revisiting LENNY WILKENS!

[cyman3]

whats ur opinion on him? I just finished his book "40 years in the NBA" and it gave me a new perception of him. Hes a pretty good coach, a players coach that can relate to any player (other than RIDER). The book talks about him growing up all the way to his firing and joining the RAPTORS. For the record...

1)He was against the Steve Smith trade (he considers Smith as one of his favorite players that he coached) but understood the situation. We got blown up out the athletic Knicks and Smith was one player that had knee problems bothering him every season and was still an allstar. In other words they wanted to get rid of him before his salary got bigger- give by Mr BABCOCK of course.

2)Kasten/Babcock wanted to go through the trade and convinced Lenny it would work. At tne end- they fired Wilkens and used him as the scapegoat.

heres what Lenny had to say about Rider

1)He wanted to be the man, Mr STEVE SMITH replacement and wanted instant respect. He also wanted to go ONE-ON-ONE on every play and believed thats the hawks best chance to win.

2)He doesnt trust his teammates b/c they arent talented

3)It doesnt bother him when hes fined for coming late to practices.

4)It was Riders contract year, so the hawks management believed- WORSE CASE was Rider would cooperate just to increase his stock. Then the hawks will let him go and lose him through freeagency

5)Rider believed hawks only wanted to take his money and thats why we fined him.

6)Rider believes the NBA will always have the need for a 18-21 ppg scorer- in other words, he will always have a job.

7)Rider is too stubborn to understand that he is wrong.

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changing subject here...

Wilkens thoughts on Ron Harper is very interesting. See, when i think about Harper i think about his play with the BULLS. But according to Lenny, Harper was once a poormans MJ. He was VERY ATHLETIC and had a scoring mentality while he was a terrific passer. Wilkens talks about how Cleveland traded him thinkin he was a troublemaker and how he was the most GIFTED ATHLETIC player hes worked with. Has anyone seen HARPER during his athletic years? how good was he?

Also- heres a FUN FACT... which player has LENNY COACHED the longest? (i know the answer and it will be revealed later).

[JaHawk10]

Interesting read cyman. Thanks. I was hoping he had some comments on the 'Nique trade. The jury is still out on that one. Some blame Lenny, most blame Babs/Kasten. I just wanna get some answers on that trade.

And I don't understand why Cleveland traded Ron Harper. He was a great ballplayer back then. He had some hops back in his prime. Trading him for Danny Ferry was one of the worst basketball trades in history, IMO. They had it made with 4 All-Stars (Price, Nance, Daugherty, Harper) If it were not for the Pistons and eventually Chicago, the Cavs may have a couple of championship banners hanging...

J

[Diesel]

I agree. Ron Harper was Poor Man's Jordan. He was very very gifted. The trade was probably the worst trade in the History of Cleveland... .although Kemp trade ranks up there too. I think Lenny was Babcock's scapegoat... If you recap the Babcock years, he always had a scapegoat. Lenny, Lon, Smith, and even Nique's contract. Babcock has never denied that he was behind the Nique trade... However, he always tries to pull others in there with him. Namely Lenny. That wasn't the case. It's evident because History repeated itself with Smitty for JJ/JR and Deke for Theo/Nazr/Toni. Babcock has always traded his stars before they got old. It's his philosophy.

[cyman3]

he didnt mention much about nique other than the fact that he was a gifted offensive player that could get too player oriented and not team oriented... but it wasnt much of a problem, he just needed a reminder or two.

the answer to the mystery problem = CRAIG EHLO! who played for wilkens with the cavs and the hawks.

oh yeah, he also stressed this point.. WHY THE HAWKS COULDNT GET PASSED ROUND 2

1)talent- he believed we were OVERACHIEVERS who couldnt get far unless we had that ONE SPECIAL PLAYER- the MJ/BIRD/MAGIC

2)draft- when we overachieve in the regular season we end up drafting in the middle or near the end. But it doesnt matter cuz we always end up with the Cal Bowdlers and the Priest Lauderdale.

3)age- we have a good 5 player team, but no support. Draft clearing wasnt helping us and nobody was anxious to get to ATL anytime soon. So we are working against time.

wat u think? good excuses?