Some More NBA Thoughts

Let's see. LeBron James puts on one of the best playoff performances I've ever seen in a double overtime win. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (say that with food in your mouth) hit a layup with almost eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. From that point until the end of the game, the only Cleveland point not scored by James was a free throw by Drew Gooden. Then the Cavs win their next game to get some fresh faces into the NBA Finals. So, how does the NBA capitalize on it? They wait five days to start the Finals. Granted, ABC may have wanted to wait. How often can they show repeats of Supernanny and Wife Swap. Oh, and a new episode of The Next Best Thing: Who Is The Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?.

Of course, Kobe Bryant showed perfect timing by bitching about his lack of support just as James is blowing up. I wouldn't call James' supporting cast as stellar. The only interesting part of Drew Gooden's game is his bizarre hairstyle. Donyell Marshall sucks. I thought Ilguaskas had less mobility than an amputee until I saw a video of a one legged basketball player and realized I had overestimated Ilguaskas' mobility. Rookie Daniel Gibson looks like a keeper, but he only proved he can hit a wide open shot as opponents triple team James. James does have an advantage in playing in the piss poor East, but he has the disadvantage of playing for an idiot like Mike Brown. I wouldn't pick Cleveland to beat the Spurs, but I hope it happens. I guess it's possible if Steve Javie decides he really doesn't want the Spurs to win and Cleveland shoots twice as many free throws as San Antonio while the Spurs get five technical fouls called on them in one game by the same official during a pivotal game.

The other big NBA news was Billy Donovan taking the Orlando Magic job and then turning around and going back to the University of Florida. I was planning on discussing the blind foolishness of assuming Donovan would flop in the NBA because so many other college coaches did when they made the jump. Names like Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Tim Floyd and Leonard Hamilton were thrown around. Well, there's a big difference. Floyd was the only one who didn't take over a team that had been lousy the year before. His case was even worse as the championship Bulls got rid of all their good players after Michael Jordan retired (for the second time). Oh, and Leonard Hamilton was a mediocre college coach so I don't know why anyone expected success at the next level. Donovan would have been taking over a playoff team (albeit in a weaker conference) with a rising star in Dwight Howard and lots of salary cap space. So, I wouldn't necessarily think he would fail.

Of course, that doesn't matter anymore as Donovan waffled and finally decided he wants back in college (unresolved at this point, but looks like Orlando will let him go). What surprises me (although it shouldn't considering how poorly I think of sportswriters) is the lack criticism Donovan is getting nationally for this. Jay Bilas did say that he was being "unprofessional", and Orlando writers are pissed, but for the most part the response has been that Donovan struggled with leaving and followed his heart back to the Gators. Sorry, not buying it. It's not just unprofessional. It's downright crap behavior. He didn't just agree to the job. He signed a contract and had a big welcoming party. I'm also not buying his suck-ups saying that Donovan felt "pressured" by Orlando to take the job. That's pure BS. He had all the leverage. If he said he needed a week, I have little doubt that Orlando would have given it to him. They wanted the big publicity splash hiring him would have given them (and did up until now). It really rings hollow once you realize that he was sending out feelers weeks ago. And not just for Orlando, but other NBA teams. He should have been prepared to jump to the NBA or not.

Sadly Donovan won't lose much money and can actually use this to his benefit because rumor is that Orlando (pushed by the NBA) will ask that he agree not to take go after an NBA job for five years as part of a settlement to get out of the Magic contract. Now, Donovan can tell recruits that he can't jump to the NBA. However, he screwed one of his friends and former assistants. Anthony Grant, presently head coach at VCU, was all set to take the Florida job, except the offer never came because Donovan changed his mind. Unfortunately for Grant, he pretty much told recruits and players he was leaving. Now, he has to rebuild those bridges. The Magic was really screwed. They had used the publicity of the hire to get a bunch of new season ticket holders. Now, they look like chumps. Even worse, they are delayed (and possibly defeated) in going after their next choice in Stan Van Gundy. According to Charles Barkley, he's the better looking Van Gundy which is sadly true, because even though he looks like a Ron Jeremy stand-in (at least from the waist up; the rest I don't know about), his brother Jeff is really not attractive.

Ironically, I personally believe Stan Van Gundy may have been a better choice. While I discount the "college coach can't make it in the NBA" rule, I'm not convinced Donovan is that great of a coach. I saw one writer name him the third best college coach ever after John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski. Another said he was a cinch to win five titles. Get a grip, people. He does have three Final Four appearances which means he's a good coach, but he's been real lucky to get two championships. It's unheard of anymore for a championship team to return completely intact the way his did this year. Let's look at his non-Final Four years. After going to Final Four in 2000, he couldn't even make it out of the first weekend of the next five tournaments, and that was with some big time recruiting classes. Can you imagine Krzyzewksi going five years without making it to the Sweet Sixteen? Or Roy Williams? Hell, Lute Olson and Jim Boeheim (not to mention a lot of others) never went five years without making it out of the second round. Two years ago, anyone saying Donovan was a top three active coach, let alone all time, would have been derided as an idiot.

As for Van Gundy, I think he's very underrated. I still think Pat Riley is a scumbag for dumping the Miami Heat on Van Gundy when they didn't have any good players, but then making him quit so Riley could take over again after Van Gundy got them good again. Riley left after a 25 win season. Van Gundy wins 42 games his first year. In his second, the Heat add Shaquille O'Neal and win 59 games for the best record in the East. They lost in seven games in the conference finals with Dwyane Wade playing hurt. So, what happens? Riley makes Van Gundy quit so he can win the title the next year (with a worse record) as a healthy Wade dominates before age and infirmities cause the Heat to flop this year. So, in a nutshell, Donovan and Riley are dicks, and Stan Van Gundy is underrated (Jeff Van Gundy isn't too swift). In fact, I hope Florida misses the NCAA tournament next year.