Parsing Larry and other thoughts

Bucks general manager Larry Harris answered questions yesterday regarding the job status of coach Terry Stotts. In such situations, a general manager is normally not free to say what he genuinely thinks, so, as fans, we have to read between the lines. Let's try:

1. "I haven't really thought about it. Terry and I have been targeting toward getting Michael back and making a final push at the playoffs. Terry and I are on the same page with that agenda."

Translation: The first sentence is completely disingenuous. When you are general manager of a team that has lost 19 of 22, of course you think about the coach's status. The second sentence is delusional. The Bucks have no hope of getting into the playoffs this season. Harris knows this. The third sentence is odd. Either its simply a poorly chosen mixed metaphor or Harris is implying that there are other issues or "agendas" upon which the two disagree.

2. "I'm the GM he's the coach. I don't want to evade the issue, its a very sensitive issue."

Translation: I think in the first sentence Harris is trying to distance himself from the ultimate fate of Stotts. 'We are not arm-in-arm' he seems to be saying. The second sentence is laced with irony. "I don't want to evade the issue". Of course he does. In fact, the entire interview is one long exercise in him trying his damndest not to address the Stotts issue while at the same time apperating to address it.

3. "We're all aware of the injuries we've had. We are going to continue to play hard and our guys are not going to give up."

Translation: In the first sentence Harris is implying that he's tired of the injury excuse and that he doesn't fully buy it. The second sentence is either wishful thinking or a bit of parental lecturing for the players ears ("you will eat your dinner and then you will do your homework").

Summation

So what was the underlying message Harris was trying to get across? Here's my take. First, I he is clearly not happy with Stotts' performance. Why do I think that? Because nowhere in his comments does he even try to mount a defense for Stotts. All he does, really, is rationalize giving him a stay of execution.

In fact, if you did an abstract summation of Harris' "comments within his comments", it might read like this:

"Yeah, Stotts is doing crappy, but I can't fire him yet. Either I don't have anyone lined up who I think would do better, or someone with a higher pay grade told me I couldn't. So I guess he's our coach for the duration. And as such I better not undermine him with any of my comments otherwise I'll be going down the eventual shitter right along with him. I can't quite justify firing him now because he's got that injury excuse to lean on. Kind of weak, but we'll see. If he can turn things around when Redd gets back, and get us into the playoffs, then I'll keep him. I doubt he will, but either way, we're probably stuck with the guy for the rest of the season. So stick it out with us Bucks fans because we are going to keep trying really, really hard. We sure are."