Pressing questions
by Chad Ford
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Also Below: Sixers shake-up? | McGrady, KG turn up the heat
With the All-Star Game behind us, Insider has some pressing questions for the second half of the season:
Will the real Lakers please stand up?
Kobe Bryant
Shooting Guard
Los Angeles Lakers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
47 28.6 7.3 6.7 .452 .832
By now we know all too well that if it isn't the playoffs, the Lakers aren't interested. Phil Jackson has a way of getting this team interested at the right time, and the Lakers' recent 13-4 run has been enough to strike fear in the hearts of just about everyone again. But the Lakers still have a long way to go before we start talking about a fourth straight NBA title. Can Shaq stay healthy at 350 pounds? Can the Lakers survive without home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs? Will Kobe be too exhausted to carry this team? A mid-season deal is probably in order, but the conservative Lakers probably will play the same hand that has led them to paydirt the last three years.
Will the Mavs continue to giddyup?
They run, they shoot, they dish, they dazzle, and this year they even play defense. Mark Cuban's Mavs have it all, except a tough low-post presence to battle the Shaqs and Tim Duncans of the West. At this pace, the Mavs probably have home court advantage locked up for the playoffs. The question is, will it matter if they have to battle the Lakers in the first round?
Can the Pacers and Pistons keep it up?
Isiah Thomas has his young team playing with a chip on its shoulder. Rick Carlisle has his team of no-names knocking chips off other teams' shoulders. One team has the talent, the other has the chemistry. Can both teams continue to play over the heads and do some real damage in the playoffs?
Can the Kings wrap it up?
The Kings have their best team in franchise history and seem poised to run roughshod over the rest of the league in the playoffs. But there's a catch. Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Bobby Jackson and Peja Stojakovic have yet to all spend a game on the court together. Combine that with their shocking lack of defense the last month and the Kings might be swooning when they should be surging.
Will Jason Kidd and Tim Duncan hook up?
The balance of power in both the East and West hang by a thread. While both teams are playing playoff caliber basketball, all anyone can talk about is how one of these two teams is going to get screwed this summer. Our money says Kidd and Duncan are defending the Alamo together next season.
Will the T-Wolves, Suns, Rockets or Jazz screw it up?
Kevin Garnett
Small Forward
Minnesota Timberwolves
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
49 22.0 12.8 5.7 .488 .766
If the Lakers keep charging, someone in the West is going down. We're pretty sure the Spurs, Kings, Mavs and Blazers are in. One of the next four teams looks like it's in for a bad fall. All four have their issues. The T-Wolves have Kevin Garnett playing in MVP form but little else behind him. The Suns got off to a hot start, but they've cooled a bit without Penny Hardaway. The Rockets are loaded with young talent, but they aren't sure how to play together yet. The Jazz are loaded with veteran talent, but we're not sure if their oxygen tanks will last through the season. Right now, the money's on the Rockets to slip back into lottery land this year.
Are the Blazers ready to blow up?
Name a more schizophrenic team in the NBA -- and we're not talking about all the crazies on their team. One month they look like a bad episode of Oz, the next month they're unbeatable. Hear that ticking? Mt. Rasheed and the rest of the Blazerbunch are overdue for an eruption.
Will the 76ers and Hawks shake it up?
No two teams in the East are more disappointed with their first halfs. Larry Brown is talking about trading everyone in Philly, including Keith Van Horn and, yes, Allen Iverson. The Hawks held a yard sale during All-Star weekend, offering the likes of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Glenn Robinson, Theo Ratliff and Jason Terry at Wal-Mart like prices. But no one in Philly and Atlanta seems to be asking the key question: Will anything they do make much of a difference?
Will the Clippers' Donald Sterling ever pay up?
No. So why don't Michael Olowokandi, Lamar Odom and Elton Brand just shut up and start playing basketball. Winning, not individual stats, will determine each player's individual worth in the market this summer. It might be too late to save the Clippers, but it isn't too late to save the careers of several young players trapped in the spell of Darth Donald.
Can the Warriors keep movin' on up?
Gilbert Arenas
Point Guard
Golden State Warriors
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
48 16.4 4.8 6.4 .428 .778
No longer the floor mats of the West, the Warriors are playing tough, competitive basketball every night. They have a winning record at home, their young talent is developing, and Eric Musselman has them playing their butts off every night. But they're still one or two big tweaks away from contending. Can GM Garry St. Jean redeem years worth of mistakes by making that one big trade that gets the Warriors either a missing piece of the puzzle or the cap space to re-sign Gilbert Arenas this summer? If he doesn't, this whole promising year may have been in vain.
Will the Celtics continue to chuck it up?
The Celtics have take 1,317 3-pointers this season. The next closest team? The Mavs with 955. When Walter McCarty already has taken 135 3s, you know things are out of hand.
Will the Hornets, Sonics and Bucks perk up?
The season started with high hopes. Now each team is mired in mediocrity. Will any of these teams get enough of a second-half surge to make a difference?
Will the Magic ever heal up?
Grant Hill's ankle injury has everyone bummed out.
Will the Bulls ever wake up?
Another day, another line-up change. Operations chief Jerry Krause continues to insist all of this talent is good for the team, but every Bulls player I talked to in Atlanta was sick and tired of all of the drama in Chicago. It's time to do some weeding now, before the players start doing it for them.
Will the Knicks and Heat continue to stink it up?
Both teams have too much pride to get involved in the LeBron James lottery mess. That's too bad. Both teams need a serious infusion of young talent to rebuild. However, both teams seem more content to forage for over-paid, over-the-hill veterans. Will they ever learn?
Should the Raptors, Nuggets, Cavs and Grizzlies tank it up for LeBron?
Just a suggestion.
Will MJ light it up in the finals?
We asked the same question last year. Shortly thereafter, Jordan went down for the season with a knee injury. Here we are again. MJ is in All-Star form, Jerry Stackhouse has been a good sidekick, and the Wizards are in the playoff hunt in the talent-challenged East. Last year, the playoffs would have been a miracle. This year, they're the baseline. Can Jordan do the unthinkable and lead his Wizards to the NBA Finals? Three months ago, he had us all believing the impossible. This season we're too busy throwing retirement parties to notice.
Sixers shake-up?
Two weeks ago, it looked like the Hawks were the team most likely to blow up their entire roster. But after talking to numerous league sources in Atlanta this weekend, a new contender has emerged.
Derrick Coleman
Forward-Center
Philadelphia 76ers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
36 7.9 5.7 1.0 .423 .804
We all know Larry Brown loves to tinker, but is he on the verge of dropping a bomb on the Sixers? Team owner Ed Snider is pushing hard for Brown to fix the problem. Like the Hawks of a few weeks ago, the underachieving Sixers are being mentioned prominently in several major trade rumors.
Here's the lowdown:
Brown still is pushing to swap Derrick Coleman for Theo Ratliff. However, to get it done, he must appease Snider, who wants Brown to cut one of the Sixers' terrible salaries before taking on the final two years of Ratliff's salary. That's lead to ...
The Sixers and Knicks apparently are rekindling the Latrell Sprewell-Keith Van Horn talks. If the Sixers made that move, they'd clear $15.7 million in cap room in the long term. Spree has just two years left on his deal, while Van Horn has three. The biggest question is why the Knicks would make that move now, after CEO James Dolan told GM Scott Layden no more bad contracts.
Keith Van Horn
Forward
Philadelphia 76ers
Profile
2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
48 16.5 7.6 1.2 .484 .816
There's no great answer, other than to say Layden is a fan of Van Horn, and Dolan isn't in love with Spree. Layden believes the Knicks have to get taller and younger, and Van Horn is an upgrade in both categories. A lineup featuring Allan Houston, Van Horn and Antonio McDyess probably would fare a little better in the East, especially if it includes the addition of a lottery-pick big man and their 2002 second-round pick, point guard Milos Vujanic.
Moving both Coleman and Van Horn would dramatically remake the Sixers front line. But Brown might not stop there. The hottest rumor making the rounds Monday morning had Philly quietly gauging interest in Allen Iverson. The Sixers would demand another All-Star caliber two-guard in return.
One N.Y. Post report hinted that a Vince Carter for Iverson swap could be in the works. Based on numbers alone, it's highly unlikely. Carter is a base-year compensation player this season, making him almost impossible to trade. To get the numbers to work, the Raptors and Sixers would have to put together a massive deal that would send Iverson, Todd MacCulloch, Eric Snow and Greg Buckner to Toronto for Carter, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerome Williams and Alvin Williams.
In other words, don't hold your breath on that one.
Can Sixers keep season from slip slidin' away?
Sam Donnellon / Philadelphia Daily News
Spree's Farewell?
Marc Berman / New York Post
Dissecting NBA's Air-Show And Mariah's [Un]Dress
Peter Vecsey / New York Post
McGrady, KG turn up the heat
The Magic are preaching patience as they try to sort through the Grant Hill mess. However, it looks like they're running out of time.
Tracy McGrady told the Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday that his patience with the franchise was being tested. He's giving the franchise one more year to get him some help.
"The clock is ticking," McGrady said. "I don't know how much longer. . . I'm still going to continue to have patience. I'm going to give this thing one more shot. Obviously, Grant [Hill] is going to have a lot of time to do what he has to do to get healthy. If he comes back healthy next year, then we'll see what happens. But if not, then something's got to give."
McGrady can opt out of his contract after the 2003-04 season. If things don't get better, he may do just that, leaving the Magic in an even worse position than they were before.
While some believe McGrady has the biggest load of any star in the NBA to carry, Kevin Garnett begs to differ. He's been in T-Mac's shoes for a while, and he doesn't even have a healthy Grant Hill to think about.
"Hey, damned if you do, damned if you don't," said Garnett. "When you lose, it's your fault. When you win, it's a team effort."
Andy Miller, Garnett's agent, said Monday that he "has a sense that [Garnett's] frustration level is mounting. But who exactly it's focused on or not focused on, I'm not sure," Miller told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The T-Wolves, however, are becoming less understanding about Garnett's woes. His salary is more than double McGrady's.
"We're trying to put a better team together," owner Glen Taylor told the Pioneer Press. "He should understand the difficulties of doing that, what with his salary, and Terrell Brandon's salary and injury, the salary cap.And we've shared all of those [difficulties] with him, and we continue to look for opportunities to do some more. It isn't like the team hasn't tried, and that management hasn't tried. On the other hand, we've done pretty good compared to most teams. We're not down on the bottom."
McGrady won't wait forever to get in position for a title run
Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel
Fix it -- or else!
Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel
Garnett vents his frustration
Robbi Pickeral / St. Paul Pioneer Press
The Good, the Bad, the Kitchen Sink
By Terry Brown
Monday, February 10 Updated 1:31 PM EST
Jason Richardson may have won the Slam Dunk trophy twice over All-Star Weekend, but trace Desmond Mason 10 feet in the air and cut him out for the future logo; Peja, Peja, Peja; better commercials than the Super Bowl; The Kid (circa 1995) becomes a Classic in 2003; and Mariah Carey turns out Jessica Rabbit in between 300 points and double-overtime as the greatest basketball player in NBA history, in full battle dress, surrenders to bigger, faster, younger versions of himself in the greatest and truest form of tribute.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled season . . .
The Good
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Week's work: 2-0 record, 40.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2 spg, 1.5 bpg, 5 triples, 50% shooting
Two weeks ago, 40 per at 49 percent shooting. Last week, 40.5 at 50 percent. This week, you do that math.
Jamal Mashburn, New Orleans Hornets
Week's work: 2-0 record, 28 ppg, 5 rpg, 6.5 apg, 2.5 spg, 8 triples, 61% shooting
May have told you he was just happy to be playing in his first All-Star Game but he was lying. Just ask the playoff-bound Celtics, playoff-bound Kings and, thanks to Mash sans Baron Davis, the still playoff-bound Hornets.
After 49 games, the reigning MVP was a scattered 10 rebounds from consecutive double-doubles in his last 39 games. Use your fingers, take off your shoes and start on your toes. Assuming there were no lawn mower accidents, you'd still be 19 short. Think about that for a second. There are currently only eight players in the entire league who can average the double-double but only one who can actually do it on a nightly basis.
Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
Week's work: 2-0 record, 26 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 5.5 apg, 4.5 bpg, 60% shooting
Good to see that The Big Humble can still go through his legs and around his back without offending anyone besides the guy who's supposed to be guarding him.
The Bad
Jason Williams, Memphis Grizzlies
Weak work: 0-1 record, 1 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg, 0 spg, 0 bpg, 0% shooting
Here's the problem. The Grizzlies played on Feb. 3 and Feb. 5, but after a night like the one listed above, we can't rightly tell which one J-Dub played in and which one he sat out entirely with an injured left foot. And after having lost seven in a row and 13 of the last 15, I bet head coach Hubie Brown's having a hard time telling the difference, too, especially with Wesley Person missing both of those games but miraculously recovering in time to participate in the all-star three-point shooting contest.
Derrick Coleman, Philadelphia Sixers
Weak work: 0-1 record, 5 ppg, 3 rpg, 2 apg, 0 spg, 0 bpg, 25% shooting
Remember when DC was a youngster in the league calling Karl Malone an Uncle Tom? Well, in his 13th season, Coleman is averaging career lows in points (7.9 per game) and rebounds (5.7 per game) while the Mailman, in his 18th year, is averaging 20 points plus per game for the 17th straight season. I guess we know who's still screaming uncle.
Christian Laettner, Washington Wizards
Weak work: 1-0 record, 2 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg, 0 spg, 1 bpg, 16% shooting
With Bryon Russell all but gone, Larry Hughes fading and Laettner putting together nights likes this, we're about to find out how many people MJ can still carry on his back and still keep his warm-up top tucked in.
The Ugly
The Sacramento Kings won a league-best 61 games last season having to use only nine different starting lineups the entire season. So far this season, they are 34-17, having lost six of their last 10 games, and are on pace to win 54 games while using 11 different starting lineups by the all-star break with the normal starting rotation of Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby, Doug Christie and Vlade Divac with sixthman Bobby Jackson missing a combined 71 games of the team's 51.
The Kitchen Sink
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
On Jan. 28, the NBA announced that Antoine Walker would join Jermaine O'Neal as Eastern Conference power forwards for the All-Star Game.
On Jan. 29, Kenyon Martin decided to play basketball.
In the three games following the selection, or non-selection, Martin would average 29 points, 15.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. But in the 44 games prior to that, he averaged only 15.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
In fact, against the top 10 power forwards in the game today, the guy who likes to scowl extra meanly on the defensive end was, statistically, average. Duncan, Webber, Garnett, Nowitzki, Walker, O'Neal, Malone, Wallace, Brand and Jamison averaged 19.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in 15 games against Martin while averaging 21.1 points and 9.7 rebounds against everyone else.
Compare those numbers to Martin's regular-season average and he is, at best, the No. 11 big forward in the game. Competing against small forwards, he is also behind Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce and Jamal Mashburn in the Eastern Conference alone. Add in Shawn Marion from the West and Martin's standing is getting ridiculous.
Of course, he'll tell you that he would have defended eventual MVP Kevin Garnett down in the post on the second overtime of the All-Star Game much better than Vince Carter ever could but he already had his chance to prove it. We like to call it the regular season.
Remember, we're talking about a guy who averaged 14.9 points per game last season on 46 percent shooting after believing he was snubbed in Rookie of the Year balloting and 7.4 rebounds per game the season before that as that rookie.
Perhaps if the NBA had hosted a Junior Challenge game immediately following the game in which the Sophomores defeated the Rookies then Martin might have been invited to the weekend's festivities which, if his progress in the last two seasons is any indication, is the only way he's going to be invited next season, too.
LEFT (OUT) COAST
Despite winning their last 5 games in a row and seven of their last 10, the Los Angeles Lakers still find themselves a game and a half behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
But if they were in the Eastern Conference, their 24-23 record would place them 0.001 points ahead of the Philadelphia Sixers and in the seventh spot, only one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the fifth seed.
THREE-WELL
Prior to the two New York Knick games before the all-star break, Latrell Sprewell had never made more than 147 three-pointers in a season and that was last year (compared to, say, Ray Allen who drilled 229 last year) or shot better than 36 percent from long range, and that was his rookie year 10 1/2 seasons ago. In that span, he's made an average 1.2 three-pointers per game while shooting 33 percent from distance.
That was, of course, until last week when he went 9-for-9 from beyond the arc against the Los Angeles Clippers and then 5-for-8 against the Lakers. In three days, resting in between, Sprewell went 14-for-17 from three-point range.
The game before the outburst, he went 0-for-3. The game before that, he was 1-for-5. And before that, he was 2-for-9.
He did drill 7 of 10 once this season, but in the five games before that happening, he went 5-for-17. And in the five games after that happening, he went 7-for-20.
And now, all of a sudden, Latrell Sprewell is listed in the top 20 in both three-point field goals made and three-pointers per 48 minutes while shooting 39 percent from range.
Meanwhile, teammate Allan Houston, the former three-point specialist on the team, vowed to improve on his 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.06 blocks per game while playing 37 minutes. DAMON DUMPED
At 6-foot-8, 228 pounds from Central Arkansas, starting at point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers . . . Scottie Pippen.
And right down there at the bottom of the boxscore, in between Zach Randolph and rookie Qyntel Woods, is the former starting point guard: Damon Stoudamire . . . DNP-CD.
In the first eight games of the season, Stoudamire averaged 30 minutes per game as the Blazers went 3-5. He played 22 minutes the very next game and the Blazers lost again. He played 14 minutes the next game and they won. He didn't play at all the next game and the Blazers won again.
In fact, in Portland's last 38 games, Stoudamire has played in only 23 and the Blazers have gone 28-10, including wins in their last four games and nine of their last 10. In those 23 games that Stoudamire did play, he averaged only 16 minutes and the Blazers went 15-8. Count the DNPs and he's averaging 9.3 minutes per game.
Simply, the less he plays, the more the Blazers win.
Now what to do with the almost $50 million left on his contract over the next three seasons, including this one.
SHADOW BOXING
Tracy McGrady, NBA leading scorer in sixth season
Current Numbers: 30.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.8 bpg, 45% shooting
Michael Jordan, former NBA leading scorer in sixth season
1990 Numbers: 33.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 6.3 apg, 2.7 spg, 0.6 bpg, 52% shooting
MEMORY LANE SPECIAL
Washington Wizards (24-25) versus Utah Jazz (29-20)
Friday, Feb. 14, 2003
Delta Center
Salt Lake City, Utah at 6 p.m. PST
A penny for Bryon Russell's thoughts.
THE END
"I can go home and feel at peace with the game of basketball." — Air.