Tuesdays with Tom Joe Dumars knows the importance of timing.
When then- Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson came to his star guard in 1999, his final season as a player, and asked him to run the team, Dumars asked for a year to learn more about the business side of the game -- specifically the NBA's collective bargaining agreement. When the chance came earlier this season to trade Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, he acted quickly.
"You can make a decision a little too soon or a little too late," Dumars, now the Pistons' president of Basketball operations, told a group of the state's sports editors last week in Flint.
"Bill Parcells told me once: Always be early.'"
Joey D's timing was perfect to meet the state's media on Jan. 22, just after the Pistons had won two straight games and just before back-to-back home losses to Dallas and Houston this weekend.
If that same meeting was scheduled for today, Dumars probably would have canceled his appearance to address the problems of the Pistons, who are 2-7 in their last nine games.
The good news is that the NBA regular season is meaningless.
The verdict on Michael Curry as a coach and the Billups-for-Iverson trade -- and, ultimately, Dumars' reputation as an executive -- will be determined in the playoffs.
I put Dumars in the same category as Michigan State's Tom Izzo and the Red Wings' Mike Babcock -- the right man for the job and someone who deserves our trust.
Dumars not only understands Basketball at a deeper level than almost any other executive in the league, but he is constantly reading and learning from others on the craft of putting together a winning team. His teams have made it to the Eastern Conference finals the past six years in a row.
Just think, instead of Dumars, Davidson could have turned over the Pistons at the start of this century to Dumars' backcourt mate, Isiah Thomas.
Now, with apologies to Tracy Lorenz, that would have been ... bad.
Sticking with Warner
There are two schools of thought on the Arizona Cardinals.
Either they have already had an amazing season and are just happy to be in Sunday's Super Bowl or they are going to stay at the ball past midnight and win it.
I'm predicting a second-straight Super upset because of Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, whose ability to make quick decisions on blitzes (followed by accurate throws) is the key for NFL quarterbacks. No longer do you need a rocket arm like Elway or Marino -- the NFL now belongs to savvy dinkers and dumpers like Warner.
Arizona 24, Pittsburgh 23.
Winderupper
The Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame is on a roll with its Distinguished Service Award selections.
Mark Jastrzembski, the 2007 choice, is on my mind right now with the upcoming West Michigan Wintersportsfest on Feb. 6-8, which will be three days, 22 sports and almost 3,000 athletes age 18 or under. What a great opportunity for kids.
This year's outstanding choice, Earl O'Brien, is perhaps best known for starting the wildly-popular Youth Basketball League in Grand Haven.
Both are committed to providing opportunities for kids:
"Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God."
