Re: Karl Malone

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    Karl Malone (and Stockton) last year led a club with no center and a
roster basically made up of aging journeymen and second round draftees.
IMO, if 'Toine or Garnett had the Mailman's basketball intelligence, the
Celtics and Wolves also could have won 60 games, swept the Fakers and
made 'em weep. Personally, I wouldn't pooh-pooh all that Malone and the
Jazz accomplished last season in the regular season and playoffs,
especially with a significantly less effective John Stockton. IMO, what
the Jazz did last year was pretty great and Karl Malone has every
business asking for an MVP salary. That's how it ought to be.

JoeH

    BTW, there's a revealing article at TSN on Rick Pitino's obsessive
preparations for the 1996 NCAA tourney games against #1 ranked Zoo Mass
(Marcus Camby) and Wake Forest (Tim Duncan). Reading it made me wonder
how the Celtics managed to prepare for opponents without the help of a
third assistant coach last season. The article is at:

http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/ncaa/1996.html


****

Jim Meninno wrote:

> I too feel it would be a mistake to pay Malone (or Pippen, for that
> matter) to make up for his previous relatively low pay.  They both
> signed long term contracts to protect themselves from risk.  They
> could
> have been injured or simply lost some ability and still would have
> made
> their money.  Also, their contracts were crucial to their respective
> teams' successes, allowing the team to spend more on complimentary
> players.  Are they now saying they should have just taken the money
> instead?