An e-mail thread between Chuck and Dave

Chuck:
Hey Dave, I've got a question for you: do great players make a great coach, or does a great coach make players great? Simply put, which piece of the puzzle is ultimately more important, players or coaches? This has been an ongoing debate between Drunk Guy X and me for quite some time now. He's referred to as 'Drunk Guy X' because I honestly don't know his name. He knows my name, but after talking to him for 3 years it would probably be awkward for me to come out and say "hey man, what's your name again?" Social politics prohibit such a move...I guess next time I see him I'll ask a friend to introduce himself to Drunk Guy X and then relay his response back to me. So next time I reference him I'll be able to say "so I was talking to Rusty (he looks like a Rusty) yesterday and he says Limp Bizkit is the greatest band of all time."

Your thoughts.


Dave:
Dear Can of Worms, do you mind if I open a few of you? Okay thanks Chuck and great question for starters. The aspect of coaching in sports, no matter how you look at it has been misconstrued in my opinion. Every sport is obviously different but I'll start with the NBA. We talked about the Phil Jackson era the other day and my stance is clear, Phil Jackson is not a great coach. A good one? Sure, but great, not even close. Looking at the facts of his career(assuming you think Scottie Pippen/Pau Gasol great players/Hall of Famers), he's always had TWO future hall of famers for EACH of his championships. What does this mean exactly? It means his only job has been to put the other pieces of the puzzle in the right place and make sure the future HOF's keep their confidence as high as possible. There were a total of 5 years from 1991-current where he had 1 great player(1994, 1995, 2005-2007) and in zero of those years did he win a championship or even get out of the second round. On a related note, Gragg Popovich has won 4 championships in the last 11 years with ONE great player(Tim Duncan, in case you've been sleeping for 10 years) and two above average players(Tony Parker and Manu) and a list of average at best talent. I don't think either one of these guys is the best coach of the last 20 years, but out of those two, i'm taking Popovich. Also, this would mean that I would say that players matter more than coaches do, in the NBA anyways. So Chuck tell "Rusty" that today's games hinge on players and don't let him use stats, they're useless.

To save you some reading Chuck, I'll use a speed round for the other two major American sports. In football, coaching matters over everything. Coaches use schemes and find players to fit it. You can put any player in a scheme but you can't put any scheme on a player, if that makes sense. There's a reason the Steelers have great linebackers every year, or the Broncos had a different 1000 yard rusher for 5 years straight in the early 00's. For baseball, the manager is used as a motivator and to make lineup cards and pitching changes. Baseball purists may argue this point, but I'll never listen. That's all the baseball manager will ever mean to me because players matter over everything. There's a reason teams play different after a manager gets fired, its because its a wake up call for the players that their lull of a season should be paid attention to. I don't know how much of a baseball fan you are Mr. Henry, but I'm gonna guess that you'll agree.

Quick tip Chuckie, if you don't know someone's name but it's too late to ask, try this one "how do you spell your name anyways?" This works two ways, if the name has multiple spellings, you'll figure out the name. If its a simple name like "Tom", you can say something like "okay, I was just makin sure you weren't drunk." And as far as Limp Bizkit goes, I think they don't get enough credit for help leading Rock music to where it is now. They turned the music mainstream, with the help of Korn and Kid Rock, and later Linkin Park. So you couldn't just make a joke that Limp Bizkit didn't at least have a great run that was cut way too short. I know I went to a concert of theirs and was thoroughly impressed in 1999. An additional note for you: don't comment on my Limp Bizkit thoughts, I know you'll hammer me like Rashard Lewis takes a 3 pointer.

I want you to tell me this, who/what is to blame for a possible NFL lockout that may be coming up very soon? I think I know, but this is an open discussion and I'm sure it's not just one thing. Give me some thoughts on this one and what did you think of my team answer? A little detailed maybe?


Chuck:
While I'm not exactly sold on your opinion that Limp Bizkit helped mold the modern rock music format, I'll agree they had a good run. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure Rap-Metal has been done for the better part of a decade...But then again, what do I know? I listen to bands whose names include random body parts described by grotesque adjectives like Dying Fetus and Cannibal Corpse. I know as much about modern pop culture as Lindsay Lohan knows about staying sober. For example, Nickeback was voted 'Band of the Decade' by Billboard - this makes no sense to me at all. Maybe they forgot the word 'Worst' somewhere in that title...obviously that's what happened, right? I mean, am I that out of touch with society? Maybe I'm not the best person to be speaking about this subject. Let's move on.

I'll give you Phil not being the best coach ever, but I have to disagree about Pop being better because of championships won with inferior talent. I know we were yappin about this last night...you compared David Robinson at the end of his career to Luc Longley. But if you remember, Robinson averaged 16 and 10 as one of the twin towers when they won a title in '99 with Tim Duncan. I'm pretty sure Luc Longley only dreamed of such prowess. And in more recent years, you can't discount Manu and Tony Parker. If you're comparing Duncan to Michael Jordan in terms of leaders of their teams, then you have to compare Manu or Tony to Pippen - Robins to their respective Batmans, if you will. Tony Parker is one of the top 5 point guards in the league and remember, he won the Finals MVP in '07. Pippen never outshined Jordan for that award.

Anyway who cares...players are more important than coaches. I would venture to say that holds true across the board, in any sport. You can't tell me that if you replace Rod Marinelli with Mike Shanahan in 2008 Detroit the Lions would have been winners. Coach K was at the helm of the past 2 Olympic Basketball teams - both teams featured the same players, essentially. The US failed to win in '04 but won gold in '08. Did the coaches change their schemes from year to year? In a word, no. The players simply had better performances. They took the games more seriously in '08 after losing the first go-around, (Manu Ginobili was part of the Gold medal team in '04, by the way). And as far as baseball goes...there's only 2 prerequisites to being a head coach: the ability to grab your crotch while spitting and the wherwithal to touch your left or right arm while talking to your pitcher. On a degree of difficulty scale, I would give playing baseball a 10 and coaching baseball a negative threeve; The latter being a negative imaginary number for emphasis.

Now...on to the potential NFL hold out. As I've said earlier...there's only one real reason this would happen: money. The desire for more and/or the lack of enough. NFL teams make loads of money from ticket sales, endorsement deals, TV contracts, etc. But the vast majority of that income goes directly to paying player salaries. As player contracts get bigger and more expensive, teams net smaller and smaller gains until they start going into the red. I'm pretty sure this has happened with the majority of NFL teams already. Throw on the fire the fact that this year will be uncapped, teams are facing an even more drastic financial loss. This is where the two sides (players and team owners) will butt heads. Teams will be pushing for smaller player contracts to keep their heads above water, and players will still be demanding 'fair market value'. CBSsports.com reports that the 32 NFL teams will split 5 billion dollars in TV deals in 2011, regardless of whether or not games are played. This means simply that the players WILL lose if they strike.

So...simply put: the reason for a potential NFL hold out in 2011 - players get paid too much money. 'Fair Market Value' needs to be reduced to a more reasonable number. I mean, if you look at the big picture logically, does a third string quarterback who never sees playing time other than a few snaps in victory formation deserve to be paid $600,000 per year? Again, I guess I just don't understand the society we live in today.


Dave:
Very, very interesting sir. Every sport has overpaid stars, but who is at fault for the salaries? Easy answer, its the agents of course. But lets look deeper, there's always one guy who ruins the "saving money" party. The rookie scale is so far out of whack that its incomprehensible. Jamarcus Russell made 39 million in 3 years for the Raiders. Jake Long, before taking a snap, was awarded the most money ever for a offensive tackle. Before wearing a uniform. Before showing off his skills. Apparently everyone has been okay with this. Sorry to bash a Dolphin Chuck, but he was the number one pick. Plus I nailed one of my guts just before that. Albert Haynesworth signed a 100 million dollar contract to become the highest injury/dollar player ever. Even better, in Year 2 he doesnt want to play for the Redskins after receiving 32 million dollars in Year 1. The problem is, no one thinks its that big of a deal. After all, this is exactly what these guys were worth. Please. I can only imagine what Sam Bradford's agent think he's worth after barely playing his senior year in college. The system is just flawed, just like every other sport.

Read this for me, Chuck. This gives you a major part of the problem. Bill Simmons appropriately addresses the problem with the NBA's revenue system and overpaid players. The major question of the whole column is, and this goes for all the sports, "who cares if owners save money with a garbage team?" The NFL might need to take a peak at their own system, overpriced seats, overpaid stars, too many teams with no way out for a few years and too many GM's outsmarting everyone else. If Sam Bradford doesn't work for the Rams, his high cap number is going to set that franchise back for at least five years. I'd call that a problem. For a 45 man roster, one guy shouldn't set your team that far back. I do not like hockey, only because I can't relate to it, but they seem to have the best understanding for players' worth. In an unrelated note, Ryan Howard just signed a five year extension for 125 million dollars(all guaranteed) and he might be the 3rd best player in the National League, behind Manny Ramilrez and Albert Pujols. Pujols currently makes 14 million a year, almost half of what Howard will make when the extension kicks in. To put that number in perspective, click here. If Pujols is better and the same age, then how much is he worth when he becomes a free agent? Just imagine that number you're seeing doubling in speed. It could almost make someone faint.

So yes Chuck, the issues are everywhere. From Mike Ditka's dumping of the Saints 1999 draft to obtain Ricky Williams to Daniel Snyder's paying 100 million to Albert Haynesworth, it seems like most players' sizzle doesnt match the steak. Williams' sizzle just happened to be his dreadlocks and drug use, great combo. He might be a pioneer of fun hairstyles. I'll let you fill in on that note. Once I start talking about a players hairstyle, I need to find something else to do. Plus this subject single handedly got me all riled up. As an added bonus, I won't comment on your "Magic in six" pick for the Eastern Conference Finals.


Chuck:
Everyone's been misreading my posts lately so let me clarify: 'Magic in 6' meant 'in 6 years'...obviously the Celtics are going to crush the Magic this year. How can they lose?? I didn't realize Kendrick Perkins was such the defensive Juggernaut. How an obvious answer to Dwight Howard went overlooked all this time, I'll never know...quoting Mark Jackson: 'Momma...there go dat man!'

In all seriousness, let's get serious here. Who ever saw this coming? (I'm pretty sure every citizen of Boston just flipped me the bird. Funny thing: even a middle finger from a Bostonian has an accent.) I remember we were talking one day about sports betting. Like poker, when you make the decision to bet, you want your money in good, so you bet using the information available to you. If you bet accordingly and lose, it wasn't necessarily a bad bet - you just lost, that's all. That's why they call it gambling. With that being said, everything points to Orlando winning this series. Last week I would have bet you my car the Magic beat Boston. I'm a stubborn guy so I'm sticking with the Magic for pride's sake - they just have to get it done in 7 now. I'll save you time looking up how many teams have come back from 0-3 to win a 7 game series in the past...it's 0. We're making history baby! Red Sox fans, you should remember that feeling, right?

Good points on the lock out, I totally agree. We're saying the same thing just using different words. Now...assuming the lock out happens, and assuming the teams decide to play their games using replacement players, where do I sign up? I'll play for free...plus I've been staying in shape by playing two-hand touch rec league for the past 5 years. Put me in coach! Someone will call...just gotta give it time.

Now about Ricky Williams' hair, I remember growing up thinking Ricky Williams had something really unique going on...he had that hair. Nobody in the NFL rocked it like Ricky. He was a beast on the field, sure, but something about that hair always caught my eye. To my knowledge, Ricky was the only guy in the early '00s to sport dreads out the back of his helmet. Ok, I'll throw in Edge, too. Nowadays, teams have a dreadlocks quota they must meet before suiting up on Sundays. In 10 years, the number of NFL players with dreads has gone from 1 to >50. Can Ricky get some royalties, please? He needs some weed money.

In 2010, it's a much closer race for best hair in the league honors. My top ten goes like this:

10. Marion Barber - There were several guys I could have given 10th place to, I guess it's his face mask that accentuates his hair more than anything. Could have been higher up, but length is an issue here.

9. Laurence Maroney - Unlike the rest of the league, I haven't forgotten about you, buddy. Your game may be sub-par, but your hair is world class.
8. Donte' Stallworth - Sporting a new jersey, still got those shoulder length locks.
7. Bob Sanders - When healthy, these dreads knock snot out of slot receivers.
6. Chris Johnson - I'm convinced that dreadlocks give you more speed...no way he breaks 2000 yards without them.
5. Larry Fitgerald - Probably the most popular player on this list, therefore, Larry's the proud owner of the NFL's the most notorious dreads.

4. Atari Bigby - Some of the wildest shit I've ever seen on somebody's head. Props to you my man. With a name like Atari, you need hair with personality - mission accomplished.

3. Dexter McCluster - Considering his age, it might be too soon to have him so far up the list, but then again, he had to commit himself to this hairstyle very early in life and for that, he gets the nod.
2. Steven Jackson - The Predator. Very nice work on the overall appearance of a mane. Nice length, dark in color, nicely done.

1. Al Harris - Fantastic all the way around. The length is impressive by itself, but somehow it just seems like he has more hair than anyone else on the planet. Smaller dreads, I guess. And the slight hint of color sets him way ahead of the pack.

It's been a fun weekend talking with you, man...we'll have to do it again soon. If nothing else, can the Magic please win tonight so I can watch more basketball this week? And if that happens, you should come over and watch game 5 at my place...

Chuck's Eastern Conference Preview:

If you asked me in November who was going to take down the NBA championship this season I would have thought for about a millisecond before answering "Bron Bron annem!" My roommate Seth had me completely sold on all the hype that was Cleveland basketball. And honestly, I'm pretty sure 90% of Americans who don't live in Orlando, LA, or Boston thought the Cavs had it in the bag, too. I remember growing up idolizing Michael Jordan (sound familiar?). After the Bulls won 72 games in 95-96, I remember thinking: do they even have to play anymore? Can Dave Stern just give them the trophy now? That year, having the Bulls in the same league as everybody else just wasn't even fair. It may have been a diluted NBA, or vastly superior talent in Chicago, or a combination of both, either way you just knew the Bulls were winning that year.

That was supposed to be the Cavs this year.

But since they didn't...believe it or not, life goes on America! Yes, they actually let them keep playing until someone else wins! I swear, since they lost game 6 in Boston I've heard the words "LeBron James" at least 500 times and it drives me nuts. So since the Cavs aren't even in the equation at this point, how about everyone stop talking about them. Including me...

Back on track now...let's talk about the Boston-Orlando series.

I'm just going to come right out and say it: the Magic are winning this series. At gun point I would say they're winning at home in game 5, but if not, I wouldn't be surprised if they take it in 6 at Boston due to the C's home court disadvantage. Bottom line - Dwight Howard is unstoppable. Yes, he has the range of Stevie Wonder at a shooting range but his size and strength are what makes him so valuable. There are only a handful of guys in the world that can stop him around the basket and none of them play for the Celtics. Glen Davis? I'm pretty sure Big Baby will show the world he is appropriately named after Superman stuffs a basketball down his throat. No metaphors here, just picture that, because it very well could happen. Double team him? Triple team him? That's not a good idea either because of the sharp shooters on the perimeter. Nelson, Lewis, and Pietrus have all been playing outstanding ball lately. It seems like when they're called on, they make their shots. Period. 40%, 46%, and 51% respectively from behind the arc in the postseason...that's called putting on a clinic. Not bad considering they're all secondary scoring options to Howard. Throw in Vince Carter and all of a sudden you have the recipe for a championship.

All that being said, I'm actually rooting for the Celtics. How can you not like Ray Allen? I'm a big fan of Rondo, too...could have done without Rasheed Wallace hopping on board but what the hell, I guess he figured if he can't beat 'em, join 'em. The C's are a good shooting team too. So in that regard, they match up well with the Magic's G/F skill set. And I love Rondo's spark he gives to the rest of his team. But with all that being said, I truly feel like the Magic are singing "anything you can do I can do better" in front of the Celtics at lunchtime on the playground while jumping rope and playing hopscotch. You got Rondo we got Jameer Nelson...Nah nah na nah nahh! The one thing the Celtics have is experience winning a championship. Unfortunately, you can't put a jersey on something like that. And even if you could, Dwight Howard would still posterize his ass!

Magic for all the dough baby. Lock it up.

Dave's Western Conference Preview:

If I were you, I'd stock up on canned goods. Reason: Chuck and I are previewing the NBA Conference Finals. I've been assigned the Western Conference since I love Pau Gasol. But I love the Suns more and I hate Kobe more, so hopefully my biases won't get in the way. Without further ado.... the preview begins.

Just for fun, I'll start by showing you the starting lineups of this year's teams and the 2007 teams(last time these two met in the playoffs, when Los Suns prevailed in five): 2007 Lakers - Jordan Farmar, Kobe, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown. 2007 Suns - Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Amare, Shawn Marion and James Jones. First off, when did LA Sparks(WNBA) get to merge with the Lakers for a year? Second, how'd the Lakers make the playoffs? And third, where did those Laker starters end up in life? This year's teams look like this: Lakers - Derek Fisher, Kobe, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest...Suns - Nash, Amare, Jason Richardson, Channing Frye and the Immortal Grant Hill. The fun part of all this is that people think Kobe is better now than he was between 2005-2007. I hate to back Kobe(really, it pains me) but when you look at that anti-All Star cast from 2007 for the Lakers, Kobe is the only player in the league that could carry them to the playoffs. One more point, none of those players from that team sees significant playing time except for Lamar Odom. Wow, Kobe, wow. As for the Suns, how does Nash stay so consistent for his 6th year in a row running amuck for the Suns? From what I read he doesn't eat sugar, which is crazy in itself, but he leads everyone else to do the same. It's all very impressive. He won 2 MVP's back to back in 2005-2006, which is ridiculous, not because he's not good, but because he's been better in the years that followed. The failed Shaq experiment from 2008-2009 was a waste of a year and a half. Now that you know where these teams were the last time they played, let's figure out where they could be going.

No pun intended, but the Suns are on fire. Seriously, on fuego. They ran the Spurs back to the Alamo, and broke through unchartered territory. I'm not talking about the Western Conference finals because thats happened a few times in the last decade, but the mentallity of complete focus on all assets of the game. When on defense, they play intense. When on offense, they still run and gun. They dive for loose balls and love playing with each other(no jokes please.) They spread the floor well and shoot tremendously. HOWEVER, they get to play Kobe and his Twin Towers for this round, which means, you don't play your game, you play their game. If I know what I think I know, the Lakers should win this series in 6 games. This has to do with two things, size and Kobe. Kobe is not the same player he once was, but if he knows his role in this series and takes around 15-18 shots per game and scores about 20 a night, the Lakers might not lose. The size factor is overwhelming, Gasol and Bynum can pretty much dominate as long as the offense is going through them. Amare plays as well on defense as a matador plays on a bull. Pau Gasol is the most athletically gifted offensive post player in the league, even if the numbers don't show it. Watching him play is a treat, if only for the sheer fact that he could score 30 a night if he wanted to but doesn't and does not complain one bit about it. I won't talk about his defense because I love the guy.

The most intriguing matchup is clearly the Lakers offense vs Los Suns defense because that's where the Suns may get their easiest points if they play it well. My prediction of Lakers in six will also come with a guarantee that both teams will score in the 100s more often than not and the games will be worth staying up to see. Phoenix is the same type of pick the Saints were in the Super Bowl, but shouldn't have similar results. I will be rooting for them, and you should too if only because of Nash's hair.