Hotdog & Friends

Fig Jam

What happens when you put a seventy-year old in charge of something? 

Answer: Lute Olson  and craziness happens (see picture above).  Let’s detail the last year of his life shall we:

First, he stepped away from the program for personal reasons that have never been fully aired (which is fine - his personal business). 

Then, he reportedly made life hell for his “interim - until Olson retires for real and then permanant” replacement Kevin O’Neill, by returning to the basketball offices frequently during the season, meeting with the players without O’Neill, questioning the team’s style of play, and just generally being a nuisance and a distraction to the program.

Then the season ended and he came back as coach.  Then he got rid of O’Neill, despite previous reports that O’Neill was to be his successor.  Then he got rid of some assistants for reasons that are unclear (including Miles Simon, who won a NC with Olson in 1997).  Then he sacrificed a bull in the basketball offices to curry favor with the gods (ok - he didn’t do that). 

Then Arizona recruit Emmanuel Negedu decomitted and Olson responded by saying, “There were some things that came out about his coachability — or his lack of coachability.  It was a very easy release. I wanted him to have to sweat a little bit to understand that you make a commitment, you should be a person of your word. But in the end, there was no way in the world I would have had him here.”  Nothing says maturity like a 73 year old feuding with a 18 year old.

Then Arizona lost the #1 point guard in the country, Brandon Jennings, to European Basketball.  Jennings, who has a sweet haircut but also has some questions surrounding his eligibility for college (not eligible for Arizona?? C’mon man), has opted for pro ball in Europe for a year while waiting to become old enough for the NBA draft.  In response, Olson has declared, “It’s a situation now that if someone’s a ‘one-and-done,’ we’re not going to pursue them anymore, no way.”

I would first point out that Jennings was a none-and-done, not a one-and-done.  He never put the uniform on.  Second -that statement is nuts.  More nuts than all the other nutsy stuff Olson has been doing lately.  Just ask Jim Boeheim, who, when asked if he would follow in Olson’s footsteps responded, “Are you crazy?”  Boeheim of course enjoyed the spoils of having Carmelo Anthony for one year…. which worked out ok . (see also: Marvin Williams, 44 year old  Greg Oden, Mike Conley, and Derrick Rose,  for examples of one-and-done players who were pretty helpful to their teams).

So yeah - Lute is on a roll.  I mean, I have all (none whatsoever) the respect in the world for Lute Olson.  For years I have watched him conduct himself in a classy (maniacal) manner on the sidelines.  Respecting (shouting at and belittling) the officials and making a variety of facial expressions and gesticulations to indicate his dissatisfaction with the way the game is progressing. 

I have to believe that based on Olson’s increasingly angry rants and erratic statements, we are not far removed from one of the more epic meltdowns in the history of college sports.  Stay tuned.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 4:01 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.