I thought this might be a fun exercise...name the scapegoat for each team, i.e. the player who receives the brunt of the blame for the team's losses. I'm basing my list on my visits to other teams's forums. As to whether their status as a scapegoat is justified, I'll leave that to others to discuss... Celtics - Rasheed Wallace Knicks - Chris Duhon Bulls - Vinny Del Negro (I know he's not a player but the amount of criticism he receives, whew...) Magic - Vince Carter Hawks - Marvin Williams (although I might have said Josh Smith last year) Blazers - Nate McMillan (again, not a player, but the fans attribute every failure to him) Jazz - Carlos Boozer Lakers - Derek Fisher Mavericks - Josh Howard Spurs - Richard Jefferson Hornets - Peja Stojakovic That's what I have for now...
I read a lot of Knicks, Bulls, Spurs, and of course Rockets forum. So I'm going to add a bit. Bulls' RealGM forum after blow out loss = nuclear holocaust. 10x worse than Spurs loss at Spurstalk and Rockets loss at Clutchfans.
Wow I'd think Hawes would be loved there... Last time I checked the Heat's scapegoat is Beasely but that might change not that Alston joined the team. I don't I'm going to have check.
I thought Beasley began to play better this season. Heat fans should be blaming PG play for their slow start early on. Chalmers, Arroyo. Forced to trade for Rafer.
Magic - Stan Van Gundy Rockets - Depends...used to be Rafer, before that it was the bench as whole and Yao sometimes (still is to some because of injuries), later on it was T-Mac. Now it is mostly Ariza. NFL -------------------------------------------------- Patriots - their defense (see 07 and 09 postseasons) and lately Randy Moss Colts - Defense (regular season), Peyton and Dungy (in the playoffs) Cowboys - Wade Philips and not far behind Tony Romo Bears - Cutler, Lovie Smith, and Ron Turner (fired) Chargers - Whoever the sitting coach is (Ross, Schottenheimer, or Norv Turner) MLB ----------------------------------------------- Cubs - a real goat and inept management Yankees - Brian Cashman, GM and whoever the underachieving, overpaid starting pitcher is. Others ---------------------------------------------- Ron Zook - Wherever he goes.
I haven't been to a Heat game since last season so it has probably changed. I'll ask some of my friends (season ticket holders) at work tomorrow though.
Haha wow your spot on! Norv and Cromartie always get all the blame (except last game where Kaeding pretty much took all the heat). Good ****.
Tmac Apologists - Yao, Teammates, Coaches, Anything that gets involved with him. Rockets - Trevor Ariza (for now) Lakers - Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum Magic - Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter
For the Yankees, I should've added A-Rod to it as well. In sense, he might be the patron of saint for this thread.
Actually, from what I've seen on Jazz boards, I think their scapegoat is Jerry Sloan. They practically hate him.
Memphis: Zach Randolph. The guy has somewhat of a "history" in the NBA, but puts up killer numbers every year.
Well the guy does have more finals appearance than a lot of the other coaches in NBA. And the guy does achieve regular season success And the guy does achieve playoff success And the guy has been the candidate for coach of the year almost every season But the guy still got no rings and awards.
