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The Magic is gone in Orlando Posted: Friday December 27, 2002 4:28 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum will answer your NBA questions every week during the season. Click here to send him a question. What is wrong with the Magic this year? With T-Mac and Grant Hill finally playing together, why isn't the team better than .500? Also, with Horace Grant gone, where is Orlando going to get some rebounding and defense?
Uh, Zohaib, in case you haven't noticed, this team doesn't exactly D it up. I praised T-Mac's defense in an SI article a few weeks ago but neglected to mention some of his occasional deficiencies in that area. And Hill is not fully back yet, in terms of either physical condition or basketball form. Before Grant came back (and was then released), the Magic was absolutely, positively counting on him for rebounding and defense, as you say. That's how weak they are in that area, because Grant, at 37, wasn't exactly at the top of his game. What Orlando needs is a Ben Wallace-type. Wait a minute! It already had Ben Wallace and let him go. Remember, though, the Magic got Hill in that deal. Earlier in the season, I thought Seattle could be a surprise team in the West, but now it looks like Phoenix is that squad. Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire are a great young duo, and Stephon Marbury is a scorer. What's not to like about this club? Could the Suns make some noise in the playoffs?
Well, what I thought I didn't like about the Suns was the problem of Marbury and Penny Hardaway sharing the ball. But Penny, to his credit, has taken a step back. Stoudemire is far better than almost everyone thought he'd be-- how many guys with some offensive potential come into the league out of high school as ferocious rebounders? -- and Marion has proven to be more of a scorer. I haven't seen the Suns live yet so maybe this is premature, but I still don't see them going very far. But I will stand corrected if their quick start holds up.
Having read your take on Lebron James (which I disagree with), I have an intriguing question: Who would you choose, right now, to start a team, James or Yao Ming? And just to avoid a copout, let's assume that your team has an equal need at both positions. There are 29 teams in the NBA with about 12 players per team. Of those 29, maybe about 12 teams are interesting and there are maybe about, oh, five or six essential players per team. So that's between 60 and 72 players to talk about, and, in this column and in Sports Illustrated, I probably get a chance to extensively discuss about 15 at most. Given that math, why would I spend so much time writing about Lebron James? Anyway, to answer your question, I would take Yao. By the way, when Magic Johnson was a 20-year-old rookie (I admit that's older than James will be during his rookie season; I'm not sure how much older because I haven't accessed Lebron's Web site in the last few days and I apologize deeply for that), he almost single-handedly beat the 76ers in Game 6 of the NBA playoffs, moving from point guard to center. I don't have Magic's numbers in front of me, but they were approximately 42 points and 17 rebounds and a bunch of assists. If rookie Lebron James is better than rookie Magic Johnson, I will fly to Jerusalem and kiss your butt in the public place of your choosing. And if he isn't better than Magic Johnson, then why are we talking about him as if he is guaranteed to be the greatest rookie ever to come into the league? I GUARANTEE you he will not be. Jack, in response to the Lakers' problems, I think that poor drafts and the amount of time it takes to learn the triangle offense has finally caught up to L.A. While teams all over the NBA, such as Sacramento (Bobby Jackson for Tony Delk), have constantly re-loaded the last few years, the Lakers are still relying on the same five or six players, with no help in sight. If L.A. does poorly this season, do you think Buss and Kupchak will blow the team up, minus Shaq and Kobe?
You know, Josh, I wish I would've heard that kind of comment before the season. I wish I would've been smart enough to have written it myself. Our magazine, by the way, picked the Kings to win it all, not the Lakers, but neither did we predict the Lakers' downfall. Will somebody e-mail me a prediction, made in September or October, that foretold a drastic slide for the Lakers, or even a mini-slide. That's something I would like to see. Is there anybody out there who was that smart? Because I never talked to them. Jack, the Nets have picked up their play recently. Do you think they are better off without Dikembe Mutombo? His plodding game just doesn't seem to fit the Nets' style.
Speaking of predictions, the one I made -- which I clung to through the early success of the 76ers, vis-a-vis the struggles of New Jersey -- was that at year's end, the Nets will have gotten the best of the Mutombo-for-Keith Van Horn-and-Todd MacCulloch deal. I still hold to that. Yes, Mutombo is an absolute disaster in a pick-and-roll offense because, while he can pick, he ain't rolling anywhere, and he can't pick, then pop, because he can't shoot. But the Nets didn't get him to play offense. If it was scoring they were looking for, they would've kept Van Horn, right? I think New Jersey will hold on to be one of the top two or three teams in the East, then get a defensive lift from Mutombo and make a strong run in the postseason. Say, you're not related to the Colangelo who gave Jason Kidd to the Nets, are you?
Jack, don't you think the league has a responsibility to investigate Pat Riley's claims about the alleged remarks that an official made to him? Why is the NBA just sweeping this under the rug? The NBA will always tell you that they are investigating these things. That's what it's saying in this case. It is awfully hard to find out otherwise. I do not think anyone has heard the last of this situation, though. Is Paxton Drille your stage name, by the way? Great handle. No disrespect to Rip Hamilton, but I thought the Pistons would definitely take a step back this year after losing Jerry Stackhouse. Are you surprised by Detroit's play and just how good a coach is Rick Carlisle?
Marlon, the Pistons surprised me last year and have again this year. I'm watching Detroit play Washington right now. The Pistons are a great defensive team, an unselfish club and one that could win the East. I don't think they will. But they could. What has happened to Vlade Divac? He's played horribly this year, and against Shaq on Christmas Divac was a total non-factor. Do you think Vlade has top play better if the Kings are to make the Finals?
I don't agree, Eddie. What, was Vlade suddenly going to swoop out of the sky, block shots and make thunderous, Shaq-like dunks?. Divac is scoring almost 10 points a game with 7.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and about 1.4 blocks. Those numbers are a little off from last year. But he played in the World Championships during the offseason and told me he was probably going to get off to a slower start than usual. (Not that he ever begins the season like a house afire.) Anyway, Divac has started every game and his team has the second best record in the West. What do you want from the guy? Anyway, any time Vlade holds his position and frustrates Shaq into an awkward shot or a miss, he's done his job. So I disagree with you about the Christmas Day game, too. (Although I didn't see it all because I was opening presents. Hey, you gotta establish priorities, right?) Last year, we kept hearing about how the new rules would open up the offenses, but there is still only one team averaging more than 100 points per game. One-plus season later, what are the results of the new rules? Failure or success?
Brad, this is not a copout -- see above answer to Brian -- but I am an work on that question right now for an SI story. I'll give you the early answer to your question, though: Obviously, the new rules are not a raging success. We'll examine the reasons soon. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum will answer your NBA questions every week during the season. Click here to send him a question.
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