Comments on: John Kuester says more with his actions toward Rip Hamilton than any conversation could undo

By: tyler durden

tyler durden — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:38:34 +0000

Yes, Larry Brown is a good coach, but I don’t think what he was doing by courting Cleveland during the second finals with the spurs constitutes good leadership. Yes, all those coaches you listed are good ones and winning ones, but the main thing is that they have the backing of the management and the reputation to stand up to the players. If Sloan, or Brown, or Jackson or Pop, told their player to sit down and shut up, they would. DO you really think that Phil would have this reputation if it were not for Jordan. Do you think he had the balls in the beginning when he started coaching? There are only a handful of coaches like that in the NBA who have the rep to back it up. They are the exception, not the rule. Even though Flip had the team to the EFC, the team still got him fired. Was he a good coach? And compared to who? When you come down to it, these are men, not boys, and shouldn’t be coddled like little school girls. I do think that coaching is also a type of mentoring for young kids and sometimes it should be handle with a bit of sensitivity to hows kids react. What you are doing is comparing apples to oranges and making this into a very personal issue. But come on, when you are paid MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars, I think that’s gratitude enough.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:36:43 +0000

PCB, I’m not sure Dumars is losing respecting of veterans. Kuester certainly is. But I think veterans can respect how hard Dumars is trying to trade Rip.

http://twitter.com/ChrisMannixSI/statuses/31015414041415680

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:55:50 +0000

@Tyler:
Good coaches, good leaders are not too intimidated to stand up to their players. I have no doubts that if Larry Brown was going to bench Hamilton, he’d tell him he was going to bench him. Popovich, Phil Jackson, etc. Communicating is part of being a coach.
I’m not saying it would’ve changed anything. But it was the right thing to do from a leadership perspective, and Kuester chose to take the easy way out.

By: tyler Durden

tyler Durden — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:12:35 +0000

What was K gonna say to Rip, sorry but you suck and we think the team is better off not playing you? K doesn’t owe any of his players an explanation because he is the coach, he makes the decisions. If K opens the flood gates to these overpaid cry babies, then everyone will have the gumption to ask or question his every move for every game. He only has to answer to Joe D and that’s the structure. The fact of the matter is if Rip had been traded, this conversation would go away and everyone would assume that K didn’t play Rip because he was going to be traded and didn’t want the headache of confronting Rip. The next time you feel like Rip is being disrespected, check your bank account and really give yourself something to cry about.

By: grizz

grizz — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:18:28 +0000

awesome post Patrick … thank you for making some great points

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:48:41 +0000

@Patrick

Very nice article. hard to disagree with anything you said. And you mention the most unpleasant long term consequence of Q’s actions: the perspective of vetern players around the league that the Pistons no longer respect Rip and his contributions. It is because of that perception and the damage it can do in recruiting free agents and arranging trades, that i am surprised Joe Dumars has not stepped into this situation and resolved it in some way.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:30:24 +0000

@Jason:
Rip would fit most anywhere. I don’t see Utah having any interest in paying the final two years of his contract or Maxiell’s. If they move AK, they can get much better than Rip/Maxiell for it I would think.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:29:13 +0000

@Dan:
“Why is everyone so certain that K didn’t talk to Rip “man-to-man”? Just because Rip says so? Has K confirmed this?”
Yeah, Kuester has said as much. His actual comment was something along the lines of, “Players know how much they’re going to play by how much they play in practice” or something similar to that. He’s also talked about his “open door policy,” meaning that Rip can come and talk to him, but he didn’t feel the need to talk to Rip.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:58:18 +0000

Patrick, what would you think of a Rip & Max to Utah for Kirilenko’s expiring contract?

Utah needs help at the SG, and frankly RIP would be a perfect fit for Sloan’s system..

This would be a dream come true for the Pistons..

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:35:01 +0000

@Jayg
sorry…that last one was for you.