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Posted: Thursday May 27, 1999 12:45 PM

J.R. Is O.K.  

Isaiah Rider's timing was perfect for Portland

By Jackie MacMullan

Sometimes the best way to deal with a problem child isn't to punish him but to challenge him. Few players in the NBA have been sent to the principal's office more often than the Trail Blazers' notorious guard, Isaiah (J.R.) Rider. But it appears that Rider has finally found a subject that engages him -- playoff pressure -- and, accordingly, last week he was a problem only for the Jazz. Thanks largely to Rider's cool, controlled performances, Portland held a 3-1 lead through Sunday in its best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal, and for Utah, school was almost out.

Against Utah, Rider emerged as Portland's go-to guy, averaging 19.0 points in the first four games. John Biever

Rider scored 24 points in Game 4 on Sunday, including seven in the final 30 seconds to seal Portland's 81-75 win at home. As usual, the egalitarian Blazers got contributions from nearly everyone on their roster, most notably from backup point guard Greg Anthony, who played spandex-tight defense against the Jazz point guards, and from power forward Brian Grant, who matched Karl Malone shove for shove -- if not elbow for elbow -- in the low post. But it was Rider, 28, who emerged as the closest thing to a go-to guy that Portland had, leading the Blazers in postseason scoring with a 19.4 average through Sunday.

Then again, scoring has never been a problem for Rider. Punctuality, however, has. He was benched five times this season by coach Mike Dunleavy for tardiness, but in the postseason the Blazers have been able to set their watch by Rider, because he understands how high the stakes are. "I've never been on a team this good before, a team with a real chance to win a championship," says Rider. "Since the playoffs started, I've buckled down and assessed my time wisely. I know I need to be on time, do the right thing and not give Mike a reason to sit me down."

The tension of the postseason seems to relax Rider. While he waited in the backcourt as John Stockton stepped to the line to shoot two crucial free throws during Game 1, he took a Jolly Rancher out of a bag on the scorer's table, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. When the Blazers called timeout to slow a Jazz run in Game 3, he jumped up off the bench, draped a towel over his arm like a butler and grandly motioned for his teammates coming off the court to take a seat. "The more pressure there is," says Portland forward Walt Williams, "the more fun it is for him."

Rider has had more than his share of problems in his career, including numerous legal scrapes, but a lack of self-esteem has never been one of them. "I'm doing it all," he said after scoring 27 points in Portland's 84-81 win in Game 2. "I'm playing defense, I'm talking to my teammates, I'm keeping us in it and I'm giving us offense." In Game 3 of the Blazers' first-round sweep of the Suns, he had to be taken to the locker room with a strained right knee after a third-quarter collision with Phoenix forward Tom Gugliotta but returned later in the period to help Portland to its series-clinching 103-93 win. "I was the reason that we woke up and started playing good," he said after the victory. "I kept us together. I was definitely Willis Reed tonight."

Comparing himself to Reed, whose return from a thigh injury inspired the Knicks to their Game 7 victory in the 1970 Finals, is a stretch, but Rider has performed so superbly, he's allowed a bit of hyperbole. "He's played as well as anybody in this series, maybe better," Malone said after Game 3. "The playoffs just bring out the best in some players."

The Blazers are grateful that Rider is one of those players, but they're not assuming that his newfound focus is permanent. Before he left the Rose Garden locker room after Game 3, at least three members of the Portland staff reminded him of the time and place of the next day's shootaround. "Two-thirty, here, J.R.," said one of the clubhouse attendants. But it's a sign of progress that he felt no need to add the three words that Rider has heard so often: Don't be late.

—Phil Taylor

Chuck Daly's Retirement:  
Penny in the Rearview Mirror

Last Friday, a close friend of Chuck Daly's was asked about the possibility of Daly's stepping down as the Magic's coach. "I'll be shocked," said the friend. "I doubt that will happen."

Surprise.

At a hastily called news conference on Monday afternoon, the 68-year-old Daly announced that he had coached his last game, though he will remain a consultant to Orlando. Although Daly had been telling people for months he was considering retiring, most felt he would return to coach a young team he genuinely liked. Daly waffled until the morning of his annoucement, when, driving to the Magic offices, he decided he'd had enough.

"It's a personal thing about knowing when to leave," said Daly, who is walking away from a $5 million salary next season. Daly will also walk away from the headache of dealing with Penny Hardaway, who was upgraded to a migraine on May 17, two days after the 76ers bounced Orlando out of the first round of the playoffs. A frustrated Hardaway launched into an emotional soliloquy, bemoaning the lack of respect he receives in Orlando. "I helped a team win 33 games in a season when we weren't supposed to win 20," Hardaway told The Orlando Sentinel. "I helped players like Darrell [Armstrong] and Nick [Anderson] and all those guys get better by drawing double teams and kicking the ball out. But I get no credit."

As stunned Magic executives tried to decipher what provoked this latest in a series of Hardaway outbursts dating back to his rookie season, the rest of the league assessed the remarks in terms of what they will mean for Hardaway as a free-agent-to-be. "The biggest question people have about him is, Can he be a leader?" one Western Conference executive says. "You read those comments, and you come away with a definite no."

Hardaway, sensing that his words had been unfavorably received, phoned the Sentinel the next day to take them back. Did he say he wanted to leave Orlando? No, what he meant was that he hoped to stay. He would be glad to play another season for Daly, who, Hardaway felt, never fully embraced or supported him. That is now a moot point, and Daly insisted on Monday that Hardaway had no bearing on his decision to retire. "Rearview mirror," Daly said. "It's not even open to discussion."

While Daly's departure may enhance Hardaway's chances of staying, he shouldn't bank on receiving the maximum salary ($85 million over seven years) the Magic can offer him. Team owner Rich DeVos, who has a $42.5 million payroll, the league's third highest, wondered last week whether he needs to pay a temperamental superstar so much -- especially after Orlando failed to sell out its two home playoff games. Magic fans have already weighed in with their advice to Penny: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. No wonder Hardaway lamented to the Sentinel, "My feeling is Orlando really won't respect me unless I leave."

Team sources say the Magic would like to explore a sign-and-trade deal agreement with Hardaway, but finding a proper salary match could be tricky. If Penny does re-sign with Orlando, the days of coddling him are clearly over. Hardaway has failed to learn that respect must be earned; the more you demand it, the less likely you are to receive it. "I read where he said he's got to do what's best for Penny Hardaway," says Magic general manager John Gabriel. "Well, this time, it's got to be what's best for us, too."

Around The Rim  

That groan you heard out of Secaucus, N.J., last Saturday during the draft lottery emanated from the Raptors. They badly want to choose Maryland guard Steve Francis in the first round, but the pick they received from the Nuggets in a three-way trade in January for Chauncey Billups turned out to be only the fifth choice. By the time Toronto gets to make that selection, Francis figures to be gone....

Now that Michael Jordan has pulled out of a deal to buy into the Hornets, others bidding to become partners with George Shinn have stepped forward, including Charlotte-based businessman Carl Scheer , the team's president and general manager from 1988 to '90....

Hawks forward Alan Henderson learned he won't need surgery on his left eye after all. Henderson was raked across the face by the Cavaliers' Cedric Henderson in Atlanta's last regular-season game and has been suffering from double vision ever since. "The doctor said he must have smashed my eyeball so far back that it touched my brain," says Alan....

On the same day that Warriors owner Chris Cohan said he expects Golden State to make the playoffs next season, he also cut season-ticket prices and vowed to freeze those prices until after the 2000-01 season....

Jonathan Bender , the 6'11" star from Picayune (Miss.) High who has declared for the draft, has impressed scouts enough with his raw talent that he's projected to be a top 15 pick.

Issue date: May 31, 1999

 

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