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Blowing off steam November expectations can lead to March frustration
Posted: Saturday March 11, 2000 09:44 AM
We've seen some coaches release a lot of frustration lately, particularly former Pistons head coach Alvin Gentry and Boston's Rick Pitino. If a coach whose team is struggling a little bit comes back after the All-Star break and the team doesn't get off to a very good start, frustration really sets in. The All-Star break is usually the guideline -- you see whether the tide is going to turn and you'll get the opportunity to improve toward the end of the season and the playoffs. With Gentry, there were high expectations for the Pistons, and I think they gave him until after the All-Star Game to see if the team could turn around. The Pistons are in the midst of a nice schedule, but toward the end of the year their schedule toughens up. I think they expected to have some success right before and after the All-Star break, and they didn't have that. There have been some rumors that Grant Hill had something to do with Gentry's firing, but I don't see that. I don't think Hill is that type of individual. He's a class act, and he plays hard all the time. I would doubt that he had any direct bearing on the removal of the Pistons' head coach.
Secrets of the desertThe Suns have put together a very successful season, one that may have gone relatively unnoticed by most of the media and fans outside of Phoenix. Some people haven't given them a thought because Portland is having such a great year and obviously the Lakers are dominating out there. But I don't think any team going into Phoenix would dream of taking that club lightly. You have to give tremendous credit for that to head coach Scott Skiles. He came in under a strange situation, after Danny Ainge decided to leave the club, and he's a very untested coach, the youngest in the game. The team has endured quite a few injuries as well. Shawn Marion was out for a while; Penny Hardaway was out; Tom Gugliotta was out. So Skiles has done an unbelievable job.
Coach's breakdownThe Lakers' offense has really come together. As a team has success, it will gain confidence, and their offense is running much better now than it was in the beginning of the year. What they're running is not a true triangle, because in a true triangle, each player will play in the post. And 95 percent of the time, L.A. moves Shaquille O'Neal in there, which it should.With the triangle that was run in Chicago, many times you would see a guard in the post -- Michael Jordan or even Ron Harper at times. Harper never goes to the post now. Most of the time it's Shaq down in there, where you would want him, to take advantage of his size. Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN/Sports Illustrated's "This Week in the NBA."
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