can someone post this insider aritcle [Archive]

PimpScourge

11-02-2004, 11:45 PM

There you go...
Pistons, Spurs, Wolves should rise to the top
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider

There's an old Japanese proverb that says that there are "many paths up Mount Fuji." In other words, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Is there a formula to winning an NBA championship? You'd be hard-pressed to find it if you examined this year's top four contenders for the NBA prize.

The world champion Pistons bring stifling defense, superior teamwork and a gritty, blue-collar work ethic to the table.

The former champion Spurs will hop on the back of an MVP big man, Tim Duncan, and ask him to carry them to the promised land.

The Timberwolves do it with shock and awe on the offensive end of the ball. Kevin Garnett, Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell and Wally Szczerbiak are all capable of dropping 30 on you on any given night.

The Pacers are a combination of the first three. They've got an MVP-caliber big man, great depth and defensive toughness, and enough offensive firepower to knock just about anyone out.

Put all four in a steel cage, and who walks out at the end?

The Pacers are this year's dark horse to bring home a title, writes NBA Insider Chad Ford. Here's Insider's season preview of the three other teams that have the best shot at winning it all this year.

DETROIT PISTONS

Starting Five: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace.
Key Subs: Antonio McDyess, Carlos Delfino, Elden Campbell, Lindsey Hunter.
Outlook: How about this for no respect? The Lakers beat the Spurs in six games in the second round of the playoffs. The Pistons destroyed the Lakers in the Finals.

The Pistons return every starter, add a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year in Antonio McDyess and a candidate for Rookie of the Year in Carlos Delfino. The Spurs lose a starter and add one significant free agent, Brent Barry.

The verdict? NBA GMs picked the Spurs to win it all this year. The Pistons got just 33 percent of the vote.

Huh?

"This is a team that has never been anointed," Pistons president Joe Dumars said this preseason. "Even after winning a championship, we have not been anointed. We still feel as though we have to prove it."

Obviously others feel the same way. But what's really left for the Pistons to prove?

After the mid-February addition of Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons went on a 20-5 tear.

Defensively, there isn't a more intimidating team in the NBA. The have great size at every position. They are as long, athletic and gritty as any other team in the league. They have enough interchangeable parts to answer almost any defensive problem that they would face.

The truth is in the stats. Since adding 'Sheed, only two teams scored more than 90 points against the Pistons in the regular season. None broke 100.

For a team that had a rep that it couldn't score, the Pistons did just fine, tallying 90 points or more in 15 of their 25 games after 'Sheed joined the team – and won all 15 games.

This year the team features three players on their starting roster – Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace – capable of scoring 20 points per night. Players like McDyess, Delfino and Tayshaun Prince are also threats to bust out on a given night.

The team also has depth in the frontcourt, a Hall of Fame coach and the one of the top two or three front offices in the league, led by Joe Dumars and John Hammond.

Why aren't we anointing them? Is it because they don't produce enough SportsCenter highlights? Is it because we're still hung over from two decades worth of NBA indoctrination exalting the individual over the team? Maybe we're just averse to change.

Whatever the reason, the Pistons don't seem fazed.

"Say what you will about us," Dumars said, "but know that we're not trying to follow the pack. We're trying to lead it."

Chances are Dumars and the Pistons will do it again this year.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS

Starting Five: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan, Rasho Nesterovic.
Key Subs: Brent Barry, Malik Rose, Robert Horry, Beno Udrih.
Outlook: Tim Duncan is the superstar. Tony Parker is the rising star. Manu Ginobili is the coming star. But for all of the star power in San Antonio, it's been one regular guy, Brent Barry, that's getting all of the love this fall.

Barry, who signed a four-year deal for the mid-level exception this summer, has been cast in an unlikely and unfamiliar role for him – the missing piece to a championship team.

Considering that he's a 32-year-old combo guard who has played in a total of just 13 playoff games in his nine year career – aren't expectations getting out of control?

The Spurs point to Barry's exceptional 41 percent career shooting percentage from beyond the three-point arc and say no. Barry shot 45 percent from three last season (2nd in the league) without a dominant big man in the middle to draw a double team.

With Duncan in the middle, it should be like shooting fish in a barrel for Barry.

Two seasons ago, the Spurs won the NBA title with Stephen Jackson shooting 31 percent from three. With Barry in the fold, the Spurs believe that they not only have their sharpshooter but also a backup point guard for the talented but erratic Parker.

So far the Barry experience hasn't quite worked the way the Spurs drew it up. In the preseason, he shot a miserable 28 percent from the field and missed 18 of 24 three pointers.

No one expects that trend to continue, but Barry's struggles highlight the real truths in San Antonio.

The expectations are Texas-sized for Barry, but if the Spurs are going to return to the throne, it will be on the backs of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili – not a middle-aged sniper.

Tim Duncan's numbers slipped a little bit across the board last season without David Robinson backing him up in the middle. After a grueling, disappointing Olympic summer, can Duncan rebound?

Parker, who is just 22 years old, improves every year, but he can still disappear in big games. After dominating the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs and the Lakers for the first two games, Parker fell apart in the Spurs' subsequent four straight losses to the Lakers.

Ginobili has the chance to be the third star in the Spurs' universe, but he has to become more consistent with his long-range jumper.

With Shaq out of the West, there isn't team in the conference that can really match up with the size of Spurs' front line, the speed of their backcourt or their championship experience.

Now it's on Duncan, Parker and Ginobili's shoulders to carry the load. Barry's just along for the ride.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

Starting Five: Sam Cassell, Trenton Hassell, Latrell Sprewell, Kevin Garnett, Michael Olowokandi.
Key Subs: Wally Szczerbiak, Fred Hoiberg, Ervin Johnson, Mark Madsen.
Outlook: Well, someone had to replace the Lakers as the most dysfunctional championship contender.

Last year, we predicted that the Timberwolves, despite their clear upgrade in talent, would implode under the weight of all the egos that GM Kevin McHale brought in.

Looks like we were one year off on that one.

Kevin Garnett's self-confidence is big enough to encircle the Earth. Add in Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, Michael Olowokandi and Wally Szczerbiak, and you're talking about a black hole that could engulf the universe.

However, last year everyone got along beautifully, the Wolves posted the best record in the West and they made it to the Western Conference Finals – giving the Lakers as tough a fight as the Spurs did.

So why aren't the Wolves sitting atop this list with everyone returning to the fold?

Remember that ego thing? Sometimes success brings out the worst of it.

It started in training camp when Cassell was a no-show, demanding that his contract be extended in appreciation for all that he gave to the team last season.

Then Sprewell followed suit, claiming he was outraged -- outraged! -- that the Wolves weren't willing to give him a three-year, $40 million extension. Now he's demanding a trade.

Factor in that the Wolves were unable to pull off a trade for Szczerbiak to ease tensions in the locker room, and it looks like the soap opera is just beginning in Minnesota.

Don't believe it? Listen to Cassell talking about how he'll react if he doesn't get his money.

"I'm going to play, but you know, show me the respect that I'm showing you," Cassell said. "If you're not going to respect me, I can't do it."

Spree has been equally stubborn. "I'm not trying to stay the year here, I will say that," he said on Sunday. "If they don't want to sign me, I want to go somewhere else."

So much for that all-for-one, one-for-all mentality that reigned last year.

The problem for the Timberwolves is that they know it's franchise suicide to give those players the money that they want. Neither player deserves a penny more than what they have left on the books.

Cassell turns 35 in November and is looking for an extension that goes three years beyond his current contract, which ends after the 2005-06 season.

Spree, who just turned 34 and is showing signs of advanced age, wants a deal that will pay him more than $10 million a season when he's 38 years old. He's not worth that now.

However, if Kevin McHale balks at their demands, he can pretty much guarantee that Cassell and Sprewell will take matters into their own hands on the court and sulk all season off it.

That type of tension causes problems on even the best of teams, but on this potential powder keg, the whole thing might blow.

The good news is that Kevin Garnett continues to get better every year. Szczerbiak is finally healthy and playing great in the preseason. Everyone is cautiously optimistic that Olowokandi is good to go, barring a season-ending paper cut. And the team gets back Troy Hudson, who missed most of last season with an ankle injury.

Will that be enough to overcome Cassell's and Spree's temper tantrums? History suggests we'll be heading for another messy divorce this summer if the Wolves don't find a way to win it all now.