Bad Boys Reunion?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When I heard reports on ESPN that former Bad Boys Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer were being considered as possible replacements for the fired John Kuester, as I was tossing and turning in bed, I warmed up to the idea.

When the Pistons won their titles in 1989-90, these two policed the locker-room and made sure that there would be no distractions to reach their goal. Just ask Thomas' best friend Mark Aguirre, who was acquired in a trade that sent Adrian Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks. Aquirre had a track record for being outspoken in the locker-room but Thomas and Laimbeer made sure that wouldn't occur in Detroit.

As executive of the New York Knicks, Thomas thought about the possibility of hiring Laimbeer as his head coach, but wound up luring Larry Brown to coach in Madison Square Garden. This move turned out to be a major disaster.

But if either of these guys gets selected as coach, lets make it clear that it should be based on their performance on the sidelines.

Thomas did a fine job as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 2000-2003 by leading the franchise to three consecutive playoff appearances. He helped develop Jermaine O' Neal, Jalen Rose and Ron Artest into stars.

The 50-year old Hall of Famer, who is regarded as the greatest player in Pistons history, has done a solid job the past two years with Florida International University. I have watched Thomas' teams the past couple years and his records of 7-25 and 11-19 are very deceiving.  Last season, the Golden Panthers lost several close games due to poor free throw shooting and Thomas quipped during his press conferences that he'll take suggestions from the media to fix the problem.

FAU Coach Mike Jarvis told me that the Golden Panthers are loaded with talent and if Thomas returns for a third season at FIU, they'll be one of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference.

As for Laimbeer (54), he is responsible for five of the six championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills. He won two as a player and three more as head coach of the Detroit Shock of the WNBA. He was WNBA Coach of the Year in 2003 and took a franchise that was on the brink of extinction and talked late owner William Davidson into allowing him to save it.

Three titles later, it's safe to say the move worked out. I don't care what level of sports you're in. To win a championship is something to be proud of so Laimbeer can take pride in that. On the court, he was a hard-nosed player that was hated by all.

Yet one of his biggest rivals Charles Barkley has always endorsed him as a possible head coach and went on ESPN's Outside The Lines and expressed his support wondering why the former Bad Boy never received more consideration for other positions. This attention enabled Laimbeer to land an assistant coaching job with former Los Angeles Lakers rival Kurt Rambis of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Laimbeer has been instrumental in the development of Kevin Love and is working with Pistons draft choice bust Darko Milicic to make him a better player.

The commonality between Thomas and Laimbeer is the fact that they have worked with younger players and the Pistons are indeed a young team. When these players look up in the rafters and see their jersey's retired, they'll know the men teaching them to be professionals have excellent credentials.

Even if one were to get hired, the other should be the lead assistant.

In Arizona, former Tiger Kirk Gibson has led to the revitalization of the Diamondbacks. The fiery Gibson reminds me so much of Laimbeer. Both were hated by the media in their playing days but I remember seeing Gibson as a coach during spring training and he toned down and was enjoyable to deal with. I hope for Laimbeer's sake, he's mellowed because he needs the media to put people in the stands.

Nonetheless, Gibson has his Diamondbacks in second place in the National League West a game behind the World Series champions the San Francisco Giants with a 33-28 record. His bench coach is former Tigers Manager Alan Trammell. The roles were reversed when Tramnell and Gibson were running the Tigers earlier this decade. Yet, the lessons learned by Trammell working with Lou Piniella had to only enhance Alan's development in the dugout. Now the two have fans in cactus country talking about a return to the post-season. The Diamondback players know that their manager has two memorable World Series home runs and titles on his resume.

There is no reason that a Thomas and Laimbeer reunion can't produce similar results. Do you think Pistons Owner Tom Gores was a passionate fan during the Bad Boys era? Gores does live in Los Angeles and has watched the Pistons defeat the Lakers in the NBA Finals on two occasions.

If Thomas didn't burn his bridges with Davidson, who knows, perhaps we could have seen this tandem together much sooner. But Dumars did manage to win an NBA title on his own and is smart enough to know that the slate is clean between Thomas and Gores. Dumars sees there are some intriguing possibilities here. Dumars also knows that his next hire better be a good one because he know longer has the safety net of the Davidson's to cushion his next fall. Even though he was retained by Gores doesn't mean that he won't be under a more intense microscope that falls under the category, what have you done for me lately?

With the Pistons set to pick eighth in this month's draft, Greg Monroe, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko are a good foundation, but there is little margin of error to make more roster mistakes. It's time to get it right so that the team can finally work it's way back into the playoffs.

More importantly, with the NBA heading towards a hard salary cap, Detroit could land a player or two in free agency because there will be more available as Commissioner David Stern watches his league become more balanced. There is talk that a hard salary cap could force the Miami Heat to break up their big three of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. If that happens, one of these players is going somewhere.

With Gores in charge, I'll be curious to see what indeed transpires with the Pistons. If Thomas and Laimbeer don't return to the Palace either together or individually, at least the thought of it happening was enough to get me out of bed during the middle of the night to just examine the possibilities based on the developments in Arizona with Gibson and Trammell.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

Transferring Is Tricky

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The story of Mississippi QB Jeremiah Masoli winning an NCAA appeal to have his eligibility restored so he could play in 2010 instead of having to wait until 2011 was very refreshing.

First of all, the Ole Miss Rebels needed him because they have two inexperienced signal callers at the most demanding position.

In reality, it's hard to imagine that Masoli would not be able to complete his final season at Oregon wearing the green, yellow and white for the Ducks. But the youngster did self destruct after being kicked off the team with two run ins with the police.

He pleaded guilty in a January theft at a fraternity house and was suspended for the entire 2010 season by Oregon Coach Chip Kelly. Then in June, he was cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession and dismissed from the team.

The senior has completed his undergraduate degree and enrolled in Mississippi's Parks and Recreation graduate program. The NCAA will sometimes waive a one-year residency requirement for athletes who are transferring but are enrolling in a graduate program not offered at the previous school.

When I heard earlier in the week that Masoli was going to be ineligible, once again, the NCAA made a mistake.

But to the kid's credit, he appealed the decision and won. He claimed he was kicked off the football team but not out of the university.

There is no question that Masoli made some mistakes and he paid the price for it. I do commend Kelly for doing his best to run a clean program at Oregon.

But the biggest thing that has to be emphasized is did Masoli learn from his mistakes and is he entitled to a second chance? Yes!

To Mississippi Coach Houston Nutt's credit, he gave Masoli that second chance but under the condition that he's on a short leash and better play it straight otherwise his collegiate playing career will be over.

Don't kid yourself, Nutt does want to win and he needs the best player at quarterback to compete in the SEC. The conference's recent track record of winning national championships with LSU, Florida and Alabama speaks for itself.

But to Masoli's credit, the kid found a loophole in the situation. He took a negative and turned it into a positive. He got his undergraduate degree and by thinking on his feet to continue his education elsewhere at a school that didn't have his major, that was brilliant. Being a quarterback requires you to think on your feet and he scored a touchdown with this move.

We'll call this the academic audible.

Don't think that NFL scouts aren't taking notice of that. He gets to play the final year in college and will be able to get ready to seek a pro career next season. While character issues are important in the pros, being able to be humbled before you get there does minimize the extensive process that it takes to get there.

As I look at Masoli's situation, it hits closer to home.

Back in 1984, I was completing my Associates Degree at Broward Community College (BCC) in Journalism. The only course that I needed to get that degree was Math. I had to take Math a second time.

I also took two courses at Florida International University and got a C & D therefore the 1.5 GPA was what I had to deal with.

When I was seeking a transfer to the University of South Florida, the requirement was that I had to have a 2.0 GPA to be accepted from my last institution. As it turns out, I was initially rejected.

But when I told the person in charge of admissions that I earned a C in Math at BCC my last term and had a 2.0, he looked at me and nodded his head the said, "Welcome To The University of South Florida. But I will put you on academic probation your first term."

I never thought that my worst subject in school would turn out to be my best friend when I needed it. Indeed it was.

Institution turned out to be institutions.

I said to him that probation will be history by January and managed to get a pair of B's. The probation was gone and I was determined to earn my degree on time. In 1986, the mission to get My BA Degree was complete and am a proud USF Bulls alumnus.

How about those loopholes. With a little bit of salesmanship, thinking on your feet and a lot of hard work, while "Transferring Is Tricky" it can get done as long as the game plan is executed properly.

When it was all said and done, at least Masoli and I have that much in common and I'm hoping that he makes the most of the 2010 season.

Just winning a decision against the NCAA was big enough, but at least last years Rose Bowl Game will not be his last one with the controversy that forced him to relocate from the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast. Hopefully he has more victories left.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.