Inside the NBA
Posted: Tuesday March 16, 1999 05:29 PM
This week's topics:
Getting Falked | Lakers Overboard
Bucks Passed | Around The Rim
Down & Dirty
Getting Falked Agent provocateur David Falk made Stephon Marbury a Nets gain
By Jackie MacMullan
Stephon Marbury, who's been chanting "There's no place like home"
for months now, clicked his heels three times and finally got his
wish. The Coney Island native forced the Timberwolves to trade
him to New Jersey last Thursday after providing them with a short
list of acceptable destinations: New York, New Jersey or Los
Angeles. Marbury, through his agent, David Falk, forced
Minnesota's hand by threatening to walk at season's end and sign
with the Bulls.
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Marbury says that his threat to sign with Chicago this summer as a free agent was no bull. Bob Rosato |
"Go ahead," was general manager Kevin McHale's initial reply. He
couldn't believe Marbury would forsake a team that was developing
into a championship contender for a dynasty in ruins. Upon
hearing that McHale was prepared to call Marbury's bluff, Falk,
who refused to deal with McHale, informed Minnesota owner Glen
Taylor, "I can put together my own team in Chicago." The
implication was that Falk would dump his stable of free
agents -- among them Marbury, Nets guard Kerry Kittles and Cavaliers
center Vitaly Potapenko -- into the lap of Chicago general manager
Jerry Krause. When Taylor became convinced that Marbury was a
lost cause, he told McHale to make a trade.
Both McHale and coach Flip Saunders wanted to seek a package from
the Nets that included Kittles, but Falk told them Kittles had no
interest in playing for Minnesota. The Timberwolves believe Falk
promised to deliver Marbury to the Nets in exchange for a
lucrative extension for Kittles, who, by the way, signed a
six-year extension last Saturday worth $52 million.
Minnesota then decided that it had to get a high first-round
draft pick and an All-Star-caliber point guard for Marbury. The
Lakers and the Knicks, who were both very interested in Marbury,
could provide neither. Ultimately, the Timberwolves pulled the
trigger on a three-way swap: New Jersey point guard Sam Cassell,
Nets power forward Chris Gatling and Minnesota center Paul Grant
to Milwaukee; Bucks guard Elliott Perry, Marbury and two other
Timberwolves, forward Bill Curley and guard Chris Carr, to New
Jersey; and Milwaukee point guard Terrell Brandon, Nets forward
Brian Evans and a conditional package of first-round Nets picks
to Minnesota. In announcing the trade, a bitter McHale told
reporters, "Falk told Steph those five words: 'I'm going to help
you.' Whenever an agent says that, the player should grab his
wallet and run like hell."
What most bewilders the Timberwolves is that Marbury would rather
play on a team in turmoil (the Nets were 3-17 as of last Monday,
when they fired coach John Calipari) than stay with a team that
seemed destined for greatness. McHale, however, concedes that
Marbury has the skills to turn New Jersey around -- fast. "The kid
can flatout play," says McHale. "That's why we got him in the
first place."
There is no denying Marbury's talent, but there is room to
question his priorities and his commitment to winning. Marbury
told SI in January 1998 that he was thinking of bolting Minnesota
when his contract was up because of the weather and because he
missed his New York friends. This news stunned the Timberwolves'
front office, which later discovered that Marbury had made those
comments just days after a local night spot refused to serve him
alcohol because he was underage. "They give me my own table in
New York!" Marbury reportedly fumed between expletives.
At his press conference last Friday, Marbury insisted that
reuniting with friends and family was his main objective in
forcing the trade. Minnesota says Marbury believed he was missing
out on endorsements because he was playing in a small-market
city, and that he couldn't accept being paid less than teammate
Kevin Garnett because Marbury views himself as the better player.
Garnett signed a seven-year, $126 million extension before the
new collective bargaining agreement went into effect; under the
new deal, the most Marbury could make in Minnesota was $70.9
million for six years, which New Jersey gladly gave him last
Friday.
The departure of Marbury left his ex-teammates shell-shocked.
They had no trouble overlooking his mood swings because of his
exceptional skills. "Steph changed like the wind, from one day to
the next," McHale says. "Even on the court, there was the good
Steph and the bad Steph. The bad Steph thought only about his
game. The good Steph moved the ball, got others involved, took
big shots. We got him up to being that guy around 80 percent of
the time near the end, which was up from 25 percent when we first
got him."
The Timberwolves are left to ponder what happened to their
promising foundation of Garnett, Marbury and Tom Gugliotta, who
took a lot less money to sign with Phoenix in January. Saunders
says Gugliotta had told Minnesota he would re-sign with the
Timberwolves -- if they agreed to trade Marbury.
Minnesota must now try to pick up the pieces, beginning with
Brandon, who can become a free agent this summer. Both sides say
it's quite possible that Brandon and the Timberwolves will agree
on a contract extension, although the terms will depend on what
Minnesota gets with its newly acquired draft pick. If the
Timberwolves draft a point guard (they, along with every other
team in the league, love Maryland's Steve Francis), they might
make an amicable sign-and-trade deal involving Brandon. Why such
optimism about a potential free agent, in light of their recent
experiences with Marbury and Gugliotta? Maybe because Brandon is
represented by Bill Duffy, McHale's former teammate and roommate
at the University of Minnesota -- "a guy who really does have his
client's best interests at heart," says McHale.
Falk scolds McHale for his "unprofessional comments" regarding
Marbury's departure. "Can you say my fingerprints are all over
this? Absolutely," Falk says. "I negotiated a deal to get my
client where he wanted to go -- home. I helped [the Timberwolves]
out of a potentially disastrous situation.
"Did this work out better, or worse, than the Gugliotta
situation? If Kevin McHale had called Stephon's bluff, Minnesota
would have ended up with nothing."
McHale is clearly dismayed. "We live in a Nintendo world," he
said last week. "If you don't like the game, press the restart
button. Steph wants better endorsements, more TV exposure. I
tried to tell him, it's not where you are, it's whether you win.
The Clippers are in L.A. How often are they on TV? And these days
you can't get Indiana off the tube because it's winning all the
time. I wonder if Steph has noticed the Nets are 3-15. If he
wants to be on TV with them, he better get cable."
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Lakers Overboard
Rice Makes Nice?
The Lakers finally consummated their long-awaited, much-debated
blockbuster trade with Charlotte on March 10, acquiring Glen
Rice, the shooter they so desperately wanted. They gave up big
man Elden Campbell and shooting guard Eddie Jones, a talented
player deemed expendable because of his penchant for going south
in the postseason.
Even though Los Angeles is stocked with premier players and had
won nine straight when it got Rice, the mood in the organization
was surprisingly downbeat. Front-office boss Jerry West is
distraught over recent changes, including the signing of Dennis
Rodman -- who left the team indefinitely last Saturday to deal with
personal problems -- and the firing of his friend Del Harris.
Sources say meddling by owner Jerry Buss has West thinking about
retirement again. Says one player, "We might be the unhappiest
team ever to win nine straight."
West, who refused to discuss his own future, agrees with that
assessment. "I don't want them deceiving themselves," West says
of his players. "We're still not a very good basketball team."
Back to the top
Bucks Passed
The Terrell Is Gone
The Bucks underwent a midseason overhaul last week even though
they were fighting Indiana for the top spot in the Central
Division. Not the best time for major surgery, but they had
little choice.
Milwaukee reluctantly dealt Brandon because it sensed (correctly)
that its chances of re-signing him when he became a free agent
were slim. The team moved moody power forward Tyrone Hill to
Philadelphia because he reportedly clashed with coach George Karl
and was threatening to exercise an out clause in his five-year,
$35 million contract and walk as a free agent, especially if
Brandon was traded. So the Bucks made the best of a bad
situation, replenishing their roster with veterans Cassell and
Gatling and young forward Tim Thomas, who had a long-term lease
on Sixers coach Larry Brown's doghouse.
Karl loves emotional players, which means he and Cassell are
about to embark on a passionate and probably tumultuous marriage.
One big reason Cassell and Gatling were so attractive to
cost-conscious Milwaukee is that they are both signed to
long-term deals. Thomas's contract will be up after next season,
but by then Karl will have determined whether he can unleash the
talent Brown tried so hard to tap. As recently as last month,
Brown said he didn't want to trade Thomas, adding, "I want him to
be great here." But Thomas wilted in his early-season starting
role, and Brown replaced him with George Lynch. As Lynch
flourished, Thomas sank down the depth chart. Brown wanted Thomas
to focus on rebounding and defense, but Thomas, an offensive star
at Villanova, showed little interest in developing the rest of
his game.
Philadelphia rebuffed the Bucks' initial bid for Thomas, because
the Sixers had zero interest in Milwaukee's offer of guard
Elliott Perry and forward Armen Gilliam. The Bucks called again,
offering Ervin Johnson, but Brown wouldn't relinquish Thomas
until Milwaukee offered Hill, who seems to wear out his welcome
wherever he goes, and agreed to take on Scott Williams, who has
stress fractures in both legs, makes $3.3 million (with two
guaranteed years left) and has been booed unmercifully by Philly
fans.
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Around The Rim
Suns-watchers say Tom Gugliotta seems a tad frustrated with the
Phoenix offense. Point guard Jason Kidd rewards teammates in two
ways when he pushes the ball on breaks: He hits teammates
streaking ahead of the pack for a layup, or he penetrates and
then kicks the ball out for a trey. Gugliotta can do a lot of
things well, but outrunning people and knocking down threes are
not among them ... Scottie Pippen is also having trouble adjusting to his new team,
shooting a career-low 40.5% from the floor for Houston, and his
points (15.0 per game) are down. The Rockets offense is geared
around Hakeem Olajuwon , who passes the ball out when he's
doubled. That gives Pippen plenty of shots from the perimeter,
but his game is slashing to the basket, not spotting up ...
Clippers veteran Rodney Rogers told the team he will not re-sign
when he becomes a free agent this summer, so the Clippers talked
to the Celtics about a Dana Barros -for-Rogers swap before
settling on forwards Tony Battie and Bruce Bowen , but the league
informed them that the trade could not go through, because a
player who has been acquired within the past 60 days (Battie)
can't be packaged in another deal ... Clippers forward Lorenzen Wright has also requested a trade, but the Clippers still hope to re-sign him ... Players got one last kick in the wallet last week from the
lockout: Union dues have doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 to cover
attorney fees.
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Down & Dirty
Double-Teamin' Demon
The Raptors' Doug Christie knows it takes two to tangle
To hear Raptors guard Doug Christie tell it, being an effective
NBA double-teamer takes more than long arms, quick reflexes and
acute peripheral vision. It also requires skin as thick as the
leather on a regulation NBA basketball. "We tried to double-team
Grant Hill at half-court," Christie (13) recalls of a game
last year against the Pistons. "He didn't like us forcing the
ball out of his hands, so after he'd pass the ball, he would grab
both defenders and fight through us so that he could get it back.
He was smacking us in the head and jamming his fingers in our
ribs."
Christie, 28, knows all about the dangers -- and fun -- of playing the
role of human wet blanket. With Toronto (6-12 at week's end)
short on good man-to-man defenders, he is often deployed as a
rover, using his 6'6" frame to help teammates guard foes. Partly
as a result of that harassment, Christie finished among the top
three in steals in the league for the past two seasons. This
season he's currently ranked third with 2.56 steals per game.
Christie says a good double team starts with a scouting report.
"Before every game we have what we call red-shirt guys," Christie
says. "Players like Karl Malone or Shawn Kemp, whom we intend to
double all night. We also add names to the list during the game.
We might be in the huddle, and Coach [Butch Carter] will say,
'John Stockton is hot, so as soon as he crosses half-court,
double him to get the ball out of his hands.'"
Once the target has been selected, Christie says, the Raptors
double on either the pass, the catch or the dribble, depending on
the target's skills. "For example, when we play Grant Hill,
usually we're coming as soon as he catches the ball because we
don't want him putting it on the floor," says Christie. "With
Charles Barkley, though, you don't want to double on the catch
because he's so good at passing out of the post. He'll hit an
open man right away, and the next thing you know, Scottie Pippen
will be shooting a wide-open three. You want to come at Barkley
on his third or fourth dribble, when you know for sure he's going
to the basket."
The proper technique for initiating a double team, according to
Christie, is to move quickly (but warily) toward the target with
arms raised high to block his vision. Upon arrival, the
double-teamer puts his foot behind his teammate's, locking legs
and forming a wall. "Also, you want to get one arm up and out a
bit in case the guy pivots quickly," Christie says. "If a big guy
like Shaq swings around and catches you with an elbow, he could
knock your head off."
Although a lot goes into executing a proper double team, Christie
says it's mostly a matter of hard work. "The two best
double-teamers in the league are Scottie Pippen and Gary Payton,
guys who are very proud and driven," Christie says. "They fight
and claw to get the ball. That's what it's all about."
-- Marty
Burns
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Issue date: March 22, 1999
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