JAMBALAYA BEARS
SCOUTING REPORT
Growing Pains by NBC Sports analyst Ahmad Rashad.
Award winning analyst Ahmad Rashad
Success is 90% hard work. For everything else, count on image.
Spice Bear Blows Hot and Cold
Jam Bears GM has a tasty headache on his hands. His 1997 No.4 draft pick did not pan out. Antonio Daniels Bear...better known by team mates as Spice Bear, has proven to be a costly mistake. Said Uncle Manuel, "We drafted the boy on the strength of his college credentials. He's from Steve Nash's hometown. How could something so promising go so dreadfully wrong?"
Concurred Bears captain Jagger Bear. "He's a bloody pin up toy boy. All he has to say when we put him through drills is,"Aw..noh! That's, just SO not me. I can't do it, uh huh... uh huh..." Once, Spice Bear embarrassed the organization by refusing to take the court because, "I didn't know the game was going to be on film and televised." The Bears, though, may have found themselves a new potluck/BBQ/party organizer.
Vancouver! Get on your feet for your Jambalaya Bears !
NBC Sports analyst Ahmad Rashad had a chance to chat with Jambalaya Bears Coach Uncle Manuel Bear and filed this report.
The Jambalaya Bears open the 1998-99 season filled with new optimism. The last 3 seasons of suffering and pain look to be behind this gutsy franchise. Bears GM Coach Uy explained...
The club experienced a real tailspin in 1996 when several key veteran free agents left. Club captains Jagger Bear and Pharmacology Bear held fort bravely but could not mask the effects of the gaping holes left in the team fabric. Team fortunes brightened in early 1996 with the drafting of versatile high school phenom Big Kahuna Bear at power forward. Kahuna filled a need for rebounding at both ends of the court. Kahuna, apparently, needed some convincing to sign for the outpost franchise. Speculation is rife that the Bears used high pressure tactics to sign the talented rebounder. Drummer and Battletech Bears have repeatedly refused requests to be interviewed on this issue.
Both the starting center and power forward Nazi Bear and Keebeen Bear, drafted out of the Bears junior farm team, were on a steep learning curve offensively. Key veteran small forward Drummer Bear, pudgy power forward Spider Bear and back up shooting guard Jones Bear provided solid minutes, but the team was in need of a spark and it came in the most unexpected way...
Bears Coach Uy recalls,"I was finishing another Friday drills session when news arrived that one of the league's free agents had come for a tryout. Pharmacology Bear later informed me that he was a shooting guard. I jumped at it and we signed Peca Bear in late 1996."
Said Pharmacology Bear in a phone call interview at Battletech Bear's home. "Peca Bear, on analysis, was the missing piece we needed. When Drummer Bear left as a free agent, a chance opened up for Peca Bear to be part of the starting rotation. In his first season, Peca put up solid numbers in field-goals and free throw shooting. More significantly, we now had a player who could hit the medium to long range Js and provide the perimeter shooting. "
Coach Uy continues. "At the start of Peca Bear's second season, the fall of 97, I made the decision to take some of the scoring load off our young center Nazi Bear and forward Keebeen Bear. That called for clutch minutes for Peca. As well, Peca's form allowed Jagger Bear to concentrate on his primary role as YAF small forward." The fluid guard led the Choir Bears in scoring and earned a call-up to the All Star Game, playing alongside such luminaries as AJ Bear, Wellington Bear, Preston Manning Bear and Alvin Wei Bear.
The arrival of blue-"chip" draft pick Chipmunk Bear presents Coach Uy with delectable options. "We know Chip is a proven scorer. We could very well see one of the NBA's brightest young scoring one-two punches in Chip and Peca." Peca Bear concurred. "Having Chip on board is the final piece we need to go over the top and become title heavyweights again. Chip has good charisma and locker room presence."
After the darkness of their recent coaching problems, the Jambalaya Bears have a legitimate reason to feel "Chipper" about the new fall season.
-- Ahmad Rashad NBC Sports, Vancouver.