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 On Raptors, playoffs and Owner Jordan
Posted: Tuesday April 06, 1999 01:32 PM
Got an NBA question for Phil Taylor? Click here. I know the NCAA Tournament seems like ancient history by now, but allow me to share a couple of quotes from a pre-Tournament mailbag: Some of you faithful mailbag readers may recall that I wrote that "My Cinderella in the West is Gonzaga. They're playing close to home in Seattle, and that could get them over the hump against a so-so Minnesota team. ... Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 wouldn't shock me." Also, if memory serves, I said that I liked " UConn to surprise the Dookies and take the whole thing." Maybe I shouldn't pat myself on the back this way, but when you're right as rarely as I am, you have to savor the moment. And before any of you with long memories start sending me e-mail, I haven't forgotten that I also picked Arizona and Maryland to make the Final Four. Hey, I didn't say I was perfect. On to more current matters. The bag was bulging with Toronto Raptors questions this week, and rightly so. The Raps are one of the best stories of the season. Two weeks ago I wrote that Paul Pierce of the Celtics was leading the Rookie of the Year race, but Vince Carter has shot past him -- or maybe I should say Carter has soared over him, the way he has just about everyone else in the league. If the season ended today, Carter would not only get my Rookie vote, he'd be very high on my MVP list as well. Remember, Carter hasn't just helped turn Toronto into a playoff contender, he's reawakened NBA interest in Canada. The Raptors came into this season as a deeply troubled franchise -- attendance was down, Isiah Thomas and Damon Stoudamire had split, Doug Christie was hoping to be dealt and Kenny Anderson had refused to report after being traded there -- and they might have relocated if things had kept getting worse. It's not a stretch to say that Carter helped save basketball in Toronto. Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis have also been getting a lot of credit for the turnaround, and they deserve it, especially Oak. He should get MVP votes as well, because he's a great example of how one guy can help make a team a winner without scoring a lot of points. As always, there's a lot of credit to go around when a team wins, and the Raptors coach, Butch Carter , deserves a lot of it. He's done a great job, especially for a guy who is still probably the least-known coach in the league. And by the way, Anderson said he didn't want to play for Toronto because he couldn't handle the losing, so they sent him to Boston which is doing a lot more losing than the Raps. If they make the playoffs, the Raptors should all wave to Kenny when he's sitting at home watching them on TV. And now, other issues:
With less than a month to go and the NBA sprint of a season heating up,
can you do a little scoping of the playoff scene? Who are the teams to
beat? (Orlando can't be favored over Indiana. Similarly, can the Blazers
even think about beating the Jazz?) Who are the lower seeded teams to fear?
For the high-seeded teams, what are the matchups they don't want to see?
I don't care how many games the Blazers win, I still think Utah is the clear favorite in the West. Portland is very deep, but you don't use a 10-man rotation in the playoffs, you use 7 or 8. John Stockton and Karl Malone know exactly what to do at the end of close games, and I think the Blazers are going to find that they don't really have a go-to guy. In the East, I think Orlando is a lot like Utah: congratulations on a great regular season, now watch the big boys take over in the playoffs. There seems to be something missing with the Pacers, but the East is so weak that they should still make it to the Finals. I'm not a big believer in Miami; I think they'll find a way to lose to someone they shouldn't in the playoffs. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see a darkhorse make the Eastern finals, like Atlanta or Milwaukee. But in the end, I see Utah over Indiana (sorry about the small markets, NBC) for the title. As for matchups, I know Miami doesn't want to see the Knicks. New York's a much different team than in past years, but there are still enough Knicks who think they can beat the Heat whenever it really matters. In the West, it sounds crazy, but the Blazers would prefer not to draw Golden State. The Warriors are the only team that has beaten Portland twice. They think Portland's strength is in their waves of forwards -- Rasheed Wallace , Brian Grant , Walt Williams , etc. -- and Golden State thinks it matches up well in that area, with Terry Cummings , Donyell Marshall , Antawn Jamison and Adonal Foyle . It may sound like I don't think much of Portland, which isn't true. It's just that they're going to have to prove it to me in the postseason before I become a true believer.
Ok, Phil, our NBA fantasy is being chatted up here in Charlotte. Michael Jordan might
return to Carolina to buy part of the Hornets away from that dastardly
villain George Shinn. Could you give us your prognostication on how the
Hornets would change should #23 find himself behind the big desk? What kind
of owner would he be? Who would likely stay -- in the front office and on
the court -- and who would likely go? Could the perfectionist player
Michael evolve into a more understanding owner Mr. Jordan? First of all, I think MJ would be a big-picture owner. He would want to shape the general direction of the team, but I don't think he'll want to spend his time worrying about who the backup point guard is going to be or figuring out the salary cap. So he'd probably try to surround himself with good people in the front office. GM Bob Bass would be gone, if only because Jordan would want to start fresh. Guys he respects from his Chicago days, like John Paxson and Frank Hamblen , might get a call if Jordan were to take over. Obviously Phil Jackson would be his first choice as coach, but if Phil declines, I could see Paul Silas keeping the job, since MJ has always spoken highly of him. He would also want players he thinks are winners, and I don't think he puts Derrick Coleman and Elden Campbell in that category. He does, however, have a lot of respect for Anthony Mason and particularly Eddie Jones . You can bet that Jordan would want to put together a killer defensive team, and those two are among the league's best defenders at their positions. One thing Jordan always wanted to do was play with a shot blocker, so I could see him going after someone who fill that bill. He wouldn't have to be a big name, since Jordan knows the importance of role players and that you don't need a great center to win. He might settle for someone like Ervin Johnson . I don't think Jordan would be overly tough on his players. I think he'd be similar to Jerry West in that he wouldn't necessarily have a lot to say to the players, so that when he did speak, it would carry even more weight. MJ wouldn't necessarily make all the right moves -- he wasn't always the best judge of talent as a player -- but let's face it, any team he's associated with is probably going to show up in the Finals before too long.
Before the strike I kept hearing about a big point in the new contract
would be adding marijuana to the list of banned substances in the NBA.
However, during the strike and for the last two months, I have not heard
one story about it. What happened? Marijuana is covered under the new agreement (yet another win for the owners). You haven't heard much about it because no player had violated the policy until Ed Gray of the Hawks was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and marijuana possession a couple of weeks ago. Under the terms of the new agreement, if Gray is convicted, the Hawks could actually terminate his contract if they choose to. That's unlikely, though, they'll probably suspend him and Gray will undergo some sort of counseling. But make no mistake, the drug policy in the new agreement has some teeth.
The New York
Knicks haven't put together a consistent amount of wins - or effort -
this season. Do they still suffer from a lack of mental composure or just
too many shooters and not enough shots? The Knicks' problems are mainly mental. It's obvious that the loss of Charles Oakley and John Starks has taken away some of their toughness, and I think they miss Terry Cummings and Buck Williams in that area as well. If you look at them now, there are a lot of relatively passive players on that team -- Allan Houston , Marcus Camby and Charlie Ward , for instance. Nobody dives into the stands the way Oakley used to. Nobody injects instant energy the way Starks used to. Patrick Ewing still plays with the same emotion as always, but his body is beginning to betray him. The Knicks' edge used to be that they played with more passion than most other teams. That's just not the case anymore, which is why you see them blowing games in the fourth quarter, watching other teams make the big plays -- especially the key defensive stops -- that they used to make. As a team, I don't think the Knicks are as hungry to win as they used to be, and unfortunately (because in my opinion he's one of the better coaches in the league) that's probably going to cost Jeff Van Gundy his job.
What happened to the female refs from last season? I thought they did
very well, and as a testament to their abilities, soon forgot they were on
the court. Are they still around? Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer are both still working games. The players and coaches I've talked to say that Kantner is easily in the top half of referees, and Palmer is about average. None of the problems that some people envisioned have come to pass. They haven't had trouble keeping control of games or winning players' respect. Probably the best sign is the fact that you haven't even noticed them this season. I'd be willing to bet they've worked games that you've watched, but they just blended in because you're used to seeing them and they were doing a competent job.
I know you love Jason
Williams, Phil. What's happened to him? A month ago he was the toast of
the league. Now, he can't buy a basket. What gives? I think Jason is wearing down physically. Rick Adelman told me early in the season that it looked like he was going to have to give him heavy minutes because the Kings didn't have a solid backup point guard, and that's what has happened. I hear that he has lost weight, and it seems like he's generally just hitting the rookie wall. Jason is going to have to live in the weight room if he's ever going to be able to stand up to the rigors of an NBA season, and he knows it. He says the one thing he would have changed in his past is not the trouble at Florida, it's the fact that he never seriously lifted weights until this year. The dropoff is knocking him out of the Rookie of the Year race, but I still think he'll be one of the elite point guards in the league for a long time.
Got an NBA question for Phil Taylor? Click here.
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