| Thursday, May 18
By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com |
|
When Napoleon was trying to conquer the world in the early-1800s,
Alexander I, the Russian Tsar, attempted on several occasions to form an
alliance with the French emperor.
It was a futile effort, because everyone knew that eventually Napoleon was
going to invade Russia. Still, Alexander could not help himself, or the
forces of nature. Even as Napoleon crossed the Russian border, Alexander
acted as if his enemy was his ally.
Before Alexander knew it, Napoleon occupied Moscow.
Welcome to the world of Abe Pollin, whose Napoleon (David Falk) is about
to occupy Moscow.
According to a source, St. John's coach Mike Jarvis is going to interview
in Washington this weekend.
With John Paxson bowing out of the running for the Wizards job and with
Lenny Wilkens getting only a cursory look, Jarvis is the favorite to become
the next charge of children Rod Strickland and Juwan Howard.
And how did Jarvis land this interview? Through a relationship that goes
back 35 years.
When former Georgetown coach John Thompson played in 1965 for the Boston
Celtics, he and Jarvis, then attending Northeastern University, met.
Jarvis went on to coach Patrick Ewing at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High
School, and in 1981 delivered Ewing to the door of Thompson at Georgetown,
the precursor of Thompson's first NCAA championship.
Undoubtedly, Thompson had a hand in Jarvis getting his job at George
Washington University, just down M Street from Georgetown.
Thompson funnels all his Georgetown players en route to the NBA through,
you guessed it, Napoleon, errr, Falk, who represents, that's right, Ewing, as
well as Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo.
Oh yeah, and Falk also represents Michael Jordan, who happens to be the
president of the Washington Wizards and friends of Ewing and Thompson.
You think Jordan is not listening to Ewing and Falk and Thompson when they
say, "Hire Mike Jarvis, he's a great guy."
Which brings up back to Pollin. It was only a few short years ago that
Pollin and Falk were cracking on each other in the newspapers, with Pollin
saying, "I don't think he (Falk) likes me very much. And I don't like him
either."
Now, Falk is about tip over Pollin's chair and turn it into his own throne.
Abe never did know how to play the political game.
Speaking of buffoonery, let's go to the opposite coast, and Los Angeles
Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Well, in a roundabout way.
Despite his ardent denials, trustworthy Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins is
doing just about everything he can to get an NBA job.
He is kissing the toes of the Indiana Pacers to replace Larry Bird.
He has even called the Denver Nuggets about a position that is not even
open.
You see, Huggins' agent, Bret Bearup -- who also represents Bob Hill -- is
a close friend of new Denver owner E. Stanley Kroenke, and Huggins is trying
to use that connection to get the job of Dan Issel.
Issel is the Nuggets' coach and GM, and Huggins figures that Issel can't
do both duties -- which conveniently would mean Huggins could step in and
avoid the embarrassment of losing because his entire Bearcats team is
departing.
In any case, Huggins is desperate to take any NBA job.
Except one.
Several sources have said that Sterling offered Huggins the Clippers job,
as a replacement for that coaching wiz Jim Todd, whose record is worse than
any made by Menudo.
And Huggins turned it down.
I guess he figured he would rather go 4-18 with the Bearcats than go 4-78
with the Clips.
What's with all the college coaches being offered jobs?
I mean, I'm glad it's them rather than some retread like Chris Ford.
But historically, college coaches have not fared very well in the NBA. Can
you say Jerry Tarkanian and John Calipari?
Which is why, sources say, Tom Izzo is getting cold feet about the Atlanta
Hawks job.
Izzo has a great gig up there in East Lansing, has a great team coming
back that very well could repeat as NCAA champions and has no experience
whatsoever in the NBA.
His $15 million offer notwithstanding, Izzo is beginning to feel the
allure of Atlanta is not so appealing.
It is unclear where the Hawks will turn when Izzo turns them down.
It is not so much that the Hawks cooled on Isiah Thomas but that Thomas,
sources say, is having difficulty selling the CBA, a prerequisite to coaching
in the NBA.
Thomas probably made a rash decision when he paid $10 million for the
developmental league, and now he wants to unload it with a hefty profit.
Unfortunately for him, nobody seems to be making as rash a decision as he did.
The Hawks could turn back to Milwaukee assistant Terry Stotts, whom they
interviewed earlier in the process. They may look at Sacramento assistant
Byron Scott. Or they could look at other assistants around the league. In
Seattle, Nate McMillan and Dwane Casey are ripe and ready to be plucked.
One assistant who is sure to get an interview somewhere once his team is
knocked out is Indiana's Rick Carlisle.
Some have him taking over for Bird, but others have him heading to
Vancouver.
He would be better served to stay in Indiana.
Dick Versace is the head of basketball operations in Vancouver, but it is
common knowledge that he wants to coach again.
Versace may be photo copying Issel's page on how to screw somebody over
and get back into coaching, as Issel did to Mike D'Antoni.
One theory is that Versace is going to hire Carlisle to coach the
Grizzlies, watch as Carlisle develops them but fails to get them to the
playoffs, then fire Carlisle, take over himself and look like a genius when
the Grizzlies, with a decent nucleus, makes the postseason for the first time.
Meanwhile, Carlisle is out of a job.
Unless Sterling offers him one. It'll probably still be vacant.
Frank Hughes covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. |  |
