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Brooklyn Nets hired like a European soccer team in making Steve Nash their head coach

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Steve Nash speaks during induction ceremonies at the Basketball Hall of Fame, in Springfield, Mass., Sept. 7, 2018.

Elise Amendola/The Associated Press

On Thursday morning, the Brooklyn Nets hired B.C.’s Steve Nash to be their next head coach.

This wasn’t a surprise so much as a bolt come down out of a clear sky. The former general manager of Canada’s national men’s basketball team has never coached, nor expressed any clear desire to do so.

Now he’ll try his luck with Brooklyn, an NBA franchise that projects more as a travelling soap opera than a basketball team.

Brooklyn features two enormous stars whose talent is roughly proximate to their egos – Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Both are prone to me-first-ism and the occasional public meltdown. They’re what you’d call a handful.

Were they not so good at their craft, you’d say they were the wrong people to build a team around. Which still means they are probably the wrong people to build a team around. But the Nets have money and these were the two best pieces they could buy. It’s now up to Nash to realize the investment.

Nash has undeniable bona fides – two-time NBA MVP, a Hall of Famer. The people defending the hire on Thursday tended to lean hard on his “smarts” and “intellect” – which is the way NBA insiders say “scrawny white guy.” The people who didn’t like it took issue with the fact that Nash is jumping the queue.

Basketball Hall of Famer Steve Nash has been named head coach of a Brooklyn Nets squad that will be led by the dominant Kevin Durant next season, the NBA team said on Thursday. Reuters

Both sides misunderstand why Nash got the job. This isn’t a basketball hire. This is a soccer hire. This is how the biggest clubs in Europe pick their coaches. And it’s got very little to do with coaching.

In soccer, you hire a coach with one thing in mind – how his name rings out. Is it the sort of name that makes people down in the pub say, “Him? Oh, he’s good.”

It’s even more important that players feel this way. They should be awed by the coach’s name. They should feel they would look like fools were they ever to speak ill of him or be seen disagreeing with him.

They should fear the coach, not in the old ‘if this guy hates me, he will ruin my life’ way, but in the new ‘if this guy doesn’t love me, it must mean I’m crap’ way.

These sorts of coaches are exceedingly hard to come by. Alex Ferguson of Manchester United was such a coach. Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City are such coaches.

Nobody cares if Guardiola can properly position his men to defend free kicks. That’s not his job. He hires people to do the actual work of instruction.

Guardiola is there to corral a bunch of self-regarding bajillionaires who all think they are the biggest thing to hit Earth since the Chelyabinsk meteor. He is there to feed and water a string of thoroughbreds. Occasionally, one of them has to be sent off to the glue factory and that’s Guardiola’s job, too.

Guardiola was a very good player in his own right and just happened to be the Barcelona coach when a certain Lionel Messi was coming into his own. Plus, he looks fantastic strutting the touchline in a cashmere sweater. And that’s it. That’s how you build a legend.

Then you use the legend to bend other men to your will.

The three soccer examples referenced here didn’t just arrive on the scene looking three feet taller than their peers. They needed years (in Ferguson’s case, many years) to establish themselves.

That’s a big hassle for the people who run sports teams. Cultivate talent? Ugh. How much will that cost? Once you’ve done it – and there’s no guarantee you will – the guy up and leaves for a bigger team.

The Nets were already more like a soccer team than any other North American franchise. They are attempting to procure a title by buying top players. There’s no shame in it, but it’s not the fashionable thing.

The fashionable thing is tanking for a few seasons and hoping to get lucky in the draft. (Come to think of it, there’s a lot more shame in the fashionable thing.)

What this means is the Nets must win right now. They don’t have the luxury of giving Durant, Irving and the 10 serfs trailing in their wake time to get used to each other. This team must be good right away. And it will be, as long as Durant and Irving are not trying to kill the coach, their teammates, each other, or all three at once.

Maintaining that balance requires a charismatic figure in charge. One who gives off the strong scent of authority even alphas recognize.

The Nets tried to go the retail route with this. They reached out to the only current NBA coach who has that top-end Euro pedigree – San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich.

Is Popovich a great coach? On the one hand, he’s won five championships. On the other hand, I think I could have told Tim Duncan, “Go stand in the middle and be really good.”

Bottom line, it doesn’t matter whether Popovich is a great coach. What matters is that NBA players believe he is.

Brooklyn wanted Popovich so that when Durant comes into his office and announces, “I’ve decided I would like to take 70 shots a game,” Popovich can say, “No. Close the door on your way out.”

When retail didn’t work out, Brooklyn decided to try wholesale. That’s how Nash ended up with a four-year deal.

Is this fair? Well, is anything? People have begun to treat sports hiring like it’s casting a high-school play. Like everyone who worked on the lighting crew last year gets to play a lead this time.

Sports is not fair. That’s why we call it sports. Not everyone gets a chance, and not everyone who gets one deserves it.

Will Nash be a good coach? It hardly matters. He’s not there to teach Kyrie Irving anything. He’s there to make sure Irving is in the proper frame of mind to perform when it counts, whether that is via flattery or threats or wheedling or whatever it takes. He’s a father figure, a therapist, a best friend and – because some guys seem to like this once in a while – a worst enemy.

The only way to judge Nash is on his record. Once we’ve seen that, everyone will say they knew all along this was the best/worst idea ever.

Source: – The Globe and Mail

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Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

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LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

AP cricket:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

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Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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