June 29, 2019
TARDY
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Thank goodness the Pelicans have stayed relevant throughout June this year. This way I haven’t had to dip into the mailbag or some other desperate attempt to find something of interest. That stuff can wait until July.
Instead, we get to check in on the overhauling of the Pelicans front office and roster. The front office is instilling confidence in fans and respect around the league. Before the draft, Anthony Davis was traded bringing in current assets and setting the stage for the Pels to acquire many more assets in years to come through the draft.
The night of the draft, the Pels traded the 4th pick and Solomon Hill. That transaction was great for two reasons. First, dumping Hill’s contract opened up a spot on the roster for what would almost have to be a more productive player. Second, it cleared up almost 13 million in cap space.
The easy part was all that was left. Zion has been drafted, along with two other first rounders. So, where do the Pelicans stand and where will they go from here to complete the roster transformation?
The Pelicans have a long, athletic, young roster that should be able to be disruptive on defense and great in transition offense. The roster is filled with players that are good finishers in transition. Most of the players are skilled passers and ball handlers. The roster lacks experience and three point shooters, though.
E’Twaun Moore is a career 39% three point shooter who made 43% of his threes last year. The Pels are expecting him to repeat that performance this year with the attention other players should demand. Darius Miller has been the other designated shooter and I would be surprised if he stayed on the roster.
The Pelicans have a large number of players who were high lottery picks, cap space, and draft picks to make more changes to the roster. Most notable, they can add a couple of veterans to this roster. Certainly, the Pels will take a swing at a number of free agents, but I doubt they will overreach and get stuck with a bad contract. I also doubt they will be able to attract any significant free agents this summer.
It appears to me that the Pelicans have done enough to make sure they will be competitive and entertaining next year. If the Pelicans can’t pull off another blockbuster move, I hope they take a wait and see approach. They should sign a high character veteran to help guide this young team through the long NBA season, but keep the salary cap space and keep the draft picks that have been stockpiled.
Let’s see how this team develops and let the on court evidence show what pieces are needed to fill in the puzzle. Currently, many NBA teams are full of hope. With Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant hurt and prominent free agents are moving around, the Warriors are vulnerable and the league is wide open. Teams are going to go crazy this summer thinking they can match the Raptors success this year.
I fully expect some of those teams to see the error of their ways after a few months of the season pass, while the Pelicans will be growing as a unit. Trading partners and the free agent market next year will be more open if the Pelicans show they really are the hot young team in the NBA.
If I am right, I will be further satisfied because I will have even more to write about in the lean summer months.
HEY REF
While walking into our local Wally World last week I “ran” into a favorite coach and as would happen the subject of the start of a new football season took up most of the next fifteen minutes give or take. I’ve always enjoyed talking with coaches away from the pressures of Friday nights. But I’m not too sure if the majority of officials do too. When I was just getting started my mentor made it clear to me that he was always willing to stop and “shoot” the breeze with the coaches we’ll be working with.
He once asked me “did you understand what I just said”? Being young, dumb and green I wasn’t completely sure what he was asking. So of course I answered him with nod of the head and said “yes sir”. He looked at me and asked if I could explain to him what I thought he said. He knew right off I didn’t get his meaning of that statement so he explained “in the high school game coaches and officials should work together teaching this game. In that I mean there has to be an understanding of working together. Not a WORKING FOR! Players will see that we aren’t the enemy. Coaches and officials should always respect each. NEVER use your flag as a way to gain a coach’s respect because that’ll never happen”.
He said respecting a coach during a game can go miles in making that Friday night one you’ll remember long after you stop working games. And he always would say that we work games, we don’t call games. He’d always tell me you’ll never find it, gaining a coach’s respect, in the rule book but I should make that a priority. Then as fast as he said that he made sure I understood that respect is a two way street. “You have to gain respect from every coach, there’s no halfway. Do your job, do your job, do your job. Don’t hesitate when you see a foul and be consistent in all your calls. Be fair but be strong when you make a call. If you hustle and show a coach you’re willing to go that extra mile for him that night then a coach will return the respect. When his team notices their coach respecting the officials they in turn will respect you too. If you just do that it’ll make for a much happier evening for everyone involved”.
The reason I’m retelling this story is a simple one. For too long now I feel the biggest thing missing on Friday nights is common respect between coaches, officials and fans. It’s not just football that has this problem because little league baseball is by far the place you’ll see the worst behavior by parents and coaches. It’s not just the Baton Rouge area either. It seems to be an epidemic that’s destroying all amateur sports. There’s a national shortage of game officials. Attacks on officials continue to rise. Lawsuits are the newest detriment to officials and as such we are now required in many states to carry million dollar insurance policies so we don’t lose our homes, cars and the cloths on our backs. We fear being sued for everything we own. After we add up the cost of uniforms, mandated camps, union dues, gas, and maintenance on our vehicles plus the wear and tear on them then on top of all that the many hours spent traveling from game to game there’s no guarantee we’ll break even. Many of us are now losing money.
Just throwing money at the problem will not fix anything. Incompetence is rampant not only in the caliber of individuals wanting to be on the field but also for those running associations and making the assignments. Favoritism is at an all-time high which destroys crews because some feel they are doing a particular association a great favor by signing up. Many of those just starting out as an official believe they deserve to be on a 5A football field and resent being told they’ve got to work their way up. One big problem affecting every association is the way officials treat each other. Some officials act like they’re in kindergarten and can’t wait to tell the teacher who’s been bad.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about; a member of the crew thinks they’re God’s gift to the game. They never make mistakes (or admit to one) and at every chance they belittle any official that makes a mistake. Most of the time the mistakes are so trivial it’ll shock you as to what they think is a screw up. These guys feel superior for some unknown reason when they point out your mistake.
I had such a guy one night. He bitched at just about everybody all night. I was about to ask him if it was true he taught Jesus how to walk on water but figured I’d better just be quiet and keep the peace if possible. Then he made a grand poo-poo. We had a kickoff go out of bounds and the rule states the receiving team can take it 25 yards from where it was kicked which in this case would be on the 35 yard line. He had marked the ball on the 45 which was only 15 yards down the field. I was the only member of the crew that noticed his mistake; the Ref even put the ball down on the 45! Nobody in the crew noticed so I waited for a whistle which didn’t happen. So, I blew my whistle, stopped the game and got the ball put where it was supposed to be. We all had radios and the only thing I said was “we all make mistakes”. He never mentioned his foo-foo after the game.
Then some of us that do want to WORK in order to get better are told they need to work to get better??? So instead of getting on the field to WORK you’re put in the press box to turn the clock on ‘n off. Run that through your head a few hundred times and see if it makes sense. You can’t learn anything by sitting! There is a major shortage of good officials and the same can be said of new recruits. Just about each association is having major problems KEEPING good officials so if you or someone you think may be a candidate to work high school sports please get them interested in becoming an official.
To all those players not moving on to college sports please consider working as an official. If you do that then my job is done. Give officiating three years to see if it’s something you’d be happy doing, the game, schools and kids need you!
Till next week…
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