Random Thoughts

Champ Bailey, this is Leon Lett. Leon, this is Champ.

What's that? You've already met? Great! Then you two should have LOTS to talk about.

So I was visiting family in Sarasota this weekend, and watched the Miami Hurricanes go into the Dean Dome and shock North Carolina. Two thoughts from that game:

First, Guillermo Diaz is an NBA player. Squint your eyes just right, and remove the overbearing wife, and you have Doug Christie with a better handle.

Second, Frank Haith deserves a raise. He has single-handedly brought a dormant Hurricane basketball program into relevance -- and if we are to sing the praises of George O'Leary for making UCF football interesting, we must toss the same hosannas to Haith. Beat 14th-ranked Maryland one week, beat 20th-ranked UNC the next. Has anyone paid this much attention to Miami basketball since Rick Barry? Don't answer that.

Wondering why the Orlando Magic continue to put up with Steve Francis, despite his bizarre funk of the last month? The answer is found in the first line of his bio on his NBA.com web page:

"In 2003-04, [Francis] joined Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Grant Hill as the only players in NBA history to average 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of their first five seasons."

Francis can play this game, that's why. Go back and read that again: The Big O, Magic, and the pre-injury Grant Hill. Francis is a member of one of the most elite fraternities in the history of pro basketball. He can play. Say what you will about John Weisbrod -- he knew a gamer when he saw one. The trick for Brian Hill is to figure out how to get inside Steve-O's head.

There are two, and only two, motivating factors for NBA stars today -- money and minutes. Steve-O is signed up for $16 million-plus over the next couple of seasons, so remove money from the equation. What's left is minutes. By taking away his playing time, Coach Hill has drawn a line in the sand: "You want to play, you play our way."

This may well prove to be Brian Hill's defining moment in his second go-round as Magic head coach. I've already stated it on this site, and I will not back down now -- the Magic are a playoff team in the East, because the East is terrible. If the Magic can get to Francis via this suspension, the rest is gravy. But I admit, it's a big "if."

Michelle Wie failed to make the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii this week. Shame. She'll have to assuage herself with a $10 million dollar contract with Sony and Nike while she ruminates over missed par putts. Meanwhile, Morgan Pressel is out there right now, hitting balls on the range and counting down the days until her inevitable showdown with Annika Sorenstam. Who would you rather watch?

See you Monday.