THE (ABA) NASHVILLE RHYTHM'S GRAND COACHING EXPERIMENT

[Houston Caldwell]

CAN A WOMAN COACH A MEN'S PRO BASKETBALL TEAM? The answer is unquestionably YES. The women's game is, if anything,more fundamentally sound and team-oriented than the men's game.Coaches like Pat Summitt(UT) or Melanie Balcomb(VANDERBILT) could coach men,women,or Martians to championships.Of course,they already make more money than ABA pocketbooks can afford.CAN ASHLEY MACILHANEY,AT THE AGE OF 22 WITH NO PREVIOUS COACHING EXPERIENCE,SUCCESSFULLY COACH THE NASHVILLE RHYTHM?The jury is out on this one.On the plus side,Ashley Mac was,at Vanderbilt,the kind of player who was like a coach on the floor,a heady,fundamentally sound team leader---the kind of player whose future is to be a great coach.And she appears to have the 100% support of management;this means that the kind of player who might question Ashley Mac's authority will not make the Rhythm roster,and,if they did,they won't be in a Rhythm uniform for long.On the minus side,asking Ashley Mac,at the age of 22,to match wits on an equal basis with the likes of Jim Harrick,Sean Higgins,and Jellybean Bryant in a close game is asking a lot.I hope Ashley Mac is a success as the Nashville Rhythm coach.But if she isn't a success,i hope this isn't her last chance as a coach---- or the last chance for highly qualified women coaches to coach male players on a high-profile level.

[Micro67]

Is it not possible that this 22 year old, with no coaching experience is being put in an impossible position. Maybe this is age-ism, but I don't see a 22 year old commanding respect.

Sadly, I have seen Slapshot 2, but I'm not convinced. Good luck to her.

[Pounder]

If the impossible position is the potential for being blamed for the franchise not succeeding, well, I don't think it's a stretch to say that a few people already know better, and the rest don't care.

I do believe a woman can coach men. I believe Pat Summitt and a handful of others would have credibility in the NBA, and be able to earn it with the players, as long as they can win. The mitigating factor... I do believe it's darn near impossible for a college coach to make the transition to coaching pro players, no matter the gender, and Larry Brown is a shining- no, GLOWING exception to this principle... unless you consider him a pro coach in the first place.

But a 22-year-old? No experience? [UNCONTROLLABLE CHUCKLING ON A BEAVIS TIP]

It's almost as if the Newman gang willfully sets these things up to fail. It almost sounds like a college thesis on how to cause a league to fail, fueled with one freaking large stash of pot.

[Houston Caldwell]

Since the original post of this topic, the Rhythm has had their first tryout camp at Allen Arena; Ashley Mac was assisted in talent evaluations by several highly credible Nashville hoops figures,including:
CHARLIE ANDERSON- A coaching legend you may have never heard of if you're not from Nashville, but basketball people know him well. Coached Aquinas Junior College to a National Junior College Championship, and, before that, was a big winner for many years as the coach of Stratford High School. A retirement-aged man who would make the perfect foil as chief assistant to the youthful Ashley Mac, and, in my opinion, this should be considered.
CHARLES DAVIS- A Nashville hero with a capital H. McGavock High and Vanderbilt basketball star who had a nearly 15-year NBA and Euro career, from which he retired a multimillionaire. Now devotes his time to philanthropic activity in inner-city Nashville through his Charles Davis Foundation. Has Nashville streets named after him.
KAREN BOOKER- Former Vanderbilt star (and sister of Barry Booker, TV basketball broadcast analyst, also a former Vanderbilt star), now in her mid-30's.
The local basketball community seems to be rallying behind Ashley Mac.

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Dude, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that those coaches were actually rallying behind the $125 charged to each free agent camper. How many bucks did that camp rake-in anyway? It was a nice payday for very little effort. 8)

[Houston Caldwell]

That would be a legit point if we were talking about different people. I don't know much about Karen Booker's finances, but I doubt this would motivate Coach Anderson, a financially comfortable retirement-aged man, or Charlie D, a multimillionaire philanthropist, much. And KB, like Ashley Mac, is a former Vandy women's baller, which could account for her wanting to see Ashley Mac succeed.

[Houston Caldwell]

I know it looks like I'm replying to my own post, but I just got an e-mail notice of a free-agent tryout camp for the Rockford Lightning (I am on the e-mail lists of several CBA teams). The charge for the tryout is $125.00 ($100.00 for pre-registrants). The Lightning are an established CBA team, and I doubt anyone would question the legitimacy of their doing this. What this seems to tell me is that the Rhythm's charge for tryouts is in line with standard business practices in Minor League Pro Basketball. The Nashville camp resulted in the signing to a contract of one player (Desmond Cambridge) and the invitation of 6 others to pre-season camp.
By purchasing season tickets, I have bet my own money on the legitimacy of the Rhythm. So far, everything I have seen from the Nashville Rhythm shows the signs of a well-run organization. I do have a concern that the ABA has over-expanded, and that there are some franchises that will have serious problems that I hope will not impact the Rhythm's inaugural season. If the ABA collapses from its'own weight, I hope that the Rhythm still shows well enough to endure in another league like the CBA, USBL, or WBA.
I agree with you, Ken, that something needs to be done to ensure the legitimacy of tryout camps; the legitimate camps of this type (and I think the Rhythm's Nashville and Memphis tryout camps fall in this category) need a "licensing" procedure to separate their functions from those of the hucksters I know are out there. Maybe the minor leagues in the various sports could get together and form a comission to draft a legislative proposal to propose to the State Legislatures of each of the 50 states on this matter. That's the best idea I can think of for solving this problem; you are clearly a thoughtful man of integrity, and might come up with an even better idea.

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Come on now, money is an excellent motivating factor. Why do you think Nashville is holding a SECOND free agent camp @ $125 per camper? You tell me...YOU tell me!

I have my reasons for following the CBA closely and I cannot think of ONE reason why a team on this level would charge for a free agent camp--other than, they just want (or need) to raise some quick cash. There ARE some CBA franchises with severe financial problems.

The CBA does not begin training camps until AFTER the NBA makes their final cuts. Why? The CBA stocks their line-ups with this near NBA talent, that's why. So you tell me--YOU tell me why a CBA team would hold a free agent camp for the general public @ $125 per camper when there is no shortage of near NBA talent around.

[Houston Caldwell]

I don't discount a word you are saying, but the fees DO have one effect besides revenue-raising. They give the non-serious prospect (or his sponsor) something to lose, which has the effect of discouraging prospects from participating unless they truly believe they have a chance to play at this level. I don't have a problem with a legitimate franchise charging a nominal fee for a tryout: its'the independent camps which charge bigger fees for exposure to unnamed "pro talent scouts" that give tryout camps a bad name.
I also don't have a problem with the Rhythm having a second camp in Memphis, an area laden with basketball talent that is a 3-hour drive from Nashville. But if they were holding camps all over the country, like a couple of the ABA franchises look like they are doing, that would have a bad "smell" to me.

[Sam Hill]

Plus, there can be insurance issues with these types of camps. Teams may have to take out specific policies to protect themselves or the facilities where the hold the tryout in the event that someone is injured while participating (even though waivers are pretty standard).

The "weeding out the riff-raff" is legitimate, too. The last thing you'd want to do if you were actually trying to make a team is to be playing with or against some hack from the local Y who thought it would be fun to get liquored up and go try out on a bet, and who could potentially injure you or someone else or make it harder for you to showcase what you can do.

I'm not saying that there aren't teams looking to make a buck off these things. I'm saying there are some legitimate reasons for charging the participants money.

[Houston Caldwell]

Also, keep in mind that if a prospect can really PLAY, but doesn't have $125 to spare, he can probably find a sponsor to front the money. I will give you an example of a local player that I would probably do this for (if necessary); ODELL BRADLEY- A local player from Whites Creek HS who played college ball at IUPUI. Odell is a 6-4, 230 lb forward who didn't get recruited by the "big boys" out of HS (because of his height and position), but he can flat PLAY. Was a dominating mid-major player on good IUPUI teams (24 ppg, 9 rpg last year); I watched him play against both Kentucky and Vandy, and although IUPUI lost both games, Odell gave both of these teams FITS. He is,in other words, a player with no NBA future who could, however, be an ABA star. If you're listening, Odell, come try out for the Rhythm. I've got your back.

[Micro67]

As far as I'm concerned the ABA is a reality and the Rhythm are as much in the race as my team - The Rotweillers - if this 22 year old can pull off a championship in a chaotic field, she will assure her place in history. The ABA is the real deal and whomever squeaks it out this year will be remembered.

[Pounder]

If all an organization has done is hire a really young coach (translation- hired for practically nothing) and hold camps for people that nobody is going to pay more than about $.02 to watch, is it viable?

The notion of this coach is lofty and laudable in a stable situation, but it looks like good old grandstand marketing if you just peek into the hole in the curtain for this league.

[Sam Hill]

The ABA "the real deal?"

Hey, pass some of that this way.

[Houston Caldwell]

Let's put a few definitive thoughts on the table about tryout camps:
Expansion teams in any league need to find ways to stock their player roster.
ABA franchises have a 10-player roster with a league salary cap of $120,000. This means ABA players will make in the $10,000-$20,000 range per annum. If YOU lived, say, in Nashville, would you relocate to,say, Vancouver to take a job whose compensation is in the Mickey-D burger flipper range? I doubt it. Most ABA applicants will be local or have some local ties. And if they fail in the tryout for the local ABA squad, most will not travel to the other end of the country to try out for another ABA team.
ABA teams incur costs in holding a tryout camp, including (but not exclusive to) gym rental, liability insurance, equipment,et al.
There are numerous financially indigent but talented players, but if they can really PLAY, they probably have access to at least one sponsor who would bet $125 on their chance of making the team.
A small fee (such as $125) is also a legitimate means of weeding out the clearly unqualified by giving them something to lose. Otherwise, what's to stop ME from trying out for the Rhythm ( I am 5'11", 53 years of age, I AM a former HS and collegiate athlete- but not as a basketball player- and my current weight is a good 40 pounds above the weight at which I played any athletic sport)? What stops me is that, like most adults, I incur enough humiliation in daily life that I don't feel the need to PAY for more of it.I am thinking about suggesting at some point to the Rhythm a FANTASY camp to benefit a local philanthropy like the Charles Davis Foundation, but that's another story.
Now that I've said all of this in defense of my hometown ABA team, let me make some points that will let you know I am not a blinder-wearing ABA homer. I believe that the ABA has seriously overexpanded, and that a number of the "expansion" franchises touted by the league will never see the court. The ABA needs, and soon, to set a DROP-DEAD date by which the new franchises need to meet specified criteria that would guarantee they can complete a season (including a venue lease, and a financial statement that guarantees they can meet a season budget, especially including player salaries); those who cannot pass the test would retain franchise rights for one more season (2005-6), but would not be included in the 2004-5 schedule. Scheduling chaos resulting from mid-season collapses of franchises can negatively impact the franchises who did their homework, as I feel Nashville's franchise has done.
And all minor league sports need to band together to frame legislative proposals to create licensing procedures for tryout camps to stop the hucksters and the riff-raff.OSC could play a major role here, as a universally respected news conduit for minor league sports. When I started my business as a Thunderstix distributor (and my first marketing was to high school teams), I learned that the hucksters and scum who had preceded me in marketing to high school programs made my job of establishing credibility a good deal harder. Today, a few crooks are undermining the tryout process for professional sports. But tryouts are needed, because there are always a few gems that the radar has missed. I know this, because I was once one of those. I became an intercollegiate tennis player despite never having played the sport on the high school level- how did this happen? Simple; I played a member of my college's tennis team in a pick-up match- and beat him.The coach immediately invited me to join the team the second he found out about that.

[Sam Hill]

One thing you forget is that $10,000 to $20,000 (if you can get it actually paid to you) is not for a year's work, but for a few months. If you could go work a temp job for that money, you'd do it, too. Even if it meant moving.

Of course, if they're not REALLY going to pay you and it's just going to be a mess, that's another story. But that's the ABA for you.

[Houston Caldwell]

If you will promise me you're not with the IRS, I'll clue you in to the fact that my income is above that level.
Still, combining ABA pay with a few months of burger-flipping still won't exactly make you a Fortune 500 member.I would think that if they are going to earn this pay level part-time, they would want to do it in the areas where their off-season employment opportunities are best. For most of these guys , that will be, once again, close to home.

[TEN]

I've run tryout camps for my USBL team for five years in one of the most obscure locations in professional sports and can tell you that the majority of the players who came to tryout came from out of state. The first year we had a number of "locals" but they didn't try again after they found out that the competition was out of their league. I've been amazed at the lengths that players have taken to come to our camps. I've always made an effort to bring four or five guys back (even if they didn't have a chance to make the final squad) because you always need bodies in training camp...it looks good on the resume...and we try to hook them up with other opportunities (we got four guys jobs in the Carolina Basketball League last year).

Most of the guys who tryout for these teams DO travel long distances...and shouldn't be taken advantage of.

Lord knows that it isn't about the money they are making in the USBL!

[TEN]

I've run tryout camps for my USBL team for five years in one of the most obscure locations in professional sports and can tell you that the majority of the players who came to tryout came from out of state. The first year we had a number of "locals" but they didn't try again after they found out that the competition was out of their league. I've been amazed at the lengths that players have taken to come to our camps. I've always made an effort to bring four or five guys back (even if they didn't have a chance to make the final squad) because you always need bodies in training camp...it looks good on the resume...and we try to hook them up with other opportunities (we got four guys jobs in the Carolina Basketball League last year).

Most of the guys who tryout for these teams DO travel long distances...and shouldn't be taken advantage of.

Lord knows that it isn't about the money they are making in the USBL!

[Houston Caldwell]

My company is a USBL licensee, so I have a degree of familiarity with the league; there are 2 important differences between the USBL and ABA situations; the first is that the USBL has been in business continuously for about 20 years, and has had plenty of time to develop a reputation as a "steppingstone league" to the NBA; the second is that most of the USBL is concentrated in two regions (the Northeast Megalopolis and the agricultural Midwest of Kansas,Iowa, Oklahoma,and Missouri); there are 2 franchises in the Southeast (Brevard and Florence), and Florence's future looks shaky. On the other hand, the ABA has literally sprouted expansion franchises in every section of the US, and some in Canada and Mexico. The ABA's challenge will be managing the schedule so that the"goats" don't drag down the "sheep".

[butterfly]

I Love the Nashville Rhythm!! They rock and I can't wait to see how far they will go... I bet they will go far and make some more history!! Rock On!

Go Rhythm!

:) :wink:

[Pounder]

This soccer fan thinks that last comment sounds like, well, the WUSA. We remember what happened to them, no?

Making history is OK, but in the basketball business, the paying customers seem to prefer basketball. Just an observation....

[butterfly]

This soccer fan thinks that last comment sounds like, well, the WUSA. We remember what happened to them, no?

Making history is OK, but in the basketball business, the paying customers seem to prefer basketball. Just an observation....

i'm just a rhythm fan... thats all :D

[SK10171996]

This soccer fan thinks that last comment sounds like, well, the WUSA. We remember what happened to them, no?

Making history is OK, but in the basketball business, the paying customers seem to prefer basketball. Just an observation....

i'm just a rhythm fan... thats all :D

You know, Nashville just might be one of a few teams that will still be around and the end of the season.

[Houston Caldwell]

AM very gratified by SK's remark; because I know this is coming from someone who is anything but an ABA "homer".
Nashville has had exceptional luck in the management and coaching quality in our professional sports franchises. And we have needed it, because we are a hybrid "small major league/big AAA type market". Pro sports could easily have been a flop here, but in each pro sport, we have had intelligent owners, good GM's, excellent coaches who knew how to build programs of excellence (Titans, Kats) and near-excellence in tougher circumstances (Predators in the Steinbrenner-style favoring NHL); if the NHL ends the lockout with a salary cap, the Predators, who made last year's playoffs and whose Milwaukee AHL affiliate won the championship, will soon become a NHL elite powerhouse.
I am convinced that the Nashville Rhythm features on and off court management that are more youthful versions of the same breed. The ABA has obvious flaws that need to be worked on, but I think this franchise will shine like a diamond in the rough.