COMMENTARY : COLLEGE COACHES: KEEP OUT.Byline: Sam Smith Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Daily newspaper published in Chicago. The Tribune is one of the leading U.S. newspapers and long has been the dominant voice of the Midwest. Founded in 1847, it was bought in 1855 by six partners, including Joseph Medill (1823–99), who made the paper New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10 1959, in Moon Township (A suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States) is a former professional and current college basketball coach. Since 2000, he has been the head coach of the University of Memphis men's basketball team. , by most accounts, is not a bad person. Newark Star-Ledger reporter Dan Garcia, by all accounts, is not a martyr. They are not really the issues in a much-publicized incident from last week in which Calipari stupidly and insensitively cursed out Garcia with an ethnic slur Noun 1. ethnic slur - a slur on someone's race or language aspersion, slur - a disparaging remark; "in the 19th century any reference to female sexuality was considered a vile aspersion"; "it is difficult for a woman to understand a man's sensitivity to any slur on . Calipari was rightly disciplined by NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= Commissioner David Stern
But the larger lesson is what Calipari represents: another college coach ill-equipped for the NBA. While Calipari's crude remarks - he called Garcia ``a (expletive) Mexican idiot'' - received national notice, it was what prompted the remarks that's more instructive. Garcia, as is common with many beat reporters who follow NBA teams daily, wrote a midseason ``report card'' critiquing the Nets. He gave Calipari a ``D'' grade. Two months later, Calipari was apparently still seething seethe intr.v. seethed, seeth·ing, seethes 1. To churn and foam as if boiling. 2. a. To be in a state of turmoil or ferment: over the grade and was said to be yelling, ``He gave me a `D,' '' to another reporter who was trying to calm him after a Nets practice. When Garcia approached, Calipari whined plaintively plain·tive adj. Expressing sorrow; mournful or melancholy. [Middle English plaintif, from Old French, aggrieved, lamenting, from plaint, complaint; see plaint. , ``Don't you think I'm a good coach?'' Garcia simply said, ``No.'' Calipari continued to object, and Garcia said Calipari was acting childish. Calipari replied that if Garcia ever said anything like that again, ``I will punch you in the face.'' This incident didn't happen because Garcia is of Mexican ancestry or because Calipari is a racist. It happened because a college coach went beyond his means and abilities. Which is what they all do when they try the NBA. Remember, these are guys who have veto power over officials, who pick and discard players at their whim and make their own schedules. These are guys who expect to be the show. Which is why there has not been a college coach who has succeeded in the NBA in the past 30 years. Larry Brown Larry Brown may refer to:
College coaches are at best dictators and at worst bullies, like Bob Knight of Indiana. They demand fealty fealty: see feudalism. and obedience and insist, with rare exceptions like Dean Smith, they remain above the program. That may sound good in principle, but it doesn't work in the NBA. Already, Calipari is on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of running out Jayson Williams, insiders say, because Williams is popular with the media and widely quoted, often eclipsing the aura around Calipari. ``No wonder Cal doesn't like me,'' Williams said last week. ``He thinks I'm Mexican.'' In a more serious vein, Williams admitted: ``We don't see eye to eye on things. We don't trust each other right now. I'm pretty sure I'm gone, and I'm prepared for it. If I were a betting man, which I am, I would bet I wouldn't be here next year.'' Calipari isn't deserving of a ``D'' grade for his coaching. He can coach. But he deserves an ``F'' for his handling of professional athletes. Why does someone with a five-year, $15 million contract care if Dan Garcia considers him a good coach? Because college coaches live and teach with their egos as much as their abilities. It works in their environment but not in the NBA's, where the coach must learn to accept ``D'' grades so the players can win the accolades. The best coaches in NBA history - Pat Riley, Red Auerbach, Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson, Phil Jackson, Billy Cunningham, Red Holzman, K.C. Jones, Jerry Sloan, Bill Sharman, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tom Heinsohn - were not college coaches. (Editor's note: Not entirely true. Sharman coached at what was then called L.A. State.) Kansas' Roy Williams is perhaps headed to the Lakers, Cincinnati's Bob Huggins to the Cavaliers, Iowa State's Tim Floyd to the Bulls and Minnesota's Clem Haskins to who knows where. They're terrific at what they do. And they ought to stay and keep doing what they know best. Calipari should be a lesson for them all, as well as those in the NBA who may think the answers to their coaching problems are on campus. New town, same seat: Ed O'Bannon, the star of UCLA's 1995 NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association champion, is now with the Dallas Mavericks but hasn't played in half the team's games since he was part of last month's nine-player trade with New Jersey. O'Bannon said: ``I expected to be one of the top rookies last year and improving on that this year. It hasn't happened. What's wrong? I wish I knew. I don't want to be known as a bust.'' Short takes: The Knicks had their chance. In the 13 games Alonzo Mourning was out, the Knicks lost a half-game in the standings to Miami. . . . Move over, Gheorghe Muresan: The Cavaliers are trying to get a look at 7-foot-9-inch center Ri Myong Hun of North Korea, who is represented by a Cleveland firm. . . . TNT TNT: see trinitrotoluene. TNT in full trinitrotoluene Pale yellow, solid organic compound made by adding nitrate (−NO2) groups to toluene. analyst Chuck Daly says the Bulls will have ``a tougher playoff stretch than anyone in the West.'' . . . Charles Barkley, of course, disagrees. ``They'll be in the finals. The only team that's got a chance against them is Miami.'' More Barkley: Charles has been warning kids not to use steroids, even though he is using them to treat his hip injury. ``Obviously I'm using steroids to make myself better,'' he said. ``But I don't want you kids out there using steroids.'' Of course, the kid in Barkley couldn't resist a playful jab at rival Charles Oakley, whom Barkley often accuses of steroid use: ``I just hope I don't start acting like him. I might body slam someone. . . . If I kill somebody or do anything stupid this week, it's because of the steroids.'' TECHNICAL FOUL New Jersey coach John Calipari and Miami radio announcer David Halberstam Wherever the Lakers went last week, it seemed that a racial controversy was waiting for them. In Miami, it was Halberstam speculating on the basketball ability of the ``slaves working on Thomas Jefferson's farm.'' In New Jersey, it was Calipari calling Dan Garcia of the Newark Star-Ledger a ``(bleepin') Mexican idiot.'' More than 10 years after the firings of Jimmy (The Greek) Synder and Al Campanis, it's amazing how much legitimate idiocy IDIOCY, med. jur. That condition of mind, in which the reflective, or all or a part of the affective powers, are either entirely wanting, or are manifested to the least possible extent. 2. Idiocy generally depends upon organic defects. still exists in our world. PLAYER WATCH Ri Myong Hun, North KoreaScouts are buzzing about this 7-foot-9 project, who's awaiting permission to leave his communist homeland for a shot at the NBA. Hun would be the tallest player in league history by two inches, eclipsing Washington's Gheorghe Muresan. The two giants faced each other a few years back and Muresan, playing then for Romania's national team, jokingly claimed that ``I kick his ass.'' SAY WHAT? ``When I saw shrimp cocktail and cut-up pieces of fruit, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.'' - Milwaukee's Jimmy Carruth after signing a 10-day contract and boarding his first NBA charter flight. The Lakers nearly picked up Carruth before the Bucks did but opted instead for Larry Krystkowiak TOP 10 & NO. 29 1. Chicago - Rodman needed break anyway 2. Utah - Give 'em West crown now 3. Miami - Bulls' only East challenger 4. Atlanta - Unproven in the playoffs 5. Seattle - A biggie big·gie n. Slang 1. A very important person: "hassles between executive biggies" New York. 2. Tuesday vs. Lakers 6. Lakers - Soft spot in sked heals all 7. Detroit - Clippers were welcome sight 8. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - Can't beat Nets, loses Ewing 9. Houston - Barkley out 'til playoffs? 10. Portland - A tad overrated Overrated was a Horde World of Warcraft guild, based on the US Black Dragonflight Realm. On November 2 2006, the majority of the guild members were indefinitely banned from the game for use of (or directly benefiting from) a third-party "wall-hack", used to bypass content 29. Vancouver- I'm out of ideas here L.A. AT PLAY LAKERS Tuesday - at Seattle, 5 p.m. Wednesday - vs. Denver, 7:30 p.m. Friday - vs. San Antonio, 7:30 p.m. Sunday - vs. Dallas, 6:30 p.m. Guess which one they want? CLIPPERS Today - at Indiana, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday - at Miami, 4:30 p.m. Thursday - at Orlando, 4:30 p.m. Friday - at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Road as bumpy as anticipated CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: John Calipari of the Nets, and other coaches from the college ranks, can't cut it in the NBA, writes Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune. Associated Press Box: Technical Foul (see text) |
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