girllovesthegame

Of course when playoffs begin writers begin looking for any storylines they can find other than the storylines of the actual teams' play on the courts.


On the afternoon of May 26, 2002, I thought Byron Scott was a complete joke. His New Jersey Nets had just blown a 26-point lead to the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, had just staged the biggest playoff collapse in NBA history, and these were Scott's two strategic moves in response:

1) He slept until 11 a.m.
2) He canceled practice at 11:30 a.m.
Coaches are supposed to do a lot of things after their teams choke, but sleeping in and rewarding their players with a paid holiday are not among them.

With the Celtics holding a 2-1 series lead, I thought Scott was hopelessly overmatched. I figured this would be the day that ultimately cost him his job, a notion hardened by the confession of one of his stars, Kenyon Martin, who was already talking in the past tense.

"It feels like we lost the series," Martin said.

Somehow, some way, his wasn't a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Nets won Game 4, Game 5 and Game 6.

Scott declared himself as a head coach right then and there. He didn't care that he'd be ridiculed for giving his players a mental health break in the wake of the Game 3 disaster, and for publicly admitting he repeatedly hit the snooze button rather than rise before dawn and watch that horror film of a tape.


NEW ORLEANS -- If you have followed the NBA since the turn of the century, you have probably heard about Byron Scott's problems with Jason Kidd.

When Scott was the Nets' coach and Kidd was his franchise point guard, two strong personalities butted heads. The rift began during the 2002-2003 season, when Kidd -- along with several teammates -- started to question Scott's coaching acumen. The trigger points: the Nets' 1-7 skid just after the All-Star break (which reportedly prompted New Jersey to consider replacing Scott with assistant coach Eddie Jordan) and Scott's puzzling defensive strategy against Tim Duncan in a Game 1 loss to the Spurs in the 2003 NBA Finals.

The relationship reached its boiling point the following January, when, just seven months removed from their second straight trip to the Finals, the Nets unceremoniously fired Scott and replaced him with Lawrence Frank. At the time, Kidd and Scott denied that Kidd had ordered the move, but it was clear to most observers that the acrimonious relationship between coach and star player was at the heart of the dismissal.

__________________
Play Hornets' forum Jersey# game here!

croco

It's enough payback, Walker was on the Miami team that won the championship in 2006, Nellie got his revenge last year and now Scott might just prove the last remaining critics wrong and stick it to Kidd. Stop it already

Diable

the new york tabloids have been brutal towards Kidd.All the other media outlets have glowed about CP.Some of seem to have no freaking idea how good he was until this very moment.I've been listening to the Dallas ESPN Radio affiliate on the internet it amuses me.

__________________