Pooh
05-02-2004, 11:31 PM
www.nba.com/pacers/news/question_040429.html (http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/question_040429.html)
Q. (Spurs coach Gregg) Popovich recently sounded off about his disgust for (Rick) Carlisle’s award-campaigning. What business is it of his? And why would it matter to Pop? Is campaigning for awards that bad? (From Scott in Toronto, Canada)
A. Larry Brown joined Popovich (his U.S. Olympic Team assistant) yesterday, aligning against Carlisle’s campaign on behalf of Artest for Defensive Player of the Year while also criticizing the statistics the Pacers coach asked his film crew to break down. Among other things, Brown said, the stats “are a bunch of baloney. Most people use toilet paper for that or to wrap dead fish.” Of course, the two coaches protesting are the ones with players they felt should’ve, or could’ve, won the award – Bruce Bowen of the Spurs and Ben Wallace of the Pistons.
But a few important points are being lost in the arguments. For one, it’s not clear how big an impact Carlisle’s phone calls to media members made. He also campaigned on behalf of Jermaine O’Neal for MVP and Al Harrington for Sixth Man. Harrington didn’t win, and it doesn’t appear O’Neal will, either. Carlisle didn’t call the coaches who vote for the All-Defensive team, and they gave Artest more votes than any other player including Wallace and Bowen, which validates the media vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
Carlisle has been campaigning for his players for three years. I don’t recall hearing any protests from other coaches the past two years when Wallace won. And, frankly, it surprises me that anyone – particularly another coach -- would react so strongly to a coach acting on behalf of his players. It’s also disappointing that two great coaches and class acts like Brown and Popovich are giving the appearance of sore losers. But these are all very competitive people, and none of them take losing well. If they did, they wouldn’t be among the biggest winners in their profession.
Let’s cut to the chase here: Artest won the Defensive Player of the Award because he was the most deserving – in the eyes of both the coaches and the media. Any argument otherwise, regardless of the source, is moot.
Q. (Spurs coach Gregg) Popovich recently sounded off about his disgust for (Rick) Carlisle’s award-campaigning. What business is it of his? And why would it matter to Pop? Is campaigning for awards that bad? (From Scott in Toronto, Canada)
A. Larry Brown joined Popovich (his U.S. Olympic Team assistant) yesterday, aligning against Carlisle’s campaign on behalf of Artest for Defensive Player of the Year while also criticizing the statistics the Pacers coach asked his film crew to break down. Among other things, Brown said, the stats “are a bunch of baloney. Most people use toilet paper for that or to wrap dead fish.” Of course, the two coaches protesting are the ones with players they felt should’ve, or could’ve, won the award – Bruce Bowen of the Spurs and Ben Wallace of the Pistons.
But a few important points are being lost in the arguments. For one, it’s not clear how big an impact Carlisle’s phone calls to media members made. He also campaigned on behalf of Jermaine O’Neal for MVP and Al Harrington for Sixth Man. Harrington didn’t win, and it doesn’t appear O’Neal will, either. Carlisle didn’t call the coaches who vote for the All-Defensive team, and they gave Artest more votes than any other player including Wallace and Bowen, which validates the media vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
Carlisle has been campaigning for his players for three years. I don’t recall hearing any protests from other coaches the past two years when Wallace won. And, frankly, it surprises me that anyone – particularly another coach -- would react so strongly to a coach acting on behalf of his players. It’s also disappointing that two great coaches and class acts like Brown and Popovich are giving the appearance of sore losers. But these are all very competitive people, and none of them take losing well. If they did, they wouldn’t be among the biggest winners in their profession.
Let’s cut to the chase here: Artest won the Defensive Player of the Award because he was the most deserving – in the eyes of both the coaches and the media. Any argument otherwise, regardless of the source, is moot.