Coaches should know, toe the line
We had both ends of the spectrum on hoops TV this week: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo with his temper and angry behaviour toward a kid who plays basketball for his team, and Kia Nurse providing warm, sound commentary on the NCAA tourney. If for reasons of money and prestige Michigan State will not sanction their men's basketball coach, maybe others — including fans and supporters of MSU and NCAA basketball — can and will find ways to express their disapproval. It never hurts to remember that there are many other ways to coach, to give feedback, to correct in-game mistakes. Who comes to mind as good coaching models for handling tense games in an effective, healthy way? — Charles N.
I probably should clarify one thing: I have no issues with coaches coaching kids or grown-ups hard and blasting them when they need it but Izzo crossed a line, he kept going when he should have backed off to not further embarrass himself or the player. The level of anger and intimidation was dead wrong in my opinion. It was disrespectful to the player, the school, the team, the fans and they won so no one will care much or do anything about it. It’s the cult of the coach in and it bugs me.
My first thought about who comes to mind is Gregg Popovich. Heaven knows he can get angry and publicly chew his best players out but he knows when it’s over and time to move on. Steve Kerr is much the same way, isn’t he? I was fortunate enough to see the Portland game in person this year and Marc Gasol looked very good. What I can’t help but notice from afar though is that, in other games, despite Gasol’s passing skills, it seems that the Raps could still benefit more overall from the Jonas Valanciunas-Serge Ibaka platoon they had going earlier in the year. Also, if this year ends up imploding, wouldn’t the Raps have been better off with JV in a rebuild? — Don
A month or so in, I think the trade made the Raptors better for the short term and maybe even the long term. Getting Gasol, with this year and maybe next left on his deal, for Valanciunas, who has this year and maybe next year left on his deal, put the Raptors in precisely the same place when it comes to retooling in the next year or so. And I think Gasol’s skills are more valuable to a veteran team looking to win a championship this year. What are your thoughts on the latest Ibaka suspension? I believe this is his third. It seems to me his actions were totally unacceptable. Do you think this will give Masai reason to trade him in the off season? — Stan
I think it was an overly-emotional overreaction but stuff happens. It will have no impact on any summer roster moves they make. My inquisitive niece noticed the players wiping their feet on a mat in front of the scorer’s table and asked what it was. — Paul M
The mats are very thin layers of a plastic covered in some kind of sticky substance to clean the bottom of shoes and layers are ripped off and thrown away when they lose that stickiness. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s leaguewide; every arena has them.