You know, I'd bet some of you would call me a soothsayer or maybe even psychic if Blogger hadn't messed up two days ago. I wrote a very interesting piece about the blunders of certain coaches and how they seem to doom the teams and sometimes the organizations they work with. I discussed Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy's stupid decision to bench point guard Rafer Alston in the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers due to A
lston merely barking back at him during a time out…a very under-represented turning point of the series that is hardly discussed by the major media outlets. It seems that Shaquille O'Neal was right about Van Gundy as being 'the master of panic'. I wrote in that post about how the Lakers will come into Game 5 and apply the same pressure as they did in the second half of Game 4 and we can all sit back and watch the Magic fold up shop and show us all what a real 'magic' disappearing act is supposed to look like. But painfully, it was all for naught and many of you are sitting back saying…Phillip is so full of sh**, whereas I sit back and yell out…DAMN YOU BLOGGER, DAMN YOU!!! Yeah, it may be time to hasten my process of converting this to a full-fledged website and call it a day. But then I think, 'when you are living in the basement of your father's house, sleeping on an army cot and working an internship with no pay within an economic meltdown, it's best to count your blessings and keep writing.' With that, I will…while damning blogger for taking away a potential moment of glory.
Moving on, I wrote about several coaches from several different professional sports leagues that have been notorious for not getting their teams to the top despite their all world coaching credentials and supposed reputation. But before I get into that, I'd like to take some time to congratulate the target of many black women's ire, one Kobe Bryant for winning his fourth NBA title this evening. I wish I could say that he had to work for it in the Finals (which he would have had to if the Cavaliers had been the opponent) but nonetheless, he is writing a nice piece of history for himself. Also, the walking mummy himself, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, won his NBA record 10th title as a head coach. Now, I respect all that he's done as a coach but…something is telling me that he does not deserve as much due as he is taking from the ABC's and ESPN's of the world. He never really had to put together a really good team himself; he merely had a all world superstar player guzzle his tall, heaping glass of Zen Kool-Aid and put him in a domineering position within a team full of capable role players who are scared to death to let him down…or else be banished to the Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City Thunder or whatever garbage pail team is out there.
The Lakers, if all stays relatively the same, you know, with Kobe diagramming the plays, Jim Cleamons 
falling asleep behind the bench, Kurt Rambis trying to look cool in search of his first head coaching job (despite his former appearance) and a hungry group of former first round draft pick flame outs (Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown) on the bench, big things may be on the horizon. As for Orlando, I am not sure the outlook is so rosy. Van Gundy is fast developing a reputation of not being able to push his teams over the top through expert coaching. This is the same guy who coached the 2006 Miami Heat for half the season and general manager Pat Riley, sensing that the moment and stage was too big for Van Gundy to handle (or too big for Riley not be in the spotlight) took over as head coach and pushed them past the soft butt Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA Finals. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the following season, but keep this in mind: Dwight Howard has already criticized the coaching of the team and if he and other players feel that Van Gundy's personality will only allow the team to go so far, expect the pink slip to arrive soon after a slow start to the 2009-10 NBA regular season.
Watching 'The Master' Van Gundy conjures up many memories of all of my favorite whipping boy coaches who even when given teams ripe for winning a title, failed to deliver. The first head coach would be former NF
L head coach Marty Schottenheimer. Now don't get me wrong, Marty was a great coach who inspired his teams to perform beautifully…until when it counted the most. If it wasn't for poor Marty of the NFL's greatest comebacks (or collapses) would not have happened. Anybody remember Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway's famous 'Drive' in the 1986 AFC Championship Game against Marty's Cleveland Browns? Before this game, he delivered a stirring speech to the players that inspires me to laugh off of a chair…it's called 'The Gleam' please click here for a sample of the audio. If anyone had a chance to see the footage of this on the field speech, or has a chance to look it up, please look at the players faces as he speaks…you can see several of them saying 'what the f*** is coach talking about?' 'He never gave a speech like this before any other game this season and he waits until now to give it?' 'What the heck is a gleam anyways?' Well, whatever the gleam was, it obviously was firmly seated on the opponent's side of the field and enabled them to not only pull off 'The Drive' but also helped them win the game in overtime on the strength of a Rich Karlis kick that was obviously wide left and no good click here to view. Marty's wizardry (another Magic reference, ha-ha) didn't stop there either. He coached the dominating and top seeded Kansas City Chiefs team to a quick exit in their first playoff game in 1995 at home no less, and against a lesser opponent. Apparently, place kicker Lin Elliot, who missed three attempts in the game, didn't feel 'the gleam'. New England Patriots fans may remember the 15-1 San Diego Chargers team in 2006-07 that hosted a playoff game against a wild card Patriots team that had no business winning…until Marty's team lost 'the gleam' and the game…again. Sadly, Marty was forced out of the Chargers organization after this game and in my opinion, is stuck with the stigma of being a horrible big game coach…which is something I feel Stan Van Gundy is well on his way to becoming.
I also touched upon another coach whose resume out performed his coaching ability, NHL coach/general manager/president/PR nightmare, Mike Keenan. When I researched him on Wikipedia.org of all places, this one of the opening headlines in his profile states 'His inability to maintain working relationships with players and team organizations has resulted in a lack of long term coaching positions. His coaching resume includes abrupt terminations or resignations from coaching or general manager positions, sometimes at bafflingly inopportune, or peak, moments of his career.' Keenan alienated many of his best players during his NHL odyssey and amazingly his teams 
accomplished what happens when any polarizing coaching personality does when they leave a team, they got better. Want proof? The Florida Panthers were 5-8-2 in 2003-04 when he was fired and after the 2004-05 lockout season, the team finished with a 37-34 record in the 2005-06 season. Okay, maybe a reach. How about the 1996-97 St. Louis Blues who sported a 15-17-1 record when he left and rallied to make the playoffs with a 36-35-11record. More you ask? How about the 2000-01 Boston Bruins? He led the team to a 33-26-7 non playoff record that season before abruptly resigning. In the 2002-03 season, the team posted a 43-24-6 record which was good enough for a playoff appearance. He was recently fired by the Calgary Flames after the 2008-09 season, when the team lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. So according to the percentages, I expect the Flames to be right in the thick of things next season especially in light of a potentially large free agent market due to the projected lowering of the salary cap for NHL teams next season (more on that at another time). Now, Keenan did win a Stanley Cup, coaching the 1994 New York Rangers to the title, but I attribute most of the credit to a great all around playoff performance by Mark Messier.
Answer to today's trivia. Remember, the winner gets nothing: Vinny Testaverde. Kudos to those who got it right. Now a follow up question: who was his back up?
A)Todd Philcox
B) Eric Zier
C) Brady Quinn
Please send your answers by either responding with a comment or send an email to alphaleticarticles@gmail.com
Kudos. Yet another excellent article. Having a coach that can motivate and unite his players is the key to success. Orlando defeated itself. Sadly they just didnt play to win...
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