Out of the frying pan, into the notes column. …
This is a column about Kiki Vandeweghe’s job status. See, it’s happening again. Somebody is addressing the topic Vandeweghe desperately wants to avoid.
In the end, that’s why this is bad business. When the final year of his contract is a few weeks away and you haven’t given your bottom-line decision-maker an extension, people come out of the woodwork wanting to know what’s going on.
Word is Stan Kroenke gave Vandeweghe permission to talk to the Cavs, not so much because he wants to lose him or believes Larry Brown will have a change of heart and will stay in Detroit. It’s more of an attempt to establish Vandeweghe’s worth on the market.
Makes sense except that Kroenke already has a pretty good idea of what Vandeweghe is worth. Besides, that’s not the real issue here. The issue is this: What has Vandeweghe done to merit twisting in the wind?
OK, so he blew it by drafting Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Nene instead of Amare Stoudemire, an oversight the magnitude of which could put any GM’s job in jeopardy. But has Kroenke forgotten where the Nuggets were before Vandeweghe’s arrival? He has taken a laughingstock team hamstrung by the salary cap and turned it into a perennial playoff participant-in-waiting.
Not only that, he’s a good fit with George Karl, Kroenke’s friend and business associate who took the Nuggets on a late-season 32-8 run.
“He’s a very eccentric competitor,” Karl told Post hoops maven Marc J. Spears. “The phrase I’ve heard used is ‘out-of- the-box thinker,’ which kind of coordinates with how I’m coaching.”
Moral to the story: Don’t break up the Odd Couple, Stan. They need each other. …
It’s not like the Nuggets aren’t living up to Kroenke’s expectations. Remember last year when he said the Nuggets could be one of the top three teams in the Western Conference? The Las Vegas Hilton just put out its odds to win the 2005-06 NBA championship. Sure enough, the Nuggets are 15-1, putting them in a tie with Houston and Dallas for the third-shortest odds in the conference, behind San Antonio (5-2) and Phoenix (6-1). …
Former U of Arizona guard Salim Stoudamire, generally considered the best shooter in the NBA draft, on why he isn’t certain of his exact shooting range: “I never look down.” …
Aaron Miles on the freak injury that may have ended Clint Barmes’ season: “Freak things happen all the time. Every one of us can break our ankle walking into this clubhouse. … It’s Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong will go wrong.” …
What is it with baseball players, anyway? I’ve got my answer ready the next time one of them accuses me of never having played the game: “Yeah, well, I’ve never cut my hand pumping gas or missed a day of work because of an infected hair follicle or broken my finger on a clubhouse recliner or broken my clavicle carrying groceries, either.” …
Randy Johnson, circa 2004: 177 hits, 18 homers allowed in 245 2/3 innings. The Artist Formerly Known as Randy Johnson, circa 2005: 85 hits, 12 homers allowed in 84 innings. …
The playoffs aren’t getting older, Tim Duncan is getting better. Duncan in the first three rounds: 22.0 points per, 25.2 and 27.4. …
Ah, the NBA Finals. The color, the pageantry, the tattoos, the nonstop Brown non-denial denials. …
Just wondering: How’s Brown going to blame the media now that the Pistons went and beat the Heat?
Because you know he would have if they had lost. …
Redskins safety Sean Taylor has gotten a DUI, is being investigated for allegedly threatening someone with a gun and has refused to attend the team’s offseason conditioning program. On a more positive note, he just got a huge advance on his first book: “How to Blow an NFL Career in Five Easy Steps.”
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM and on Fox Sports Net’s “Insider Edition.” He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
