ducks
06-12-2005, 06:45 PM
Trades land Mohammed, Arroyo in NBA Finals
June 11, 2005
By Chris Bernucca
SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) - Nazr Mohammed is very happy to be here. Carlos Arroyo is happy to be anywhere but Salt Lake City.
Mohammed, the starting center of the San Antonio Spurs, arrived here via a mid-season trade from New York, where his career was on the upswing but was stuck on a high-priced team racked by internal strife and going nowhere.
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"Whenever you're traded, the first thing that goes through your mind is disappointment," he said. "I was disappointed to be traded. I thought I'd be in New York for a while. When I finally got over the initial shock, I was pretty excited to come here and actually have a chance to compete for a championship."
Arroyo, a reserve guard for the Detroit Pistons, both played and talked his way off the Utah Jazz, where he had lost his starting job earlier this season and made quite a public spectacle of it.
"I'm definitely happy," Arroyo said. "(Pistons president) Joe Dumars has been nothing but great to me."
When the season started, both Mohammed and Arroyo were focused on continuing the foundation they had begun to build for their respective careers. Neither was entertaining any ideas of playing for the NBA championship.
The Knicks were hopeful that they could get some mismatched pieces to fit well enough to win the Atlantic Division. The Jazz were coming off their first season without superstar mainstays Karl Malone and John Stockton, barely missing the playoffs for the first time since 1983.
However, there was hope in Utah. The Jazz had added forwards Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur through free agency, Matt Harpring was healthy again and they had leadership at point guard in the form of Arroyo, who was riding a wave of positive vibes.
Given the chance to start for the first time in his career, the pride of Puerto Rico responded with his best year, averaging 12.6 points and 5.0 assists. He signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the Jazz, then quarterbacked a huge upset of Team USA in the Olympics opener.
But Arroyo sprained an ankle in the preseason and the team started well without him, going 5-1. When he returned, his penchant for flashy play and shooting did not endear him to coach Jerry Sloan, who benched him.
News of Arroyo's benching reached home and he began receiving calls from the Puerto Rican media. He held a teleconference to explain his situation, which had the obligatory grumbling.
"As far as going to the media and telling them I wanted to play, I signed for four years over there, so I expected to play a lot of minutes," he said. "When that didn't happen, I felt kind of like I need to pick up and let them know, because our communication wasn't so good."
That was enough for Sloan and Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor, who unloaded Arroyo to the Pistons for Elden Campbell and a first-round pick. The Jazz were so bent on getting rid of Arroyo that they waived Campbell, who eventually returned to the Pistons.
Arroyo called the whole ordeal "an experience," one that tought him a valuable lesson.
"To be patient," he said. "When you're patient, things go your way. I learned how to be a professional as far as waiting for my minutes."
Paroled from Utah, Arroyo found himself back in a probationary period in Detroit behind star point guard Chauncey Billups. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.2 assists during the season but has seen his court time reduced even more in the postseason as veteran Lindsey Hunter has become an effective defender for the Pistons.
Instead of grumbling again, Arroyo drew an unlikely parallel between himself and one of the game's true superstars.
"I looked at myself and compared myself to (Phoenix Suns guard and NBA MVP) Steve Nash," he said, raising some eybrows in the crowd around him. "Steve Nash was very patient his first couple of years in the NBA and look at where he is.
"I try to compare my situation with a lot of players that have been patient their first couple of years in the league."
One of those is Mohammed, who began his career as a third-string center for the Philadelphia 76ers and has used changes of address to make the climb to starter on a potential championship team.
Four years ago, Mohammed was a couple months away from a trip to the NBA Finals when the 76ers sent him to Atlanta in the deal for All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo.
Mohammed harbored no ill will toward the Sixers, even though they did not vote him a playoff share. When they reached the Finals, he went their Game One win in Los Angeles and still maintains friendships with many of the players on that team.
"It was one of those things that kind of helped my career," he said. "I got a chance to go Atlanta and kind of show people that I had a post (game) and I could play."
Perhaps there is something to be said for karma. Acquired at the 2004 All-Star break by the Knicks, Mohammed was averaging better than 10 points and eight rebounds when he was sent to the Spurs just over a year later.
After returning from an injury, Mohammed was first used as a reserve before supplanting Rasho Nesterovic as the starter alongside superstar forward Tim Duncan. He has impressed coach Gregg Popovich with his determination.
"We would not be here without him," Popovich said after Mohammed had 10 points and seven rebounds in San Antonio's Game One win. "He's been fantastic through the end of the season and the playoffs and not really knowing the system."
Upon arriving, Mohammed noticed an immediate difference. There was not a "12 players, 12 limos" mentality that pervades most NBA teams, including the Knicks.
"I think we're a little closer as a team," he said. "You might see me and Manu (Ginobili) out one day, you might see me and Beno (udrih), you might see me and Dog (Glenn Robinson). It's kind of like guys interact so well with one another. We're really friends off the court, instead of just being friends when you see each other at the game."
And Mohammed does not miss the glitz of Broadway, either. He much prefers the vastly understated value of playing The Alamo City.
"To me, it's glamorous," he said. "Winning is glamorous."
June 11, 2005
By Chris Bernucca
SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) - Nazr Mohammed is very happy to be here. Carlos Arroyo is happy to be anywhere but Salt Lake City.
Mohammed, the starting center of the San Antonio Spurs, arrived here via a mid-season trade from New York, where his career was on the upswing but was stuck on a high-priced team racked by internal strife and going nowhere.
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"Whenever you're traded, the first thing that goes through your mind is disappointment," he said. "I was disappointed to be traded. I thought I'd be in New York for a while. When I finally got over the initial shock, I was pretty excited to come here and actually have a chance to compete for a championship."
Arroyo, a reserve guard for the Detroit Pistons, both played and talked his way off the Utah Jazz, where he had lost his starting job earlier this season and made quite a public spectacle of it.
"I'm definitely happy," Arroyo said. "(Pistons president) Joe Dumars has been nothing but great to me."
When the season started, both Mohammed and Arroyo were focused on continuing the foundation they had begun to build for their respective careers. Neither was entertaining any ideas of playing for the NBA championship.
The Knicks were hopeful that they could get some mismatched pieces to fit well enough to win the Atlantic Division. The Jazz were coming off their first season without superstar mainstays Karl Malone and John Stockton, barely missing the playoffs for the first time since 1983.
However, there was hope in Utah. The Jazz had added forwards Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur through free agency, Matt Harpring was healthy again and they had leadership at point guard in the form of Arroyo, who was riding a wave of positive vibes.
Given the chance to start for the first time in his career, the pride of Puerto Rico responded with his best year, averaging 12.6 points and 5.0 assists. He signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the Jazz, then quarterbacked a huge upset of Team USA in the Olympics opener.
But Arroyo sprained an ankle in the preseason and the team started well without him, going 5-1. When he returned, his penchant for flashy play and shooting did not endear him to coach Jerry Sloan, who benched him.
News of Arroyo's benching reached home and he began receiving calls from the Puerto Rican media. He held a teleconference to explain his situation, which had the obligatory grumbling.
"As far as going to the media and telling them I wanted to play, I signed for four years over there, so I expected to play a lot of minutes," he said. "When that didn't happen, I felt kind of like I need to pick up and let them know, because our communication wasn't so good."
That was enough for Sloan and Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor, who unloaded Arroyo to the Pistons for Elden Campbell and a first-round pick. The Jazz were so bent on getting rid of Arroyo that they waived Campbell, who eventually returned to the Pistons.
Arroyo called the whole ordeal "an experience," one that tought him a valuable lesson.
"To be patient," he said. "When you're patient, things go your way. I learned how to be a professional as far as waiting for my minutes."
Paroled from Utah, Arroyo found himself back in a probationary period in Detroit behind star point guard Chauncey Billups. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.2 assists during the season but has seen his court time reduced even more in the postseason as veteran Lindsey Hunter has become an effective defender for the Pistons.
Instead of grumbling again, Arroyo drew an unlikely parallel between himself and one of the game's true superstars.
"I looked at myself and compared myself to (Phoenix Suns guard and NBA MVP) Steve Nash," he said, raising some eybrows in the crowd around him. "Steve Nash was very patient his first couple of years in the NBA and look at where he is.
"I try to compare my situation with a lot of players that have been patient their first couple of years in the league."
One of those is Mohammed, who began his career as a third-string center for the Philadelphia 76ers and has used changes of address to make the climb to starter on a potential championship team.
Four years ago, Mohammed was a couple months away from a trip to the NBA Finals when the 76ers sent him to Atlanta in the deal for All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo.
Mohammed harbored no ill will toward the Sixers, even though they did not vote him a playoff share. When they reached the Finals, he went their Game One win in Los Angeles and still maintains friendships with many of the players on that team.
"It was one of those things that kind of helped my career," he said. "I got a chance to go Atlanta and kind of show people that I had a post (game) and I could play."
Perhaps there is something to be said for karma. Acquired at the 2004 All-Star break by the Knicks, Mohammed was averaging better than 10 points and eight rebounds when he was sent to the Spurs just over a year later.
After returning from an injury, Mohammed was first used as a reserve before supplanting Rasho Nesterovic as the starter alongside superstar forward Tim Duncan. He has impressed coach Gregg Popovich with his determination.
"We would not be here without him," Popovich said after Mohammed had 10 points and seven rebounds in San Antonio's Game One win. "He's been fantastic through the end of the season and the playoffs and not really knowing the system."
Upon arriving, Mohammed noticed an immediate difference. There was not a "12 players, 12 limos" mentality that pervades most NBA teams, including the Knicks.
"I think we're a little closer as a team," he said. "You might see me and Manu (Ginobili) out one day, you might see me and Beno (udrih), you might see me and Dog (Glenn Robinson). It's kind of like guys interact so well with one another. We're really friends off the court, instead of just being friends when you see each other at the game."
And Mohammed does not miss the glitz of Broadway, either. He much prefers the vastly understated value of playing The Alamo City.
"To me, it's glamorous," he said. "Winning is glamorous."