Don’t stand next to Lute Olson at a bus stop
Fresh off of worrying about Chase Budinger’s marketability, Lute Olson is at it again. The Hall of Fame coach granted an hour-long interview to Anthony Gimino of the Tucson Citizen, and Gimino asked a lot of pertinent questions that people want answers to.
Lute spared nobody:
But still, so much is wrong here. How could you blame Livengood for trying to look to the future for the program, when there was no guarantee Olson was ever coming back? All things considered, Kevin O’Neill coached a team Olson thought had “thrown in the towel” to another NCAA Tournament appearance, keeping Arizona’s streak of consecutive appearances alive. How could Lute Olson not have known the reasons for Miles Simon’s firing? Lute Olson is the most powerful man in Tucson. It is rather telling that he didn’t say he wanted Simon around, but rather did offer that the administration should have handled the release of the news, “rather than my taking the heat.”
Why did Lute Olson fly to New England to meet with Emmanuel Negedu if this was such an “easy release”? And if Olson was so sure that he would never have a player like Negedu around, why disparage him in coaching circles when the kid is seeking another scholarship? Just let him walk. Its the equivalent of going through a bad teenage romance. You like girl, you date girl, dumps you, you tell friends girl has herpes. Not nice. And if there was coachability issues with Negedu, wouldn’t Olson have noticed them in the recruiting process. I mean, Lute does claim to be able to read kids that he recruited like a book.
Sense a trend here? Its everyone else’s fault.
Lute Olson is a grown man and a legend in his field. He doesn’t have to offer an apology to anybody if he doesn’t want to. The past year is done and can’t be changed. But those loyal supporters who are asking for one aren’t under any obligation to continue to support this program, either.
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Posted by Vince Marotta
Vince has been part of the Phoenix Sports scene in a few different capacities. First as a fan, Vince has been yelling at his tv during Suns and ASU games since the late 1970's. Vince also saw the media side of things as a radio talk show host from 1996 to 2002, and then again in 2007.
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All I know is that Chase isnot ready for the NBA, can you say Luke Jackson?
Wow! A man builds a program from the ground up and I won’t even continue ’cause it would fill up this whole page. I’ll agree recent behavior does’nt match up with the expected perfect in almost every way Lute. C’mon cut the guy a little slack. How’d you like your career to ride on the whims of an 18 year old. If you must Keep writing like most other sports writers do please don’t call yourself an Arizona sports fan of any kind.