Calipari Sings the Stoudemire Blues

[playstation]

By Scott Bordow
East Valley Tribune
April 29, 2005

Jerseys line a wall of the basketball practice facility at the University of Memphis.

They’re mementos of some of the best players John Calipari has ever coached.

Marcus Camby and Sam Cassell. Allen Iverson and Kerry Kittles. Keith Van Horn. Dajuan Wagner.

Amaré Stoudemire’s jersey has some hang time, too, but why?

Calipari coached at Massachusetts, was the head coach of the New Jersey Nets and an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers before becoming Memphis’ coach in 2000.

So how does he connect the dots with Stoudemire?

"I tell people I had him for a month," Calipari said, laughing.

Stoudemire is the big one that got away for Calipari and Memphis, and his return here as one of the NBA’s most dominant players causes heads to shake and sentences to begin with, "Can you imagine ..."

"I’m sure John is still crying in his beer over Amaré," Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Calipari can’t remember the first time he saw Stoudemire play. But he’ll never forget the feeling he had in the spring of 2002 when Stoudemire told him he was coming to Memphis.

"I stuttered," Calipari said. "I was overwhelmed."

Stoudemire thought Memphis was the ideal place to continue his basketball career. His recruiting trip, hosted by guard Scooter McFadden, went well, and he loved Beale Street, the heartbeat of Memphis’ downtown.

He also was impressed by Calipari.

"I had watched his teams at UMass and read up on him," Stoudemire said. "I thought he was a pretty good coach."

Calipari wasn’t sure what to make of Stoudemire on his initial visit. He knew the back story, that Stoudemire had grown up in an unstable environment and attended six different high schools.

Calipari decided to test Stoudemire, to see if he was the kind of kid who would welcome structure or run from it.


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"I was really hard on him," Calipari said. "I went crazy. I said, ‘This is going to be the hardest place you’re ever going to go to. You’re going to go to every class and you’re going to go to every study hall.’

"I told him, ‘If you want to be in the NBA, you’re going to have to train and get in great shape. There aren’t going to be any shortcuts here.’ "

Stoudemire listened, nodded his head but didn’t make a commitment. Calipari wasn’t sure what to think.

A few weeks later, Stoudemire walked into Calipari’s office and said, "I want to come to Memphis."

Visions of Final Four appearances danced in Calipari’s head. Wagner was just concluding his freshman year, and Memphis now had verbal commitments from Stoudemire and 6-foot-9 forward Qyntel Woods from Northeast Mississippi Junior College.

"We would have won a couple of national championships," Stoudemire said.

Calipari couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. He flew into Philadelphia for a high school all-star game and told Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown, "You’ve got to watch this kid who committed to us. He’s unbelievable. He’s going to help me get Memphis to where I had UMass."

The first time Stoudemire got the ball, he fooled his defender with a crossover dribble and, as Calipari recalled, "dunked the ball on everybody."

The next time down the floor Stoudemire faked the crossover and hit a jumper from the foul line. Then he got out on the fast break for a dunk.

Brown turned to Calipari and said, "John, you’re not getting this kid. He’s better than Alonzo Mourning right now."

"I still think we can get him," Calipari responded.

"John," Brown said, "go recruit somebody else."

As it turned out, it wasn’t Stoudemire’s play that had Memphis singing the blues but Wagner’s decision to jump to the NBA after his freshman year.

"That’s when I went ahead and said, ‘Well, I’m going to make that jump,’ " Stoudemire said.

Before Stoudemire was drafted, he and Calipari got together one last time.

The two men hugged and Calipari said, "I hate to say this, but you did the right thing."

For which the Suns are forever grateful.

----------------------------------

thank you dajuan!

 

[Mulli]

Excellent article. Rare thing to see from Phoenix journalists.

 

[elindholm]

Brown turned to Calipari and said, "John, you’re not getting this kid. He’s better than Alonzo Mourning right now."

LOL, did Brown actually say this? And then he parks him on the end of the bench during the Olympics, that's great.

I'd love to see a Phoenix-Detroit finals. I don't harbor any resentment toward Brown, and I doubt Stoudemire does either, but it would be a fun showdown anyway.

 

[fordronken]

Brown turned to Calipari and said, "John, you’re not getting this kid. He’s better than Alonzo Mourning right now."

LOL, did Brown actually say this? And then he parks him on the end of the bench during the Olympics, that's great.

I'd love to see a Phoenix-Detroit finals. I don't harbor any resentment toward Brown, and I doubt Stoudemire does either, but it would be a fun showdown anyway.

I remember hearing Amare say something about how his Olympic experience was so bad he didn't know if he ever wanted to do it again.

 

[jibikao]

I remember hearing Amare say something about how his Olympic experience was so bad he didn't know if he ever wanted to do it again.

The experience was bad for everyone. It was highly embarrasing to lose. lol

 

[elindholm]

I remember hearing Amare say something about how his Olympic experience was so bad he didn't know if he ever wanted to do it again.

Ah, I didn't catch that. I actually thought he'd said some pretty positive things, but I don't really remember. I do remember Duncan being quite negative about it, however.

 

[scotsman13]

I remember hearing Amare say something about how his Olympic experience was so bad he didn't know if he ever wanted to do it again.

the only one that i really heard say that it had been a very bad experance was melo. and he said it was something like the worst time of his life. he couldnt believe that brown had benched him and couldnt believe that he wasnt given a great deal more playing time. all he did was sit in his cabin and wait (cry).

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

the only one that i really heard say that it had been a very bad experance was melo. and he said it was something like the worst time of his life. he couldnt believe that brown had benched him and couldnt believe that he wasnt given a great deal more playing time. all he did was sit in his cabin and wait (cry).

Melo and Amare both stated after the olympics that they wanted to come back and play again if given the chance.

Tim Duncan is the only player who verbally claimed that he would never play international ball again.

 

[fordronken]

the only one that i really heard say that it had been a very bad experance was melo. and he said it was something like the worst time of his life. he couldnt believe that brown had benched him and couldnt believe that he wasnt given a great deal more playing time. all he did was sit in his cabin and wait (cry).

Maybe I'm making it up. But I thought I read it in one of those Jerry Colangelo/Olypics articles.

Write it down, though. If(read: when) D'Antoni is named the coach of USA Basketball, Amare will sign up.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Maybe I'm making it up. But I thought I read it in one of those Jerry Colangelo/Olypics articles.

Write it down, though. If(read: when) D'Antoni is named the coach of USA Basketball, Amare will sign up.

You are making it up

Expect a real US Dream Team in 2008

August 29 2004 at 03:06PM



Athens - Perhaps if National Basketball Association players ask nicely, the guys from Argentina wearing gold medals will come to the United States and give them a few pointers on how to play the game.

Or maybe they could just ask for tips from the US Women's NBA Dream Team, an elite group of the absolute best who withstood their dynasty's toughest test for a third gold medal in a row and their fifth in six Olympics.

Wherever the help comes from, expect the disappointment of a bronze medal finish by a young set of US NBA stars at the Athens Olympics to produce changes that bring together players sooner and help them adjust to international rules.

"In 2008, when we're in our prime, the original Dream Team will probably re-emerge," 21-year-old US forward Amare Stoudemire said.


Just as sure as NBA Marketing has a department in Asia, fans can expect an elite squad of the NBA's absolute best at the 2008

Beijing Olympics, provided millionaire stars such as those who rejected the 2004 call will step forward.

And by 2008, the potential of such 2004 Olympians as 19-year-old NBA Rookie of the Year LeBron James might be realised. This year's losers might truly be the NBA's elite in 2008 - and hungry to avenge their honor.

"I was talking to LeBron and Amare and it's going to be our turn in '08," said 20-year-old forward Carmelo Anthony, who guaranteed a gold medal before the Olympics but did not say when it would come.

"Hey, we're young enough that you can't rule out 2012 either."

When a US college team lost a 1988 Seoul semifinal to the Soviet Union, the 1992 Dream Team followed. When US women lost a 1992 semifinal, a core team was gathered a year early and US women have not lost at a global event in a decade.

"For women, the Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport," US women's captain Dawn Staley said. "The difference with us and the men's team is that we have experienced Olympic players and they don't."

Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant are among those who snubbed the Olympic call.

The result was the worst showing ever by a US squad - a bronze medal to match the 1988 low point and three overall losses - one more than all prior US teams had amassed in 68 years, including a 24-0 prior mark by NBA talent.

Every insult to the US players who tried and failed should sting their summer vacations as well, since their absence helped set up the failure.

"It bothers me to think this group of guys is going to be looked at a certain way because they didn't win a gold medal," US assistant coach Gregg Popovich said. "A lot of fans still think it's 1992 and we can beat anybody by 40."

A core US team played last year in a qualifying event included McGrady, Kidd, Ray Allen, Mike Bibby, Elton Brand, Vince Carter, Kenyon Martin and Jermaine O'Neal - a planned elite Olympic core before all backed out.

With experience together and with global rules, the squad that routed Olympic champion Argentina 106-73 in the Tournament of the Americas final a year ago might have measured up to the gold standard of earlier teams.

"If you get every one of the top players in the league, that might counteract the extra time that those teams have together," Popovich said.

Depth and size at center, always a US strength, was lacking this year with Duncan the only big man and a constant target of referees' whistles. And Duncan made it clear he has had it with wearing the red, white and blue.

"I'm about 95 percent sure my FIBA career is over," Duncan said.

Where is "Shaq" when his country really needs him? Recovering from eight months of NBA punishment and the disappointment of an NBA Finals defeat that was barely two months ago, with a new NBA season just two months away.

"It is tough for 12 strangers to get together in two weeks and try to become the best team in the world. It is not feasible to do that. It's impossible," US forward Richard Jefferson said.

More international teams might make US tours to play NBA talent under global rules. US and global all-stars might be matched against each other. In the end, having a top US team is too important to the NBA for it not to offer some aid.

"We need to give them everything we can," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "That's what they deserve for being willing to make the commitment."

* This article was originally published on August 29, 2004

 

[fordronken]

You are making it up

Umm....*coughing uncomfortably*...