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Taking stock Season's halfway point time to reflect and look ahead
Posted: Friday February 04, 2000 07:19 PM
This season has had its share of pleasant surprises and unfortunate disappointments. Indiana is one of the surprises. When the Pacers traded Antonio Davis for high school player Jonathan Bender, I thought they lost an awful lot and that they would really struggle, particularly with their rebounding and experience. But they've done a great job. Not only are they winning, obviously, but coach Larry Bird has developed four young players -- Travis Best, Jalen Rose, Austin Croshere and Al Harrington -- which is extremely difficult in the NBA. He allows his young players to stay in during tough times, and that takes a lot of patience. You might expect superstars who have been great players to be very short of patience, but Bird's done a terrific job. Orlando is another team that has surprised me. The Magic basically lost their entire starting lineup, and everybody expected them to be down. But they've stayed competitive, and in a very unusual fashion. I've never seen a coach in the NBA who would play all 12 players -- it's difficult to keep two or three players happy today. I give Doc Rivers an awful lot of credit. On the other side of that coin, Atlanta has been a disappointment, and it has a lot to do with chemistry. They brought in a lot of new players, and J.R. Rider is a very disruptive player. He's been pretty disruptive in every city he's been in, and I think that when you have a situation where your leader has a leading personality and he's disruptive, it makes it very difficult to have a good team. Washington has been another disappointing team. They've got some real names -- Mitch Richmond, Rod Strickland, Juwan Howard and Ike Austin -- but they haven't been very impressive. Many of their players are having off years, and they've fired their coach already. In the Western Conference, the big surprise has been Seattle. The Sonics have Vin Baker and Horace Grant, and you could consider Gary Payton for MVP. Coach Paul Westphal has let Payton lead the team on the floor, handling what could have been a volatile situation extremely well. But their bench is weak. They've developed Shammond Williams, a big plus in the backcourt since Vernon Maxwell went out. And some of the younger players -- Rashard Lewis and Jelani McCoy -- are starting to play better also. The bench is starting to come around, but I don't think it's deep enough. Minnesota is also impressive. Flip Saunders is the most underrated coach in the NBA, and Kevin Garnett has to be considered, along with Payton, for MVP. I was at their practice last week, and the players have really bought into the idea of being unselfish on the floor. Of course, that's led by Garnett, who's very unselfish. They lead the league in assists and in fewest turnovers. And when they put Malik Sealy in the lineup with Sam Mitchell, that made a big difference.
Going out on a limbUnless there's some kind of serious injury to one of the top players on the leading teams out West, those eight playoff spots are already set. But Minnesota is one team to watch -- to see how far they can go. You have to look for the Timberwolves in the second half.The East is up for grabs between New York, Indiana and Miami. If Tim Hardaway can come back and be 100 percent healthy, Miami has the best talent in the East. Having the best center and the best point guard is quite an advantage. They're well coached and aggressive defensively. But the Heat need Hardaway to be the best team. All-Star selections under the microscopeThe selection of Dale Davis as a reserve was a little surprising, but when the Pacers lost Antonio Davis, they lost their power player, and Dale Davis has really stepped up. Rik Smits is not a power player by any means, so Dale Davis has to do an awful lot. He's a good defender, and he's gone up to 70 percent foul shooting. So he's probably deserving.Three players who you could make a case for are Latrell Sprewell, Rider and Stephon Marbury. But Sprewell and Rider would have a difficult time being voted in by the coaches, and Marbury was probably a victim of the Nets' record. One of the only players from a losing club is Dallas' Michael Finley. So, in the West, you could argue that Cliff Robinson should have been selected, because Phoenix has a better record and he's averaging 20 points a game.
Coach's breakdownNew York had a difficult time with Orlando's pressure defense, as the Knicks' 98-77 loss to the Magic last Tuesday showed. The press starts with the point guard, and Darrell Armstrong is very aggressive. Chucky Atkins, when he comes in the game, is also very aggressive. And then you have players like Bo Outlaw, who can block shots and defend the back. So any time they press, they can be effective.That means Sunday's matchup between the Knicks and Heat should be very interesting. The Heat are a very good defensive team in the halfcourt, and they also can extend the defense to three-quarters and full-court. If you play the Knicks with a high-pressure three-quarters or full-court defense, it bothers them. It bothers Charlie Ward; it bothers Chris Childs. Allan Houston and Sprewell are also vulnerable to defense under pressure. Patrick Ewing's not a great passer, either, and Marcus Camby will turn it over, too. The pressure also makes the Knicks pick up the tempo, and that's not their game. They're playing exactly the way they played last year. They like to slow it down, keep it a half-court game. So it will be interesting to see if Miami pressures the Knicks. That's the way I would play them. Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN/Sports Illustrated's "This Week in the NBA."
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