WeTube: Pat Riley’s Acid Indigestion Days
Three things I just love about this commercial: 1) Marv calling the action. You just know he wanted a few extra dollars so he could treat himself to another pair of kinky leather chaps. 2) Riley’s ageless hair. It’s unbelievable. Has a single strand of hair even moved on his head since 1988? I doubt it. That gel should be inducted into the Hall of Fame, folks. And 3) The white Magic Johnson. Just brilliant.
Comments (7)Riley “Commits” To Three More Heat Seasons
Pat Riley announced Monday he’d be back to coach the Miami Heat for three more seasons. But knowing Riles, he’s already changed his mind since I clicked “publish.”
“I’ve decided that I’m going to coach another three years, the terms of my contract, and that’s why it’s taken so long for me to make this decision,” he said. “I don’t want to be a one-and-done guy every year. I have three years left on my contract and I will coach those out . . . unless somebody else makes a decision on me.”
Sure you will, Riles. Sure you will. As you may recall, Riley has twice before left the Heat hanging. Last season, he conveniently dicked off for 22 games to undergo hip and knee surgeries, and in ‘03 he abruptly “took a break from the game” a mere four days before the start of the season.
Put another way: Pat Riley is NOT going to coach out this contract. No way. Hell, he didn’t even “cross his heart and hope to die,” did he?
Pat Riley: I’ll Coach Three More Seasons [Sun-Sentinel.com]
Comments (0)Working With Loved Ones
I can’t decide if Reggie Theus, new head coach of the Kings, was a bigger star on this Saturday morning hit show or in his new position as bench boss.
What I have decided is Louisville coach Rick Pitino definitely has a bit of a thang for Mr. Theus. In the Sacramento Bee today, Pitino describes his feelings for Reggie when he hired his long time friend in 2003:
Because Reggie is such a good-looking, dynamic guy people get the wrong impression. I remember when he called me about the job. He called me three times, and finally I said, ‘Reggie, you’re the last person who should work for me.’
I’m sure it would be difficult to coach looking down the bench and seeing your heart throb winking back. I’m sure it would be just as difficult to coach while pitching a tent. The article also suggests the Kings made the final decision to hire Theus based on Pitino’s recommendation. Yikes! Guess who just purchased Kings bench side seats?
Reggie Is No Longer The Wild, Crazy Guy [Sacramento Bee]
Comments (8)Searching For Sammy Mitchell
Sam Mitchell coaching the St. Alexander Junior High Chess Team:
Are we gonna beat our opponents using our superior chess knowledge? No.
Are we gonna beat them using our precisely practiced skills? No.
Are we gonna beat them with our highly researched strategies? No.
I’ll tell you how we’re going to beat them. Hustle. Pure hustle. I want all of you to punch the clock within the first 7 seconds. I don’t care how good or bad your move is. Just punch that fucking clock. Now, I know you’re going to be forced into some bad positions. You may lose your rook, you may lose your queen, but by god, you’ll do it with 110% grit and determination.
Words: MattO | Picture: Howie | Me: Speechless
Comments (13)Coal Region Recipes With Sam Mitchell
Hi, kids. I’m Sam Mitchell, former Minnesota Timberwolves forward, current Toronto Raptors head coach, and all-around great chef. Welcome to my rugged, steel kitchen.
Today I’m going to teach you how to make one hell of a mean bean soup. Trust me, it’ll be hearty. Just like my heart. Very hearty.
But before we begin, please note that I’ve only ever offered my hard work and give-it-all mentality to teams with ferocious animal monikers. As a scrapper, I can respect the passion and hustle that comes with being a wolf in the wild or a raptor in the exotic jungle on some far away island. I would never, ever, ever work for some pussy organization like the “Magic”. I’m a man’s man, dammit. In fact, if you’re wearing an apron right now, get the fuck out.
Okay… let’s cook!
First, we need to round up our ingredients. Like coaching, if you don’t have the right ingredients — if you don’t have the right players — you’re pretty much screwed. Me, I like to have a lot of ingredients on hand. You know, just because a bean soup recipe doesn’t call for cottage cheese, doesn’t mean I won’t sometimes throw it in. I like to experiment a little. Mix and match different flavors. I find it really keeps the taste buds on their toes.
So, here’s what we need:
1 pound beans
1 1/2 pounds of ham
8 cups cold water
2 cups celery
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup potatoes
1 1-pound canned tomatoes
2 teaspoons minced parsley
Salt and pepper
Okay, now that we’ve got our goods, whatta say we put this bean soup together, folks?
Pre-heat oven to “hot”. Take the beans, ham, celery, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes, and put them in a bowl. Bake for 46-minutes. Add the parsley for the final 2-minutes. Season with salt and pepper and 8 cups of water. Serve.
Yes, it’s that simple! Look, kids, I can’t stress this enough… never, ever over think or have any sort of game plan before entering the kitchen to cook. It’ll cloud your judgment. As long as you can motivate the potatoes to hustle, and the celery to give nothing less than 110%, everything should come together at the end.
Bon appétit! (I learned French while playing pro ball in France and working hard at life.)
(Thx to HoopsAddict for the photo.)
Comments (7)Nash Has A Potty Mouth
Check out this little gem I found buried at the bottom of Mike Tulumello’s sports update today:
Steve Nash, experiencing the NBA’s lesser tolerance for disputing calls, drew a technical. “He (the ref) said Steve cussed at him,” D’Antoni said. “I said, ‘He’s Canadian.’”
I’m confused by this statement. Does D’Antoni mean, “No way Nash swore, he’s Canadian, Canadians never swear”? Or does he mean, “What’d the fuck you expect, of course he swore, he’s Canadian, they all swear”?
Any idea? Could someone please fill me the fuck in here… eh.
Suns Like Chances of Re-Signing Diaw [EastValleyTribune.com]
Comments (4)The Video That Keeps On Giving
Yesterday SLAM!’s treasure hunter Lang e-mailed Celtics coach Doc Rivers about his brilliant performance in The Greatest Internet Video Of All-Time. Today, Coach “Stevie Ray” Rivers responds:
FROM: Doc Rivers
SUBJECT: Forever UncoolJust when I had my kids convinced that their Dad was cool, they discover that video. They loved it. They’re showing all their friends. They have also informed me not to bring up the words hip or cool ever again.
– Doc
Can I say it? I LOVE THE INTERNET!
Doc Rivers Responds [The Links]
The Greatest Internet Video Of All-Time [The Links]
Wanted: Atlanta’s Air Force Video [The Basketball Jones]
(Update: I just received a fantastic e-mail from ClipperBlog.com guru Kevin Arnovitz. Now, I didn’t ask for his permission per se, but I don’t care, I’ve got to post this beauty:
Skeets: I grew up a Hawks season ticket holder at the Omni. Aisle 116, about 15 rows up. AAF was my formative basketball experience; Tree Rollins and Kevin Willis my basketball Yetis.
I had the “Atlanta’s Air Force” 45, which I bought at the old Turtle’s Records & Tapes on Roswell Road. It would air mercilessly on Channel 46 during the big playoff drive of 1985-1986 and 1986-1987. It became the lead-in music for John Sterling on WSB-Radio (”Welcome South, Brother”), then the voice of the Atlanta Hawks (and an admirable homer; i.e., “Parish in the lane. He walks, walks again, then lays it up and in.”)
So, yeah, before there was Lil John & the East Side Boyz and Bone Crusher, there was Tom Gross & the Varsity, who played a number of Bar Mitzvahs in the Atlanta area, though he wasn’t so formidable as the “Black Rabbi” — a breakdancing coach and longtime Atlanta fixture on the Bar Mitzvah “kids party” circuit, whose clientele included children of Atlanta’s Jewish upper crust.
Wow. You send in an e-mail containing the words “Kevin Willis”, “Yeti”, and “The Black Rabbi”, and well… it’s going to be posted on here ASAP. Thanks for the laugh, Kevin.)
Comments (6)Get Ready for 2008
The ignorance of USA Basketball continues to baffle me. The Charlotte Observer sat down with bronze medal winning coach Mike Krzyzewski last week after he returned to the motherland.
The 1st question coach K was asked really shows how much research he put in to this tournament:
Q. You mentioned how narrow the margin is and how great the international teams are. Did you really appreciate that before this?
A: It’s even better… Take the game against Greece. (Theodoros) Papaloukas, No. 4 for them, is the MVP of Europe. I’d never heard of him before. He plays with (former Duke star) Trajan (Langdon). Trajan said they have a really great guard on their team. He didn’t say he was 6-7, 28 years old and makes probably five or six million dollars a year and is an amazing leader.
Hold on a second here. You are the head coach of the most talked about basketball country in the world. You are playing in a tournament to avenge your losses at the Olympics and World Basketball Championships and you don’t know who the best players are on the other team? You didn’t know how tall he was? Or that he was the best player in one of the better leagues outside the NBA? Did Trajan’s phone card run out? Forget that, why should Trajan have to tell you anyways? Did you fly to Asia to meet the American troops or did you go to win a basketball tournament?
The Americans were far more concerned with solidifying their own core than scouting the opposition. A telling sign that they still don’t get it. The rest of the world has caught up. Have we established that yet? ‘Cause USA Basketball obviously isn’t of aware of it. Like anyone, they will learn from their mistakes.
Mind you, I am a fan of their selection process this year and realize they had a three year plan going in to the FIBA Championships. They are building a “team” as opposed to the squads of the past that were built on stars who can get by on talent alone. If the right players are selected — there needs to be some subtractions from this year’s group in my eyes — that talent will be what puts them over the top in Beijing in 2008.
There are people out there that think this gathering of selected players for weeks at a time isn’t enough. Chuck Klosterman wrote an interesting piece for ESPN where he describes the only remedy is players who are solely devoted to the national team all year round. I disagree. The rest of the world doesn’t need to see each other every day to win these tournaments. They all have players who play in leagues all over the world and then gather to form their national teams in the summer. The first difference between the US and international teams is the other squads are mostly made up of the same players from tournament to tournament. In turn, camaraderie and chemistry are developed that the Americans couldn’t dream of. As we see, Jerry Colangelo and friends have caught on to this as exhibited by the selection process. The second difference is that these teams take the Worlds and Olympics extremely seriously. Let’s face it, the US and their fans don’t give a flying crap about these international tournaments, but that attitude is starting to change. Don’t forget that Americans are extremely proud and hate to lose.
I seriously can’t wait for basketball in Beijing. Well, ball and the sight of gynormous Greek Sofoklis Schortsanitis trying to balance on the Great Wall. Please take a field trip there my Greek friends.
Q&A: Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski [The Charlotte Observer]
A New Game Plan For Team USA [ESPN Page 2]
“Hey, Marbury, Just Pass It To Will!”
I know you’ve heard a million of them already, but seriously … when’s Isiah going to sign Will Smith to that five-year, $35 million deal?
And better yet, when he does sign, will the Knicks shorten MSG’s basketball court by about 60 feet so Will can dominate?
Fresh Prince Vs. Isiah Thomas [YouTube]
Comments (3)1.21 Gigawatts! Nelson Is Back
In case you haven’t heard, the Golden State Warriors rented a DeLorean today — $43.99/weekday from Budget — and went back in time to re-hire Don Nelson. Janny Hu reports:
In a bold and surprising attempt to end 12 years of playoff futility, the Warriors severed ties with Mike Montgomery this week and will replace him with former coach Don Nelson, the Chronicle has learned.
Nelson has agreed to an incentive-laden three-year contract that is worth up to $18 million, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. As part of the deal, Nelson will receive $1 million if the Warriors make the playoffs this season.
If you’re a Warriors fan you’ve got to be happy. (And they are.) Nelson, 66, should bring instant offense back to this club with his “score first, worry about d later” mentality. He’s got a lot of solid, young talent in that locker room — Baron, J-Rich, Ellis, Murphy, Lil’ Dun, Ike — so it’ll be fun to see what type of line-ups his old man brain will conjure up.
Steve Kerr thinks the Warriors’ success weighs heavily on whether or not Nellie can connect with Baron Davis:
By midseason Davis and Montgomery had almost no relationship whatsoever, according to Golden State insiders, and the situation severely hurt the team’s chances for success. The Warriors had no chemistry or direction.
Nellie will come in with a resume that includes helping develop a couple of point guards (Tim Hardaway and Steve Nash) into NBA stars. Each became the leader of an up-tempo basketball team, and the opportunity changed both players’ careers.
Davis is ultra-talented, but he has been both injury-prone and moody over the years. It is Nelson’s job to turn Davis into the leader he can become. One thing is for sure: Davis will enjoy playing Nellie’s style. The ball will be in his hands, and he will have full authority to run the club. Ultimately, the relationship between the two men will be the key to whether this union is a success. That and Davis’ health.
Can’t say I disagree. Hi-Five, Steve Kerr!
And oh, here’s a fun little nugget: Nelson will bring the Warriors to Dallas in the first week of the NBA season, matching up with Coach Avery Johnson on Nov. 6.
Oh you sly NBA schedulers you!
Montgomery Out, Nellie Back In… [SF Chronicle]
Whoa, Nellie? [Yahoo! Sports]
About
The Basketball Jones is a NBA blog and podcast, written and recorded five times a week by J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and Jason Doyle. Comments, questions and cold hard cash are always welcome and much appreciated. Contact us.
Podcast
Latest Episodes
- Ep. 312: The Fix – Friday, May 16th
- Ep. 311: The Fix – Thursday, May 15th
- Ep. 310: The Fix – Wednesday, May 14th
- Ep. 309: The Fix – Tuesday, May 13th
- Ep. 308: The Fix – Friday, May 9th