Oh Mo, We Hardly Knew Ya...
Mari Margil
Well, I'm back on the sports beat, because everything else is just too damn depressing. And perhaps we can learn a lesson about strange bedfellows...
So, it appears that Maurice Cheeks isn't long for Paul Allen's world. Front page rumor has it that Mo is going to be ousted come the end of the season.
Things hit a low note yesterday when Darius Miles started yelling at Cheeks during practice, something like "Why the f@#@$@k should I listen to you?! You're gonna be fired!" Obnoxious, but probably true.
And, KGW Channel 8 speculated this week as to whether Phil Jackson (former coach of the Lakers) may replace Cheeks. Seems Phil has a soft spot for the PNW...which brings up today's lesson on strange bedfellows.
I've loathed Phil Jackson for years, and years, and years. Makes me wish I hadn't burned all of my bridges with Phil - thrown rotten eggs at him from the nosebleeds, written nasty LTEs to the L.A. Times - because, now I need him...we need him...Portland needs him.
Which is to say, ladies and gents, that in politics, like in sports, you never know who your friends will be, or your foes...discuss.
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11:15 a.m.
Jan 28, '05
It's a sad fact of modern sports, but the first thing any struggling team does is fire the coach. The team gets credit for having taken action without any real (personal) sacrifice. I feel for Mo--he's a good guy who happened to arrive in Portland during the darkest of Blazer years. He's worked hard and mixed things up, but the legacy of Whitsitt was too much for any single coach to overcome. On the positive side, Mo's likely to get picked up somewhere else where he'll be a lot happier.
As to Phil: I guess the Blazers are still trying to make up for not drafting Jordan. First Pippen, now Phil? Oy.
11:55 a.m.
Jan 28, '05
Mari,
I don't think Phil will hold it against you. Not that I really believe it will happen, but personally, I'd be excited to have the Zen Master coaching the miscreants that are our hometown team. And if anyone can afford to pay Phil what he wants, it's Paul Allen. Of course, Paul would have to buy a whole new roster too. Can you imagine Zebo mastering the triangle offense?
I don't think so.
Jan 28, '05
As a native Chicagoan who spent my formative years attending games during the first and second Bulls championship years, I have to say that I would be elated by Phil coming to Portland. I do not think that there is any doubt: the man can coach. Furthermore, he can coach the most difficult players... We have seen this with Dennis Rodman, Kobe, Shaq, etc.
If we land Phil Jackson, the Trail Blazers will be contenders again, guaranteed.
(And I feel for Mo Cheeks...I do.)
2:20 p.m.
Jan 28, '05
Furthermore, he can coach the most difficult players... We have seen this with Dennis Rodman, Kobe, Shaq, etc.
Didn't Kobe essentially run him out of town though? Even if he did not, the Zen-Master totally lost control of that Laker team down the stretch. I'm not sure he would automatically be able to cure the Blazers problems. Michael Jordan circa 1991? Hmmm... maybe that'd be the solution...
Jan 30, '05
I too like and admire Maurice and regret that he is the scapegoat for the many dysfunctions still inherent in the Blazer organization. However the only coach capable of righting the ship without thorough and painful housecleaning is the zen master. The sooner the better! Meantime Maurice has earned his stripes and will be welcomed (and successful) elsewhere.
2:37 p.m.
Jan 30, '05
If it stands to reason that coaches (who get fired) are not truly the reason a team is sucking, how does a new coach suddenly transform a sucking team into winners?
We don't have a crapload of talent on the floor at a Blazer game. These guys could be masters of the triangle, and all it would take is one of those patented 1 for 20 nights from the field to kill us again.
Also remember, you can zone now in the NBA, where before you couldn't in MJ's day.
We've got a point guard who doesn't distribute and mopes when he doesn't get touches and/or minutes, a two who's hurt and wants to leave, a pair of threes who (pick one) can shoot OR drive, a four who won't kick it out, and an undersized center.
Our front office (when can we get rid of THEM?) is more interested in merit badges than winning, probably to make up for Whitsitt's front office who was fine with at least two felony raps a year as long as we made the playoffs, an owner who really would rather have the Sonics, and the Zen Master is supposed to fix this?
Please. We're at the minimum, TWO good players (of the caliber of the ones we've let go over the years) away from respectability, Jackson or not.
So without further ado, my all-Former Blazer allstar team:
G: Dickau (who went for something like 15 and 17 assists the other night as a Hornet) G: Bonzi F: 'Sheed F: Brian Grant C: Jermaine O'Neal (and that one really hurts - thank you, PJ Carlesimo)
That lineup, with depth behind it, competes for conference championships every year, minimum, even with Cheeks at the helm.