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Weakness at the top Contenders address their needs as deadline approaches
Posted: Tuesday February 15, 2000 08:57 AM
With the February 24 trade deadline rapidly heading this way, the contenders may try to shore up a few weak spots here and there. Even the Lakers. L.A. definitely has some weaknesses. Naturally, the backup-center position comes to mind. And while they do need a power player, I really think they need shooting. Their perimeter shooting is not good enough, and if they trade Glen Rice and don't get a very good shooter in return, it would hurt their chances to win a championship. So I don't think they're going to trade Glen Rice, like everybody else says, unless they can come up with that shooter. San Antonio's athleticism is not at a high level. The new rules have opened things up, and a lot of coaches are just playing wide-open basketball, so the Spurs have to add some athleticism to their lineup. They have to play a full 82-game schedule this year, and they need some help there. Meanwhile, Portland seems to have two players at just about every position. Their second unit could probably beat an awful lot of starting teams in the NBA. The only position where they're a little fragile is in the middle. Jermaine O'Neal is their backup there, and he might be the weakest backup that they have. Arbydas Sabonis is physically starting to wear down, so that would be the one area, if possible, that they would go get another backup center. But it's very difficult to come up with a quality backup center in the NBA. In the East, the Knicks will need a power forward of some kind after the injuries to Marcus Camby and Larry Johnson. That will put more of an onus on Patrick Ewing, so I think the rumors about trading Ewing will be totally forgotten. If Tim Hardaway is healthy, Miami has the most talent in the East. But I don't think Pat Riley and Hardaway are on the same page all the time, and I also don't think they're prepared to give Hardaway the contract he's seeking, so I think they have a little problem there. If they were to make a move, a point guard would be a possibility for them, but I don't know if they would trade Hardaway, and I don't know who would pick him up, because a lot of people think his knee is pretty bad. I don't think Indiana is good enough to rebound the basketball in a half-court game, which we're going to get in the playoffs. Antonio Davis was a tremendous loss for them. Austin Croshere is stepping up to be a very good player, and I like the way they're developing young players and still being competitive, but the loss of Antonio Davis really hurt their chances to go all the way, even though they have the best record in the East. Not the best job in the worldThe interim coaches who have been hired this year aren't in enviable positions. Every coach who takes over as an interim coach feels that if he can do a good enough job he'll maintain his position. But it's almost an impossible position to be in, because coaches don't get fired from teams that are good. So you're taking over a lousy team that has a negative attitude. And once the players know that the coach won't be back the following season, they really let up. They feel like, "Who am I trying to impress? This guy's not going to be here anyway." You've got three or so games per week, so you don't have time to work on new stuff, to put in your own system. And most of the time, you're associated with the former coach. The only way it can work is if there were a lot of injuries early in the season and those players come back healthy. Coach's breakdownUntil last week, Utah never lost more than two in a row as a rule. But Jeff Hornacek isn't nearly the player he once was because of injuries. And because of age, they have to use their bench more than they'd like to, and their bench hasn't been productive; it's not a very good bench. They have very small guards coming off the bench, and they're overmatched almost every night. The loss of Shandon Anderson was critical to that team, and Greg Ostertag has given them very little since he signed the big contract. It's a team on the downslide. This week, they face Sacramento -- a young team that likes to run. In the past, the Jazz were always able to get teams to play at their pace. They were never worried about the other team's tempo of the game. They just played their own methodical style and made teams play their style. While Sacramento can create problems for anybody, because of the way they score and their tempo, the Kings are very weak defensively, and with Utah's execution, the Jazz will get good shots. So I think they can handle them, but right now I don't think the Jazz are that good a basketball team. 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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