Tuesday, January 31, 2006 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE BELLAMY ISN'T IMPRESSED WITH NBA FRONT OFFICES continued from Page 7 seems confused about this whole "running a professional basketball team" thing. The guiltiest and most notorious perpetrator is, of course, the Knicks' GM Isaiah Thomas, who in about two years has done the near-impossible by taking a franchise almost ruined by past regimes and ruining it almost past the point of believability. Put together an exorbitantly overpriced roster full of players who have no idea how to play team basketball? Check. Handicap the salary cap for years to come? Check. Further disillusion one of the biggest fan bases in pro sports? Check. Continue not to learn from past mistakes? Check. With the exception of a few nice draft picks, Thomas hasn't done a single thing with the Knicks that has actually worked out. Nothing. In fact, he's taken them from a lowlevel playoff team to one of the worst teams in basketball. It's not just that he hasn't succeeded. Plenty of people haven't succeeded. It's that whenever Thomas does make a move or set a plan of attack in motion, he never has the patience to see it through. In two years, he's completely overhauled the roster almost twice. He played on championship teams—does he not remember how important chemistry is to the formula? And does he really believe Larry Brown is going to be there long enough Woody Allen, left, is one of many Knick fans to turn their back on Islah Thomas and his bumbling general management skills. for Thomas to right the ship? (That's assuming, of course, that Thomas has the ability to right the ship, which he doesn't, so it's a moot point. But I digress.) This is an almost leaguewide trend, and it is gradually obliterating whatever competitive balance the league had. Are Joe Dumars and Popovich (who is also San Antonio's executive vice president of basketball operations) really that much smarter than everyone else? These days, the pressure of mainstream professional sports has changed the way teams and players develop and not just in the NBA, NFL coaches don't stay put as long as they used to. They get burned out. But the NBA has gotten ridiculous. Job security no longer exists, not necessarily GRANT CONTRIBUTING TO RUNNIN' UTES continued from Page 7 contributing this year and just hope I can keep doing that." Not only does Grant have contribution on his mind, but he has it in his blood. Grant's grandfather Fred Weidner was a member of legendary Ute coach Vadal Peterson's 1947 NIT National Championship team, an era when the because coaches aren't doing a good job, but because their bosses won't give them the opportunity to succeed—or, worse, their bosses are inept at their own jobs and rely on the coach as the fall guy. Is it really that difficult to put together a successful NBA team? People have been doing it for years—why the sudden desperation and indecision? Can none of these GMs just take a step back and realize they will never succeed at the rate they're going? Well, the answer is an easy one: No. At least not yet. And until that happens, teams like the Pistons and Spurs will continue to be there in June, year in and year out, while the rest of the league flounders under its own misdirection. c.bellamy@ chronicle.utah.edu NIT was considered the true national championship. The Utes knocked off Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats in the title game, a moment that Grant often watches on tape. "It's fun to go back and watch the game of basketball in the '40s and see how different it is," Grant said. While this year's Utes don't figure to win the national title, thanks to hard work and a nice dose of skill, Grant's own grandchildren will have plenty of tapes of their own to watch their grandpa when he played at the U. j.beatty@ chronicle.utah.edu THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PROUDLY PRESENTS: FOUNDERS DAY 2 0 0 6 THE UNIVERSITY OP UTAH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CONGRATULATES THE 2006 FOUNDERS DAY AWARD RECIPIENTS: CELEBRATION TO COMMEMORATE the founding of the University of Utah in 1850, the Alumni Association each year honors four alumni and DISTINGUISHED A L U M N I AlanKayMS'68PhD'69 one non-alumnus/a who have distinguished Merline Clark Learning ex'42 themselves professionally, served their local Matthew R. Simmons BS'65 and national communities, and supported the Joseph BitnerWirthlin BA'41 University in its mission. HONORARY ALUMNI Ira A, and Mary Lou Fulton PLEASE J O I N US A T T H I S ANNUAL GALA EVENT: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006 LITTLE AMERICA HOTEL For more information, call the Alumni Association at (801) 581-6995 or visit www.alumni.utah.edu T H E A L U M N I A S S O C I A T I O N W O U L D LIKE TO T H A N K OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS: DESERET MORNING NEWS THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS FOUNDATION HOME & HEART TIAA-CREF RFAI ESTATE AFFINITY PARTNER O.C. TANNER COMPANY / ZIONS BANK RECENCE BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD OF UTAH . THE U N I V E R S I T Y OF UTAH ; • v-::AiL U M N I A S S O C I A T I O N :i - ^ ' . -'• • i %i%??y£ "Linking you with the U" '-•: ] • .-A-- *. . - , . 0 www.alumni.utah.edu .; ; ' l>