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Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wheeler eager for shot at Norcross
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
“We have a saying,” said Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb. ” ‘Be pleased but not satisfied.’ “
At 7:10 p.m. Thursday, Lipscomb sounded like a man who was neither. His raised voice could be heard through the steel door of his team’s dressing room, shouting something about “basketball IQ” and the presumed lack thereof. Speaking of the game just won against smallish Hiram, he told his players, “That’s not going to be good enough against Norcross.”
And then, thinking fast, he added: “Or Savannah.”
Pretty much everybody (excepting the folks from Hiram and Savannah) wanted to see Norcross play Wheeler for the Class AAAAA boys’ state championship. Between them they’ve won five of the past six titles and can claim a current rankings edge: Wheeler is rated No. 1 to Norcross’ No. 2 in Georgia, but Norcross is No. 6 nationally to Wheeler’s No. 15 according to USA Today.
“It really doesn’t matter who we play,” said Wheeler forward Richard Howell, speaking before Norcross faced Savannah in the late game. But then, with a nod toward Norcross: “I really don’t like them.”
The Wildcats, see, fell to Norcross 64-63 at the latter’s gym in the first round of the 2007 state tournament. Wheeler folks came away thinking they’d been fed a home-cooked rodent, believing J.J. Hickson, now of North Carolina State, was hacked on a putback — nothing was called — at the frantic game’s end. The schools haven’t met since. They will tonight.
“They’re a very talented team,” Lipscomb said. And yes, he planned to hang around the Arena at Gwinnett Center to catch the Norcross-Savannah game. “You know I’m not going to let you put down that Lipscomb would leave without watching the team we’re about to play. Give me a little credit.”
Give him more than a little. Lipscomb has won four state titles in his 15 seasons at Wheeler, coaching the exalted likes of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, D.A. Layne, Jermareo Davidson and Hickson. Until Norcross came along — first with Gani Lawal, lately of Georgia Tech, and the current All-American Al-Farouq Aminu, soon to be of Wake Forest — the Wildcats essentially had Class AAAAA to themselves.
Now they’ve gone two whole seasons without a title, a notion that sorely rankles the Marietta school. Indeed, you only had to note the T-shirts Wheeler wore on its bench — issued before the state tournament commenced last month — to appreciate this program’s expectation of eminence. “Sweat on the floor,” read the inscription, “turns into gold in the trophy case.”
Not that there was anything particularly golden about the 68-54 dismissal of Hiram. Wheeler opened as if distracted — “We’ve got a bad habit of starting off kind of slow,” said Dequan Jones, who has signed with Miami — and trailed 19-12 after the first quarter and 24-16 two minutes into the second. (The 5-foot-8 Arsenio Nuckles, who made three early treys, was wreaking all sorts of miniature havoc.) Then the Wildcats got interested, and by halftime they led by 11.
“That second quarter wasn’t bad,” Lipscomb said, and the 21-2 push that closed the half showcased Wheeler at its towering best. Its tall and swift frontcourt — Howell, Jones and Ari Stewart, the smallest of whom is listed at 6-6 — took control of the backboards and the floorboards and the whole shebang.
“We kept our composure,” said Howell, a junior who scored 22 points. “But we can’t get down against good teams.”
Norcross, which has won the past two Class AAAAA titles, is better than good. (And Norcross, it should be said, handled Savannah far more easily than Wheeler handled Hiram.) The two giants, who have been circling each another for more than a year, will meet tonight, and one of them will go home pleased and satisfied.
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Heaven help the Spirit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
And here we thought the Falcons had it rough, trying to hire a general manager and a coach at the same time. The Atlanta Spirit - not exactly the model of organizational efficiency - might be in the market for two of each.
Any lingering Thrashers playoff hopes were dashed by Wednesday’s loss to Carolina, leaving the Spirit with a hockey club that hasn’t had a coach since October and stands 28th in a 30-team league. Does ownership, such as it is, bring back GM Don Waddell, who has been in place for a decade and has one playoff appearance - and no postseason wins - to show for it?
Conveniently enough, the Hawks also lost Wednesday to fall a season-worst 11 games below .500. The post-Bibby buzz is beginning to yield to reality: The Hawks are 3-7 since the trade and haven’t risen above ninth place in the mostly wretched NBA East. Billy Knight has already tried to fire Mike Woodson - career record: 93-212 - only to be rebuffed by owners. So that leaves … what?
Knight and Woodson are under contract through June 30th. If the Hawks fail to make the playoffs - or even if they slip in and are summarily dismissed in Round 1 - does the Spirit retain the coach who has lost the backing of the man who hired him? Or does it dump the GM who didn’t draft Chris Paul (who, on cue, had 23 points and 18 assists against the Hawks on Wednesday)? Or does it fire everybody and start all over everywhere?
And if so, how would a four-headed search work? Would Bruce Levenson run the hockey part and Michael Gearon Jr. the basketball side? (Spirit president Bernie Mullin is no longer around to do anything, not that many people ever knew what it was Mullin did.)
Would Steve Belkin offer up candidates of his own? Would anyone listen if he did? Would a miffed Belkin drag everyone back into court? And would a coach and/or GM of even modest stature agree to work for a group known mostly for suing itself?
For all Arthur Blank’s resources, the Falcons needed more than a month (plus one handy Webcam) to land Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith. Now imagine if the maladroit Spirit embarks on the same tricky process times two. I am imagining, and I believe I can speak for the masses when I say …
Heaven help us all.
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