[外電] Jim Souhan: Purging a headache such as Davis would buy W
http://www.startribune.com/150/story/985776.html
Randy Wittman is taller than me, and, to smite him with faint praise, he's
got a much better head of hair. He's also probably smarter, stronger and
richer, and he's landed an apparent dream job in the city where he raises his
children, a job that allows him to coach a future Hall of Famer, and I
wouldn't trade places with Wittman for all of Prince's guitars and Latrell
Sprewell's cars.
Wittman has to work with Ricky Davis. I do not, which is why, as we left the
Wolves' practice court Tuesday, only one of us was walking like he had a
knife stuck between his shoulder blades.
Most of the Wolves' problems are familiar and barely require repeating, from
Glen Taylor's myopia to Kevin McHale's mistakes to Kevin Garnett's
last-second fadeaways.
I long ago endorsed the forced departure of The Two Kevins and Glen The
Enabler, so the Wolves could rebuild from scratch. One Wolves problem,
though, has received too little attention.
His initials are RD.
Davis left the bench after former coach Dwane Casey pulled him from a game
last month. Davis got a one-game suspension; Casey got fired.
McHale replaced Casey with Wittman, and now he is admitting to sleepless
nights, wondering what he'll get from his paper gladiator.
Davis has acted stupidly before, like when he took a shot on his own basket
in hopes of getting a cheap rebound to pad his stats, and usually when a
player demonstrates selfish or lackadaisical tendencies, no coach can
transform him.
McHale has ignored this reality, bringing in Sam Cassell, Sprewell, Michael
Olowokandi, Eddie Griffin, Mike James and Davis. These players were, to quote
Denny Green, what we thought they were, and in retrospect, shouldn't Casey be
coach of the year? Casey went 20-20; Wittman is 2-6, and I don't fault Randy
any more than I did Dwane.
Cassell and Sprewell performed until they realized they wouldn't get paid
their asking price, then mutinied. Olowokandi and Griffin were the worst
excuses for professional athletes we've seen since Tommy Herr. James reverted
to his pre-salary drive form. And Davis this season has become a poor man's
Randy Moss.
Davis, like Moss, is talented. Davis, like Moss, lures teams into thinking
he's the answer. Davis, like Moss, walks out on his team and sells out his
coaches. The difference: For a handful of years, Moss was perhaps the most
dynamic receiver in NFL history. Davis? He gives you a good month now and
then.
These days Davis is throwing passes like Rex Grossman and playing defense
like Wasswa Serwanga. Tuesday, a day after the Wolves' lackluster loss in
Houston, Wittman tried to take the onus upon himself, saying it's his job to
"help" his players perform.
"We just have to play the guys that are ready, veterans or rookies," Wittman
said, in a soft voice.
Should a coach have to worry about effort level? "It's not the ideal
situation, obviously," he said. "It's no fun."
This is where Wolves coaches get undercut.
McHale's willingness to fire coaches when players mutiny and Garnett's
unwillingness to publicly reprimand recalcitrant teammates leave Wittman on
globally warmed ice.
So good luck, Coach. You get another chance to run an NBA team and you're
stuck with a mediocre roster, and your most mercurial player plays when he
wants to play.
I'd recommend a franchise sale, a front-office firing and a superstar trade,
but those aren't new thoughts or imminent realities.
For now, Randy, all you can do is establish standards of conduct and
professionalism so you can sleep at night. For you, benching Ricky Davis
might be the best cure for insomnia since warm milk.
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