BEFORE submitting detailed evidence indicting 15 NBA championship impostors and providing an argument to support the predominant choice, tolerate one tangent thought:
Leave it to the Clippers to promote an undrafted free agent (Tyrone Nesby) for rookie of the year above pushing the overall No. 1 (Michael Olowokandi) pick. BUCKS Glenn Robinson (knee) doesn’t figure to be sufficiently potent. Vinnie Del Negro’s ankle is in a cast. George Karl already is tired of listening to Sam Cassell. The point guard’s teammates already are tired of his shoot-first, second and third approach. Feeble front line. Small Ball looks pretty in the regular season, but rarely pays off in the playoffs when the court shrinks in half and shooters pucker. Karl’s predictable defensive tactics lose impact when opponents have time to prepare. Move the ball against it, you get good shots. Karl signed ex-Milwaukee coach Del Harris as a consultant/scapegoat.
Wild card: Only hope to advance a round is if Cassell decides to play(make) to win versus trying to shoot himself into stardom. TIMBERWOLVESUndersized front line. No size or power. Must double on Tim Duncan and David Robinson, giving Spurs perimeter people plenty of time and space to shoot without duress or pressure. Forced trades and injuries have prevented them (13-19, average 91.4 ppg, without Stephon Marbury) from gaining continuity and cohesiveness. No backup point guard (Bobby Jackson and James Robinson) of any consequence. Terrell Brandon, whose combativeness is suspect, might have to play 48 minutes a game. It may be too late for Anthony Peeler and Malik Sealy to find their rhythm and confidence. Their playoff roster won’t be officially set until the league hears from David Falk.
Wild card: Joe ($1 million exception) Smith must convince Kevin ($126M) Garnett it’s worthwhile playing a measly playoff share. HAWKSNo serious post-up game other than Steve Smith. No home court/crowd advantage. Chris Crawford is their best athlete. Alan Henderson’s health is questionable. Dikembe Mutombo’s elbows can’t possibly withstand any more vicious attacks by opponent’s faces. Overly dependent on the long-distance dialing of Smith and Mookie Blaylock. Lenny Wilkens’ response to critical situations and opponents’ adjustments leaves a lot to be desired. Allows stars to torch his team for a series (see Jordan files) without making a change. Still running same plays Joe Mulaney taught him in Providence. Leaves it up to his personnel to win games. Smith (only 30, but plays older) is a lot like Larry Bird, capable of downing an ungodly shot, but tends to break your heart. Blaylock’s pot shot selection is even more unwise.
Wild card: Only chance to last more than one round is if Blaylock is hot. An awful lot to ask from a guy who shot 38 percent. KINGSChris Webber’s back. Inexperienced backcourt. Lack of discipline. For every great play Jason Williams makes, he’ll commit two atrocities. For every spectacular dunk Webber converts, he’ll abort a free throw in the clutch. Vernon Maxwell shows the best judgment of any 3-point launcher. For every 30-foot springer he buries, he’s issued one arrest warrant. Rick Adelman’s game plan is to outscore opponents. When has that ever worked in the playoffs? They don’t tend to win low-scoring conflicts. Municipal court basketball more than specialty than half-court.
Wild card: Webber’s health. Wonder if it has ever occurred to him to use marijuana for medicinal purposes? PISTONSSoft and inconsistent frontline. Christian Laettner has had a positive effect. When he plays, they’re 13-3. Of course, Laettner also has had a positive effect on the Hawks. They’re 31-19 without him. Jerry Stackhouse was right, they’re more effective when Grant Hill isn’t playing the role of official scorer. The danger is, teammates rely too heavily on Hill’s versatility. Single coverage on Grant is the way to go. Concede him 35 so he can’t make those around him better.
Wild card: When Joe Dumars is draining 3s and posting up smaller guards, they can beat anybody in the East. Take the trifecta away, and it becomes Stackhouse’s game to win or lose. ROCKETSStars are too old. Supporting cast too young. Leading to a constant disharmony of styles. Charles Barkley has become like Mark Jackson, looking to pass more than score. That takes the burden off him and allows someone else to miss the crunch-time shot. After the 50-game regular season, it’s painfully obvious Brent Price is more comfortable in Rudy Tomjanovich’s offense than Scottie Pippen. The teams that beat them don’t double off Hakeem Olajuwon and Barkley. Why make it easy for Price, Michael Dickerson, Sam Mack and Cutino Mobley?
Wild card: Rookie backcourt must come of age and the fossilized frontcourt can’t look its age. SIXERSAllen Iverson looks to take over games in the first quarter instead of waiting until it’s necessary. When he suffers a bad game, there’s no margin for error, they’re dead. Too much standing around watching the show. Poor free-throw shooters. Must avoid happy-to-be-here syndrome. Must not forget their identity, the defense that got them into playoffs.
Wild card: Can they really be taken seriously when Matt Geiger is the secondary offensive option? He must give them an inside presence to complement Iverson’s fireworks. MAGICWhich Hardaway do they get? The Penny who carried them when Nick Anderson was out and they went on a tear? Or the Penny who could go 3-for-17 on any given night? Not a good road team. Best defensive team has trouble scoring. Best offensive team can’t stop anybody.
Wild card: Ike Austin. Must become the backup center he was in Miami. Been a major disappointment. Now Orlando understands why so many teams passed on him and why they were able to recruit a center for so relatively little. KNICKSThey have no GM. Man in the middle is poster child for HMO. Go through more scoring droughts than any team in the league. Three key players – Latrell Sprewell, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas – have no playoff success. No reputable caretaker. The only categories Charlie Ward and Chris Childs lead them in is turnovers, and poor decisions and holding on to the ball too long. The only time Ward has them on the same page is when he opens up the Old Testament.
Wild card: Jeff Van Gundy has to put all the organization nonsense to rest and play the guys who’ll give New York the best chance of advancing and himself the best chance of returning – exactly what he did down the stretch. After all, we know Camby will be back next season. SUNSNo defensive or offensive authority figure in the dungeon. And here all this time you thought Luc Longley was responsible for the last three Bulls’ titles. Remember when Rex Chapman was good? That sophomore season of his at Kentucky was really something to behold. Because of injuries, he’s become Arizona’s answer to Matt Maloney.
Wild card: Chapman. Right now, he’s Dell Curry with goggles, but not quite the shooter. Only way Danny Ainge upsets the Blazers at the Rose Garden is if Chapman regains his eyesight and his marksmanship. HEATCan’t put teams away ’cause they can’t score. Always in close games. Emotionally on the edge. Always in danger of falling off it. You know, at some point, especially against the Knicks, Alonzo Mourning will let his temper get the best of him. Tim Hardaway doesn’t have the same zip he had the last couple seasons. He’s not coming off screens, splitting them and getting in the gap as once did. Clearly, he’s hurting.
Wild card: Congratulations on winning homecourt throughout the East. Unlike in the regular season (18-7), they must defend it. BLAZERSFragile egos and self-doubt have overcome my original choice to win it all. At the first sign of prolonged adversity, sacrifice was the first key ingredient to be sacrificed. Instead of guiding the team past the best in the west (1-6 when it counted), Damon Stoudamire and J.R. Rider have led Portland astray. If they can’t play quantity minutes at quality time, they don’t want to play. Mike Dunleavy continues to make two crucial errors. He allows Damien, er, Damon’s agent (Aaron Goodwin) into the locker room, and he hasn’t established a go-to guy.
Wild card: Two playoffs ago, Rasheed Wallace won a big-time contract off his unstoppable performance. Inside or out, he creates an impossible matchup. If they’re to avoid another first-round expulsion, Wallace must recapture his will to wild. LAKERSPlaying their best All-Ball of the season. But that was earlier in the week. When things get tough, they invariably revert to their every-man-for-himself nature. Shaq’s defense improved lately, but his free throws are still the most offensive part of his game. The lack of a big power forward, someone, say, like Elden Campbell is guaranteed to maim them. Who guards Tim Duncan? Or Karl Malone? Or even Barkley? Robert Horry and J.R. Reid! They don’t feel any need to even watch tapes of these two guys.
Wild card: Glen Rice had season-high 40 points Wednesday and Kobe Bryant had a career high 10 assists Monday. Playoff preview or just another Laker tease? JAZZFor the first time since losing to Jordan in the Finals, they looked scared in the fourth quarter of last week’s second defeat to the Spurs. Big front lines tend to frustrate Karl Malone, because it pushes him further from the basket. He’ll still get his 20-something points, but he can’t get his normal 10 free throws a game, and he can’t punish opponents or put them in the penalty. Greg Ostertag must stay out of foul trouble, ’cause Greg Foster, Todd Fuller and Thurl Bailey can’t play against second string big men on good teams. Questions? Are Malone, John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek worn down by 50 games in 90 days? Utah finished 5-5, can they get their legs and confidence back?
Wild card: When Bryon Russell scores in double figures, they’re unbeatable. PACERSRebounding very poor. Lack of speed on the perimeter hurts their starters. Quick guards eat up Mark Jackson off the dribble; seven drive-bys per game. Had Larry Bird discovered earlier his cagey veteran plays smarter defense in the last three minutes than the first three minutes, they may have had the best record in the East. Certainly they wouldn’t have lost six 1-point games with Jackson on the floor.
Wild card: Derrick McKey. Owner of the post. Teammates and coaching staff couldn’t wait for him to return (missed 37 games) from various ailments. Shuts down anybody from a point guard to a center, or at least makes them take twice as many shots to hit their average.
So much for the pretenders to the throne. In the year 1999 A.J. (After Jordan), the undisputed NBA champions is … SPURSThey’re doing the types of things to others that for years have been done to them. Making top scorers invisible. Defending opponent’s copyrighted plays. And wearing down solid teams with their depth. “Their big men took away our inside game,” Jerry Sloan says. “The way they beat us at home and the way they won down there is indicative who they want to be.”
If the Blazers play like they did the first two months of the season and the Spurs play like they did in the last handful of postseasons, I retain the right to call Paul Allen and beg for old seat back on Portland’s bandwagon.