SVG on Psycho T

Interesting, candid stuff from Magic coach Stan Van Gundy during an interview on “The Boog Sciambi Show” (that sounds like the worst Italian restaurant in the world) on Miami sports radio:

Sciambi: “Would they (the media) use the same adjectives to describe him (Hansbrough) if he were black?”

SVG: “Well, probably not. But I think there’s two things going on there. Well three. Let’s give the guy his due. He plays the game well and he plays it hard okay. With no hyperbole he does do that, so let’s start there.

“But then the second and third factors I think definitely you hit on it, there’s the racial thing. People go crazy over white players. They tend to assign character qualities to them rather than just good play. And then the third thing is the emotion. He plays with a lot of emotion. You know, he’s jumping up and down, he’s all over the place and for whatever reason when fans see that they think that equates to a greater desire to win than a guy, let’s say, that plays like Tim Duncan played even in college. Who just sort of pretty even keeled, doesn’t show a lot of emotion but just keeps playing well and getting the job done.

“For whatever reason fans, media, whoever, equate the show of emotion with a greater desire to win and I think its B.S. But I think it happens so I think there’s that on top of the racial issue.”

Sciambi: “Don’t numbers two and three tie together because aren’t, in a lot of instances, isn’t the white public or media offended at times by the show of emotion when it’s a black guy? If its Chad Johnson dancing to show emotion, ‘Hey wait a second, we don’t like that so much.”’

SVG: “That’s a great point. I mean I do think that happens a lot. ‘The black guy has no class, but the white guy’s playing with fire.’ I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

That’s the first time I’ve heard someone who evaluates talent for a living (and not someone who just opines on it) go on record with something like that.

From Chris Broussard’s ESPN blog.

UPDATE: Ha, Long passed along this month-old Mike Freeman column that says basically the same thing as SVG but contains this great line: “Bill Raftery is an admirable professional who is one of my favorites to watch. He’s extremely talented, but during a timeout in one North Carolina game, he said ‘watching Tyler Hansbrough listen is special.’ ”

Ha ha, as Freeman followed up, “What? No, seriously, what?”

UPDATE II: Yes, yes, as more than one person has pointed out, Chad Johnson is a terrible, terrible example. I agree with that.

Long Scoops MSM

Back to back posts generated by our resident Rock Chalk Video ‘Hawk. Long went back into the Gmail chat history to prove he was on the “Bill Self to the Spurs When Pop Retires” case way before Buck Harvey’s column in the Express-News said the same thing.

From November 25, 2007:

Long, looking at the stats for RC’s son: He average 9.2 pts and 2.7 assists and missed his senior season and was an invited walk-on (at Kansas). Good thing RC and Bill Self are buddies.

Long: I bet you if RC is still the GM when Pop retires and Self hasn’t been fired, Self will be a candidate for Spurs head coach.

me: … think so? Man, I have no idea what to expect when Pop retires. Luckily it’s four or five years away.

Long: Both were Larry brown assistants at KU.

me: Ah, you’re probably right then.

Long: Self SHOULD have at least one or two Final Fours at that point. (Prescient! — ed.)

Me: With this talent…

Then for good measure we bagged on Reid while Long watched Arizona play.

Long: Man, Zona looks bad.

Long: Reid = that Budinger guy

Me: Ha Ha. Reid 2.0

Long: 3.11

Me: That guy can jump way higher than Reid.

Then I wrapped up that session of expert commentary by calling the Celtics “overrated.” Whoops.

The Curry-Up Offense

Quick observation from the Davidson game: Doesn’t it look like they’re using the same formula as the Rockets minus Yao? So far it’s been really solid team defense — they’ve somehow deployed multiple white guys to slow down Kansas’ athletes in the first half — paired with a freakish scorer who can efficiently chew up a ton of offensive possessions. Not surprising then that both rely on consistent high-level point guard play. Rafer’s lucky run of competence fueled the Rockets’ streak; Davidson’s PG, Jason Richards, leads the NCAA in assists at 8.1/game.

Kansas might want to think about doing their best single coverage on Curry and trying to dominate the defensive glass. That’s a pretty effective way to smoke the Rockets. Then again, watching Curry, he might actually be a better pure scorer than McGrady. Holy crap, can this kid shoot.

Texas Plight

Memphis just crushed Texas, but it wasn’t really an embarrassment for the Horns. Memphis took us out of our game from the tip, and Derrick Rose can flat out ball. All that said, what really killed Texas’ comeback mojo was a damn banked-in three-pointer. Ah, well.

That game alone has to put Rose in the conversation for the number one pick this June. I didn’t think anyone could challenge Beasley, but then I’d never seen Rose in action. He’s huge for a PG, remarkably under control, and simply an incredible athlete. For an NBA team, imagine a Deron Williams-Monta Ellis mashup. I’m not sure there’s anyone like him in the League right now.

As for Texas, it was the first time we looked out-manned all season. Memphis threw out an legitimately NBA-size line-up, and it got to our guard play. D.J. Augustine had another stinker in a tournament loss, but unlike last year it wasn’t a total mental meltdown. Today it just looked like Memphis was in his head when he tried to finish at the rim, and he missed a lot of shots he normally makes. Abrams inability to get anything going also really hurt Augustine, who I think is destined to be a really great setup man in the NBA. He’s probably just a little too small to also be a prime-time scorer in the Chris Paul mold. If he ends up being the fourth PG (that mock has him going to the Raptors!) taken in the draft, some team’s going to get a steal.

The Future … Has Acne

We begin this blog, appropriately, with Kevin Durant. We’ll forget that USC game ever happened, wish D.J. Augustin well in his sophomore year, and remember only the best times. I think my personal favorite will always be Durant’s utter demolition of Texas Tech, in Lubbock, when he put up like 32 and 25 — mainly because I can’t stand Bob Knight and everything he stands for. After that game the Red Raiders managed only one more real win, against A&M, before getting shot out of the tournament. I think it’s safe to say that Durant destroyed their season.

But back to the future. The NBA draft countdown has begun, at a very high number, as the Celtics continue to debase their once-proud franchise. Tonight against the Bobcats was actually a little pathetic.

After leaving his starting five on the bench while the second string blew an 18-point lead — and the game — Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers felt he needed to explain himself.

“I was not throwing the game, or anything like that,” he said Wednesday night after the Celtics lost 92-84 to the Charlotte Bobcats, their closest pursuers in the Greg Oden and Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

“I’ve heard all those questions,” Rivers said before taking any questions in his postgame news conference. “Honestly, I got to the point early in the fourth quarter and I turned to the coaches and said to them, ‘We are either going to win or lose with this group.”

Kudos to AP writer Jimmy Golden who began the next paragraph with the words, “And they lost.” That’s about as close to tellin’ it like it is as you’ll see in a post-game recap.

The kicker is that the Bobcats began their furious comeback when Paul Pierce went out with an injury. He sat the entire fourth quarter, struck down after “opening a cut on the inside of his mouth.” Let the Truth be told.

I guess I have to say that I’m officially hoping the Celtics don’t get Durant now. Not sure who to root for to become the team I have to root for (except when playing the Spurs). The tournament this weekend will be a sad time in Austin, I can already tell you. After all, once Durant’s gone, who else will the Statesman be able caricature as a small Ethiopian child?

Images blatantly stolen from the Statesman.