<i>City Game Is Branded by Texas By HARVEY ARATON AST RUTHERFORD, N.J. AMERICA is tuning out the N.B.A. finals in such historically retro numbers that next season's marketing slogan, barring an upset by the Nets, will have to be changed from Love It Live to Don't Mess With Texas. This is not funny. This is cultural revolution we are talking about. The celebrated City Game traditionally sustained East to West, or vice versa, is being fitted for cowboy boots and wide belt buckles and is being fed a steady diet of Tex-Mex barbecue. The Spurs are two victories away from winning the championship. The Dallas Mavericks might have beaten them had Dirk Nowitzki not been injured in the Western Conference finals. And now Jeff Van Gundy, the former Knicks coach and rumpled New Yorker, is headed to Houston to preside over the Yao Ming Dynasty. And just for the record, the University of Texas had its men's and women's basketball teams in the Final Four in April. What's next, an El Paso playground with luxury boxes wooing the Rucker tournament from Harlem? "In San Antonio, basketball has always been the thing, outside of high school football," R. C. Buford, the Spurs' general manager, said yesterday at Continental Arena, where the Nets and the Spurs prepared for tonight's Game 4. "But in Dallas, it's really become fashionable, and Houston, with Yao, is on the rise again. "Texas will always be a football state, but basketball is growing, and I think we're starting to see that at the high school level, especially with better coaching." I asked Buford if the home territory of George W. Bush is poised to become the center of the basketball universe. "I'll let someone else say that," he said. "Indiana and Kansas will get mad at me." What about New York? The nowhere Knicks will be receiving a lousy second-round draft pick from the Rockets as compensation for the services of Van Gundy. What about New Jersey? Win or lose, the Nets will soon be sweating dollars, fearing an offer from the Spurs that Jason Kidd might accept. If I didn't know David Stern to be the New York liberal he is, I would be wondering about what is going on between him and the Bush administration. Texas, home of Friday Night Lights, of football as religion, is now a land of opportunity paradigm, the new basketball melting pot. A 21-year-old French point guard, Tony Parker, has powered the Spurs to a two-games-to-one lead in the finals; the German Nowitzki has become one of the league's most productive scorers; and the 7-foot-6 Yao has, in one season, gone from Chinese curiosity to the recent beneficiary of a seven-figure deal for his autobiographical rights. Darn tootin', Texas is suddenly where Madison Avenue is looking for a little of that old N.B.A. marketing magic. Turn on the television these days and there is Don Nelson yakking with Nowitzki in German while conducting a Mavericks practice. Yo, there's Yao playing the very tall straight man in a variety of clever spots. Can the ultratalented Tim Duncan, raised in the Virgin Islands, and the baby-faced Parker be far behind should they bring home San Antonio's second N.B.A. championship? In Duncan's case, this would be long, long overdue. "Tim's a wonderful person, one of the all-time great teammates," said Steve Kerr, the Spurs' reserve shooting guard. "He's humble. He cares nothing about personal stats. He's just not someone you want selling your candy bar. This is America. It's about image." Image is also a choice, and you have to wonder if the N.B.A. is paying for years of selling style over substance. Now that the skateboarders of America have found other amusements, now that a high school kid who has yet to play an N.B.A. game is the most talked-about player, have millions of adult Americans just grown tired of the hype and noise? Has the N.B.A. alienated its serious fan base in a desperate attempt to remain hip-hop hot? All sports ratings are in a down cycle, and though the N.B.A.'s may be more related to the expiration of the Shaq-and-Kobe Lakers, it is important to remember that the ratings for the previous three finals were in steady decline from the Jordan-Bulls era. Whatever the explanation, this is the N.B.A.'s problem, and no one else's. I have never understood why sports business declines are reported as bad news, and not as some hope for the tapped-out fan. The N.B.A. is not going anywhere, but a few more years of single-digit finals ratings and maybe prices will start heading south, like the flow of talent to Texas. Pro basketball made its debut there in 1967 with the American Basketball Association's Dallas Chaparrals, who moved to San Antonio before the 1973-74 season and became the Spurs. The state has had championship teams, Houston winning with Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994 and 1995, and the Spurs with Duncan and David Robinson in 1999. Now, bucking N.B.A. business trends, Texas suddenly has three teams with a multitude of talent and international appeal. Don't call it the Lone Star State anymore.</i>
and then this from espn on the same subject As Spurs close in, Van Gundy is Texas' latest score -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Marc Stein ESPN.com Someday soon, someone down there is really going to ask this question. Doesn't matter that the Lone Star State is universally regarded as a football state. Someone is going to ask out loud, with some justification: Is Texas big enough for its three NBA teams? Van Gundy's immediate goal in Houston: Playoffs or else. It's a question that grows more legitimate by the minute, because Texas is where it's all happening. Back in November, when the foundation took shape, California was still the unquestioned capital on the NBA map, with the Lakers and Kings considered the league's mightiest franchises and the transfer of power thought to be at least a year off. Not now. Not since the playoffs started. Not with Texas quickly becoming an even bigger story than it was. Mavericks hush skeptics by reaching conference finals. Spurs dethrone Lakers and then outlast Mavs to inch toward second championship in five years. Rockets hire Jeff Van Gundy, straining to keep up with their neighbors. Monday's announcement that Van Gundy has agreed to succeed Rudy Tomjanovich as Yao Ming's coach continued the power shift. The Rockets can now claim three marquee names, including Steve Francis, as they move into a new arena in October. Of course, the new standards of the state suggest that Van Gundy, at worst, better get Houston in the playoffs by next April, or else the Rockets might be ripe for exile. Just hiring a big-name coach -- the biggest name they could get after Larry Brown went to Detroit instead -- might not amount to much by next week, if the Spurs trump the Rockets by winning another title. Especially if the Spurs then go out this summer and sign Jason Kidd or Jermaine O'Neal or any other prominent helpers when David Robinson retires ... as part of what their owner actually once called "rebuild mode." That's how it is in Texas these days. Rebuilding is bigger and better than ever before. Just like Paul Silas, who beat Van Gundy out for the Cleveland job, Van Gundy has landed in the perfect spot. Silas is the ideal first coach for LeBron James and Van Gundy, who might not have taken the Cleveland job even if it was offered, goes to a team with two enticing pieces at the two most important positions. The expectations Van Gundy faces in Houston will be considerable, because he's replacing a local legend and inheriting a team that has missed the playoffs for four straight seasons. But the expectations would have been more daunting had he elected to sit out one more season to do TV. In that scenario, Van Gundy would effectively be saying that he was waiting for a more attractive job than what the Rockets were offering. Which is fine, except that the only kind of job more attractive than Houston's would be with a championship contender, such as Sacramento or New Jersey, meaning that the price of failure would be a lot costlier. The Rockets are expecting a lot from their new coach, but no one is suggesting Van Gundy's new roster is anywhere close to title material. They're still a distant No. 3 in their own state, remember. Monday's other coaching development, by contrast, doesn't compute at all. The New Orleans Hornets have replaced the fired Silas with Tim Floyd, essentially because Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans and is sellable as a local. After Floyd's three-plus turbulent seasons in Chicago, where he won 49 games, the Hornets have no shot selling him as the coach who will take George Shinn's team to the proverbial "next level," which was Shinn's flimsy justification for dismissing Silas. The Hornets have enough talent for Floyd to exceed his career win total in one season, but he's going to have to win over his new locker room first, after several Hornets players -- Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn, most notably -- lobbied Shinn hard to keep Silas. Floyd will also have to hush the widespread notion that he's overmatched as an NBA coach, which won't be easy when the Hornets move to the Western Conference after one more season in the easier East. If neither happens, it won't be long before the fresh-faced Hornets fans in Bayou Country will be holding Shinn in the same regard they do in Charlotte. Philadelphia has to be considered the most high-profile of the five remaining openings, which is why it wouldn't be terribly surprising to hear that Rick Carlisle -- not a 76ers candidate -- is waiting until next season's inevitable slew of openings. Carlisle talked to Toronto briefly before the Chicago pre-draft camp, and he'd be a fine fit with the Raptors to ride Vince Carter, but the Raps continue to target unheralded assistants as a cash-saving measure. Carlisle also interviewed with the Clippers last week and is still scheduled to meet with the Wizards, but he's undoubtedly looking to cash in on his good stock by landing a more prominent gig, whenever it comes. Denver looms as a down-the-road possibility, since Jeff Bzdelik is not regarded as the Nuggets' long-term coaching answer, and Carlisle will continue to be linked with Indiana so long as Isiah Thomas' job security is questioned by fans and media in Pacerland. Unless the Blazers relent and grant Philly permission to talk to Mo Cheeks -- and all indications persist that the Blazers will not -- the openings that remain are a cut below the Detroit-Houston-Cleveland (LeBron James) level. Yet it must be said that Carlisle, when he does resurface on a bench, will have to finally dispel the notion that he clashes with management and/or players ... or else the next opportunity could be a last chance. Mike Dunleavy wanted the Rockets' job badly and didn't try to hide it. Yet it couldn't have helped his chances that Les Alexander, the Rockets' owner, reportedly grew up a Knicks fan and had to choose between Dunleavy and a former Knicks coach. The consolation: Dunleavy apparently still has two options, if he's serious about signing with the Clips. He also remains the longstanding favorite in Atlanta, assuming his pal David McDavid (a fellow resident of Fort Worth, Texas) completes the purchase of the Hawks by the end of this month. Regarding the Hawks' job, one Dunleavy associate said: "It's close, but not 100 percent." Seattle assistant Dwane Casey is said to have a real shot at the Toronto job, over Philadelphia assistant Mike Woodson, Milwaukee assistant Sam Mitchell and Kevin O'Neill, from Carlisle's deposed staff in Detroit. ... Woodson, meanwhile, is apparently receiving legit consideration to replace his former Sixers boss, Brown, because of Cheeks' ongoing unavailability. Nets assistant Eddie Jordan is another Philly target, although Jordan won't be on the open market until after the playoffs -- and maybe not at all if the Nets can find a way to convince him to stay. Which would help them keep Kidd, since Jordan is one of Kidd's favorites. ... It'll be interesting to see how much appeal the Wizards hold for Jordan, a D.C. native. We never believed Van Gundy or Brown were ever close to going there, even if the Wiz really was offering millions and the dual role of coach/general manager. For the third time we write: There doesn't figure to be a long line of folks applying after the messy Abe Pollin-Michael Jordan divorce.
"Image is also a choice, and you have to wonder if the N.B.A. is paying for years of selling style over substance. Now that the skateboarders of America have found other amusements, now that a high school kid who has yet to play an N.B.A. game is the most talked-about player, have millions of adult Americans just grown tired of the hype and noise?" This is my favorite part. The last 2 years have had some great purist basketball since the 70's/80's. And the Spurs have just added to that pure form of basketball. With the influx of international talent, more emphasis on fundamentals, and rising stars like TD, Yao and Kidd, the next 7 years should be the best basketball we've seen in a long time. Oh, and I love this part too... "Now, bucking N.B.A. business trends, Texas suddenly has three teams with a multitude of talent and international appeal. Don't call it the Lone Star State anymore." The New York Times would never had called us "talented" in the early nineties. With the exception of Hakeem.
The Rockets can now claim three marquee names, including Steve Francis, as they move into a new arena in October. Three, marquee names. Three! See, even national writers acknolege this. It's what we do this this talent that's important.
Jeff Van Gundy really is part of something big! Like what the slogan meant. Great topics, thanks for sharing!
Interesting about Van Gundy being a marquee name. I don't mean to take anything away from Van Gundy's ability and reputation as a coach, but would he still be a 'marquee name' if he had coached in any other city (other than L.A.?) I'm from the Northeast originally, but boy, those nor'easterners sure be gettin' riled up about something.
The writer of the first piece must never been to Texas. I've been here from the day I was born, until I travel with the Military; and I've seen more people wear COWBOY boots and big belt buckles up North than I have ever seen in my neck of the woods. Ignorance like this really pisses me off. FAH!!!!
Did Tony Parker EVEN FINISH High School? I mean do you KNOW FOR SURE . . . do you even Care? Can someone show me definitive proof that Tony Parker Graduated High School? [since we so pissy about LeBron] What About Dirk? Rocket River
It's just a regional piece. Don't get your feathers ruffled. Just like the "Yo" commercial for Yao in New York.
"Whatever the explanation, this is the N.B.A.'s problem, and no one else's. I have never understood why sports business declines are reported as bad news, and not as some hope for the tapped-out fan." Amen to that. Down with ticket prices. Oh, and hey, and the Astros are like number 1 in their division or something, right?
AMEN to that. I read that and thought the exact same thing. What happens when you preach style over substance and, more specifically, one team or player over your others, is that you end up with two relatively obscure teams in the NBA finals and your ratings suffer. I still contend that the practice of pushing Michael Jordan over every other player in the league was the worst move ever by the league. Sure, it pushed them up when he was here but all good things must end and there is inevitably a price to pay for that.
Jeff, I believe you and I can draw a distinct analogy with the above to the Billboard top 100. When you preach style over substance in music, you get a Billboard top 100 chart that's filled with obscure one hit wonders and the music business suffers.
could not agree more! they marketed individuals instead of teams FOR YEARS!! it wasn't about the great game...it was about the great player. those personalities have retired now. and they're just stuck with the game...and they don't know how to sell it.
Anyone see the article on Rudy T in the Houston Chronicle sunday? It doesn't seem to be on the chron. website. Basically, it discussed how other teams will be after Rudy T when he becomes available.. Bulls & Lakers were mentioned.
Does this mean that the cover of ESPN the Magazine's next NBA preview will have all the best players from the Texas teams dressed as cowboys? Hmm, I wonder what the caption on that cover would be. . .
I think the NBA could change that. Given time they could bring back the importance of the game and TEAM, but at the same time making sure that YOUR STAR of YOUR TEAM had ample coverage. And the players themselves (stars) need to stress the importance of the team too. I expect McGrady and Iverson to start taking about that real soon..."I need help man!"
