Fired Up Friday

Andrew Bynum for Carmelo Anthony

This week's newest Carmelo Anthony rumor involves the Lakers and is centered around Andrew Bynum.  I'm fired up about this for a couple of reasons.  The first reason I'm upset about this is because we all know that Carmelo will end up in New York, whether it is at the trade deadline or next season.  I'm tired of all the posturing both sides are doing.  Denver keeps asking for more and the Knicks keep saying they are giving up too much, but as the deadline approaches both teams will be realistic and actually get a deal done.

The second reason I'm fired up about this is Andrew Bynum.  As I was watching Sportscenter yesterday, one of the analysts mentioned that Andrew Bynum is "one of the most talented big men in the league."  That is an absolute joke.  To be considered talented, you need to have skills.  Andrew Bynum is large and athletic.  That is not talented.  He is not a post player you are going to feed the ball and run your offense through.  He's simply just not good enough to do these things.  If you watch him play, you will see a lot of dunks and blocks and not much else.  That is indicative of a player that isn't very skilled.  If you watch some of the most talented big men in the league (Duncan, Garnett, Horford, Bogut, etc.), you will see them catch the ball in the post, show off their footwork, pass out of double teams, and hit jumpers.  I'm not sure I have seen Bynum do any of these things. 

If the Nuggets really are going to trade a franchise player like Carmelo, they need to get a franchise piece back and Bynum is not a player you can build a franchise around.  Along with the fact that he isn't really all that talented, he also is extremely injury prone.  He has played a full season (all 82 games) only once in his six-year career.  Why would any team trade for a player that gets injured this consistently?

Deron Williams > Jerry Sloan

Yesterday, Jerry Sloan, the NBA's longest tenured coach, resigned.  Sloan had coached the Utah Jazz for 23 years before resigning and led the Jazz to their most successful run as a franchise.  Sloan was one of the few old-school coaches left in the league.  Sloan did things the right way and absolutely demanded respect from each of his players.  Since the Jazz selected Deron Williams with the 3rd pick in the 2005 NBA draft, Sloan and Williams have butted heads.  In his rookie year, Williams was upset with the amount of playing time he received from Sloan because he felt like he deserved more than he was receiving and the relationship has remained strained ever since.  Apparently, Sloan and Williams haven't been getting along all season, but the breaking point was reached on Wednesday night when Sloan called a play and Williams ran a different play.  This was not acceptable in Sloan's eyes and he resigned.  I can't really blame him.  Sloan is one of the few coaches that has been around long enough that he deserves respect and his knowledge should be unquestioned.

The thing that is most bothersome for me is the fact that Williams is nearing the end of his contract and the Jazz are adamant about resigning him, yet they have done nothing to make him want to stay in Utah.  They allowed Carlos Boozer to leave for Chicago without much of a fight.  They allowed Wes Matthews to do the same.  They claim to want to keep Williams, but have done nothing about actually keeping him.  So now they are saddled with a disgruntled point guard who forced out one of the best coaches in the league's history and they might not even keep the point guard.  How much sense does that make?  They allowed Deron Williams to call the shots for their franchise and yet are not even trying that hard to keep him.  Essentially they picked Deron Williams over Jerry Sloan, but they're not even sure Deron Williams will pick them at the end of the season.

(Also, I can't think of a bigger travesty than the fact that Jerry Sloan NEVER won the Coach of the Year Award.  NEVER.  He was one of the best coaches of the last 25 years.  Previous winners include Mike Brown, Sam Mitchell, Rick Carlisle, and Mike Dunleavy!   How did Sloan never win one?)

Dennis Rodman

I know it seems unusual to see the Worm mentioned in a Fired Up Friday post considering he hasn't played in the last ten years, but earlier today the Detroit Pistons announced that they would be retiring Rodman's jersey as a franchise.  I normally don't have much of a problem with jersey retirements, but this one I can't get my head around. Rodman played seven seasons with the Pistons and was only a starter for two of them.  This just doesn't seem like the type of the player you retire a jersey for.  I understand that he was a major contributor during the Bad Boys Era in Detroit and Rodman's intensity was pivotal on the defensive side of the ball, but it just doesn't add up for me.

I see retiring a jersey as a type of lifetime acheivement award.  If you are retiring a player's jersey, he needs to be one of your franchise's greatest players and have played their for a majority of his career.  Rodman's jersey will now be hanging in the rafters alongside Joe Dumars, Dave Bing, Isiah Thomas, Bob Lanier, and Vinnie Johnson.  Each one of those players is synonmous with the Pistons.  Those five players were instrumental in shaping the organization and will always be looked at as examples of what it means to be a Piston.  Can you say the same thing about Rodman?