Strike One: A local favorite, popular, respected and eminently qualified was going to get the head coaching gig with the Portland Trailblazers. We just weren’t sure which one.
Had anyone else other than Chauncey Billups was being named as Terry Stotts replacement, local basketball fans in the Rocky Mountain region – especially those who have followed the remarkable career of Becky Hammon – would have been up in arms and complaining loudly. Both Billups and Hammon are basketball icons in Colorado, and both have had successful playing and post-playing careers. Hammon has more time on the bench as an NBA assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs – eight seasons and counting – but no one doubts Billups basketball acumen and his ability to be a successful NBA head coach. Fans here will cheer for him – except when he’s playing against the Denver Nuggets.
It came down to Jason Kidd (who ultimate landed the head coaching gig in Dallas) Billups, currently an assistant in Los Angeles with the Clippers, and Hammon – an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs, for the Portland gig, and Chauncey’s getting the nod. Becky’s time will come.
When it does, Hammon will make basketball history of course. At some point, she will almost certainly become the first female head coach in professional basketball history. The pressure that will come with whatever job she gets will be enormous. It always is for trailblazers, even outside of Portland. But Hammon will be up to the task. And if she is selective and lands on the right bench, she will be successful.
Other Gregg Popovich disciples have done pretty well in the league. The dude in Milwaukee, Mike Budenholzer, is on the verge of making the NBA Finals this season, and of course Steve Kerr has already won a couple of titles himself. But Hammon’s situation is a little different. Dropping her in Sacramento or Cleveland at this point would be setting her (and almost anyone else) up for failure. There are certain jobs that are “no hopers.” Putting a female into one of those gigs would be setting the stage for naysays to point and say, “See, a woman can’t coach an NBA team” in the future.
Hammon should ultimately end up with a job where she can win right away. Boston would have been one of those spots. But that job went to Ime Udoka (a native of Portland, ironically.) The only other job that remains open at the moment is in Orlando, where the young Magic are coming off a miserable season. That would not be a good spot for someone trying to break the glass ceiling.
Her best bet? Stay right where she is and wait for her mentor, Popovich, to hang it up. Pop is a unique and powerful figure. When he decides to retire, it will take someone special to replace him. Hammon would be that someone. She will be familiar with the organization and everything that goes with the job. Her hiring will be greeted with celebration in San Antonio. Most importantly, she will be able to win almost immediately.
So, while Chauncey is now a Trailblazer, Becky will be one in due time.
Strike Two: Just when we thought COVID-19 had finally been subdued, along comes the College World Series and North Carolina State to remind us that we aren’t out of the woods just yet.
The upstart Wolfpack did what many thought impossible in ousting top-ranked Arkansas from the NCAA baseball tournament, and they looked poised to make some noise in Omaha. After winning their first two games, including a 1-0 victory over heavily favored Vanderbilt, 14 of their 27-man roster was shockingly ruled out of a game against Vandy in what ended up being a 3-1 setback. Reportedly only one player had tested positive for the virus, but contract tracing dictated the removal of 13 others from the locker room. The narrow loss to the Commodores set up what was supposed to be a win-and-advance tilt between the two the next day, but the NCAA stepped in and ruled that NC State was done, even before the first pitch. None-and-done.
Due to legal and privacy regulations, no one is saying who the player is who tested positive, and no one – including the head coach Elliot Avent – knows exactly how many NC State players did or did not get vaccinated. He left it to his players to decide for themselves whether or not to get the shots. Obviously, at least one – and potentially more than half the roster – decided not to get their shots, for whatever reason.
Therein lies the problem.
This is not unique to the Wolfpack of course. Many players in numerous sports have elected – for purely uneducated and selfish reasons – not to get vaccinated. Despite all the overwhelming evidence that the vaccine is safe and effective, there are those stubborn few who think they know more than the doctors. Major League Players like Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Fernando Tatis Jr have missed playing time due to Covid, and Burnes has openly admitted he wasn’t going to get the shots, calling it a “personal choice.”
Problem is – as demonstrated by the plight of NC State – is that your “personal choice” impacts a whole lot of others when you’re part of a team in any sport.
And everyone – including the NCAA – is still testing regularly. At least every other day in Omaha.
The 85% threshold for vaccinations within teams isn’t good enough for some, like Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane. He said in May that he’d release any players who weren’t fully vaccinated for the good of the team, calling it a “competitive advantage.” That has set up a potential confrontation with wide receiver Cole Beasley, who says he’d rather retire that get the shots. Stay tuned on that.
Stupid is a stupid does.
The NC State saga has proven once again that every member of every team with designs on playing for any championship should get vaccinated. It’s about so much more than “personal choice.”
Strike Three: Continuity is typically a good thing in sports, whether it be a playing roster, coaching staff or front office. However, there comes a time when change for the sake of change is needed – for everyone. That’s the case with the Colorado Rockies front office.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort values continuity and he’s intensely loyal to those who work for him. He doesn’t make changes easily – just look at his track record. Monfort has been running things at 20th and Blake for almost two full decades now, and he’s had exactly three General Managers – who have combined for a grand total of four post season appearances – during all that time.
It’s really two GM’s plus current interim GM Bill Schmidt. Dan O’Dowd and the recently departed Jeff Bridich ran things for Monfort and company since 1999. Schmidt came with O’Dowd from Cleveland in ’99 and has been with the team since. But he’s only been the GM since Bridich unexpectedly stepped down on April 26th.
So…continuity for the sake of continuity, I guess.
Those outside of the Coors Field bubble strongly believe the Rockies front office needs a makeover. That goes against every grain since Monfort took the helm. But it’s possible that it won’t be entirely up to the owner. Perhaps whomever gets the permanent gig this off season – and Schmidt is a likely candidate – will be forced to rebuild from the inside out.
Assistant GM Zach Wilson is the latest to depart the Rockies organization. Another assistant, Jon Weil, left earlier this month. Two down. How many more to go?
It should be all of them. Everyone. A clean slate. A fresh start. A rebuild.
This is not to say that Bridich (who needs work on his people skills but knows baseball) Wilson and Weil aren’t good baseball people, because they are. They will find other jobs in other organizations, and that will be good for them professionally. It just wasn’t working here. A new mix is needed. New voices. Fresh ideas. A new outlook.
That’s not going to come from the owner, who is pretty set in his ways. He wants continuity and stability. The only accountability he appears concerned about is at the turnstiles, not on the field. So it will be up to the next GM – whomever that is (Schmidt and current Assistant GM Zack Rosenthal are the most likely candidates) to make change – and that desperately needed fresh start – the priority.
Continuity should only matter after every-year contender status has been reached.