Pat Hardy - "Alford unfair to point guard" - Cry me a river...

In his column on Jan 17, 2007, Pat Hardy writes that Iowa men's basketball coach, Steve Alford, made unfair comments about the team's point guard play at Indiana. Read the article here: Alford unfair to point guard

Pat Hardy

"Steve Alford reverted back to his old ways by throwing Henderson under the bus after the game."

Throwing under the bus? Hardly. Pointing out the truths of the game? Yes.

"Alford also blamed Henderson for causing the offense to bog down."

Well, when you turn the ball over 4 times, only have 1 assist, and score 5 points, I'd say that's an astute observation.

"It's also unfortunate and counterproductive because how does a player, even an experienced senior, benefit from being ripped publicly?"

It's called accountability, look into it.

"What's ironic about this is that Alford used Henderson's absence as an excuse for why Iowa struggled early in the season."

Pat needs a reality check.

Once Mike Henderson starts playing like a senior, perhaps then Alford will lay off Mike. There was nothing wrong in what Alford said in his quotes. The only apology that needs to be made is Mike Henderson to Hawk fans; his play has been awful at best. Alford was right to acknowledge the Hawks' lack of consistency early without Mike, they needed him in there to give them his ball handling skills, knack for getting to the hole, and leadership (something he was very efficient at the second half of last year). Once healthy, you'd think Mike would be able to get back to his old form, but right now the only thing he has been consistent at is getting called for palming.

Guess what, Pat? When players don't play well, they should be accountable. Don't whine about the coach. Mr. Hardy is probably one of those guys who blames the parents instead of the kids.