Charles Barkley: ‘I Would Start Jameer Nelson’

Charles Barkley: ‘I Would Start Jameer Nelson’
by Tas Melas

Yes, everyone loves Charles because he speaks from the heart, or the buttocks, or somewhere, but every now and then he spits out something really, really intelligent.  Although both he and the rest of the mainstream media pointed out that Stan Van Gundy made a mistake by playing Jameer Nelson too many minutes in game one, Charles does a one-eighty on the topic and suggests Van Gundy start Nelson.  How does Barkley’s analysis go from, ‘He played too much as a backup but now he should start?’  Well, Barkley is doing a great job of analyzing both the personalities and rhythm of the Magic.  Nelson’s extended minutes threw off the confidence of starting PG, Rafer Alston, and considering how temperamental Alston can be, his play often follows suit.  He’ll play great one game and awful the next – staccato, in music terms if you will – and, he doesn’t seem to be jiving with this decision now.  There just isn’t time for Stan Van right now, maybe this is one of those rare occasions when someone should listen to Charles.  Barkley joined WJOX in Birmingham to discuss Dwight Howard’s holes, the disservice SVG did to his team, and why Ron Jeremy and Van Gundy have never been in the same room.

 Criticizing Stan Van Gundy:

“He screwed up in game 1.  I thought he shouldn’t have played Jameer Nelson so many minutes.  It knocked their team out of whack, it knocked their rotation out of whack.  Clearly now Rafer has lost his confidence.  Personally right now, I would go with Jameer Nelson.  I would start him the next game because you already knocked the whole team out of whack.  You might as well go for the hail mary and start Jameer Nelson, that’s what I would do.  I don’t understand why a guy has been out 4-5 months, your team is in the Finals, why you would bring him back and play him the entire 2nd quarter.  He played Jameer the whole 2nd quarter and it knocked their whole team out of whack… You just can’t sit there for 45 minutes and come out there and start making shots.  To play him and entire quarter, that was a disservice to the Orlando Magic.”

On Dwight Howard’s disappearing act in the Finals:

“I think he’s got a long way to go.  As much as I like Dwight Howard, you can see he’s totally not even close to being polished or finished being the player he’s going to be.  If you don’t let him dunk, he has a hard time scoring.  He got a better matchup, he’s not going against a guy who’s too old… You’re seeing his flaws.  He turns the ball over a great deal.  He gets frustrated and doesn’t run back on defense when he loses the ball or they’re physical with him.  He’s a great kid, he’s got a bright future, but he does have some holes in his game.”

On Tiger Woods:

“They’ve got no chance against him. I was playing golf with Tom Weiskopf back in the 90’s and he said, ‘These guys are getting ready for a rude awakening.  This kid is going to win 100 golf tournaments and as many majors as he wants to.  They got no chance.  There’s only two things that can stop him: the death of his parents and if he gets hurt.’… Him and Michael Jordan, they’re just better than everyone else.  If Michael plays his best, he’s going to win.  If Tiger plays his best, he’s going to win.  They’re just better than everybody else.”

On the comparisons between Stan Van Gundy and Ron Jeremy:

“I say that on the air all the time – I say, ‘You’ve never seen Michael Jackson and La Toya Jackson in the same place and you’ve never seen Stan Van Gundy and Ron Jeremy in the same place.”