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The NBA can keep Pitino
Posted: Tuesday January 09, 2001 5:20 PM
There's nothing we can do. The robot is coming back. The corporate exec is going to re-incorporate himself. He will turn his players into Mini-Hims, and they will spout their mindless clichés and supplicate themselves at his altar. He will strike fear into the hearts of every secretary in his office, every underling in the athletic department, every assistant sports information director who makes the mistake of trying to do his job when he's in a bad, bad mood.
Here's what I mean. Once, when Rick Pitino was at Kentucky, his team lost a tough game. Everyone in the school's sports information office knew that Pitino had to have his stat sheet at the earliest possible moment once a game was over. Only, on this occasion, the computer malfunctioned and wouldn't print out a box score. A young female assistant, thinking she was coming up with a creative solution, quickly jotted down a few key stats on a piece of paper and hurried to the locker room. When she handed Pitino the sheet, he looked at it, said, "What the f--- is this?" crumpled it up into a ball and threw it in her face.
To be sure, it won't be all bad when Pitino comes back to college basketball. (There's no point in saying if, is there?) On the one hand, he is a star, and college hoops certainly needs more of those. On the other hand, Pitino takes winning and losing -- and, most of all, himself -- waaayyyy too seriously. We all know college athletics is big business, but most coaches I've come across really do go out of their way to get to know their players as people, to cultivate relationships in the community and with the media. Believe it or not, most of them also realize that their kids can learn just as much -- if not more -- from losing as they can from winning.
Maybe Pitino's failure in Boston humbled him. Maybe he will come back to college hoops a changed man -- content, patient, compassionate. If that's the case, college basketball will benefit from his return. If not ... well, I guess I'm in the minority on this one, but I say we're better off without him.
Just a thought, Hoopheads. Here are some others ...
I love Tommy Amaker, but the Seton Hall coach made a difficult situation worse with his misleading statements after Eddie Griffin popped Ty Shine in the eye following the Pirates' loss to Georgetown. If Amaker wants to close his locker room to the media, that's his prerogative. But he crossed the line when he told reporters at the postgame press conference that the reason he did so was because his team was in a rush to get home.
Expect Michigan State to struggle over the next couple of weeks while the Spartans work Marcus Taylor back into the lineup. The team, and Charlie Bell in particular, had to work through much the same problem last year when it lost Mateen Cleaves to injury; Bell was aggressive while Cleaves was out, but he was out of sync after Cleaves came back. There is a difference, of course: Taylor is a freshman and Cleaves was a senior. Stay tuned.
DePaul has been one of the real disappointments so far this season. The Blue Demons lost by 20 points to Marquette over the weekend, a game in which Bobby Simmons proved once again that he may be the most overrated player in the country (to the extent he is highly rated in the first place). Simmons was 0-for-8 from the field and had four points. And has anyone else noticed that neither Simmons nor Lance Williams has improved one iota since they were seniors in high school?
It's hard to criticize anyone on Arizona given what the Wildcats have had to endure, but Loren Woods has done little to convince people that he's mentally prepared to be a factor as a pro. Woods has simply played too softly, and he inexcusably lost his cool when he was ejected from the team's win over Cal last week. This club needs Woods to give it stability, and so far he hasn't done that.
Is it me, or has there been a dramatic increase in incidents of fans rushing the floor after a win? It happened again Monday night when Seton Hall beat Notre Dame at the Meadowlands, even though the Pirates were higher ranked. Pretty small-time, if you ask me. (Not that you did.)
I think it's time to put that 1-800-COLLECT lady in the leather pants back into storage, don't you?
This week's Restraint Award goes to South Carolina's Eddie Fogler, who looked as demure as a debutante Sunday after his team upset Florida -- and Fogler's nemesis, Billy Donovan -- on a buzzer-beater. I'm wondering if Fogler's tongue bled from his biting down on it so hard.
You know who's easy to root for? Luke Axtell, that's who. The Kansas forward was run out of Austin by the villainous Tom Penders, sat out a season in Lawrence, had to leave the team last year because of a variety of physical and emotional problems, then got off to a slow start this season because of more injuries. Axtell is averaging 6.6 points through his first six games in the lineup, and if he gets his legs back the Jayhawks will be very dangerous in Big 12 play. Incidentally, I'm one of the few people in the Western Hemisphere who has a copy of the CD that Axtell recorded last summer. (The NCAA barred him from trying to sell it.) He actually doesn't sound half-bad. Think of a country version of Roy Orbison, with a jumper.
I still think it's early to be naming All-American teams, but since every other Webhead Hoophead is doing it, here's my Fab Five so far: Jason Williams, Frank Williams (backcourt); Shane Battier, Casey Jacobsen, Troy Murphy (frontcourt); Charlie Bell (sixth man).
It's a shame Pitt's Ricardo Greer has never played for a winner. He'd be a household name if he did.
Whatever happened to the University of Washington? Two years ago, the Huskies were a Rip Hamilton fallaway from advancing to the Elite Eight, and Bob Bender was on everyone's Where's He Going Next? list. Now UW is coming off a 10-20 campaign and has started this season 6-8 (0-2 Pac-10), including losses to UTEP, St. Louis, Cal-Irvine and San Diego.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers college basketball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Hoop Thoughts will appear each week throughout the college basketball season.
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