 |
| December
12 , 2002
Page
2 |
 |
PEJA
JB
The
100% healthy Peja is an all star in the
NBA, no doubt about it. The playing hurt
Peja is the 8th or 9th best player on the
Kings. Right now, Peja is closer to the
second description. That's not a knock on
Peja, it's a credit to the quality depth
of the Kings. That's why I don't understand
the urgency of running Peja out on the court
last night as a starter. He clearly looked
uncomfortable, tentative and rusty. I can
only guess that coach was concerned with
the Rockets playing a lot of zone lately
and Peja is a bonafied zone buster. But
what |
they
lost was what Gerald Wallace brought in the last
game against the Rockets. Gerald tore them up
with scoring off of offensive rebounds and active
defense. With three days off coming up and the
slow footed Jazz as their next game, that would
have been the perfect game to bring Peja back.
I wouldn't have even minded getting a few minutes
off the bench last night to shake off a bit of
rust and see how his foot reacted this morning.
I certainly feel that the game was sacrificed
in order to get Peja into the lineup. Adelman
should take the blame for that decision.
THE
WEBBER CASE
Critic
The
Michigan prosecutor's comments about the judge's
ruling cast a lot of doubt on the abilities of
that prosecutor. I don't litigate criminal cases
any
more, but when I did I guarantee you that very
close to the last
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
thing I would
have
considered doing is publicly trashing a ruling by
the judge still presiding over a big case I was
trying. That is NUTS. Think she appreciated it?
Think she'll forget it? Think she lacks the power
to hurt this prosecutor? The guy is lucky not to
be held in contempt of court already. In case that
prosecutor hasn't noticed it, the power of an annoyed
judge to crush a lawyer in court is WAY more than
the power of an annoyed ref to crush a basketball
player. I tried some cases before judges who would
"step back" (put in the jail behind the
court room) a lawyer for comments less disrespectful
than that. I once was threatened with jail by a
judge for just silently shaking my head at one of
his (beyond all belief ignorant) rulings. This ruling
in the CWebb case was probably the right one in
a mature, adult world. Judges, like refs, are people
and have emotions. If you "show up" a
ref on the basketball court, he'll for sure T you
up and may well call the next 2 or 3 close ones
against you to see if you want to get a second T
and an early shower. If you show up a judge in the
media, she'll not be ruling your way in any close
decisions and CAN put you in jail for contempt (a
hell of a lot worse than getting a T). Remarkably
brain dead comment. I had been expecting proof of
money flow to be there because otherwise the prosecutor
would have to be a moron. Hmmm, maybe he IS a moron.If
that were a lawyer working for me (as client or
higher ranking prosecutor) he'd be off the case
immediately. Talk about [spitting] into the wind!
Below The Rim
In
previous weeks, I had reserved judgment; I figured
it was possible that the prosecutor could have had
some good reasons for charging Webber, et. al. Here
are some examples of what he might have been thinking.
(1) All the other athletes fessed up; so he just
"knows" Webber's lying (2) As for the
quantity of money, and the contrary evidence of
Webbers' humble lifestyle, well, a few hundred dollars
a week to each person, over several years, and you
can make that quarter million disappear without
anyone driving around in a jaguar. (3) Maybe there's
some real documentation somewhere, or he figures
Webber will fold under pressure, or the NBA or the
Kings would pressure him to plead out and get it
over quickly, or the aunt or dad will cut a deal
to spare Webber.
(4) Maybe he's from UMich, or his buddies are, and
they saw Webber driving around in jaguar (5) If
he really thinks that there is credible evidence
of perjury, then by all means he should proceed
-- perjury happens all too often, so you have to
make examples.
But after the recent excoriation of the judge's
rather routine, normal scheduling decision ... what
can I say, other than, uh, what?!? If I were in
charge, this is the sort of case that I might assign
to a junior attorney for him to experience getting
his butt kicked, or who knows, he might actually
win. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
