Time for a break
Finally, All-Star weekend gives NBA some good news
By John Donovan, CNN/SI
Posted: Fri February 6, 1998 at 11:53 AM ET
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- The NBA takes its semi-mid-season break this weekend for its annual three-day infomercial, otherwise known as the All-Star Game.
The timing couldn't be better.
Latrell Sprewell and P.J. Carlesimo. The Knicks and Heat. Plummeting scoring. Skyrocketing salaries.
The Denver Nuggets, for goodness sake.
The NBA has had its share of headaches and embarrassments this season. But everything will be peachy in New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday when the All-Stars do their thing. Festivities begin Saturday with the 3-point shootout, the rookie game and the premiere of 2-ball, which matches an NBA and a WNBA player in a team shooting competition.
If nothing else, the break is a perfect chance to reflect on an NBA season that has been alternately screwy, scary and, at times, spectacular.
Hardwood hard cases
The Latrell Sprewell incident has proven, once and for all, that you can't get away with things off the court that the Miami Heat and New York Knicks can on it.
When Sprewell, formally of the Golden State Warriors, attacked his coach, P.J. Carlesimo on December 1, it was the start of an ugly episode that will linger long past the hearings that are still dragging on.
The Warriors, maybe surprisingly, are a better team since losing Sprewell, though that's not saying much. Before Spree's outburst, Golden State was 1-13. Since, the Warriors are 7-24.
Violence, of course, is not new to the league. The aforementioned Knicks and Heat, though, are staking their claim as the badboys of this season with their undercutting, cheap-shotting, hard-fouling ways. Former Charlotte Hornets teammates Alonzo Mourning (now of the Heat) and Larry Johnson (of the Knicks) were the latest to scrap, continuing the dubious tradition of last year's Eastern Conference semifinal.
"You have to stand up for yourself when a guy tries to decapitate you," said Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is struggling to keep the Knicks afloat after losing center Patrick Ewing to a wrist injury. The Knicks are 10-10 since Ewing went down December 20.
What's that smell?
Though the Knicks and Warriors are hurting, few teams are hurting like the Nuggets, who stumbled to 23 straight losses and stand as the NBA's worst team at 4-42. Nuggets boss Allan Bristow decided to break down the team this year in hopes of rebuilding it next, but now he's quit and the Nuggets are broken.
The Warriors are bad, and the Nuggets worse, but the Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors are making strong arguments for being the worst. Toronto has had to suffer though the ever-present Damon Stoudamire trade rumors, a head coach that evidently is willing to follow him out the door and fans that are quickly losing interest.
Question: Does anyone know why Don Nelson is smiling so much in Dallas?
The motley Mavericks have lost 20 straight on the road. "It's hard to lose all the time," Nelson, the Mavs' self-appointed head coach, told CNN/SI, "but the practices are great, the guys on this team are fun to be around, and I'm really enjoying myself."
The Stoudamire trade has been rumored for weeks, but he's not the only big name who has been on the block. Though it now looks like Scottie Pippen will stay and play in Chicago, others like Sacramento guard Mitch Richmond may be dealt before the February 19 trading deadline.
"I don't want to run out on the situation," Stoudamire insists. "What I want to know is how are they going to convince new players to come to Toronto?"
Chinks in Bulls' armor showing
Pippen's presence in Chicago has helped, but it's hardly made the Bulls invincible. They've lost two to the Utah Jazz, were blown out by the Los Angeles Lakers (even without Nick Van Exel and Robert Horry) and aren't even the best team in the East.
That distinction belongs to the Indiana Pacers and All-Star coach Larry Bird, who has the Pacers believing they can win despite the fact they're not good rebounders.
Still, when it comes down to June, the five-time champion Bulls still are the team to beat -- especially as it becomes more clear daily (hit us over the heads, why don't you?) that this is the last go-round for Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan.
Besides the Pacers, the Heat could challenge in the East, and look out for the surprising New Jersey Nets (with All-Star Jayson Williams and rookie phenom Keith Van Horn) and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hot 'n' not
The hottest team at the break is the San Antonio Spurs, winners of five straight. Thanks to twin towers David Robinson and rookie Tim Duncan, the Spurs are 14 games better than their win total of all of last season. The Milwaukee Bucks have won six of their last seven, too, to climb over .500. They were the third team in the trade that sent Shawn Kemp to Cleveland and Vin Baker to the Seattle Sonics. Each of those teams seems to be better off for the trade.
The Cavs, 42-40 last season, are seven games over .500, while the suddenly lovable Sonics have the NBA's best record at 37-10 and are one of the front-runners in the West, along with the Jazz and Lakers.
The Spurs, Boston Celtics and the New Jersey Nets already have won at least as many games as they did last year, and the Vancouver Grizzlies are one away from last season's win total. The Bulls, of course, already have lost more than the 13 they dropped last season.
Ex-Houston Rockets guard Calvin Murphy owns the single-season record for free-throw shooting, nailing almost 96 percent of his freebies in the 1980-81 season. Indiana's Chris Mullin has missed six this season, and is now leading the league at about 95 percent. For those who are keeping track, the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal is bricking along at .485. He finished last season at .484.
Dennis Rodman will always stick out in a crowd. This year, he's doing it the right way -- with his rebounding. He's averaging 15.4 a game -- almost two more than the Nets' Williams. The best offensive rebounder, though, is Williams, who grabs 6.9 a game.
Hoop, where it is?
Jordan again is leading the league in scoring, but overall, scoring is down again. Last year, NBA teams averaged 96.9 points a game, the lowest since the advent of the shot clock. This season, teams are clunking along at 95.2 a game.
Whatever happened to Grant Hill, the next Jordan? His team is letting him down. The Detroit Pistons, limping along at 21-25, might be the most disappointing team of the season, and firing Doug Collins probably won't make all that much of a difference.
"You know what's wrong with us?" Hill said to Sports Illustrated. "We're not that good."
Luckily for Hill and the NBA, the second part of the season is always better.
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