July 24th, 2008 – Dr. Dime
I’ll be traveling to Las Vegas tonight in order to catch tomorrow’s USA Basketball Senior National Team match-up (5 p.m. Las Vegas local time) with the Canadian National Team at Thomas & Mack Center. Doc J-Water keeps me posted on the Canadian team as he has friends and family living in the country to our north, some of which have close ties to the Canadian Team’s coaching staff. Although this will undoubtedly be quite the spanking dished out by Team USA, I was certainly hoping for a Samuel Dalembert appearance on Team Canada in order to provide at least a couple highlight worthy blocks. It certainly couldn’t hurt in Team USA’s Olympic preparations to receive a little humility at the hands of one the NBA’s premier rim protectors. Unfortunately I will have no such luck…
As I’m trolling the world wide web this morning for information on the rest of the Team Canada roster to wet my appetite before tomorrow’s game, I came across this recent interview with Philadelphia 76ers Center Samuel Dalembert telling his side of the story on why Team Canada dismissed him from the team in the middle of their Olympic Qualifying tournament in Greece last week. The interview certainly grabbed my attention as my curiosity has been piqued ever since the announcement was made during the FIBA Olympic qualifier that Dalembert had been given the boot by Canadian National Team coach Leo Rautins. Coach Rautins himself was a one-time Philadelphia 76er before having his career cut short due to a series of severe knee problems.
I certainly always like to get both sides of any story before I label either person in the conflict as the guilty party. It even could be one of those situations where both parties are at fault. From the sounds of what Dalembert had to say Rautins is clearly a bit disorganized in everything from practice schedules to planning team meals. Having said that however, after reading the article all I could think about was how many excuses Dalembert listed in one very short conversation. Of course you could be certain that once Leo Rautins gets interviewed this situation will be one big ‘blame game’ coming from both sides.
In his summary of the situation Dalembert repeatedly says he was a constant scapegoat for the team’s losses. This may have been true, but I had to laugh at the whole litany of other reasons:
• He was prevented from helping the kids at basketball without borders (Pretty sure he’s not the only player that was mandated to come to the training)
• The coach didn’t come to team meals so why should he (If Johnny jumped off a cliff would you jump too?)
• He doesn’t like to eat pork (Pork-only meals huh? – either very unbalanced diet for athletes or untrue)
• The team was forced to riding actual taxi cabs (Not a taxi cab! Good God next thing you know he will ask us to shake hands with the commoners)
• The coach changed practice times (Did you find out why? Maybe the facility wasn’t available anymore?)
• The coach pointed his finger at him (Imagine Dalembert played for Bobby Knight? He He He)
In the interview Dalembert also mentioned quite a few times the lack of communication in his relationship with Coach Rautins. I’m sorry I love to watch ‘Dalembeast’ play and all, but this one had me in stitches. I haven’t heard anyone complain about lack of communication in a relationship that much since my last 6 girlfriends. Sorry Sammy, but you better hope that Leo’s public statement on the situation is just as weak, or you may as well start putting on the tar and feathers now.
What did y’all think of the Dalembert interview, folks? Did Dalembert act like a Diva, or is Leo Rautins soon to be the “ex” Canadian National Team coach?
