Q&A: Pierce, Yao and much more
I agree that, while he's truly an outstanding player, PP is nowhere near being the best in the league. Perhaps what has pushed him into believing this is the success the Celtics had in stifling Kobe during the championship series. However, had the Lakers' defense totally focused on stopping Pierce the way Boston zeroed in on Bryant, PP would never have won the MVP award. With Lamar Odom so shaky and Pau Gasol so soft, the Lakers really had no way of making the Celtics pay for loading up their defense on Kobe — while the Celtics had primo alternative options in KG and Allen.
I'd put Pierce's self-promoting blather in the same category as Stephon Marbury's calling himself the NBA's best point guard. Starbury had no excuse, but winning a ring and the Finals MVP trophy have obviously made Pierce delusional.
As an admirer and faithful reader of yours, I'd love to know your interpretation of Yao Ming's blunt response to the recent addition of Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets. Is there a deeper symbolic significance to the stance that Yao has taken? Does the Chinese star's willingness to openly express his misgivings concerning Artest's possible impact on team chemistry portend that Yao is moving closer to decisively assuming his rightful position as the lone alpha and the true franchise player of the Rockets? Alternatively, on a more pessimistic note, is it possible that Yao has morphed into just another self-centered, prima-donna, elite athlete who feels entitled to overstep his position and use the media to publicly undermine/second-guess the decision-making ability of his GM and the other higher-ups? — Jerome Baseley, Winnipeg, Canada
While either/or both of your elegantly expressed hypotheses might be factors here, I think that Yao's was mostly an instinctive reaction that reflected how most of his peers regard Artest. As much as his on-court abilities are universally respected (more on defense than on offense), Artest is also seen to be wild, impulsive, selfish, potentially dangerous, over-the-top macho and somewhat crazy. Artest's insistence on propagating the crudest, most violent aspects of the street culture of his native New York has left him with precious little room to modify his behavior.
Not so long ago, a veteran NBA official echoed this very same perception of Artest. "The guy is a ticking time bomb," said the official, "liable to explode with the slightest provocation. I mean, he's a real nut case. A danger to both himself and everybody else in his vicinity. To control him, we keep a constant eye on him and whistle him for every foul and near-foul that he commits. For the same reason, one peep out of him is grounds to nail him with a T. We absolutely judge him by more restrictive standards than we do everybody else."
That's why, win, lose or draw, the Rockets' season will be a fascinating one.
Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins are now the cornerstones of the Warriors' fortunes for the next six years. Will they both live up to their humongous contracts? — Vinny, Providence, RI
With Baron Davis elsewhere, Ellis will battle Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette for the newly available shots. Since Ellis will assume the point guard slot, however, he'll easily be able to fire away whenever the spirit moves him. Look for Ellis to become one of the league's leading shot-takers and point-makers.
Meanwhile, Biedrins will do what he always does: rebound, score on successful screen/rolls and put-backs, miss too many free throws, block a few shots and be in perpetual foul trouble. At best, Biedrins is a top-notch role player — certainly not the cornerstone of any team that has serious designs on a championship.
Which is certainly not the case for the Warriors.
Were you at all surprised that the Lakers tried to trade Lamar Odom for Ron Artest, and that they let Ronny Turiaf go? Would you be satisfied to start the season with a front line of Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum? Or would you try to make another trade? — Jim, San Francisco
I was surprised that the Lakers didn't make the proposed trade. Since Artest confesses that he idolizes Kobe, the likelihood was that Don't-Ron-Ron would have behaved himself in Hollywood.
Letting Turiaf move on was no surprise at all. He was only a bit player for the Lakers, and the matching price was way out of line. In any case, Chris Mihm is supposedly healthy and has the size, experience and skills to be an even better backup than Turiaf was.
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| How will Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom mesh with Andrew Bynum? (Noah Graham / Getty Images) |
There are certainly worse front lines in the league than what the Lakers currently have available. But the above-named trio also has its share of question marks.
The probability of the Lakers making a major in-season trade depends entirely on how well (or poorly) the team plays in the opening few weeks. Should other teams successfully duplicate the physical defense that the Celtics used to stymie the Lakers, then L.A. will be forced to radically alter its roster.
Odom would still be the player to move. Theoretically, he'd be enough to procure the short- or long-term services of somebody like Carlos Boozer, David West, Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace or even (gasp!) Rasheed Wallace.
How could you have ignored Hakeem Olajuwon in your recent article about centers? He could score with his back to the basket, added a face-up element to his offense and could rebound and most certainly block shots. I mean, you listed Elvin Hayes (who loathed playing defense) along with Alonzo Mourning — and neither was a franchise-quality center. Sorry, Charley. — Alestair, Columbus, TX
Olajuwon came into the league with one pet offensive move — a drop-step that created space for a jump shot. Later on, he developed a counter-move — a fake drop-step that created space for his jumper. Indeed, Olajuwon attacked the basket from a low-post position only rarely. In fact, he played more like a finesse-oriented power forward than a powerhouse center. In any case, he never did fit within the special boundaries of the article you mentioned, i.e., centers who could score consistently with their backs to the basket.
Which is exactly why Bill Russell was not included in my discussion. Nor was Wes Unseld or Bill Laimbeer. Bill Walton was similarly omitted because he, too, depended more on slickness than strength.
Your apology is accepted.
Hi, Charley. Thanks for your consistently good work. Why did you transition from coach to writer and analyst? Also, being a faithful Tar Heel alum, do you think Larry Brown and MJ can turn the Bobcats around? — Fu Qiang, Wallace, NC
Let me answer your second question first: No.
Brown lacks the patience to develop young players, and MJ lacks the requisite work ethic as well as the ability to properly evaluate talent.
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Now to your first query: I've actually had three distinct careers and was a teacher long before I was either a coach or a writer. I taught part-time at Hofstra University while I earned my Masters degree there (in medieval literature). For four years, I then taught English full-time at Kingsborough Community College, obtaining the appointment mainly because the acting president of the school had been a college teammate at Hunter and the Dean of Students had been my frosh coach. While at KCC, I was enrolled in the doctoral program at St. John's (also medieval literature). After finishing my coursework at St. John's and passing my comprehensive exams and my language requirements, I wrote a thesis entitled "A Christian Reading of 'The General Prologue' to The Canterbury Tales."
Just as my thesis was returned for revisions (it was unquestionably derivative and the scholarship was sloppy), I chanced to have my first novel published — Have Jump Shot Will Travel. I immediately dropped out of the Ph.D. program and, while still teaching English at KCC, became a free-lance writer — for magazines (like Rolling Stone, Sport, Inside Sports) and of various fiction and non-fiction books.
Along the way, I had coached hoops at a junior high school in Middletown, N.Y., and had been a non-paid, volunteer assistant at KCC. So when Phil Jackson became the head coach of the Albany Patroons in the CBA and I finagled my way into a position as his assistant, my career path changed once more.
However, after becoming a head coach in 1986, I was hired and fired four times in the next six years (Savannah, Rockford, Oklahoma City and Albany).
Now I had a choice to make: Re-enter the swamps of academe (ugh!), or try my hand at being a full-time writer. Turned out that my experience as a not-serious-enough player and as a too-serious coach gave me a different angle from which to view the game.
So here I am, still fruitlessly trying to find (in descending order) the perfect team, the perfect player, the perfect game, the perfect quarter, but finding sufficient satisfaction in identifying the perfect play.
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