I've never met Minnesota Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale. I have nothing against him as a person. He's probably a nice guy, and as a matter of fact, I'm sure of it, because that's all I hear from anybody who knows him or deals with him. But Timberwolves fans, after this season we may lose Kevin Garnett. The greatest athlete in the history of Minnesota sports could very well ask to be traded because the organization, fans, and media are too "Minnesota Nice" to McHale, the guy whose most responsible for the team's current state. Where's Donald Trump when you need him? Garnett could leave this summer because none of the people around Kevin McHale have had the courage to tell him the two simple words he needs to hear: You're fired.

I like KFAN. I really do. But most of the on-air staff on that station fall all over themselves to heap praise and love on McHale whenever he's on the air or his name is mentioned. On the Sludge & Lake Show last night, I almost drove off the road because of something Sludge said. After my seething anger had subsided, I realized that what he had said was what so many people around the Wolves believe and accept, and I think that's why it made me so mad. A caller had stated that McHale doesn't get enough criticism from Minnesota media and basketball fans for the horrible decisions and non-decisions he's made the last 2 dozen years. Sludge's response was that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "He does get plenty of critisicm (really? from who?) and that yeah he's made a lot of bad moves. He hasn't had many draft picks work out, but you can say that about a lot of teams. Like (Michael) Jordan, a great player doesn't always mean he's going to be a great GM." Here's the part I'm not paraphrasing. This is an exact quote, and is what sent me off the handle:
"But he's such a nice guy."

(let me get a running start at this one...)

WHAT THE HELL DOES BEING A NICE GUY HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM?!?!?! WHAT DOES BEING NICE HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACT KEVIN MCHALE IS A TERRIBLE GM?!?! YOU JUST SAID HE CAN'T DO HIS JOB, AND COMPARED HIM TO MICHAEL JORDAN, WHO WAS EQUALLY AS BAD AT HIS!!! BUT BECAUSE HE'S NICE WE CANT FIRE HIM?!?!WELL GUESS WHAT? JORDAN'S THE GREATEST PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE @#$%^* SPORT BUT HE GOT FIRED!!!!!! THEY CANNED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS INCAPABLE OF TURNING THE WASHINGTON WIZARDS INTO A WINNER!!!! THIS DOESN'T MAKE JORDAN A TERRIBLE PERSON, IT JUST MEANS THE PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON HAD THE BALLS TO TELL HIM HE SHOULDN'T BE RUNNING THEIR TEAM!!!! I DON'T CARE HOW NICE MCHALE IS OR HOW GOOD A FRIEND HIS IS WITH THOSE IN THE ORGANIZATION OR WITH THE FLAGSHIP STATION!! HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU CARE ABOUT WINNING OR CARE ABOUT THE TEAM WHEN YOU'RE SO BLATANTLY PUTTING FRIENDSHIPS AHEAD OF WINNING?!?!?!?

(...taking a moment to allow redness to leave my face, and for steam to cease from blowing out of my ears...)

Look, McHale's a good guy. I get it. A big hero for the Gophers, a real man's man on and off the basketball court. Old school, doesn't take any crap. One of Minnesota's finest, one of Minnesota's "our guys", a true "Minnesotan" in every sense of the word. Got it. But he's failed running the Wolves. I could fill pages (and Jer and I have in the past) and pages with the blunders the guy's made. Saying he's been a failure at putting a championship team together in Garnett's 11 years is not saying he's a bad guy: it's just saying he shouldn't be a GM. Timberwolves fans are some of the most passionate in the NBA. They care about this team as much or more than any fan base in the Association, and have been through as much or more adversity since the city was awarded a franchise. They DESERVE to cheer for a champion as much as Garnett deserves to be one.

Wolves fans, please, I beg you: stop being Minnesota nice. As much as you don't want to think about, realize losing Garnett is a real possibility here. In a pregame interview with TNT last night, Garnett was the most outspoken he's been on how McHale and owner Glen Taylor have mishandled the team around him. Garnett still answered in more of a "read between the lines" style than calling anyone out, but it's the latest sign that Garnett's patience with the organization is not only running thin, it's running out. Before it's too late Wolves fans, put aside "McHale the Minnesotan" and look at him as "McHale the GM". Realize we could have a GM that can actually makes a solid draft choice more than once or twice a decade, and a GM that actually KEEPS draft picks to make a solid choice. A guy who actually knows how to pick up the phone, and use some creativity to make a deal and get some guys around Garnett that he can win with. McHale got ripped off in the Cassell/Jaric deal by Elgin Baylor, who before this year was considered one of the worse GM's in any sport!! So what does that make McHale? For the last 10 seasons, Timberwolves fans have accepted exactly what this current group of players around KG is going to give you: good, but not good enough.

Please, before it's too late, before I have to throw up all over myself watching KG win a championship in another city, call out Kevin McHale. Demand he find a new job. Demand a new guy to run the team. If you don't, the only thing McHale's really doing is helping to pack Garnett's bags this offseason when he demands a trade to a team that cares about winning. And there would be nothing nice about that.

Stop blaming Flip Saunders for the Detwah Pistons playoff failings thus far. Just stop. Yes, this is virtually the same ensemble that former coach Larry Brown led to back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals, including their 2004 stunner when they knocked off the mighty Lakers in 5 games. But the big difference between the team from the past 2 seasons and this one isn't Flip Saunders:  it's the sense of entitlement that has crept into Motown. The '04 team was a bunch of also-rans. Castaways that were grouped together by GM Joe Dumars, and were guided by Brown to become what TEAM basketball was all about. Defense and great chemistry became the hallmarks of that Pistons team. Individually they weren't the 5 best guys on the floor, but as a team there was nobody better in the league. Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Raweed Wallace and Ben Wallace worked seamlessly on both ends of the court, as the collective chip on their shoulder drove them to prove everyone wrong. And they did.

When Larry Brown left for New York last summer, suddenly the Pistons had a new battle cry: we CAN win without LB! And for the 1st half of the season the giant chip returned, as Detwah made a run at one of the best regular seasons ever, starting 41-9. Then the all-star weekend happened, where 4 of the 5 Pistons starters were named All-stars. The admiration and glorification the team had so desparately wanted was finally heaped upon them. They were called "The Champs", the kings of the league, and the best team in the NBA. It became a question of not IF the Pistons would make it back to the Finals, but who from the West would dare oppose them.

The Pistons players started believing the hype, and they haven't been the same since. They struggled through a 2nd round series against Lebron and the Cavs, rallying to win the series. Many (myself included) thought that would be the wakeup call Detwah needed, and would roll through Miami to their rightful place in the Finals. Instead, they're down again, facing a 3-1 hole in tonight's game 5 at the Palace. And instead of a rallying cry, instead of pulling together like they used to do, they're coming apart. Players are pointing fingers at Saunders essentially because they've won a title and Flip hasn't.

While this is true, if the Pistons are going to tune out or turn against any coach who hasn't won a title, Dumars might as well blow this thing up and start all over this summer because there's only 4 coaches in the league who've won a title: Phil, LB, Pop, and Pat Riley. That's it. And none of them are coming to Detwah anytime soon.

Are the Pistons done? Certainly not. If any team is equipped to make a comeback, it's this group. But they need to stop pointing the finger at  Saunders, and start realizing both their defense AND offense has slipped. They need to get the chip back, the "us against the world" mentality, because if they don't no coach is going to be able to save this once great team from turning into individuals.

So Chris Bosh doesn't think his Toronto Raptors should draft Andrea Bargnani with the #1 overall pick in the draft. He says they don't need another "soft 4" but instead a "banger". Bosh, an uber-talented 22 year old, is vital for the success of the Raptors franchise, and he, like most good NBA players, hold a noose around the necks of team management and coaches because of their guaranteed contracts AND the fact it's impossible to receive fair  value for a disgruntled superstar (just ask the Raps how that Vince Carter deal went). However, I still wouldn't give any player, be it Bosh, Lebron, Kobe, DWade or anybody else, a say in what moves a team would make or not make.

Why? Because players today are loyal to 1)themselves 2) themselves 3) their buddies 4) themselves and 5) their posses. Although they say they have the best interest of the team in mind, their only thoughts are "how can we help ME?" Further down in that article Bosh gives his reason for wanting a "banger" instead of a player in Bargnani who be the next Dirk Nowitzki...

"If we can get a big guy who is not going to look for many shots, who just wants to set screens ... and control the paint, that would give us a lot of flexibility,"

Hmmm sounds to me like he doesn't want to share the ball or the spotlight. He also took a shot at free agent-to-be point guard Mike James...

"I think it's very important to have a pass-first point guard, somebody who can make plays down the stretch of a game," he said. "When (he says) make plays, I don't mean making shots for themselves because I don't think that makes anybody better."

...which is funny because just a few months ago, Bosh was hinting that if the Raptors didn't resign the 31 year old James, that he wouldn't be resigning with the Raps. 

Another example is a player who has more service and clout than CB4 can hope to have, and that would be Minnesota's Kevin Garnett. I love KG, and after all he's done for the Timberwolves franchise over the years, if anybody deserves a say it was him (and if there's a GM in the league who needs more help- other than Isiah Thomas of course- than Kevin McHale, well I haven't seen him). However, it was KG who prodded the Wolves to hang onto pal Joe Smith (although the genuis decision to pay him illegally was all McHale and owner Glen Taylor, not KG), and it was also he who was upset when the team wouldn't resign his buddy Latrell Sprewell. That move to NOT resign Spree was one of only two (the other being drafting Garnett) good ones that McHale has made in his decade of incompetence with the Wolves (but because he's from Minnesota and a favorite of Taylor's, Wolves fan will have to endure another decade or so of McHale giving away #1 picks like carwash coupons or wasting the picks he actually does keep. Not that I'm bitter or anything).

So if a guy as respectable as KG can't be trusted to make personel decisions, I don't think anyone else should either. Granted, there's only a handful of GM's in the NBA that actually know what they're doing (Jerry Colangelo, Kiki Vandeweghe, Jerry West, John Paxson, Bernie Bickerstaff and...yeah that's about it), but the Raptors overpaid to get one of those guys in new President/GM Bryan Colangelo. If you're paying Colangelo all that money, to me HE should be the guy with the final say, not Bosh or any other player. If Bargnani (a guy by the way who actually WANTS to play in Toronto!!!!!!!!! Honestly besides mullet-wearing, MOlson-guzzling hockey players or an overweight, money-hungry 1997-version of Roger Clemens, who's the last guy who actually wanted to play in Toronto?!? Anyone?) becomes a good NBA player, and Colangelo can swing a deal for a center (hello Canadian Jamaal Magloire!) and/or point guard, Toronto will be a playoff contender in a top-heavy Eastern Conference. And building a winner the RIGHT way will keep the team, fans AND any NBA Superstar (and their egos and posses and bling-bling) happy.

Be it the flair or the hair, it's becoming impossible for basketball fans not to love Steve Nash. The captivating Canadian put on yet another improbable show last night, leading his Phoenix Suns to a 121-118 win over Dallas in game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Nash's 27 points and 16 assists led TNT analysts Chuck Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller to wish they had brought ball shoes instead of loafers so they could play with Nash. Barkley went so far as to call Nash "one bad whiteboy" (his best line of the interview was when he asked "Hey Steve? Do y'all ever even talk about playing defense?" Classic Chuck.). With back-to-back MVP's and now a real shot at winning a Title this year, Nash is becoming part of the "greatest point guards ever" talk.

Rightfully so? I don't think so. He's been brilliant this season, but Nash has a long way to go to stack up with not only the Magic's and Big O's and Stockton's, but to even be considered the best point guard since Stockton. Ahead of him on the list? Gary Payton and Jason Kidd. Both have had stronger and more consistent careers than Stevie, and were better all around players. Now keep in mind, I grew up a Sonics fan and Payton's my 2nd favorite player of all-time (1.Shawn Kemp 2.GP 3.Kevin Garnett 4.Chris Webber), so I'm biased. But I believe had Payton played in New York, LA, Chicago, or Boston he'd be mentioned as a top-5 all-time point guard, not barely cracking the Top 10.

Comparing career stats for these three is difficult. Whereas Payton and Kidd have been consistently good for a long time, Nash had such a slow start, and as you'll see, that's really the biggest point in all of this. Nash didn't start more than half of his teams' games until his 5th season, which means he's only been playing at a high level for 6 years. Payton's career averages have dropped because he continues to hang on at age 37, but he had 10 seasons of averaging at least 19 points and 7 assists, garnering 9 all-star selections in that time. Kidd has been consistent from the get-go, and although he hasn't been quite the same since microfracture surgery last season, that's still at least 10 all-star-type years on his resume.

SCORING:
Kidd: 14.6 PPG (FG%: 40.2, 3pt%: 33.2, FT%: 77.9)
Nash: 13.5 PPG (FG%: 47.7, 3pt%: 42.1, FT%: 89.6)
Payton 16.9 PPG (FG%: 46.7, 3pt%: 31.9, FT%: 73)
Nash is certainly the best shooter of the group, and I was suprised to see that Kidd has better percentages from 3 and from the charity stripe than Payton, however GP's only taken 95 more 3's in his career, but has taken 1221 more free throws. When you look at their career totals, it shows that Payton is clearly a better scorer than Nash. In his 6 years as a fulltime starter, only three times (not including his MVP year last year, where he averaged 15.5) did Nash average more than 16 a game, whereas Payton has averaged 16+ in a season 10 TIMES and JKidd has done it 4 times. Not only that but GP scored more than Nash's career high of 18.8 of this season 9 TIMES IN HIS CAREER!! Payton and Kidd both are more effective at driving the lane than Stevie (with Payton basically inventing the 13 foot floater shot that so many small guys use now), and Payton's one of the best low-post scoring point guards ever.
ADVANTAGE: PAYTON

PASSING:
Kidd: 9.2 APG, 3.5 TOPG, 2.8 Asst/TO
Nash: 7.1 APG, 2.4 TOPG, 2.54 Asst/TO
Payton 6.9 APG, 2.3 TOPG, 3 Asst/TO
Another category where Nash's last two seasons have skewed people's perception of how his career compares to the other 2. Nash fans will quickly want to point out that career averages are a misleading stat for him because of his lower totals his first 5 years. However, in Nash's 4 seasons as a starter in Dallas, only one year- his last in 03-04- did he average more than 7.7 assists, and that was 8.8 a game. His two MVP seasons in Phoenix have shown a big jump in assists, but it's ONLY TWO SEASONS. I'd give the clear edge to Kidd in this category because in his 13 NBA seasons, he's averaged MORE THAN 8.8 a game 10 times, and in the three seasons he didn't his averages were 7.7 (his rookie year), and in his last two it was 8.3 and 8.4. No doubt Payton's 3rd in this category but his numbers for a point guard are still well above the norm.
ADVANTAGE: KIDD

REBOUNDING:
Kidd: 6.5 RPG
Nash: 2.8 RPG
Payton 4.5 RPG
Here's where Kidd is underappreciated. There's plenty of forwards and centers in the league today who can't average 6.5 rebounds a game in one season, let alone over a 13 year career (I'm talking to you, Eddy Curry)! This is part of the reason why Kidd is one of the best ever leading the fast break, because many times he STARTS the fast break! Payton's still a good rebounder for the position, and Nash is about where you expect him to be.
ADVANTAGE: KIDD

DEFENSE:
Kidd: 2.2 Stl, .3 blk
Nash: .8 Stl, .1 blk
Payton 2.1 Stl, .2 blk
NBA All-defense: Payton 8 (all were 1st team selections), Kidd 8 (1st-5 times, 2nd-3 times), Nash 0
This is where The Glove really shines, and where Nash really drops. Kidd has been a solid defender his entire career as his 8 All-Defensive selections show (although how in the hell did he get voted 1st team this year?), and Nash has a better chance of dunking in a game (which he never has) than being called a good defender. GP? One of the best defensive players ever, at any position. I never saw Walt "Clyde" Frazier of the New York Knicks play back in the '70's, but people who have forgotten more about basketball than I'll never know claim he's the best ever. Fine, if that's true than I'm all the more impressed with Frazier because Payton, as his 8 FIRST TEAM ALL-NBA DEFENSE selections, along with winning the Defensive Player of the Year in '95-'96, show he was one helluva defender.
ADVANTAGE: PAYTON

AWARDS:
Titles: Payton, Kidd, Nash- 0
Finals: Kidd 2, Payton 1, Nash 0
MVP: Nash 2, Kidd & Payton 0
All-Star: Payton 9, Kidd 7, Nash 4
All-NBA 1st Team: Kidd 5, Payton 2, Nash 1
All-NBA 2nd Team: Payton 4, Kidd 1, Nash 0,

You can't "throw out" Nash's 2 MVP awards, as he's been one of the best players in the league the past 2 seasons. However, those 2 seasons don't blow away the best 2 for Payton or Kidd, and that's before we even look at Nash's inability to play defense. Nash's last two years have been great, but none of his 4 seasons in Dallas as a starter compare to Payton and Kidd's averages in their 10 best years, let alone 4. Both guys have been consistently great for 10 years each, and when looking at who's had the best careers, MVP's or not Nash just doesn't compare. As for Payton and Kidd, although Kidd's a better passer and rebounder, I would take Payton's scoring and defense, along with solid numbers for a PG passing and grabbing boards, over JKidd.

But that's just me.