Re: Slate Magazine slams Bird's coaching

["R. Bentz Kirby" <bocelts@usit.net>]

Joe Hironaka wrote:

> In Michael Kinsley's Slate.com, Gregg Easterbrook slams Larry Bird's
> coaching ability.
> Comments?
>
> -------
> This Bird Don't Fly
> By Gregg Easterbrook
> Gregg Easterbrook is a senior editor for New Republic and Beliefnet.com.
>
> The annoying thing is that people like Larry Bird may perceive a stake
> in this same decline of quality. Bird, Magic, and Michael performed
> together in the league's golden age. They've all since complained about
> how the new generation of NBA playgrounders isn't up to their standards,
> and they're right. But subconsciously they may want it that way, since
> the corrosion of basketball standards makes them seem all the greater in
> retrospect.
>

I don't know about the analysis, but this theory that Magic, Bird and Jordan
want the quality of the game to erode so that they look better is absolute
bs.

>
> So, when Bird grumbles, as he often does, that his team refuses to pay
> attention when he preaches fundamentals, he may not really mind. Over
> the weekend Bird grouched to the New York Times about the fallen quality
> of competition and said, "It just seems like a lot of people aren't
> talking about the NBA as much as they used to." They aren't, and Bird's
> coaching is part of the reason.

--
R. Bentz Kirby
bocelts@usit.net
http://www.public.usit.net/bocelts