Manu20
09-25-2005, 10:55 AM
Dwyane on the Brain
By Emmett Shaw
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Sep 24, 2005, 21:13
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_14313.shtml
Gregg Popovich was simply tossing some kudos Brent Barry’s way three weeks ago. The Spurs’ coach told a cluster of reporters that Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel signing with the Spurs did not diminish Barry’s role on his team, especially after the way Brent rose solidly to the occasion in Games 5, 6, and 7 versus the Heat. The San Antonio Express-News’s Mike Monroe gently asked Pop if he didn’t really mean Detroit instead of Miami. Humored, Pop asked, “Did I say Heat?”
Pop went on to generally praise the multiple roster moves Miami has made this summer, but then named Detroit and Indiana as equally respectable Eastern clubs. New Jersey and Cleveland also then got Pop props, as did a large and unspecified group of Western contenders. But notice that the coach, when he slipped, did say “Heat.” Not Pistons, Pacers, Suns, Rockets, Mavericks, Nuggets, nor any other challenger. In order, here's a look at the teams the Spurs could face if they return to the NBA Finals in 2006.
Heat: And who can blame Pop for saying "Heat"? The big factor Miami has, above all other rivals, is Shaquille O’Neal. The vitality and force of O’Neal remains unique in the NBA today. He isn’t David Robinson when it comes to leadership, or else Shaq would either be with Orlando or at least Los Angeles captaining contenders there. Robinson has been called overrated, but the serious San Antonio program he largely started 16 years ago is still on top. The Spurs’ competitive standards today are still built upon Mr. Robinson’s. The Magic and Lakers – with and now without Shaq – are as much soap opera/comedies as basketball teams.
Nevertheless, O’Neal remains one of the irrepressible personages of sports history, very much a product of his outstanding upbringing by mother Lucille Harrison and father Phil Harrison, and now very much inspired by Dwyane Wade playing his heart out in Game 7 in the ECFs when the Heat guard was painfully injured in his left side. The pride and drive of Shaq puts the Heat at the top of San Antonio’s Eastern threats. And don’t forget the determination of exec Pat Riley this summer to improve his already nearly elite team! James Posey and Antoine Walker are major upgrades. Although Riley couldn’t convince Finley to join, Pat landed on his feet by signing Gary Payton this week. Shaky coach Stan Van Gundy is on the clock now, and must gain O’Neal’s confidence. But one way or the other, the Heat will be great this season.
In: Posey, Walker, Jason Williams, Payton, and significant rookie Wayne Simien. Out: Eddie Jones, Damon Jones, Keyon Dooling, and Rasual Butler. Riley’s inability to land Finley also opens up a chance for young Dorell Wright to make a contribution at some point this season. How Riley has been able to keep the futures swingman Wright off the table in his huge trades the last two summers is stunning. Of course the great Dwyane Wade will continue to improve. Walker and Udonis Haslem aptly man the 4-spot, with Alonzo Mourning available to play there too. Mourning adds to the sense of mission for this positively stacked outfit. Riley seemingly underrated having Bruce Bowen’s defense on his team for the four years since losing the Spurs’ starting SF in free agency. No longer. With Posey (Shandon Anderson is also on the team), Miami now has the rare ability to harass mid-sized superstars.
Questions: Does Shaq believe in Van Gundy? (Riley’s backhanded early summer comments regarding SVG figure to have risen from the big guy’s concerns.) Are the Heat too new, with too much talent, too much ego, and not enough basketballs? Does Jason Williams have what it takes for a title run? Answers: The Heat have what it takes to deal with all these questions, either outright or with good alternatives readily available. Shaq, Mourning, Wade, Payton, and simply chasing the championship are key to squelching any internal problems. But if Wade is playing the point next March, know that Pat’s best-laid plans aren’t working out. And if Riley is the coach, know that Stan’s didn’t.
Pacers: Ron Artest is back, talking of going all the way: “I know it’s going to come down to us. I’m not sure about the other teams. It’s going to be on us if we want to win or not, if we want to win a championship. And I think this year is our year.” Artest makes a good case. The Pacers were right there in contending mode before the brawl in Detroit last November, but then they wasted Reggie Miller’s final season. The Pacers are also right there with the Spurs and Heat in the outstanding way they improved themselves this off-season. While the Pacers could well win 60 games, the problem is going to be getting by Shaq in a series. They certainly could (even should) do so, but won’t. The Simon brothers have certainly stepped up, paying perhaps $80 million in salary and NBA tax this season. A lot of owners would have intervened to dump Artest, but the Simons left the call with execs Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, who have assembled a loaded roster.
In: Sarunas Jasikevicius and touted rookie Danny Granger. Out: Reggie Miller and James Jones. Artest is ready to go. His mission is one buzzword this season – focus. Focus on the game, and even his music, and supposedly he will not lose it again. Unlike Vernon Maxwell ten years earlier in Portland, Ron didn’t go in the seats throwing punches. Ron was just taking a few names at The Palace. He was heavily punished by the NBA for his long pattern of bad behavior. But there’s that saying about the savage beast – the Pacers now seem accepting of Artest balancing his basketball life with his music business. The former great Lithuanian guard Rimas Kurtinaitis, who now coaches in Europe, told me this summer that Jasikevicius is NBA ready. Kurtinaitis even puts him on a level with Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. The praise isn’t offered lightly, because he isn’t as sure about Hornets newcomer Arvidas Macijauskas due to defensive concerns. Jamaal Tinsley has needed reserve help for years and now finally has it. Stephen Jackson is a very big guard who can make big shots, and now also has Jasikevicius in reserve at SG. Artest and Granger hold down the wing. Both of them can do it all. Jermaine O’Neal rivals Shaq as the best big man in the East, whether playing forward or center. Center Jeff Foster’s ability to take a brutal hit and keep on playing gives Indiana a fighting chance in any series with the Heat or Pistons. David Harrison backs up in the middle, and Austin Croshere and Fred Jones fill in well elsewhere. Jonathan Bender is a gifted (but injury prone) guy deep on the talent-rich bench. The enigmatic guy plays outside with skills at 7-feet tall.
Questions: Will last year’s squandered opportunity haunt Indiana or inspire it to vengeance? Will coach Rick Carlisle trust Granger? (This the coach who hardly played the rookie Tayshaun Prince.) With Reggie gone, who is this team’s leader? Can they beat Shaq in a series? How good is Jasikevicius? Answers: Things certainly can get out of control in Indy for a franchise thought of as being a solid organization. The team seems awkward because its enforcer, Artest, needs someone to enforce force upon him. They don’t seem to have any wise one who does that kind of thing. As far as beating Shaq in a series, I don’t think it happens. Not this season. Shaq simply isn’t going to let it. But if it does, Sarunas will be a big reason.
Pistons: The Pistons seem like a great franchise, but they change coaches too much. Their new coaching staff is a question mark. Flip Saunders’ story could easily turn out like Mike Dunleavy’s in Portland. Will he be able to handle Rasheed Wallace? Also, Flip is supposed to develop Darko Milicic and Carlos Delfino to augment his great starting lineup, but the Pistons lack a really big starting star to augment with a bench. Detroit probably maxed out what it can do the last four years. It’s been a run that started from the bottom of the conference. But now the Pacers are deeper and have finally gotten some serious help at the point for Jamaal Tinsley. And the Heat are loaded with the big stars Detroit doesn’t have. Further, unlike last Spring now the Heat also has superior depth to Detroit. The East is extremely improved in the last two years, and the Pistons have headlined the improvement. Now they face the downside of being a champion. The Pistons have inspired monster rivals that are simply more talented than they are, either with star-power or depth. The frequent coaching changes make you wonder about Detroit’s stability too.
In: Maurice Evans, rookie Jason Maxiell, Dale Davis, and Flip Saunders. Out: Elden Campbell and Larry Brown. Coach Brown played a big role in his own departure. Larry sort of pulled a Phil Jackson move two years ago, taking over a team already on the verge of greatness. The problem with that assertion is that few people accused Brown of that when Larry took the Detroit job. Almost everyone said the Pistons were just another good team. A few of us like HOOPSWORLD.com’s own Darren Andrade of Toronto knew the Pistons were ready, but the rest of the sports world was mostly stunned when Detroit went all the way. Now everyone agrees that Detroit has the most solid starting lineup in the game. All five of these players are in their prime and play on both ends. But the Piston’s upcoming talent development has disappointed exec Joe Dumars and a lot of others. Enter Flip, who seeks to solve that syndrome while winning championships at the same time – something he’s never done at the NBA level, even with Kevin Garnett on his team. Evans becomes an immediate candidate to be a rotation player. Mo comes in with a history with Saunders. Carlos Delfino also needs to step up this year and play minutes. The easiest part of Saunders’ job is simply to trim some excessive minutes of Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Evans and Delfino fit the bill as good reserve swings, but hopefully Ronald Dupree won’t get lost in the shuffle. If so, he becomes a worthy free agent target for some team next summer. Considering that Detroit has reserve Antonio McDyess, who had a fantastic comeback last season, it is at least as good as any team in the league at PF. Rasheed Wallace is still the playmaker at the position, but seemingly doesn’t want to be great – just really, really good. Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups are also players on that B+ list of NBA superstars. It’s become hard to find anyone who thinks Darko Milicic will ever be an important NBA player.
Questions: Will Saunders fit? Will Rasheed Wallace be coachable except by Larry Brown? Would Joe trade Sheed to New York if the Pistons need a shake-up this winter? Can the Pistons keep up with the continuous upgrades Miami and Indiana keep making? Answers: Sleep on Detroit at your peril. But they need Saunders to prove his worth big-time to have a chance at winning another championship. Flip may very well actually be a better fit than Larry Brown, who skipped town after just two years. Detroit will get along and keep winning lots of games, but it’s hard to win championships without a major superstar. In today’s Eastern Conference the Pistons are a very tough out. But an out.
Spurs: Can you believe what an unexpected off-season this was for the Spurs? At first, everyone thought that Luis Scola would be added from his Spanish team and that Devin Brown would be re-signed. Robert Horry pretty openly intimated that he would return with San Antonio as soon as the season was over. After quickly locking up Horry, the Spurs instead went with Argentinean Fabricio Oberto, left a frustrated Scola in Spain, and let DB explore the normally tepid market for restricted free agents. Assistant coach Chip Engelland was signed from Denver in early July in a coup not unlike adding a good player. Meanwhile exec R.C. Buford made a list of possible SF candidates on the market, a list that included Finley when Dallas set him free. A small groundswell also piped up in San Antonio that Beno Udrih wasn’t solid enough as Tony Parker’s backup. But the Spurs stayed very quiet in free agency for about a month, then suddenly Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley made the Spurs their choice. This gave the Spurs the most summer improvement for any sitting NBA champion since the matter of hours in 1986 between Len Bias being drafted and his tragic end.
Questions: Did the Spurs overpay to extend Tony Parker last summer? How well will Pop handle a team this talented relative to the rest of the league? (This compared to the less talented groups he’s done so well with.) Are there enough minutes to go around to keep Finley and Barry sharp? Will the Spurs take pride in being the league’s best, beating the pants off teams, or will they “save it up” for the playoffs? Answers: Parker is actually a work in progress. He is 23. We forget about that because he’s been running a great NBA team for four years. Improving his jump-shooting will take time. Pop has been saying we should get off Parker’s back about not being as good a shooter as Steve Kerr was and to respect how Tony has improved on defense. If Barry in 2004-05 is an indication, no, there aren’t enough minutes for Finley and Barry to shine statistically. However the Spurs aren’t about stats, they are about playing hard and playing smart. I expect the Spurs to win about 65 games and probably face Miami in The Finals.
By Emmett Shaw
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Sep 24, 2005, 21:13
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_14313.shtml
Gregg Popovich was simply tossing some kudos Brent Barry’s way three weeks ago. The Spurs’ coach told a cluster of reporters that Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel signing with the Spurs did not diminish Barry’s role on his team, especially after the way Brent rose solidly to the occasion in Games 5, 6, and 7 versus the Heat. The San Antonio Express-News’s Mike Monroe gently asked Pop if he didn’t really mean Detroit instead of Miami. Humored, Pop asked, “Did I say Heat?”
Pop went on to generally praise the multiple roster moves Miami has made this summer, but then named Detroit and Indiana as equally respectable Eastern clubs. New Jersey and Cleveland also then got Pop props, as did a large and unspecified group of Western contenders. But notice that the coach, when he slipped, did say “Heat.” Not Pistons, Pacers, Suns, Rockets, Mavericks, Nuggets, nor any other challenger. In order, here's a look at the teams the Spurs could face if they return to the NBA Finals in 2006.
Heat: And who can blame Pop for saying "Heat"? The big factor Miami has, above all other rivals, is Shaquille O’Neal. The vitality and force of O’Neal remains unique in the NBA today. He isn’t David Robinson when it comes to leadership, or else Shaq would either be with Orlando or at least Los Angeles captaining contenders there. Robinson has been called overrated, but the serious San Antonio program he largely started 16 years ago is still on top. The Spurs’ competitive standards today are still built upon Mr. Robinson’s. The Magic and Lakers – with and now without Shaq – are as much soap opera/comedies as basketball teams.
Nevertheless, O’Neal remains one of the irrepressible personages of sports history, very much a product of his outstanding upbringing by mother Lucille Harrison and father Phil Harrison, and now very much inspired by Dwyane Wade playing his heart out in Game 7 in the ECFs when the Heat guard was painfully injured in his left side. The pride and drive of Shaq puts the Heat at the top of San Antonio’s Eastern threats. And don’t forget the determination of exec Pat Riley this summer to improve his already nearly elite team! James Posey and Antoine Walker are major upgrades. Although Riley couldn’t convince Finley to join, Pat landed on his feet by signing Gary Payton this week. Shaky coach Stan Van Gundy is on the clock now, and must gain O’Neal’s confidence. But one way or the other, the Heat will be great this season.
In: Posey, Walker, Jason Williams, Payton, and significant rookie Wayne Simien. Out: Eddie Jones, Damon Jones, Keyon Dooling, and Rasual Butler. Riley’s inability to land Finley also opens up a chance for young Dorell Wright to make a contribution at some point this season. How Riley has been able to keep the futures swingman Wright off the table in his huge trades the last two summers is stunning. Of course the great Dwyane Wade will continue to improve. Walker and Udonis Haslem aptly man the 4-spot, with Alonzo Mourning available to play there too. Mourning adds to the sense of mission for this positively stacked outfit. Riley seemingly underrated having Bruce Bowen’s defense on his team for the four years since losing the Spurs’ starting SF in free agency. No longer. With Posey (Shandon Anderson is also on the team), Miami now has the rare ability to harass mid-sized superstars.
Questions: Does Shaq believe in Van Gundy? (Riley’s backhanded early summer comments regarding SVG figure to have risen from the big guy’s concerns.) Are the Heat too new, with too much talent, too much ego, and not enough basketballs? Does Jason Williams have what it takes for a title run? Answers: The Heat have what it takes to deal with all these questions, either outright or with good alternatives readily available. Shaq, Mourning, Wade, Payton, and simply chasing the championship are key to squelching any internal problems. But if Wade is playing the point next March, know that Pat’s best-laid plans aren’t working out. And if Riley is the coach, know that Stan’s didn’t.
Pacers: Ron Artest is back, talking of going all the way: “I know it’s going to come down to us. I’m not sure about the other teams. It’s going to be on us if we want to win or not, if we want to win a championship. And I think this year is our year.” Artest makes a good case. The Pacers were right there in contending mode before the brawl in Detroit last November, but then they wasted Reggie Miller’s final season. The Pacers are also right there with the Spurs and Heat in the outstanding way they improved themselves this off-season. While the Pacers could well win 60 games, the problem is going to be getting by Shaq in a series. They certainly could (even should) do so, but won’t. The Simon brothers have certainly stepped up, paying perhaps $80 million in salary and NBA tax this season. A lot of owners would have intervened to dump Artest, but the Simons left the call with execs Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, who have assembled a loaded roster.
In: Sarunas Jasikevicius and touted rookie Danny Granger. Out: Reggie Miller and James Jones. Artest is ready to go. His mission is one buzzword this season – focus. Focus on the game, and even his music, and supposedly he will not lose it again. Unlike Vernon Maxwell ten years earlier in Portland, Ron didn’t go in the seats throwing punches. Ron was just taking a few names at The Palace. He was heavily punished by the NBA for his long pattern of bad behavior. But there’s that saying about the savage beast – the Pacers now seem accepting of Artest balancing his basketball life with his music business. The former great Lithuanian guard Rimas Kurtinaitis, who now coaches in Europe, told me this summer that Jasikevicius is NBA ready. Kurtinaitis even puts him on a level with Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. The praise isn’t offered lightly, because he isn’t as sure about Hornets newcomer Arvidas Macijauskas due to defensive concerns. Jamaal Tinsley has needed reserve help for years and now finally has it. Stephen Jackson is a very big guard who can make big shots, and now also has Jasikevicius in reserve at SG. Artest and Granger hold down the wing. Both of them can do it all. Jermaine O’Neal rivals Shaq as the best big man in the East, whether playing forward or center. Center Jeff Foster’s ability to take a brutal hit and keep on playing gives Indiana a fighting chance in any series with the Heat or Pistons. David Harrison backs up in the middle, and Austin Croshere and Fred Jones fill in well elsewhere. Jonathan Bender is a gifted (but injury prone) guy deep on the talent-rich bench. The enigmatic guy plays outside with skills at 7-feet tall.
Questions: Will last year’s squandered opportunity haunt Indiana or inspire it to vengeance? Will coach Rick Carlisle trust Granger? (This the coach who hardly played the rookie Tayshaun Prince.) With Reggie gone, who is this team’s leader? Can they beat Shaq in a series? How good is Jasikevicius? Answers: Things certainly can get out of control in Indy for a franchise thought of as being a solid organization. The team seems awkward because its enforcer, Artest, needs someone to enforce force upon him. They don’t seem to have any wise one who does that kind of thing. As far as beating Shaq in a series, I don’t think it happens. Not this season. Shaq simply isn’t going to let it. But if it does, Sarunas will be a big reason.
Pistons: The Pistons seem like a great franchise, but they change coaches too much. Their new coaching staff is a question mark. Flip Saunders’ story could easily turn out like Mike Dunleavy’s in Portland. Will he be able to handle Rasheed Wallace? Also, Flip is supposed to develop Darko Milicic and Carlos Delfino to augment his great starting lineup, but the Pistons lack a really big starting star to augment with a bench. Detroit probably maxed out what it can do the last four years. It’s been a run that started from the bottom of the conference. But now the Pacers are deeper and have finally gotten some serious help at the point for Jamaal Tinsley. And the Heat are loaded with the big stars Detroit doesn’t have. Further, unlike last Spring now the Heat also has superior depth to Detroit. The East is extremely improved in the last two years, and the Pistons have headlined the improvement. Now they face the downside of being a champion. The Pistons have inspired monster rivals that are simply more talented than they are, either with star-power or depth. The frequent coaching changes make you wonder about Detroit’s stability too.
In: Maurice Evans, rookie Jason Maxiell, Dale Davis, and Flip Saunders. Out: Elden Campbell and Larry Brown. Coach Brown played a big role in his own departure. Larry sort of pulled a Phil Jackson move two years ago, taking over a team already on the verge of greatness. The problem with that assertion is that few people accused Brown of that when Larry took the Detroit job. Almost everyone said the Pistons were just another good team. A few of us like HOOPSWORLD.com’s own Darren Andrade of Toronto knew the Pistons were ready, but the rest of the sports world was mostly stunned when Detroit went all the way. Now everyone agrees that Detroit has the most solid starting lineup in the game. All five of these players are in their prime and play on both ends. But the Piston’s upcoming talent development has disappointed exec Joe Dumars and a lot of others. Enter Flip, who seeks to solve that syndrome while winning championships at the same time – something he’s never done at the NBA level, even with Kevin Garnett on his team. Evans becomes an immediate candidate to be a rotation player. Mo comes in with a history with Saunders. Carlos Delfino also needs to step up this year and play minutes. The easiest part of Saunders’ job is simply to trim some excessive minutes of Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Evans and Delfino fit the bill as good reserve swings, but hopefully Ronald Dupree won’t get lost in the shuffle. If so, he becomes a worthy free agent target for some team next summer. Considering that Detroit has reserve Antonio McDyess, who had a fantastic comeback last season, it is at least as good as any team in the league at PF. Rasheed Wallace is still the playmaker at the position, but seemingly doesn’t want to be great – just really, really good. Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups are also players on that B+ list of NBA superstars. It’s become hard to find anyone who thinks Darko Milicic will ever be an important NBA player.
Questions: Will Saunders fit? Will Rasheed Wallace be coachable except by Larry Brown? Would Joe trade Sheed to New York if the Pistons need a shake-up this winter? Can the Pistons keep up with the continuous upgrades Miami and Indiana keep making? Answers: Sleep on Detroit at your peril. But they need Saunders to prove his worth big-time to have a chance at winning another championship. Flip may very well actually be a better fit than Larry Brown, who skipped town after just two years. Detroit will get along and keep winning lots of games, but it’s hard to win championships without a major superstar. In today’s Eastern Conference the Pistons are a very tough out. But an out.
Spurs: Can you believe what an unexpected off-season this was for the Spurs? At first, everyone thought that Luis Scola would be added from his Spanish team and that Devin Brown would be re-signed. Robert Horry pretty openly intimated that he would return with San Antonio as soon as the season was over. After quickly locking up Horry, the Spurs instead went with Argentinean Fabricio Oberto, left a frustrated Scola in Spain, and let DB explore the normally tepid market for restricted free agents. Assistant coach Chip Engelland was signed from Denver in early July in a coup not unlike adding a good player. Meanwhile exec R.C. Buford made a list of possible SF candidates on the market, a list that included Finley when Dallas set him free. A small groundswell also piped up in San Antonio that Beno Udrih wasn’t solid enough as Tony Parker’s backup. But the Spurs stayed very quiet in free agency for about a month, then suddenly Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley made the Spurs their choice. This gave the Spurs the most summer improvement for any sitting NBA champion since the matter of hours in 1986 between Len Bias being drafted and his tragic end.
Questions: Did the Spurs overpay to extend Tony Parker last summer? How well will Pop handle a team this talented relative to the rest of the league? (This compared to the less talented groups he’s done so well with.) Are there enough minutes to go around to keep Finley and Barry sharp? Will the Spurs take pride in being the league’s best, beating the pants off teams, or will they “save it up” for the playoffs? Answers: Parker is actually a work in progress. He is 23. We forget about that because he’s been running a great NBA team for four years. Improving his jump-shooting will take time. Pop has been saying we should get off Parker’s back about not being as good a shooter as Steve Kerr was and to respect how Tony has improved on defense. If Barry in 2004-05 is an indication, no, there aren’t enough minutes for Finley and Barry to shine statistically. However the Spurs aren’t about stats, they are about playing hard and playing smart. I expect the Spurs to win about 65 games and probably face Miami in The Finals.