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Jackson Throws the Books at Them With Steve Nash leading the way, today's NBA is all about quick floor leaders by Mike BRESNAHAN DEC, 2005 CHICAGO — Phil Jackson: coach, author, and, after a one-year layoff, a book-giver once again. According to his annual custom, Jackson handed out reading material to each Laker at the start of the six-game trip. He did not take TNT analyst Charles Barkley's advice to hand out Bibles because, in Barkley's words, "only God can help them," but instead concentrated on themes of leadership and decision-making. Kobe Bryant received "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking," a bestseller about making decisions, good and bad, and why some people are better at it than others. "It's about following intuition, about intuitive thought," Jackson said. Lamar Odom received Sun-Tzu's "The Art of War," a classic that centers on the concept of leading with wisdom and achieving success by understanding the nature of conflict. "It's a little bit about how to promote competition," Jackson said. For Kwame Brown, there was "Sacred Hoops," a book written by Jackson about the principles of teamwork. Chris Mihm received "A Bell for Adano," the story of an Italian- American major in World War II winning admiration from Italian townspeople by trying to replace a 700-year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by fascist leaders. "I'm still trying to figure it out," Mihm said, smiling. Luke Walton received a book on the history of rock 'n' roll, Sasha Vujacic was given a spy novel written by Alan Furst, and 18-year-old Andrew Bynum, the youngest of the Lakers, was given "The Old Man and the Sea." Mike Bresnahan is LA Times' staff writer. NOT: Yazıyı gönderen Orkun ÇOLAKOĞLU'a teşekkürler. Six guards a-blazing' With Steve Nash leading the way, today's NBA is all about quick floor leaders by Joe Davidson NOV 27, 2005 Blur guards. That's what they are. So quick with the dribble and their feet that they force defenders to backpedal or reach helplessly as if to lower the draw bridge and impede traffic. Nothing quite makes a player feel lead-footed like having a player blow past him, the exhaust puffing out of the tank top. The greatest weapon in the NBA these days isn't necessarily a dominating center. Shaq is hurt, Yao doesn't always dominate, and there are no more Kareems, Wilts or Russells out there. It's the point guard who can handle the ball and put constant pressure on the defense, who can reach the basket in an instant to score or to distribute when the defense instinctively collapses on the target. The league had quick lead guards such as Tiny Archibald in the 1970s. Then there was the dynamic big guard in Magic Johnson in the 1980s and, in the 1990s, the prolific combo guard in Michael Jordan. Now, you take a blur guard in any shape or form, be it mighty mites like the incomparable Allen Iverson, the ever-steady Gilbert Arenas and up-and-comer T.J. Ford, or the bigger blurs in Baron Davis and Jason Kidd. The best player in the league last season? A point guard - Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, who might not have world-class speed but whose ballhandling abilities leave defenders in the wake of his sweaty locks. Also, teams are drafting blurs to give themselves a chance at winning the foot-races. New Orleans/Oklahoma City seemingly has a chance every night because of Chris Paul. "It's a fantastic thing to have," said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who has Tony Parker to unleash. "Especially with the rules now, where you can't put a hand on a guy anymore. It allows a player to show his wares. It's great for the league - but only if you've got one." Joe Davidson is Sacramento Bee's staff writer. Auerbach making me see red by Todd BEHRENDT FOXSports.com Let's chalk it up to nicotine withdrawal. Since a prolonged hospital stay this summer, Celtics president and legendary coach Red Auerbach has had to give up his beloved cigars, which is bound to make a guy a little cranky ... even if he wasn't an 88-year-old curmudgeon who has been unwilling to share his place in NBA history with a damn hippie. But even withdrawal symptoms can't entirely explain Auerbach's most recent tirade against Lakers coach Phil Jackson. Of course, the topic being Jackson, that wasn't all Auerbach could say. "Phil Jackson, they've got a pretty good ballclub out there, but he's got his built-in excuse," Auerbach said. "You could have taken, I won't say anybody, but you can take any knowledgeable coach and put them in those situations and they can't do any worse. If L.A. doesn't make the playoffs, it's 'building.' " So when Jackson decides to return to a Lakers team that nobody believes has championship-caliber talent, he's got a "built-in excuse" should he fail, but if he'd gone to, say, Cleveland to coach LeBron James and the Cavs' improved supporting cast, he'd have just been "picking his spots"? It makes one wonder if there was a job Jackson could have taken that would have met with Auerbach's approval. It also makes one wonder just how being the assistant coach (and therefore the logical successor) when Doug Collins was fired in Chicago qualifies as "picking his spots." Granted, Jackson's ascendancy in Chicago gave him the opportunity to coach a transcendent player who was just coming into his prime. But if there's any coach who might want to wait before breaking out the "of course he won, he had the best talent" card, it would be Auerbach. At one point during the Celtics' run, Auerbach had an entire starting lineup filled with future Hall of Famers (Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, Frank Ramsey and Tom Heinsohn) and brought another two off the bench (Sam Jones, K.C. Jones). Until Karl Malone and Gary Payton came to L.A. for the 2003-04 season, it was debatable whether Jackson had coached seven Hall of Famers in his entire NBA career, let alone during a single season. Now, it's true that the first time that Jackson was a coaching free agent, he chose a situation that lent itself to success. It's also true that, like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen before them, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant had plenty of opportunities to win titles before Jackson came along ... but didn't. But as long as Auerbach insists on playing compare-and-contrast with the only other coach with rings on 90 percent of his fingers, it's worth noting the following: -- Auerbach's Celtics never had to win 15 games to win a title, as all nine of Jackson's championship teams did. And now that the opening round is a best-of-seven affair, it takes 16 wins to earn a ring; when Auerbach was coaching in Boston, he could get a pair of titles with 16 postseason victories. Hats off Mr. Garnett and Thanks for Re-Shaping My Perception of You by Peter RUMM, MD for HOOPSWORLD.com NOV 15th, 2005 I have to quietly admit it I truly never liked Kevin Garnett much before this week. Notes to ESPN by Steve "Mr. BskBALL" Tyler June 29th, 2003 To our friends at ESPN, it became quite clear that your team broadcasting the NBA draft on Thursday had not had much experience with such an event… so here are some tips from “Uncle Steve”- #1: You never tell a bride she's fat on her wedding day. It's low class to call out a bad player on the best day of his life on national TV, even if my man sucks wind, leave that for the post draft review. As someone is walking up to the podium, you should keep the negativity to yourself, bad form saying someone couldn't guard the chair your sitting in. #2: Grills are for Barbeques. It was surprising to watch how grueling the post hand shake interviews were, my goodness, poor Darko came out looking stupid and what's with the Cow stories? A good interview has prepared questions, share them with the guy your interviewing, most of these cats struggled the whole way through. #3: It's not the package, it's the toy inside. It was nice to see the draft presented in a very visually appealing manner, what happened to the 2nd round? If you're going to go to the trouble of broadcasting the picks, show them all. At some point it seemed like Russ Granik stopped coming to the podium, we clearly lost track at home, hell even the ESPN website didn't have half the second rounder until the end of the night. The 2nd round is important to some of us, show us our picks! 4th: You're only as good as your weakest link. I got love for Tom Tolbert, but he has no business covering the draft, time and time again my man tried to be funny, and he came off looking stupid… when the crowd starts chatting Fire Tolbert, you got issues. There were too many personalities and not enough experts. The bickering between Dickie V and Tom was insane; someone should have pulled the plug. Lastly: Less is More. I know we're information starved as a culture, but the side box and scrolling ticker were too much. The scroll at the bottom was too fast, and the side box made no sense. Overall this was a higher energy draft broadcast, but the fans want Charles Barkley, and the pundits want great insight. ESPN offered neither… Let's hope the suits consider what didn't work for next year. Steve Kyler is the lead NBA analyst for Basketball News Services; in addition he serves as Senior Editor for HOOPSWORLD and is a freelance radio personality that has covered the NBA for the past 8 years. Thanks for everything, Dad by Bill Simmons June 26th, 2003 My
dad is one of the last true sports fans. He supports every New
England team, regardless of the circumstance. If Tufts were playing
for the NCAA Ping-Pong championship, Dad would be on the bandwagon.
The man inhales the NHL draft -- a parade of players nobody, including
him, has ever seen, rooting for the B's to take someone he "has
a gut feeling about." He watches the Belmont. He watches
the TPC. He'll catch Hoosiers for the 234th time on HBO6, even
if he just saw it for the 233rd time a week earlier. He has nodded
off in more third quarters and sixth innings than you can imagine.
But he always wakes up at the right time. You only get one chance with Dad. In the '90 Stanley Cup Finals, Glen Wesley missed an open net in a triple-OT loss to the Oilers, and Dad never forgave him. Poor Wesley could have flown to Iraq and wiped out each and every Hussein; Dad wouldn't have cared. When Boston traded Wesley to Hartford four years later for three first-rounders, my father laughed. "I would've given the guy away," he said. Lately he's been on a crusade to get the Celtics to dump GM Chris Wallace, who made that Vin Baker trade. "They should fire Wallace, and they should make him take Baker with him," Dad says. "And then they should have to live together." Speaking of disappointments, Dad used to throw grounders and tight spirals at me for hours. He's still annoyed that I didn't turn into the next Randy Vataha. "All those balls I threw you," he says now, "you caught 'em all. You had great hands. But you had slow legs, and you didn't want to get hit." As far as he's concerned, I'm Wesley or Alaa. But I definitely wouldn't be a Sports Guy without him. Dad bought a single Celtics season ticket in 1974 and carried me into the games. I slept through the famous triple-OT game against the Suns, spread across his lap and the legs of two strangers. I was 6, but he still makes fun of me about it. When I was 8, he bought me my own seat. They moved us to midcourt because nobody was going, and Larry Bird arrived in Boston the following season. A gift from the hoop gods. We attended just about every relevant Bird game together. How do you repay someone for a gift like that? When I started writing columns, Dad became a running character. And something strange happened: My readers felt they knew him. To my continuing amazement, I get more e-mails about Dad than anyone else I write about. People ask how he's doing, send him best wishes, even quote some of his memorable NBA draft lines (like "That suit has no buttons" about Drew Gooden). Every year, around Father's Day, readers thank me for writing about him, because it reminds them of why they miss their own dad so much. Sadly, Dad and I can't watch the NBA draft together this year, because I'm in California. It's one of those things we did every year, a father-son tradition. Decades from now, when he's long gone, my favorite memory of Dad will be of sitting with him during the draft. Here's an accomplished guy with a law degree and a Ph.D, but you've got to see him sprawled on the sofa, juggling eight mock drafts, frantically crossing off names in pen, eyes widening every time Stern approaches the microphone. He cracks me up. Happy Father's Day, Pop. Wish I could be there. Bill Simmons is a columnist for Page 2 and ESPN, The Magazine, and he's a writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live. How to fix the cruel foul-out rule by Dennis Hans May 25, 2003 The most dumb and cruel rule in all of sports — the foul-out rule — reared its ugly head again last Wednesday. Dallas superstar Dirk Nowitzki was whistled for three fouls in the first seven minutes. He then sat and watched for nine minutes as the Spurs widened their lead, then came back and played cautiously — and even less defense than he normal — the rest of the half as the Spurs blew the game wide open. I think San Antonio would have won the game even if Dirk hadn’t had a whiff of foul trouble. But I’ve seen many playoff games this year where foul trouble or foul outs — affecting good, smart players playing a good, clean game — impacted the outcome. A fifth (and dubious) foul on Tim Duncan in the fourth quarter of Game 1 Monday sent him briefly to the bench and may have been the key to Dallas’s come-from-behind win. The foul-out rule even affects who guards whom. The two greatest big men in the game today, Shaquille O’Neal and Duncan, squared off this year in the second round. Both are in their prime, and both are masterful low-post scorers and defenders. This should have been a Clash of Titans, a modern-day Chamberlain-Russell donnybrook. Just one problem: No matchup. They almost never guarded each other. Duncan used and abused Robert Horry and Mark Madsen, while Shaq did the same to Mr. Robinson and someone who looked like Malik Rose, though I can’t be sure because he was completely blocked out of the camera shots by a Laker three times his size. If you have a rule that discourages a Best vs. Best confrontation, you tear up that rule. Ali fought Frazier. He didn’t beat up on Frazier’s sparring partner while Frazier did the same to Ali’s sparring partner. Deion Sanders and Darrell Green would always guard the other team’s best receiver. They wouldn’t want it any other way. Ric Flair never ducked Dusty Rhodes. Like he told Dusty and countless other challengers, “To be the man you have to beat the man.” If I were an NBA player, I simply wouldn’t accept a ridiculous rule that routinely — and seemingly arbitrarily — turns gritty competitors into frustrated spectators. If the players anoint me executive director of the Players’ Association, I’ll lead them in a strike until that abomination is fixed. Let’s be clear: The problem isn’t with the refs. The officiating needs improvement, but the refs do their best. Their job is to call ’em as they see ’em for 48 minutes. It is not their job to keep key players on the court. That’s a job for the NBA rules committee. Sadly, it hasn’t been up to the task. As one of many bright and brave souls who’ve been campaigning against the foul-out rule for years, I was delighted to hear Jeff Van Gundy Wednesday night add his name to the growing chorus. It’s time to put practical solutions on the table, so we can change the conversation from “Shouldn’t we get rid of this rule?” to “Here are some sensible plans to fix it. The season doesn’t start until the players and owners agree on one.” To get that conversation started, here is my five-point plan: 1) Each team starts the game with three “foul coupons.” The coach can cash one in at any time to remove a personal foul from a player’s total. For example, it could be used after a player picks up a second foul early in the first quarter. The coach would hand the coupon to the ref and the player would still have just one foul, though the expunged second foul would still count toward the team’s total for the quarter or half. An NBA coach could, if he chooses, use all three coupons on the same player, which would mean he would foul out on his 9th foul. 2) Downgrade non-brutal moving picks from a foul to a loss-of-possession violation — but strictly enforce the rule. The model here is football’s two distinct face-mask penalties, depending on the severity. 3) Downgrade player-control offensive fouls from a foul to a loss-of-possession violation, thereby eliminating the vile practice of flopping a foe into foul trouble. This change also guarantees that drivers — the players that fans pay to see — have just as many defensive fouls at their disposal as jumpshooters and non-shooters, who nobody pays to see. (We’ll also make it considerably more difficult to draw a charge; click here for my analysis on why the current interpretation is grossly unfair to drivers and bad for the game.) Related to Point 3, the players will make the refs job easier and the game more honest by taking the no-flop pledge: “I will strive to remain upright rather than collapsing from incidental, unavoidable contact.” In turn, we call on refs to enforce the dislodging rule. Right now, many of you punish low-post defenders who make a supreme effort to stay on their feet, while rewarding those who reel, stuntperson style, from real or imagined contact. If you refs don’t keep your end of the bargain, you’ll only encourage the re-emergence of the flop. 4) Ensure that teams don’t benefit from excessive fouling by expanding the definition of “intentional foul” to include obvious grabs by beaten defenders, deliberate shoves to send a poor free-throw shooter to the line, and late-game whacks by trailing teams trying to stop the clock. The intentionally fouled player is awarded two points and his or her team retains possession. Because a possession is worth, on average, one point, the intentional-foul penalty would actually be a “penalty,” which is what penalties are supposed to be. It would cost, on average, three points, which is one more point than the beaten defender prevented. Whacking and grabbing are not skills, so let’s not reward them. As for vicious intentional fouls, the penalty is a 10-game suspension served in Australia as a marked man on a last-place rugby team. But how will teams rally? 5) With tenacious defense, great shooting and ample possessions, courtesy of a 12-second shot clock in the final two minutes of each half, when time-outs are disallowed. (Thanks to King Kaufman of Salon.com for this innovation.) Under the current rules, the standard method of staging a late rally goes like this: “Commit an intentional foul; fouled player shoots free throws; trailing team hoists a quick trey. Repeat this boring process until the horn blows.” Deliberate whacks, free throws, time outs and jumpshots are never exciting, though sometimes a jumper of free throw is dramatic. I’ll take excitement over drama any day. Excitement means great athletes doing creative things on the move against other great athletes doing their legal best to thwart what the offensive team springs on them. That’s just what our “Final Frantic Flurry” will provide. Under my rules regime, the impact of a given call, good or bad, will be greatly reduced. The game won’t take a dramatic turn because Baron Davis gets called for two reach-ins in the first two minutes, Paul Pierce is whistled for his third on a dubious charge call early in the second quarter, or Duncan gets his sixth halfway through the fourth on an attempted swat. No player ever again will have to think twice about diving for a loose ball, swatting a shot or penetrating the paint. He or she may not succeed, but the punishment for failure won’t be a long stint on the bench. That’s good for the players and good for the refs. And that, my friends, is good for the game. Dennis Hans’s essays on basketball — including the styles, rhythms and fundamentals of free-throw shooting — have appeared online at the Sporting News and Slate. His writings on other topics have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald, among other outlets. (hoopshype.com'dan alınmıştır) The sport of Kings! by Hunter S. Thompson May , 2003 We are waiting for the Sacramento game to start now, and my phone is ringing incessantly, so I turn down its volume to zero. Screw that telephone. I always turn it off when the game starts. That is my business. Today has been a rough one. We had blowouts, many blowouts, one right after the other. I almost blacked out once or twice. My blood pressure ran up to about 225, and I noticed that people were giving me a wide berth. Hot damn! The Sacramento Kings are leading the Dallas Mavericks 41-32, with four minutes and four seconds to play in the first half…. Mike Bibby has missed 13- of-14 shots from the field, so far, six of them wide-open layups. Whoops. Doug Christie just stripped the ball away from flashy little Nick Van Exel and loped in for a stylish dunk, and the Kings lead 52-37 at halftime. Which is okay, but I can't help but remember that last night Dallas was down by 16 in the first quarter -- and they still lucked out with a victory in two overtimes. Anita went all to pieces after that one. I had to take her into town and put her in a decompression Chamber. She didn't take the scandal about the Kentucky Derby as hard as I did, but so what. I am a natural son of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and she is not…. But the horrible shock of the New York Times going down in a blaze of fraud and treachery was too much for her, and she cracked up. Jesus babbling Christ! The Kings have gone up 60-42 -- and now here comes Nick Van Exel. The crowd boos nervously, rumbling with a queer hostility. I am betting Sacramento even, so things are looking "good," as they used to say in Baghdad. My people are kicking ass and Anita is feeding me grapes. Ye gods, this game is a rout! The Mavericks are bleeding from every orifice. Mahalo. Why am I still feeling queasy, with a 20-point lead at the end of three quarters? Why am I plagued by memories of false hubris and total collapse? Am I a fool? Of course not. I am only a gambling person with a "checkered past," and I have a very keen sense of impending danger -- which is what I feel now, with 6:59 left on the clock and Sacramento cruising by 19 or 20??? Why am I riddled with angst? The
Kings didn't let the Mavs steal Game 4, much to the delight of
the Good Doctor. Strange, eh? Last night the Kings played winning basketball and lost. Tonight, they are playing Losing basketball but winning. What does it all mean, Alphie? Who cares. Dirk Nowitzki has just been ejected from the game. Dallas is falling apart. Now some jackass named Bell is trying to sock Bobby Jackson in the face. Jackson has a broken jaw and a fractured orbital bone above his eye. Incredible. How low do you have to sink in the slime of human stupidity to deliberately whack one of the classiest players in the league in the face when he has a cracked eye-bone and a broken jaw? That is unacceptable rudeness. Bell is a knee-crawling, back-stabbing punk with the soul of a Rat and the heart of a filthy virus. The NBA should have him committed to a state Mental Hospital, and locked down with restraints until he gets his entire body dyed bright yellow, which will stay on his skin forever. Excellent, eh? You bet. There is only One way to deal with a vicious Punk -- and that way is viciously. Take my word for it. I know exactly how to deal with human scum…
More than 40 games in 40 nights of NBA playoff basketball ... "No. I am not a whore," said the bartender. "What do you mean by that?" "Nevermind the small talk," I said to her. "I came here to suck on your back." She cried out with fear and tried to get away, but I slapped some plastic on her, then I locked the front door. It was 2:06 a.m., and a freezing rain was falling. Beautiful, I thought. This is my kind of night.
Elsewhere in the world of sports ... If
someone named Napoleon offers you a real estate deal -- you better
take it. I couldn't agree with you more, Mr. President. I have always admired your free-wheeling style of doing business. The French suck. Indeed, the French nation sucks! All of it. Look at all the things we have fleeced them out of: The Statue of Liberty, two-thirds of the western U.S.A., all of what was once "Southeast Asia" -- Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc.... The list is long, if we want to get weird about it: Hitler's gold, various forms of oral sex, two million magnums of elegant French Champagne, etc, etc. But wait. There is another way to look at it. The prancing little Emperor got his way in spades when he dumped that useless untamed wilderness. It meant nothing to him. He was looking at Egypt for his next project, and for that he needed real money immediately, not 200 years later -- and $15 million green dollars looked just about right to conquer all of Egypt in those days, the star of the Middle East and all of its ancient treasures, its Mystery, the immediate, in-hand Magic of owning Cairo, the pyramids, the Nile river ant the ghost of sweet Cleopatra. The King, the emperor, the Pharoh. Yes sir. It was a big-time dream come true. Who needs some stupid shack in Oregon? Napoleon was looking for instant, massive gratification on a scale of the Gods and Goddesses, and he had it right in front of his own greedy little eyes. Hot damn! Give me that goddam $15 million right now in a clean brown bag. I will soon be the Champion of Fun. Cazart.
So. What is the outlook for tomorrow, Doctor? What is the gambling Prognosis? What is the score? Well…. Who knows? Let me think on that, and I'll give you an answer in the Morning. Ho ho. (PAUSE here, for a spontaneous salute to Meatloaf, who has long been one of my heroes.) What is happening now is a whole different game than it was yesterday. Both series in the West are tied 2-2, which is wonderful news for all those among us who are certified basketball junkies. We are seeing some strange and powerful games, and we must have every series go the full seven games. That is the law of nature. I almost panicked last night, after that brutal and totally exhausting two-overtime game between the Kings and the once "unbeatable" brutes from Texas. I was beginning to see the gloomy prospect on an all-Texas western final. But ... NO. Things changed, and now I see both series going seven wild games. Last year, we had an all-California final. But so what? The mere possibility of Sacramento without Chris Webber actually winning the NBA championship is so irresistible that I have to see it coming. That is all I know, and all I need to know. Gook luck. Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Ky. His books include "Hell's Angels," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72," "The Great Shark Hunt," "The Curse of Lono," "Generation of Swine," "Songs of the Doomed," "Screwjack," "Better Than Sex," "The Proud Highway," "The Rum Diary," and "Fear and Loathing in America." His latest book, "Kingdom of Fear," has just been released. A regular contributor to various national and international publications, Thompson now lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colo. His column, "HEY, RUBE," appears regularly on Page 2. (ESPN.com, Page 2'dan alınmıştır) Crazy Postseason! by Sam AMICO / The AMICO REPORT May 2, 2003 I write that the Detroit Pistons will finish sixth in the Central Division, and they win it. Then I write that the Pistons will advance to the NBA Finals, and they're on the verge of losing to eighth-seeded Orlando in the first round. As reader Dwight Seton e-mailed, "JUST STOP WRITING ABOUT THE PISTONS!" Or how about this from reader Tony Wilcox: "Dear Sam, I'm beginning to think the best thing about your NBA newsletter is getting the opportunity to make fun of you." Thanks, Tony. Thanks a lot. Actually, with as wild and whacky as this postseason has been, you can hardly make fun of my predictions. Well, you can, but it's not like anyone really knew that Boston and Orlando would play so well, or that Philadelphia and Dallas looked like they could sweep, only to find themselves involved in a long series. And what about the Portland Trail Blazers? I know, Rasheed Wallace sounded like Rain Man when he continuously muttered, "Both teams played hard." But I'm not sure I believe Rasheed. I'm not sure the Blazers DO play hard -- at least, not all the time. And effort is supposed to be a given in the playoffs. That's not intended to pick on the Blazers, because I have no evidence that they're lazy. But after watching the way they lost to Dallas in the first three games ... then seeing how they won the next two ... well, it's just a hunch. Anyway, I'm rambling. Then again, so far the playoffs have been a jumbled mess of unpredictability, making it terribly difficult to put together any kind of organized thoughts. Here is my best effort: TALKIN' T-WOLVES Yes, Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett is about to become the first player in NBA history to lose in the first round seven straight times. But I have a feeling that statistic will only motivate Garnett. If the Wolves can add another star - a guy who excels on both ends of the floor, not just one - then Garnett should finally lead them to realistic championship contention. After all, one thing the T-Wolves proved in their series against the Lakers is that they're only slightly worse than the three-time world champs. Prior to the series, I wrote that Troy Hudson and Wally Szczerbiak would be the keys for Minnesota (considering we already knew there was no stopping Garnett). Well, Hudson has been remarkable, but Wally's been awful. Szczerbiak has looked lost on defense and terrified on offense. Also, what's happened to forward Joe Smith? Is he really that bad? Remember when Smith was the No. 1 pick in the draft? Remember when the T-Wolves' front office lost draft picks for conducting shady negotiations with Smith and his agent? Has any of it been worth it? I'd have to say no, as Smith has played limited minutes off Minnesota's bench, looking like a guy who's searching for his lost quarter under the bleachers when he does play. But you have to love the physical style of backup big men Marc Jackson and Gary Trent, and the solid leadership of Rod Strickland and Kendall Gill off the bench. Meanwhile, with his crafty ballhandling skills, deadeye shooting and fearless drives, Hudson reminds me very much of former Cleveland guard Mark Price. The bottom line is the Timberwolves have nothing to be ashamed of, as they've proven to be a wonderfully exciting team that can play with the best. Still, they may want to make a deal involving Szczerbiak or Anthony Peeler during the offseason, with the idea of landing someone to get them out of the first round. END OF THE SONG? As I write this, the Sacramento-Utah series is the only one that's over, the Kings winning in five games. And while I love Karl Malone and John Stockton as much as the next guy, it's time for the Jazz to shake their hands and say, "Thanks for the 18 years of wonderful service, fellas. Now best of luck to ya." Malone can still be a starter, but he needs to be the third or fourth option -- something he'd never be able to do in Utah. But could you imagine Malone standing next to Shaquille O'Neal in the Lakers' lineup, or next to Tim Duncan in San Antonio? He'd average 12-to-15 points and help lift either or those teams to a title. As for Stockton, it wouldn't hurt for the Jazz to bring him back at the absolute minimum veteran salary, especially as a backup to a good free-agent signee like Andre Miller. There have also been rumors that Stockton will sign a cheap one-year deal with someone like Seattle or Cleveland, where he'll play 10 minutes a game and help groom a young point guard. I have a hard time believing that, as Stockton is a creature of stability, and reportedly has no desire to get into coaching. As for the rest of the Jazz, I don't see any reason to keep backup point guard Mark Jackson or starting shooting guard Calbert Cheaney, both of whom could be out of the NBA next season. I do love what I've seen from Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko, and especially, DeShawn Stevenson. I know that Stevenson has had his problems with coach Jerry Sloan, but I love the young guard's athleticism and hustle. Even with Malone and Stockton, the Jazz probably won't make the playoffs next season. As much as it hurts for Utah fans to hear this, now is the time to rebuild. MORE ON STOCKTON The most likely scenario involving Stockton is that he will retire this summer, and you don't need me to tell you that he will be missed. As former NBA player and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith said, in this day of And1 mix tapes and crossover dribbles, the 41-year old Stockton is one of the few remaining point guards who has absolutely no flash to his game -- but is still a joy to watch. "He always figured out a way to get the ball to the middle of the floor, and he never had to dribble behind his back or between his legs to get there," Smith said. "As a New York City point guard, I find that amazing and probably appreciate it more than anyone." I agree with Smith, as my favorite type of point guard is the kind that hails from NYC -- the kind that is tough, plays with tons of confidence, and has moves that will bring you to your feet. Yet I liked watching Stockton as much as any of those guys. I hope he plays one more season, accepting a limited role with either the Jazz or another team. I'm not sure why -- maybe it's just because I want to see a 42-year old point guard in the NBA. More than that, though, it's probably because the NBA needs more guys like Stockton. OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS -- Speaking of New York point guards, Phoenix's Stephon Marbury gets my vote for Best Point Guard of the First Round. Marbury has made San Antonio's Tony Parker look like he'd much rather be sitting on the bench. And that's not necessarily a knock on Parker, as NOBODY could contend with Marbury right now. He's just too quick, too strong, and too fundamentally-sound. Marbury is also displaying maturity and acting like the perfect teammate. The Suns may be finished by the time you read this, but with a little more experience, they could be one of the top four teams in the West next season. -- Hold those e-mails asking what I have against the crossover dribble. The answer is absolutely nothing, as Philadelphia's Allen Iverson is among my absolute favorite players of all-time. In other words, I like exciting, breathtaking play as much as anybody. I'm just trying to point out how the greatest players stay true to their personalities, and don't try to be something they're not. I mean, could you imagine how ineffective Indiana's Ron Artest would be if he acted like a nice guy? -- Did anyone else have a feeling that the Pacers would suffer a meltdown in the playoffs? I love these guys, and I really thought they would be the East's dominant team when they made the trade for Artest and Brad Miller a year and a half ago. I have no idea what's wrong, though. If you do, e-mail me and I'll print your response. Maybe coach Isaiah Thomas or team president Donny Walsh will read and figure out a way to fix things. -- Or maybe Thomas won't even be back. -- As for the Pistons, well, I know ... I should just shut up right now. But I can't help myself. Even if they come back to beat Orlando, the Pistons aren't going to make it to the Finals. As every sportswriter in America has already told you, the Pistons have no one to turn to in the clutch. They're a very good defensive team with no real threats on offense. And while defense wins championships in football, the name of this game is putting the ball through the hoop. Still, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and a rejuvenated Chauncey Billups are a good place to start for next season. -- Having written all of that, watch for the Pistons to come back and beat Orlando, then sweep their way to the title. -- I'm still not sure Sacramento can beat the Lakers. Obviously, the Kings were bored in their series with Utah, but I'm wondering if Peja Stojakovic and Jimmy Jackson will be able to just camp out behind the 3-point line and throw up wide-open shots. Remember, the Lakers are quite a bit more athletic than the Jazz, and they have a tendency not to give up easy perimeter shots. And drilling perimeter shots at an astounding rate is exactly why the Kings beat the Jazz. -- How could I finish the newsletter without at least mentioning Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics? Pierce has been amazing, putting on a Jordan-esque performance and making a very average team look great. -- One nameless, faceless scout told Sports Illustrated that there's no way Carmelo Anthony will be the No. 1 pick over LeBron James. "Anyone who says Carmelo has a chance to be the top pick pick is either stupid or lying," the scout told SI. "Carmelo's a tremendous player, but LeBron is the whole package. If LeBron had been playing for Syracuse, they probably would have won the title more easily." -- Whoever said them called Michael Jordan "stupid," because it was Jordan who suggested some teams may consider taking Anthony with the first pick. -- Thanks for reading, keep those comments coming, and don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, or any other team I didn't mention that is sure to result in angry e-mails. Enjoy the playoffs! IMPROVING THE NBA This week's installment on how to improve the NBA comes from Sharman Willis of Philadelphia: "I love the NBA, but some things that annoy me: 1) Offensive goaltending/basket interference. This is the lamest rule I can think of! Why should it matter when your own teammate puts the ball in the basket when it might have gone in anyway? It's too tough of a call to make, and isn't helping your teammate what the game is supposed to be about? 2) The officials. When an official makes a bad call and is supposedly disciplined, I want to hear about it -- especially when it affects my team. Bad referees need to be exposed." Thanks, Sharman. Great thoughts. If you have an idea on how to improve the NBA, e-mail me at amicoreport@hotmail.com. SIGN UP FOR THE AMICO REPORT If you or someone you know would like to have the Amico Report delivered directly to your inbox, just send an e-mail address to me at amicoreport@hotmail.com. The newsletter is free, and always will be. Questions and comments can also be sent to that address. HAVE A GREAT DAY! (insidehoops.com'dan alınmıştır) The Dreadlocks - The Playoffs by Mark Jones 2003-04-24 Dreadlocks. It’s more than badly done hair, that when actually done right, looks like a pile of thick nerf foam. It’s a world where sports are the breath of life. Ok, that’s the real world. But, Dreadlocks is a place where sports turn inside out. The following will serve as a scope into an entertaining, yet deranged world. In Dreadlocks, the NBA playoffs are under way. Let us review the first round… EASTERN CONFERENCE Please note: Since Cleveland decided to tank this year, in order to secure a better place in the draft, they will be receiving a bye series. -Washington
vs. Toronto -New
York vs. Miami -Atlanta
vs. Chicago WESTERN CONFERENCE -Houston
vs. Denver -Seattle
vs. L.A. Clippers -Golden
State vs. Memphis In my world, baby, winning is definitely something. Stay tuned… (hoopsology.com'dan alınmıştır) 40
days and 40 nights Tracy McGrady's amazing streak leading Orlando Magic to promised land by John Hollinger, SI.com Mar 24, 2003 The amazing thing about basketball is that every year you'll see new things -- things you never expected. For example, I never imagined that a guy could have the highest scoring average in a decade and still be the most underrated player in the league. Yet, somehow, Tracy McGrady is pulling it off. Let's not mince words: Right now, McGrady is flat-out the best player in basketball. It's not even a close call. His current average of 32.4 points per game is the highest in the league in 10 years, and if you eliminate players named "Jordan" from the equation, it's the highest since Bernard King averaged 32.9 in 1984-85. Yet that average actually understates how well McGrady is playing. Here's a trivia question to get things started: Since Christmas, how many times has McGrady been held under 20 points? While you ponder that answer, let's look at his accomplishments. For starters, can we give him an Oscar for Best Performance Without a Supporting Actor? Despite a roster that, minus McGrady, would have trouble beating Cleveland or Denver, McGrady has managed to raise his game across the board and drag the Magic into the playoffs. Their current four-game win streak even has them challenging Boston for the No. 6 seed. McGrady is shooting more -- boosting his shot attempts from 20.9 to 24.1 a game -- but yet also managed the difficult feat of shooting better -- his field-goal, free-throw and 3-point percentages are all significantly higher than a year ago. Having overcome last year's back trouble, the 23-year old simultaneously has shouldered a bigger load while improving his efficiency. Now, back to that trivia question. The correct answer is zero. McGrady has scored at least 20 points in 40 straight games -- he'll make it a full half-season tonight against Memphis. He's also been Orlando's leading scorer in all 40 of those games. That accomplishment is a monument to his consistency. Look closer at his 40-game stretch. He's averaging 33.9 points a game -- even Jordan averaged that many only twice, and other than His Airness, the last player to score that much in a season was Bob McAdoo in 1975-76. McGrady's raised his game even more down the stretch, averaging an amazing 37 a game over his past 15 contests as he leads the Magic's playoff charge. That includes Sunday night's stellar performance in Miami, when he had 32 at halftime and then put it in cruise control as Orlando rolled to a blowout win. And yet, when the topic of MVP comes up, McGrady's name is mysteriously absent. Despite putting up the best scoring season in a decade and taking an otherwise talentless team into the postseason, all eyes have been focused westward, toward Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. All three are great players and worthy candidates in another year. But McGrady has been head and shoulders above the rest, and in a fair world, his amazing 40-game stretch should have cemented the award a long time ago. (sportsillustrated.cnn.com'dan alınmıştır) Buzzer-beaters require planning -- or luck by Kurt RAMBIS Mar 17, 2003 Every player dreams of making a last-second shot to win a championship. Every coach schemes to design the perfect play for that buzzer-beater. And every team has plays for all kinds of late-game situations. If there are three-tenths of a second left, you have a play that calls for an inbounds pass and tap. For one second, there are quick catch-and-shoot plays. With two seconds, there's time for a quick dribble before a shot. At six seconds, you have time for one pass after the ball has been inbounded or you can run a one-on-one isolation play. There are many other factors coaches have to consider, such as: Are you taking the ball out of bounds near the halfcourt line? Under the basket? Deep in the corner on the sideline or the baseline? Are you down by one, two or three points? Does the defense have a foul to give? Do you have a player who has the clout to get a call if he's fouled? What are the matchups? When you're in the huddle during timeouts, assistant coaches are watching the other team to see if it makes a substitution. You don't necessarily want to keep in a big guy if your opponent brings in a lineup of quick outside shooters. So many scenarios, so much preparation. And it all comes down to this highly technical analysis: The right play is any play that works. That's how you'll be judged. I wish I could say we placed Robert Horry in position to make that critical 3-pointer against the Kings in the crucial fourth game of the Western Conference finals last season, but it was pure luck. Sacramento's Vlade Divac tipped a loose rebound, and it went to Robert like a textbook bounce pass. Against the Pacers recently, he just happened to be out on a wing when the ball was tapped to him, and he won another game with another clutch shot. His position just as easily could have been reversed in those games, and we just as easily could have lost both. Nothing is guaranteed in these situations. Perfectly designed plays often don't work. Phil Jackson is excellent at diagramming plays on the fly based on how our opponents have been defending us. In Philly this season, he drew one up that left Rick Fox so wide open for a layup that Robert got a bit anxious with his pass and threw it behind Rick, who wasn't able to catch it cleanly and bobbled the ball out of bounds. We ended up losing. Players
never forget their last-second game-winners. I made two in my
career, both when I was with the Hornets. One came against Michael
Jordan and the Bulls, the other in Salt Lake City. Both times,
I grabbed a rebound, then put the ball in the basket. That's
certainly not how the plays were drawn up, but, hey, I don't
remember anyone caring about that after the game. For sale by owner by J.A. NORLIN Mar 4, 2003, 19:40 This year, I remember what I thought was the strongest interference by an owner, for his own benefit as opposed to the team’s best interest. (And no, it doesn’t involve the owner everyone loves to hate, the Clippers’ Donald Sterling.) Paul Gaston, owner of the Boston Celtics, after seeing his team compete in the Eastern Conference finals, after years of futility, decides to change the team‘s line-up. It is a decision that comes close to killing the Celtics changes of repeating this year. He refused to throw anything more than peanuts to Rodney Rogers, who was one of the major support players that helped Boston succeed. Then he traded point guard Kenny Anderson to Seattle. While Kenny was definitely overpaid, and a “me first” player, last year that changed and he became a contributor to the team by setting up shots for Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce. The reason for trading Kenny and risking going without a true point guard this season: money. Under the salary cap rules, you have to trade for within 10% of the salaries. So you are allowed to trade $10M worth of talent for only $9M and end up saving a million dollars. And that is exactly what Gaston did in trading Kenny for Vin Baker (and change from both sides.) Never mind that Kenny’s $9M contract was coming off the books this summer, and Vin’s will haunt the Celtics for 3 more years. It doesn’t matter than Kenny could have been resigned for a much lower price during the off-season. Gaston didn’t care that Vin, while a nice guy, has not played meaningful minutes in Seattle for the last 2 years. All Gaston was concerned with was saving a million dollars, so that he could put the team under the luxury tax, and sell it a couple of months later. What Paul Gaston did is kill a team that all of a sudden was a contender, and extended his middle finger to Boston fans, so that he could make more money and ensure a sale. General Manager Chris Wallace is still being scapegoated as the creator of the deal, and man, did he try hard to paint a pretty picture of what his owner was doing and what Vin Baker could potentially contribute for his team. (For that alone and the fact he could do it with a smile on his face I think he deserves GM of the Year.) There is no argument that players have a large impact on the game of basketball. They are the ones who make or don’t make that last second shot. Whose attitudes can help or kill a locker room. Who can teach the rookies the little tricks, or let them flounder and their talents be wasted. But the most important part to any organization is the owners and the general managers. Don’t believe me? Ask fans of the Clippers or the Bulls how those in a desk have affected their team’s ability to win. Or look at the positives made by the owners of the Mavericks (Mark Cuban) or the Kings (the Maloof Brothers) in making bad teams the best in the league. The fans in Charlotte hated the owners of the Hornets (Shinn and Woodridge) so much, they basically kicked them out of town. And it had nothing to do with the players or the success of their team, as many sports writers predicted the Hornets to be a factor in the East (and they were right.) Recently, Donald Sterling fired Clipper’s head coach Alvin Gentry. It is always easy to blame the coach since he is in charge of the day-to-day operations of how the players do. The coach sets up the plays, assigns the minutes, and is the motivator of the team. But how motivated can a TEAM be if they are playing for themselves. If they want to punch up their individual stats so that can add more millions to their contracts next year. With the exception of Elton Brand, most of the Clippers know they will be living in a different city next year because Sterling doesn’t want to pay for them. But why should he? The fans still go to see the games, and the Clippers have been very popular these last two years based simply on potential. So as long as Sterling and Baylor keep bring in rookie prospects for their “potential” the fans will still come. And they will still make money being one of cheapest teams in the league because of a basic business philosophy: low over head cost and big sells means huge profits. So why should they change? The drafting of Marvin Ely and Chris Wilcox wasn’t a sign of redundancy, it was planning for next year’s potential players. Jerry Krause has constantly been in the hot seat, and many wonder why he hasn’t been fired yet. The man who blew-up the championship Bulls because he believed organizations, not players, win championships. He was so bad mouthed by players around the league, that even when the Bulls had lots of money to throw at players, none of the top talent would come. Sure they would interview and have contract talks, but that was simply so the free agent could raise the asking price of the team they really wanted to go to. Remember three summers ago when they tried to recruit top talents like Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan. The best they ended up with was Eddie Robinson, who can’t even break into the starting line-up of a mostly rookie team. Krause insists that every coach teach the triangle offense because it was the offense that did (and still does with the Lakers) win championships. Never mind that it is an offense that is so complicated that even veterans have a hard time picking it up, much less a crowd of rookies still trying to learn how to play in an NBA game. Bob Whitsitt, GM of the Trailblazers, is despised among the fans of Portland. How can a GM live in Seattle and run a Portland based team is a frequent question asked by local fans. Many sports writers joke about the fact that Whitsitt is trying to build the ultimate fantasy team, and he is nick named Trader Bob because he is always shifting the team around and never keep the fans’ favorite players. Since he has the money to do so (Paul Allen’s the owner) he has brought tons of talent to the Blazers. Ignoring facts like their attitudes, reputations as team players, or criminal records. Whenever a problem player is brought into Portland’s fold, Whitsitt is always ready to give his famous and clichéd “second chance” speech. Remember this is the same organization that had a woman and her step-son thrown out of the game for refusing to give up a sign stating, “Trade Whitsitt.” To make the PR scandal worse, the Blazers sent a gift package to the family, which the family had to pay the postage on, even though they lived within a mile of the Rose Garden Arena. Even though the Blazers remain one of the top teams in the Pacific, Portlanders are always in fear of reading their morning paper to learn what crime a Blazer has committed today. Joe Dumars is an example of a GM gone right. His theory for a basketball team is so scary that it is amazing that it is a success. He developed a team without a single superstar on the roster. A team where everyone is a role player, and everyone knows their role. If someone’s head gets to big for the organization, he will be traded for someone who can accept their role on the team. Thanks to the hiring of coach Rick Carlisle, the team has a defense first attitude, that other teams can only talk about. How good is this team? Before their trip to the West Coast, they were the top team in the east. The Maloof Brothers and GM Geoff Petrie took the long road of making a marginal team into the contender for the title. The first thing they did was make their team one everyone wanted to watch. With the Kings fast paced offense, and ability to go on a 10-0 run at least twice in every game, they brought fans to the arena. While they weren’t always the best defensive team and didn‘t win every game; the fans knew that every game the Kings played they would put on a show. Once the fans were there, the Kings started making subtle changes that had huge affects. Adding Doug Christie whose defense first attitude spread over the team like a plague was the first change. Then they traded erratic (but fun) point guard Jason Williams for stable hand and future clutch player, Mike Bibby. With a new attitude, some of the best chemistry in the NBA, and proving to everyone they can get past almost any hurdle, the fun team became “THE” team in the league. My favorite owner in the NBA has got to be Mark Cuban of the Mavericks. Yeah, I know he is outspoken and the owner that gets the most press. But how can you not enjoy an owner that is the most die-hard fan in the coliseum. A billionaire who yells louder than any other fan, and who looks depressed when the team is doing poorly. (I have personally sat a couple of rows behind GM Bob Whitsitt and owner Paul Allen, and they always looked like they are talking stock tips instead of focusing on the game literally in front of them.) I also like a GM who tells one of his best players, Michael Finley, to go test the market and see what you are worth, and whatever the top offer is, I will match it. This shows a commitment to the players and a willingness to always do the right thing by them. At about the same time, Cuban and coach/GM Don Nelson were using the same formula to succeed as the Kings. Make a bad team fun and bring in the fans. Once they start getting press, start making changes to make them contenders to the title. There are many owner/GM’s that are the reason that you local team is great (the Lakers, Nets, Pacers, and several others) just as there are just as many that seem to be singly focused on destroying their team (Cavs and Knicks come to mind.) Unfortunately the only way to see major changes and commitment to your teams success (if you are not already there) is to see your team change hands. For fans of the Cavs, Hawks, Bucks, and those in Charlotte, your dream team may be on its way. Then again, it could just be more of the same, it all depends on the people in charge. Other Thoughts… Has any else noticed this is the season of death for the “nice” coach. The evil label applied to Gentry, Kruger, and Lucas… With Drew Gooden playing some great ball and getting a starting spot on the suddenly surging Magic, will we finally hear some Rookie of the Year talk? No, it will probably still be dedicated to those two dropping like a stone teams, the Suns and the Rockets… Ode, to the $10M a year bench players, the subjects of my next column… The Kobe madness has finally stopped, so can we now pre-pick someone else for the MVP, please… Sorry to my 3 loyal readers (thanks, Tim for being number 3) and my mom for the late column, had half of it sitting on my computer all week and was lazy about the other half… J.A. Norlin is the Reserve Writer for the Denver Nuggets and writes (mostly) weekly commentary and analysis on the NBA for hoopsworld.com Re-evaluating Kobe Bryant by Kevin Pelton Feb 25, 2003, 09:00 I spent part of yesterday going through my archives of my old Sonics columns for then-BskBALL.com, hoping to find what I’d consider my “signature” column about now-departed Gary Payton. In the midst of this effort, I came across the following paragraph written about Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant: "Let's start with the easiest of topics, K-O-B-E. What a week. Hurts his ankle against Milwaukee, maybe out for the year, and that's the least of the news. First, PJ says he's bored with the triangle. That's hard to believe - the triangle was good enough for Michael, but not for you, Kobe? Then, the other allegation, that Kobe would sabotage high school games to take over at the end. That's an unbelievable allegation, but, knowing Kobe, it's hard not to believe in his case. Bskball, I wonder if you could put this as the 'quote' from the article, so all the Faker fans who don't read team columns but do read Rumors and post crap like "PHIL JACKSON IS COACH OF THE YEAR UNDOUBTEDLY" and "MJ DOES NOT NEED TO RETURN! WE ALREADY HAVE KOBE!" can see it. By the way, do you understand that most people take Caps Lock off? Anyway, Kobe Bryant is not the best player in the NBA. Shaquille O'Neal is. Until Kobe's will is entirely broken by PJ, and lord knows he's trying, Kobe will not realize it, and the Fakers will not be successful. Kobe is not the next Jordan, and everyone knows it. Jordan would never have sabotaged his games. All the money in the world means nothing to Jordan compared to the thrill of victory. For Kobe, victory is ok, but not nearly as great as the Big 'N Tasty at McDonald's. Kobe has had everything in his life handed to him on a silver spoon. He's never learned by working like Jordan had to. He didn't have a coach like Dean Smith to shape him at an early age. Now, with PJ, I'm afraid it's too little, too late. Kobe may have the best pure talent in the NBA besides Shaq, but he's a complete failure in the mental department, and that's why he will never, ever be the greatest." Let me take this opportunity to formally apologize to Mr. Bryant, not to mention the Lakers fans I slandered in my post-loss to the Phoenix Suns anger. A lot has changed for me in the last two years (this was posted on March 22, 2001), but little has changed more than my opinion of Bryant. In the intervening period, not only have Bryant’s Lakers won two championships, but he has clearly demonstrated an increased level of maturity on and off the court. Why shouldn’t that have been expected? Bryant was thrust under the media’s microscope at age 18 as a person just out of high school. No average person out of high school, mind you, given he was already a millionaire and took Brandy to his prom, but still an immature youngster in the grand scheme of things. Bryant has clearly grown up off the court, where he is now a married father, and on it as well. He’s come to understand how to play off the Lakers’ superstar center, Shaquille O’Neal, and salvaged their relationship - though right now it’s O’Neal that’s playing off of Bryant, not the other way around. Bryant’s recent hot streak has thrust him into the role of favorite for MVP, and rightly so, but it hasn’t represented a major change in his game so much as revealing how well he’s been playing all season. One of the things that impresses me most about Bryant is how he’s broadened his game this season. Last season’s averages of 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, to go along with his 25.2 points, were excellent, but this year he’s been off the charts. No shooting guard - and in fact, few point guards - averages more than Bryant’s 6.3 assists per game, which rank him 11th in the NBA. Only one guard (Boston’s Paul Pierce) averages more than Bryant’s 7.0 rebounds per game. Add to that Bryant’s 2.2 steals per, good for a tie for fourth in the league, and it is clear that there is only Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett can rival Bryant in terms of versatility. Still, despite all the other areas of the game he excels in, what everyone focuses on is Bryant’s scoring. It is difficult not to cast the spotlight on his point production since the All-Star break, when he’s gone for at least 40 each time out and dropped 50 twice. There are two aspects of the streak that are particularly remarkable. The first is that Bryant did it with such weak teammates when O’Neal was sidelined last week. Not to demean the other Lakers, but teams like the Rockets were able to double- and even triple-team Bryant with impunity as Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, and Robert Horry failed to strike fear into their hearts. The other remarkable thing about Bryant’s streak is how well he’s shot. He’s not getting 40 points per game by forcing up dozens of shots and missing most of them, last night’s 13-for-34 performance against the Seattle SuperSonics aside. In the month of February, Bryant is shooting 48.5% from the field and a stunning 45.8% from downtown while averaging 43.0 points per game. Another amazing accomplishment by Bryant is how he's been able to play through the patella tendintis that has devastated the career of Vince Carter, amongst others. He practically limped his way through the final quarter and overtimes against Houston and still dropped 52 to win the game almost single-handedly, then went out and put up 40 a night later in a win at Houston. We can only hope the pain, like Tracy McGrady's troublesome back, subsides so we're not denied these players' individual greatness. Off the court, there's little to criticize Bryant for. He's kept his nose clean and steered clear of the troubles which have cropped up for so many professional athletes. Additionally, his post-9/11 column for Newsweek was one of the most poignant and emotional pieces of writing I have ever seen from an athlete. That's not to say Bryant has mastered life, or even the NBA, just yet. There's still growing to do, as evidenced by his dogged determination to get to 40 points against the Sonics despite double-teams. Not only was his play in the final minutes selfish, it might have cost his team the game had the Sonics been able to buy a three. Nevertheless, I must declare myself wrong as of this moment. Kobe Bryant has become "the greatest", best player in the NBA, and that's why right now he deserves MVP. (25 Şubat 2003 - hoopsworld.com)Knicks' Downfall Began With Ewing Trade by Chris BROUSSARD  Before
reminding the Madison Square Garden fans of what a franchise center
looked like on Sunday, Shaquille O'Neal opined on the downfall
of the Knicks. Simply and succinctly, he traced the Knicks' current
plight to the trading of Patrick Ewing."Trade a legend, bad things happen to you," said Shaquille O'Neal, the Los Angeles Lakers star. The Knicks, on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, are certainly evidence of that. While Ewing, who was 38 when he was dealt to Seattle in September 2000, did not have much to offer on the court anymore, the Knicks' decision to trade him was the first in a series of front-office moves that were imprudent from a financial standpoint and questionable from a basketball standpoint. Those moves, combined with the untimely and unexpected resignation of Jeff Van Gundy as head coach earlier this season, Marcus Camby's constant injury problems and the premature retirement of Larry Johnson, have caused the Knicks to deteriorate into one of the worst-situated teams in the National Basketball Association. With a league-high $85.5 million payroll and a roster full of overpaid role players, their prospects for swift improvement are as unfavorable as their current 20-34 record. "Most general managers around the league feel the Ewing trade was the single most drastic thing, because look at what it turned them into," said an Eastern Conference executive, speaking on condition of anonymity. "If they had just let Ewing go, they wouldn't have guys like Travis Knight, Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson signed to those long-term deals." The seeds
for the Ewing trade were planted when the players, the public,
and even Dave Checketts, then the president of Madison Square
Garden, began thinking the Knicks were better off without Ewing
during their run to the 1999 NBA. finals. So when Ewing, angry
over the lack of respect he received and aware that the Knicks
would not extend his contract, demanded a trade, the Knicks
sought to satisfy him. Mutombo
Plan "I was an assistant at the time and as far as I was told, there were conversations in terms of trying to get Mutombo," Knicks Coach Don Chaney said. "They were working on that. We thought we had a chance at getting a big guy, and the big guy was Mutombo. I was told through the coaches that Mutombo was the guy in sight for us to bring in here." While David Falk, the agent for Mutombo and Glen Rice, never told the Knicks he would deliver Mutombo, the Knicks knew that taking care of one of his clients would not hurt in the pursuit of another. So they gave Rice, who was 33 at the time, a four-year, $36 million contract. Rice's only other option at the time was to accept a one-year, $7.5 million offer from the Chicago Bulls. "The Knicks tried to cultivate a good relationship with people who could help them," Falk said. "That's called good business. I'm very fond of Dave Checketts and we developed a good relationship. If Dikembe had not been traded from Atlanta to Philadelphia, would the Knicks have had a good chance of getting him? Absolutely." The Knicks were so focused on getting Mutombo that they were willing to look past Luc Longley's poor health and six-year, $32.4 million contract and agreed to accept him in the Ewing deal to make the trade work for the SuperSonics. While the Knicks wound up surprised that Longley was limited to only 25 games in the 2000-1 season, they knew beforehand that he would not be a major contributor. In fact, Longley, who ended up retiring because of a degenerative condition in his ankle in September, said the Knicks knew he was banged up before trading for him. "Phoenix knew what was going on," Longley said last summer. "That's why they traded me. Their doctors had seen the X-rays and giggled at them. I brought up my ankle in my physical with the Knicks, and they said, `Have you been playing?' I said, `Yes,' and that was it." Now Longley is retired, and the Knicks will have ended up paying him approximately $25 million. Scott Layden, the Knicks' president and general manager, would not comment on the Knicks' series of deals, but one person who was close to him said, "It would have been a great trade if it had all turned into Mutombo, but those are some of the gambles you take." Checketts was forced out last spring, and Layden ultimately saw his duties expanded. The Knicks then took another gamble last summer, miscalculating the health of Charlie Ward and compounding the financial repercussions of the Ewing trade by sending Rice to Houston in a three- team deal for Anderson and Eisley. The Knicks knew they needed to move Rice because he was unhappy coming off the bench, and they also wanted another point guard because they were afraid that Ward's knees would not hold up this season. But none of that is justification for trading for a role player like Eisley when he has six years and $36.6 million left on his contract. The summer before, no one but Dallas's deep- pocketed owner, Mark Cuban, was willing to give Eisley more than $2.25 million a year. And Eisley's trade value was higher then than it is now. On top of that, the Knicks agreed to give Anderson a six-year, $42 million deal. Adding
in the seven-year, $22 million contract that Knight got when
he arrived with Rice, the Knicks took on $137.4 million in
contracts for players they acquired through the Ewing trade.
Now, the Knicks don't seem to have any attractive options. Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington have reasonable contracts, but who will the Knicks get in return who is better than them? Camby's injuries have crushed his market value. He has played just 29 games this season. Even Latrell Sprewell, who will be 32 at the start of next season, is not hot. A rebuilding team will not want him because of his age, and a contending team that needs another piece would probably not offer equal value for him. Houston "Signing Allan Houston for $100 million was not good," one Eastern Conference general manager said. "I would have given him maybe $1 million more than anybody else would have given him, and that was probably Chicago, $72 million. And he probably would not have gone there." Johnson's retirement during training camp robbed the Knicks of their one low-post presence who could demand double teams and it also left them without a dominant personality in the locker room. Van
Gundy "I don't think their front office realized the ramifications of Jeff's decision," said one Eastern Conference coach who believes Van Gundy left in large part because the Knicks refused to grant him a contract extension last summer. "They thought their team was a good team and the players thought they were a good team and that they could do it without Jeff. "Watching their team play, when they get their large leads and they let up and they lose, it's because most of those guys on the team think they're much better than they really are. I think that's a big problem with that team. I think when they play hard and play like a team that realizes that they're not that good and that they have to play hard, they're not bad. But they don't do that. "Jeff, whether they liked him or not, got the most out of them. He paid attention to detail and there was no slippage when he was around. He wouldn't allow anybody to let up. They have let up, especially with big leads, and that's the reason they went down." That's one
of the reasons. ÖNSÖZ: Alttaki yazıyı Elçin Yahşi gönderdi... New York Times'dan... Uzun ama gözünüzü korkutmasın, keyifle okunuyor. Bill Walton'ın, "Greatest 50" kulübünün üyesi, eski NBA efsanelerinden, 1977'de Portland Trail Blazers ile şampiyonluk yaşamış olan bir basketbolcu olduğunu biliyor olabilirsiniz. Fakat bunu bilmek, Walton'ı tanımaktır sanmayın... Zamanının sabıkalı Çiçek Çocuğu (hatta Deadhead), boyu kadar dört tane evlât yetiştirmiş (hepsi de şu an NCAA'de oynuyor) bu dev müstesna zat-ı muhterem, son derece ilginç, renkli, hareketli ve çoğu anı hatırlanmaya değer bir hayat yaşamış. Bu röportajda, UCLA formasıyla sahada efsane olduğu NCAA yıllarından Vietnam Savaşı protestolarında başına gelenlere, Grateful Dead ve Jerry Garcia'nın hayatındaki öneminden NBA'de yaşadıklarına, zamanının kendisi gibi efsaneleşmiş yıldızlarından NBA basketbolunun bugünkü haline, özel hayatına kadar birçok konuda konuşuyor, okumaya ve bilmeye değer fikirlerini anlatıyor Koca Bill. Gerçekten son derece nâdide bir mal. Sabırla okuyun, o zaman belki, bizim gibi ağabeylerinizin, memlekette NBA'in ne adının, ne haber |
