duncan228
02-13-2009, 09:29 PM
Baron, T-Mac lead disappointments (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/paul_forrester/02/11/anti.stars/index.html)
Paul Forrester
As the NBA prepares to celebrate its best, let's take a moment to recognize a few of those who made it possible. No, not the coaches and fans who selected the teams for Sunday's All-Star Game in Phoenix. Rather, the players who make the All-Stars look even better by comparison -- the Anti-All-Stars.
Simply put, these are the players (and coach) who have failed to deliver on the floor and, in a few cases, in the locker room. Despite excluding the two bad-boy, deactivated point guards (you can sit down now, Mr. Marbury and Mr. Tinsley), there were plenty of options from which to select this year's honorees. On to the "winners."
Starters
PG: Baron Davis, Clippers
It took only a handful of games for the freewheeling Davis to clash with his more buttoned-down coach, Mike Dunleavy, over the Clippers' offensive philosophy. The two would clear the air, but Davis' struggles mirror his team's. The 10-year veteran is shooting a career-low 35.2 percent from the field, the worst mark among the 122 players who qualify on the NBA leaderboard. And his dismal 28.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc hasn't stopped Davis from launching 5.5 three-pointers per game. The Clippers, who enter the All-Star break with a 13-40 record, expected much more after signing Davis to a five-year, $65 million contract last offseason.
SG: Tracy McGrady, Rockets
Given his statistical decline and frequent absences, and the Rockets' 12-6 record without him, criticism of the seven-time All-Star has become increasingly pointed. Teammate Ron Artest recently challenged McGrady to improve his "inconsistent" defense, and earlier this season some in the Houston media accused T-Mac of quitting on the Rockets during a bad loss at Toronto. Slowed by a knee injury, the 29-year-old McGrady is shooting a career-worst 38.8 percent from the field and his scoring average of 15.6 is his lowest since 1999-2000. There was no better example of his lack of explosiveness than last week's botched breakaway dunk at Milwaukee.
SF: Mike Miller, Timberwolves
Miller wasn't expected to be a savior after he was acquired in the Kevin Love-O.J. Mayo draft-night swap, but Minnesota was counting on more than 10.6 points per 36 minutes of play and a career-low 9.1 points overall. The 28-year-old swingman is shooting a respectable 47.2 percent from the field, but he has often looked tentative in passing up shots that he seemingly had little trouble pulling the trigger on in the past. Miller's 34.2 percent accuracy from three-point range is a career low, well off his 40.3 percent mark in his first eight seasons.
PF: Shawn Marion, Heat
You have to wonder if somewhere in the back of his mind, Marion doesn't regret pushing for a trade from the Suns. Phoenix's up-tempo style was a good fit for his talents, and helped him average at least 17 points and nine rebounds for seven consecutive seasons. In Miami, where the Heat play at the league's ninth-slowest pace, Marion is the proverbial fish out of water, too small to bang for shots deep in the post and not enough of a ball handler to create his own offense. "You can't score without shooting," Marion told the Palm Beach Post last month. "I'm getting five shots a night. What's that going to do?" It's getting Marion 12.0 points a game, a 20.5 percent shooting mark from three-point range and a place on the trade block as the Heat consider dealing the Matrix and his $17.8 million expiring contract before next Thursday's trading deadline.
C: Samuel Dalembert, Sixers
Before the season, Dalembert said, "Personally, I expect to be an All-Star this year." Nice sentiment, but the inconsistent 7-footer hasn't measured up: He is averaging 6.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks and playing nearly nine fewer minutes than last season (down to 24.6 from 33.2) . Dalembert struggled right from the start as he and the 76ers adjusted to power forward Elton Brand's arrival. But with Brand now out for the season, there is more room to operate for Dalembert, who responded last week with 18 points and 20 rebounds against Indiana -- an All-Star-type performance, at least for one game.
Reserves
G: DeShawn Stevenson, Wizards
When Sports Illustrated asked 190 players to name the player who thinks he's a lot better than he really is, Stevenson tied for first place with Boston's Kendrick Perkins. Stevenson hasn't had much to brag about this season, shooting 31.2 percent from the field and averaging 6.6 points in 32 games. (He averaged 11.2 points in each of the last two seasons.) To Stevenson's credit, in late December he volunteered to end his 275-game start streak and come off the bench in hopes of building some confidence against second-line players. That experiment lasted only a few games before Stevenson went down with a back injury.
G: Rashad McCants, Timberwolves
After getting regular minutes as a reserve in the first two months of the season, the 24-year-old former first-round pick helped spark the Timberwolves' resurgence ... when he was banished to the end of the bench. He played a total of 14 minutes over two games in January, a month in which Rodney Carney took McCants' playing time and the Timberwolves won 10 of 14 games. After averaging 14.9 points on 45.3 percent shooting last season, McCants is down to 9.2 points on 36.2 percent shooting this season. He is also averaging 0.9 assists in 19 minutes a game.
G: Larry Hughes, Bulls
Having arrived in Chicago last season claiming that he valued having fun more than winning, Hughes has gone about proving that this season. The 30-year-old shooting guard, playing largely off the bench, has averaged 12.0 points (on 41.2 percent shooting) and 2.0 assists, numbers quite similar to those that prompted Cleveland to deal him last season. Not surprisingly, the Bulls reportedly are attempting to do the same after Hughes backed up his mediocre production by complaining about his minutes and crossing coach Vinny Del Negro on everything from team rules prohibiting eating in the locker room to in-game requests to pass the ball. After Del Negro benched Hughes for 10 straight games, the team placed the 11-year veteran on the inactive list at his request.
G: Beno Udrih, Kings
Plucked from the waiver wire last season, Udrih enjoyed a breakthrough year in Sacramento for which he was rewarded with a five-year, $32 million contract. But Udrih's production as a starter has declined this season (10.8 points, 4.3 assists), and he is said to be one of several Kings players available in a trade. Though it's unfair to place all the blame on Udrih for the Kings' 11-43 record, Sacramento's nightmarish season isn't exactly a feather in the floor leader's cap, either.
F: Ricky Davis, Clippers
The Clippers sought to replace some of Corey Maggette's offense by signing Davis last offseason. But Davis, a career 14.3-point scorer, slumped badly early in the season, was suspended five games for violating the NBA's anti-drug program, missed a month with a knee injury and hasn't found his touch since returning in mid-January. Davis is averaging only 10.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per 36 minutes, and he's shooting 34.2 percent from the field overall.
F: Adam Morrison, Lakers
After he shot poorly while averaging 11.8 points as a rookie and missed all last season with a knee injury, expectations were modest this season for the No. 3 pick in the 2006 draft. Nevertheless, the Bobcats figured they would get more than this from Morrison, who averaged 4.5 points (on 36 percent shooting) and 1.6 rebounds in 15.1 minutes before being traded to the Lakers last week. "Coming off an injury last year, he seemed to have lost his confidence a little bit," Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan told reporters Tuesday. "He didn't have the understanding of how Larry expected him to play both offensively and defensively."
[B]C: Tyson Chandler, Hornets
It isn't so much that Chandler's averages of 8.8 points (on 56.3 percent shooting) and 8.3 rebounds are abysmal. It's just that more was expected after he averaged 11.8 points (on 62.3 percent shooting) and 11.8 rebounds last season. Earlier this season, Hornets coach Byron Scott tried to capture what was missing in Chandler's game by relating a conversation he had with Jerry West. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Scott said West told him that "one difference about this year's team as opposed to last year is that Tyson Chandler is not playing with the energy he played last year." Perhaps Chandler will be raring to go following the All-Star break after missing the last 12 games with a sprained ankle.
Coach
P.J. Carlesimo, Thunder
Carlesimo, who guided the franchise to a 20-win season last year in Seattle, was fired after a 1-12 start in which the young Thunder were blown out repeatedly while playing uninspired basketball. The veteran coach was replaced by assistant Scott Brooks, who moved Kevin Durant from shooting guard to small forward and turned over the point guard duties to rookie Russell Westbrook. Within a month, Durant was performing at a level that placed him in the All-Star conversation, and Westbrook had emerged as a capable playmaker and scorer. The team eventually followed suit, rebounding from a 3-17 start under Brooks to go 7-7 in January, seemingly chipping away at Brooks' "interim" tag with each victory.
Paul Forrester
As the NBA prepares to celebrate its best, let's take a moment to recognize a few of those who made it possible. No, not the coaches and fans who selected the teams for Sunday's All-Star Game in Phoenix. Rather, the players who make the All-Stars look even better by comparison -- the Anti-All-Stars.
Simply put, these are the players (and coach) who have failed to deliver on the floor and, in a few cases, in the locker room. Despite excluding the two bad-boy, deactivated point guards (you can sit down now, Mr. Marbury and Mr. Tinsley), there were plenty of options from which to select this year's honorees. On to the "winners."
Starters
PG: Baron Davis, Clippers
It took only a handful of games for the freewheeling Davis to clash with his more buttoned-down coach, Mike Dunleavy, over the Clippers' offensive philosophy. The two would clear the air, but Davis' struggles mirror his team's. The 10-year veteran is shooting a career-low 35.2 percent from the field, the worst mark among the 122 players who qualify on the NBA leaderboard. And his dismal 28.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc hasn't stopped Davis from launching 5.5 three-pointers per game. The Clippers, who enter the All-Star break with a 13-40 record, expected much more after signing Davis to a five-year, $65 million contract last offseason.
SG: Tracy McGrady, Rockets
Given his statistical decline and frequent absences, and the Rockets' 12-6 record without him, criticism of the seven-time All-Star has become increasingly pointed. Teammate Ron Artest recently challenged McGrady to improve his "inconsistent" defense, and earlier this season some in the Houston media accused T-Mac of quitting on the Rockets during a bad loss at Toronto. Slowed by a knee injury, the 29-year-old McGrady is shooting a career-worst 38.8 percent from the field and his scoring average of 15.6 is his lowest since 1999-2000. There was no better example of his lack of explosiveness than last week's botched breakaway dunk at Milwaukee.
SF: Mike Miller, Timberwolves
Miller wasn't expected to be a savior after he was acquired in the Kevin Love-O.J. Mayo draft-night swap, but Minnesota was counting on more than 10.6 points per 36 minutes of play and a career-low 9.1 points overall. The 28-year-old swingman is shooting a respectable 47.2 percent from the field, but he has often looked tentative in passing up shots that he seemingly had little trouble pulling the trigger on in the past. Miller's 34.2 percent accuracy from three-point range is a career low, well off his 40.3 percent mark in his first eight seasons.
PF: Shawn Marion, Heat
You have to wonder if somewhere in the back of his mind, Marion doesn't regret pushing for a trade from the Suns. Phoenix's up-tempo style was a good fit for his talents, and helped him average at least 17 points and nine rebounds for seven consecutive seasons. In Miami, where the Heat play at the league's ninth-slowest pace, Marion is the proverbial fish out of water, too small to bang for shots deep in the post and not enough of a ball handler to create his own offense. "You can't score without shooting," Marion told the Palm Beach Post last month. "I'm getting five shots a night. What's that going to do?" It's getting Marion 12.0 points a game, a 20.5 percent shooting mark from three-point range and a place on the trade block as the Heat consider dealing the Matrix and his $17.8 million expiring contract before next Thursday's trading deadline.
C: Samuel Dalembert, Sixers
Before the season, Dalembert said, "Personally, I expect to be an All-Star this year." Nice sentiment, but the inconsistent 7-footer hasn't measured up: He is averaging 6.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks and playing nearly nine fewer minutes than last season (down to 24.6 from 33.2) . Dalembert struggled right from the start as he and the 76ers adjusted to power forward Elton Brand's arrival. But with Brand now out for the season, there is more room to operate for Dalembert, who responded last week with 18 points and 20 rebounds against Indiana -- an All-Star-type performance, at least for one game.
Reserves
G: DeShawn Stevenson, Wizards
When Sports Illustrated asked 190 players to name the player who thinks he's a lot better than he really is, Stevenson tied for first place with Boston's Kendrick Perkins. Stevenson hasn't had much to brag about this season, shooting 31.2 percent from the field and averaging 6.6 points in 32 games. (He averaged 11.2 points in each of the last two seasons.) To Stevenson's credit, in late December he volunteered to end his 275-game start streak and come off the bench in hopes of building some confidence against second-line players. That experiment lasted only a few games before Stevenson went down with a back injury.
G: Rashad McCants, Timberwolves
After getting regular minutes as a reserve in the first two months of the season, the 24-year-old former first-round pick helped spark the Timberwolves' resurgence ... when he was banished to the end of the bench. He played a total of 14 minutes over two games in January, a month in which Rodney Carney took McCants' playing time and the Timberwolves won 10 of 14 games. After averaging 14.9 points on 45.3 percent shooting last season, McCants is down to 9.2 points on 36.2 percent shooting this season. He is also averaging 0.9 assists in 19 minutes a game.
G: Larry Hughes, Bulls
Having arrived in Chicago last season claiming that he valued having fun more than winning, Hughes has gone about proving that this season. The 30-year-old shooting guard, playing largely off the bench, has averaged 12.0 points (on 41.2 percent shooting) and 2.0 assists, numbers quite similar to those that prompted Cleveland to deal him last season. Not surprisingly, the Bulls reportedly are attempting to do the same after Hughes backed up his mediocre production by complaining about his minutes and crossing coach Vinny Del Negro on everything from team rules prohibiting eating in the locker room to in-game requests to pass the ball. After Del Negro benched Hughes for 10 straight games, the team placed the 11-year veteran on the inactive list at his request.
G: Beno Udrih, Kings
Plucked from the waiver wire last season, Udrih enjoyed a breakthrough year in Sacramento for which he was rewarded with a five-year, $32 million contract. But Udrih's production as a starter has declined this season (10.8 points, 4.3 assists), and he is said to be one of several Kings players available in a trade. Though it's unfair to place all the blame on Udrih for the Kings' 11-43 record, Sacramento's nightmarish season isn't exactly a feather in the floor leader's cap, either.
F: Ricky Davis, Clippers
The Clippers sought to replace some of Corey Maggette's offense by signing Davis last offseason. But Davis, a career 14.3-point scorer, slumped badly early in the season, was suspended five games for violating the NBA's anti-drug program, missed a month with a knee injury and hasn't found his touch since returning in mid-January. Davis is averaging only 10.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per 36 minutes, and he's shooting 34.2 percent from the field overall.
F: Adam Morrison, Lakers
After he shot poorly while averaging 11.8 points as a rookie and missed all last season with a knee injury, expectations were modest this season for the No. 3 pick in the 2006 draft. Nevertheless, the Bobcats figured they would get more than this from Morrison, who averaged 4.5 points (on 36 percent shooting) and 1.6 rebounds in 15.1 minutes before being traded to the Lakers last week. "Coming off an injury last year, he seemed to have lost his confidence a little bit," Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan told reporters Tuesday. "He didn't have the understanding of how Larry expected him to play both offensively and defensively."
[B]C: Tyson Chandler, Hornets
It isn't so much that Chandler's averages of 8.8 points (on 56.3 percent shooting) and 8.3 rebounds are abysmal. It's just that more was expected after he averaged 11.8 points (on 62.3 percent shooting) and 11.8 rebounds last season. Earlier this season, Hornets coach Byron Scott tried to capture what was missing in Chandler's game by relating a conversation he had with Jerry West. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Scott said West told him that "one difference about this year's team as opposed to last year is that Tyson Chandler is not playing with the energy he played last year." Perhaps Chandler will be raring to go following the All-Star break after missing the last 12 games with a sprained ankle.
Coach
P.J. Carlesimo, Thunder
Carlesimo, who guided the franchise to a 20-win season last year in Seattle, was fired after a 1-12 start in which the young Thunder were blown out repeatedly while playing uninspired basketball. The veteran coach was replaced by assistant Scott Brooks, who moved Kevin Durant from shooting guard to small forward and turned over the point guard duties to rookie Russell Westbrook. Within a month, Durant was performing at a level that placed him in the All-Star conversation, and Westbrook had emerged as a capable playmaker and scorer. The team eventually followed suit, rebounding from a 3-17 start under Brooks to go 7-7 in January, seemingly chipping away at Brooks' "interim" tag with each victory.