Reply With Quote
And McDonald continues his streak of making at least one mistake per article. (Under the assumption that he meant to say the Lakers, and then 8 teams fighting for the other 7 spots.)
Spurs Mailbag: Opportunity will knock for Coach Bud
Jeff McDonald
P.J. Carlesimo was an Oklahoman for about a month. Eddie Jordan couldn’t outlast George W. in Washington. Reggie Theus is now free to pursue all those plumb college gigs he was always talking about.
Randy Wittman, Sam Mitc and Maurice Cheeks, we hardly knew ye.
It’s been open season on NBA coaches so far this season, with six of them fired before the last day of Hanukah (Mike Dunleavy, your real-estate agent is on Line 1).
With each pink-slip handed out, it’s become more and more likely the Spurs will have an opening on their bench soon, as well.
No, Gregg Popovich isn’t going anywhere. At least not until Tim Duncan finally hangs up his oversized Adidas.
Mike Budenholzer, however, might be.
Budenholzer, a 15-season veteran of the Spurs’ staff, is on the short list of assistant coaches most likely to make the leap to the big office somewhere.
Last summer, Budenholzer – “Coach Bud” to his players -- applied for the job in Phoenix that eventually went to Terry Porter, getting as far as the interview stage. With as many as half a dozen coaching vacancies next summer, and possibly more to come, there are probably more interviews in Budenholzer’ future.
Already, he’s been mentioned as a candidate for the Wizards job, earning a ringing endorsement from the Washington Post. It should be noted that the last man the Post endorsed for a high-profile job, Barack Obama, fared pretty well.
For now, Budenholzer is focused on the job he has.
“I would love to be a head coach at some point,” Budenholzer once told us. “But I’m very, very happy where I am. I’ll just be a great assistant coach for Pop and whatever happens, happens. If it never happens, it won’t kill me.”
Speaking of things that won’t kill you, let’s take a look in this week’s Mailbag …
Who were the teammates of Duncan when he first joined the Spurs?
-- Bill Powell, Lawrenceville, Ga.
The rest of the starting lineup for Duncan’s first game on Oct. 31, 1997 was as follows: Vinny Del Negro, Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott and David Robinson. That’s a future coach, a future ex-coach, a future TV analyst and a future spokesperson for Dahill Industries.
Coming off the bench for the Spurs that night were George Mikan, Bill Russell, and Moses (not Malone – we’re talking the Old Testament guy). And yes, that’s a cheap age joke, which we feel qualified to make since Duncan is older than us (by one year).
Are the Spurs looking to make a trade for another big?
-- Daniel Hettler, San Antonio
As mentioned before in this space, quality big men are so rare – and thus, so prized – that there are seldom any available on the open market. If a team is shopping a big, you can bet there’s something wrong with him.
It’s like running into a ravishing single woman at a bar. If she looks that good and is still single, there’s a good chance it’s because she slashed her ex-boyfriend’s tires or something. Among the bigs rumored to be available right now are Eddy Curry, who is out of shape, lazy and currently injured, and Tyrus Thomas, whose entire basketball repertoire consists of the fact that he can jump.
The Spurs are apparently one of several teams in discussions with free-agent Dikembe Mutombo, a player so old he remembers Old Testament Moses’ rookie hazing.
Can someone tell me why Ian Mahinmi hasn’t been playing?
-- Paul Hicks, Australia
Mahinmi has been injured since before the season began. He sprained his right ankle during a pickup game before the start of training camp, opened the season on a rehab assignment in the D-League, the promptly sprained his left ankle.
He’s slowly (OK, very slowly) rounding back into shape, but it’s difficult to envision how he fits with the Spurs right now. They are having enough trouble carving minutes for veterans Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto.
Are the Spurs going to recognize any former players this year? Seems to be Larry Kenon deserves to have his jersey hanging from the rafters.
-- Clint Hill, San Antonio
As far as we know, there are no plans to retire any other numbers this season. We’re a little bored with the whole idea of honoring players based on merit, anyway.
How about a section of the AT&T Center honoring great non-jumping white guys from the Spurs’ illustrious past? Who wouldn’t want to see an exhibit dedicated to the likes of Jack Haley, Uwe Blab and Zarko Paspalj. And the best part is, you know those guys aren’t busy.
With the emergence of the East this year, do you think those teams are now capable of matching up with the best in the West? It is like the West is getting older and the young guns in the East are catching up with them.
-- Angelo, Phillipines
Last we checked -- and admittedly, it’s been a few minutes -- the Celtics are the reining NBA champions. So, yeah, we think at least one team in the East matches up favorably with the West.
However, we do understand your point. The East, though vastly improved since a few seasons ago, is still top heavy. Boston and Cleveland seem le-worthy. The rest, not so much. It’s a big like watching a race between Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis in their primes – pitted against a bunch of guys from your bowling league.
The West boasts one really, really, super-duper elite team in the Lakers – and then seven playoff-worthy teams fighting for eight spots. It is much more balanced, and much more fun.
And McDonald continues his streak of making at least one mistake per article. (Under the assumption that he meant to say the Lakers, and then 8 teams fighting for the other 7 spots.)
You beat me to it.
McDonald gets his numbers wrong again.
It should be "eight playoff-worthy teams fighting for seven spots."
Sorry K-State, I did not see your post. Same observation!
This mailbag sucks
First the EN should find a guy who can write, then do a mailbag
That was a good read. Thanks
Meh, Lakers are not super elite. I know of 8 other teams in the West that can knock them off on any given night.
So good looking women can't be single these days without something being wrong with them?It’s like running into a ravishing single woman at a bar. If she looks that good and is still single, there’s a good chance it’s because she slashed her ex-boyfriend’s tires or something.McDonald is going to get a lot of calls and emails!
reigningthe Celtics are the reining NBA champions.
Adjective
currently holding a le or championship: the reigning NBA champion
Spell Check
I agree with 1Parker1. McDonald is gonna get a bunch of hate mail from women. I am sure he stepped on someone's toes.
Spurm coaches SUCK! PJ got fired for his Inep ude, same with the Little Genital (Avery Johnson) my beloved Suns suck under Terry Porter and Steve Kerr...
Your organization in General SUCK!
The organization that has the highest winning percentage in all of professional sports in the last 10 years. Oh by the way...4 championships in that period. Yeah...the Spurs suck!! Whatever!!!
How many does the Phoenix Suns have..........
I'm still waiting for that answer!!
I know you are going to post that winning championships doesn't matter as long as you are playing exciting basketball!! Oops....your team is not playing exciting basketball anymore...OUCH!!!!!!!
Have a good one!!
No he is saying that its the lakers and seven other teams fighting for 8 spots...it's correct, give the guy a break
i see the spurs FO are infiltrating into other teams FO, how about paying back the spurs a few good trades
That doesn't make any sense, if it's 8 teams for 8 spots - there is no fighting involved.
He clearly was referring to the Lakers at the top, then the Spurs, Nuggets, Mavs, Suns, Blazers, Jazz, Rockets, and Hornets (8 teams) competing for the other 7 bids. If he's currently discounting any one of those teams, then that is dumber still.
The Lakers are not a "super elite" team. They're a bunch of soft s who happen to have more depth than other teams because they have only now (with Farmar) sustained their first injury of the year.
It also doesn't hurt their cause that they can be miles over the salary cap and their ownership doesn't care.
It also helps that they miraculously - or perhaps not so miraculously - were able to trade perhaps their worst player in the last ten years (Kwame Brown) for Pau Gasol.
Still the dirtiest trade in the history of the NBA.
If not for this trade, they would still be fighting to even make the playoffs. Don't believe that? Well, check Bryant's post-Shaquille history. Prior to last year and the addition of Gasol, Bryant had never led "his" Laker teams to a seed higher than 7th, and actually failed to make the playoffs in 2005.
All i know is the nba ripped us 2 trophies....
the season lakers had malone and payton on the lakers, and im sure everyone wanted to see a lakers finals, now you got the trade last season that improve the lakers and the other trade the celtics got, which ppl wanted to see a celtics v lakers rivalry finals reignited.....karma is a when it doesnt go your way.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
