each other, and who don't feel terribly excited about playing a January 14th game in Minnesota.
You've gotta manage egos, get guys to buy in to what you're doing, to accept their roles, and to learn to co-exist with each other. Those things come a lot of easier in college. The same X's and O's probably work just as effectively on both levels, but coaching in the Association requires a whole different set of skills.
And to those who can't understand why Donovan would leave the "perfect" situation at Florida, it's pretty simple, really. What makes coaches and athletes great is a drive to be the best ..
. and if you have that drive, you want to accomplish things at the highest possible level. He was content, well-paid, appreciated and loved at Florida, but the one thing they could not offer him was the chance to hold one of the 30 most prestigious and challenging jobs in basketball.
If you're looking for coverage of yesterday's Spelling Bee, you're not going to find anything better than . Reading it makes you feel like you're there, except you don't have to keep asking yourself, "Why the hell am I at a spelling bee?"
I only caught a couple minutes of it myself ..
. there was some kind of basketball game on. It's my opinion that the spelling bee people should institute some kind of a "no-mustache" rule.
Facial hair really takes away from the purity of the event. I'll be damned if Prateek Kohli of Long Island isn't older than Daniel Gibson of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
My sincere hope for the children involved is that spelling maintains an appropriate level of importance on their lives, and that none of them get locked in a crawlspace with an unabridged dictionary and a flashlight until next year's spelling bee.
They're smart kids with bright futures, but please, keep it fun and try to remember that there is no Professional Spelling Tour.
.
I don't know why, but Bud Selig is hellbent on making it difficult for you to watch baseball. First, we had to pull teeth to get the Extra Innings Package on cable, and now, those of you who use your to watch MLB games away from your home .
.. well, .
MLB claims that the Slingbox "allows viewers to circumvent geographical boundaries written into broadcast rights deals," and if there's one thing in this life that I know, it's that I can't sleep at night while there are whackjobs out there circumventing geographical boundaries written into broadcast rights deals. At this rate, sometime in 2009, anytime you attempt to turn on your television and watch a baseball game, someone from the MLB offices is going to show up at your house and eye-gouge you.
..
Premiership runner-up Chelsea has said that their big-spending ways will stop this off-season.
Premiership champion Manchester United evidently has no such qualms.
Yesterday, they bought England national Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga (perhaps the world's most fun word to say), as well as young Portuguese players Anderson and Nani.
Here's more on it, , including video, and why this makes a whole lot of sense for Manchester United.
Steve Kerr Puts On the Big Boy Pants ...
I did not see this coming.
Mike D'Antoni has been relieved of his duties as Phoenix Suns general manager (way to go, Marcus Banks) in favor of TNT's Steve Kerr, .
I have no idea how good Steve Kerr will be at this job. Working in his favor, he seems like a bright enough guy.
Working against him, he's now worked five games between Detroit and Cleveland, and never once has he said the words, "Boy, Larry Hughes is really, really, terrible."
LeBron James. Normally, I'd consider it overkill to fawn over someone like that earlier in the column, and then name them Yesterday's MVP on top of it ..
. but, and I can't stress this enough, LeBron's performance was historic. If this gives you any idea of how great it was, consider: I don't like LeBron, I don't particularly enjoy watching Mike Brown's brand of basketball, and the Cavs have at least two players I want to punch in the face every time I see them .
.. and I still want to own this game on DVD.
Michelle Wie. Michelle was having what golf experts were calling "an MJD-like round" yesterday at the LPGA's Ginn Tribune.
She was 14 over through 16 holes, putting her in jeopardy of shooting an 88 or higher ...
and this is significant because if a player shoots an 88 in a tournament, that player is suspended from playing on tour the rest of the year. That's not good for anyone. Think about all those cuts she could miss out on missing.
So, citing a wrist injury, she withdrew after 16 holes, eliminating the possibility of falling victim to the 88 rule. If that was her real motivation, is it unethical? Probably.
But I doubt the LPGA has much of a problem with it.
I'm not gonna lie to you ...
it's pretty bleak.
8:00, Fox Soccer. USL.
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Montreal Impact.
9:00, NFL Network. America's Game.
Pittsburgh Steelers.
9:00, ABC. National Bingo Night.
(All photo credits: Getty Images)
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
The no call on Hamilton's drive. And three or four other no calls at the end of regulation and the first OT. I understand why NBA conspriacy theorists exist.
2. Does anyone remember how long it took for Michael Jordan to be recognized as a great player during the East Coast vs. West Coast Era of Magic VS Bird?
Heck, I remeber all that sportswriter crap about Michael being too selfish, Michael being a one-man team, and so forth. Fact is, no one wanted to let go of the trans-America "great rivalry"! Fact is, Jordan was the best player in the country for years before sportswriters crowned him.
..and they practically waited 'till Bird and Johnson retired!
Get with it! Lebron James is definitely big. If LA could get a team around the other great player in the League, we may have something fun to write about, and many Epic Finals in the future!
3. FOR ALL THE LEBRON CRITICS,"RISE UP" FOR YOU ALL HAVE BECOME "WITNESSES"..
...
.ALL HAIL THE "KING"!!
!
4. I don't car what anyone says.
..He is amazing to watch!
The two consecutive unassisted dunks he had in overtime showed wy he is the "MAN" in the NBA right now. We need more players like this..
.Not thugs!!
!
5. don' forget that its the four "other" guys that have combined with Lebron to play excellant defense throughout the series.
Just ask Chauncy and Rip. And to Chabels, are you serious ? The cavs fans have as many no-calls and bad calls to point to as you do.
I guess it was the refs that let one player score 25 straight points against the pistons. As for the flafrant 2, you may have a legitimate beef with the rule, but not how it was applied. That was worse than Horry's foul on Nash which got him a 2 game suspension.
6. It is like Jordan and his arrival . Funny as the same was said about Jordan after his huge game against the bad boys in the playoffs .
He is the real deal . Pistons should start playing him like the bad boys played Jordan --double team as soon as he crosses the half court and hands up in his face . Strangley enough the Cavs are using the off hand to create space .
That move was so good for Jordan the NBA made it illegal . GO PISTONS !!
!
7. He is getting it done but the playoffs are not over yet
10.
Kevin it's funny you'd mention that. I was thinking about how the rules changed after the star player left. Elbows Malone (never got called now flagrant), Camp Under The Basket Kareem (3 sec.
rule). Those were just off the top of my head. Lebron James is good but he's still too young to determine his greatness.
He has to have several elite years to prove himself. It's too early to put "Jordan era" on his shoulders.
11.
Lebron is no doupt the best player of the series for some who disagrees than your just a stuck up a-hole like TYSHEED WALLECE Personaly i have no respcet for the Detriot Pistons And the players Exect for Billups,Prince,and Hamilton in my opinion they are playing for the wrong team with all of the class thath they posess.During the whole series the Pistons have been muggin the Cavs players and i think thats why KING JAMES is beeing selfish now.And also the refs sucked all sereis.
But Im gald Mcdyees got ejected for the game hes just been all over Varajeao or however you spell his name. and Chales barkely is just a common band wagon FAN just like most people i bet but who can blame them good chioce Chales you pick the right side.And Cavs Win on Saturday why ,Back in the old days a cardnal said that the first team to win on thier oponents home court wins the series.
Go CAVS AALLLLLL HAIIILLLL KING JAMES!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!
30 OR SO PLAYERS THAT EVERYBODY SAID WOULD MAKE THE DIFFENENCE.
13. whatever, the Spurs will dethrone James quick, bring him back down where he belongs, the Spurs are the real Champs
14. 10)You're sorely mistaken if you think that the Spurs are Champs.
Not this year. Not after how they got here. The Spurs are losers with thug tactics.
A classless team with clueless fans.
15. No doubt one of, if not the, greatest individual efforts in recent NBA history (TV era).
I've been watching and attending since the mid 70's and cannot remember a similar individual effort, late game, conference championship, swing game, ever. I remember a Bird vs. Wilkins duel in the 80's, a few Jordan "take-overs", but we're talking 4th qtr.
AND two overtimes!!!
Can anyone remember anything comprable???
Welcome to the ELITE LeBron!! And he's only 22?
?!!
Great to be a Cavs fan!!!
16. Before the game yesterday,I was the one that said his airness was going to enter the building,and what happened,it was a second coming.And I'm also going to say this,IT'S A WRAP for pistons.
So if you would please save the excuses for another day,cause you dont win on excuses,besides we don't every call.This is the playoffs,man up. 17.
Quite by accident, I watched game 5 last night (tuned in during the 3rd quarter). What struck me most was how effortlessly Lebron was able to weave his way through (and literally carve up) the Piston's defense. The best analogy I can offer would be akin to a hot knife slicing through a stick of butter!
While "Sir Charles" and Kenny "The Jet" on the TNT post-game show would have you believe there was a noticeable absence of defense on "Sir James" (Note: I'm not even close to coronating him as "King" just yet), I TIVO(ed) the game somewhere around the middle of the 4th quarter (I was beginning to sense something special was in the making); and, trust me, the Piston's employed three separate defensive schemes during the 4th quarter and in the two OT(s) - not on the Cavs as a team, but on Lebron, alone! For the Piston's sake, I sincerely hope the series does not go down to a 7th (and final) game at the Palace. Why, you ask?
Two things: (1) would be prudent to have multiple municipal fire departments on call; and (2) my sense is there aren't enough psychiatrists in town to handle the residual effects of another visit from "Sir James".
18. Pistons fans.
...
..quit complaining about no-calls.
If it weren't for those, the Cavs would have ended this series A LOT sooner!!!
KING JAMES IS THE MAN!!!
!!
19.
Hey Pistons fans, quit complaining. If it wasn't for "no or missed calls", the Cavs would have finished this series A LOT sooner!!
! KING JAMES FOR PRESIDENT!!
!!!
20. yeah, no one should complain about the officiating in this game. there were a lot of bad calls, but they went both ways.
actually, it seemed like everytime there was a bad call, the refs made up for on the other end with one that was even worse. the officials sucked, but don't mistake this for spurs/suns, as neither team really benifitted in any obvious way
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