Le Basketbawl

New York Vinnie has written two separate columns on the Biggest White Stiffs in NBA History; however I could most likely fill at least a dozen Frickin columns with players who were stars in college but could not make it in the NBA. One guy that quickly comes to mind is Danny Ferry who was supposed to be the second coming of Larry Bird when he got out of Duke. Instead he looked more like Frickin Larry King out on the hardwood during his playing days in the NBA.  Now Ferry has become a Frickin top-notch General Manager for his old team the Cleveland Cavaliers but he was a bust as a Frickin player.

There are lost of reasons that a player who has had great success at the NCAA level can not get it Frickin done in the NBA. A lot of times the reason they are good in the college is the system they play under; however that might be a system that they never run in the pros.

The reason that New York Vinnie brings this up is a report that was published in the “New Orleans Times-Picayune” that New Orleans Hornets rookie Darren Collison has not been aggressive enough to suit Hornets head coach Byron Scott. Collison is a point guard and as every basketball fan knows your point guard has to be your leader on the floor. They set the pace, the tone and the agenda of what a team will do on the floor. The point guard position in the NBA is the closest thing in pro sports to a quarterback in football.

Unfortunately Collison does not show that natural leadership out on the floor; or at least he has not so far as the New Orleans Hornets are in the midst of training camp. Scott wants his rookie to be more vocal when he is on the floor. He told reporters “That’s what the coaches are telling me. Make sure I call the plays out. Just make sure I do little things like that. At UCLA, I never called any plays out. We just called one play the whole time. As a point guard, it’s something that has to be natural. But it’s something I’ll get accustomed to.”

A point guard who does not call out plays is about as useful as a Frickin police car without wheels. The point guard has to call out the plays other wise how do the four guys he shares the floor with know what to Frickin do? Stand there with their thumbs in their ears? You are right Darren; it has to be natural like Frickin breathing. Other wise you are absolutely Frickin useless.

This young man was a good player at UCLA last season he averaged 14.5 points, 3.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. However if he can’t call out plays he can not be a point guard in the NBA; it is as simple as that! Hornets head coach Byron Scott wants his rookie to dominate when he is out on the floor. Scott told media members “And I want to see him pushing the ball. But the No. 1 thing I want to see is him commanding the second unit. One of the things I’ve talked to him about the last few days is he has to be more vocal in letting those guys know what we’re running offensively, and getting them to their spots. Sometimes he lets them know, and then he goes way too fast before they’re there in their spots. So that’s what I mean when I say I want him to have command of that unit. So that’s what I’ll be looking for.”

Collison has two huge factors in his favor; he plays with the best point guard in the NBA Chris Paul and has Scott as his coach. If that pair can not teach the rookie the finer points of being a point guard than he is hopeless. Barring injury to CP-3 Collison also has the luxury of time on his side. This young man looks to be a project; we shall see in time how well he can make the transition.