Gilbert vs. The Coach
Once again, star and coach not on the same page
By KYLE WEIDIE
Updated 6:15 PM EDT, Tue, Mar 31, 2009
"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH, nothing is ever simple, is it?," uttered Mike Jones of the Washington Times via the Wizards Outlet blog.
The roller coaster that is Gilbert Arenas is clearly starting to get to members of the media. One must wonder if those in the Wizards front office are snickering somewhere, having dealt with the unpredictable nature of Arenas for years, but having to bite the bullet for the most part.
What has Jones so frustrated? Probably the fact that the "plan" surrounding Arenas' comeback attempt has changed more than a traffic light.
Arenas' initial schedule was to only play in home games, with perhaps an April 8 date at Cleveland being the exception, and no back-to-back games.
Well, no one looked more antsy than Agent Zero sitting on the bench in his warm-ups Sunday at Indiana after debuting at home Saturday. And Gilbert Arenas is as Gilbert Arenas does. That's why suddenly the plan has changed, seemingly unbeknownst to Coach Ed Tapscott.
Today, not 15 minutes after Tapscott said that Arenas would not play Wednesday at Memphis, because the "coach" would rather have him for Thursday's home game against LeBron and the hated Cavaliers, Arenas told the media he might play against the Grizzlies instead.
Does the miscommunication sound familiar? Like when Gil made a surprise return to the court against Milwaukee last season, hamming it up from the locker room to the court midway through the second quarter, without telling his coach.
"He didn't really tell me, but that's Gil. I found out. Let's say it wasn't normal, proper channels, but I found out," said Eddie Jordan at the time.
Tapscott, being an interim coach, is somewhat handcuffed when it comes to having a say in the matter. But what about the next coach? Would Flip Saunders or the hard-nosed Avery Johnson put up with such antics?
If anything, the franchise letting Arenas run the show sans accountability could serve as a detriment to hiring a top talent to run the show in '09-'10. What warden, in his right mind, would take over an asylum run by inmates? Exactly.
Kyle Weidie also writes Truth About It and contributes to Bullets Forever, both Washington Wizards blogs. He enjoys writing about the Wizards asylum.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Mar 31, 2009 4:27 PM EDT
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
