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Training camp queries Ten questions heading into the NBA preseason
For NBA players, it's that time of year again. Time to put away the golf clubs (for at least a couple hours a day) and lace up the sneakers. Time to meet new teammates and coaches, and feel the pain of aching joints and muscles. Time to dust off the jump shots -- and all those old cliches about how this is going to be the team's year to win it all. Yes, it's NBA training camp season. To help you get a head start on the 2000-01 preseason, here's my list of the 10 biggest questions heading into camp: 1. Will Shawn Kemp show up in shape? The Blazers are hoping for big things this season from Kemp, who was often just, well, big the past three seasons in Cleveland. In fact, the veteran forward -- who is listed at 6-foot-10, 280 -- weighed a reported 317 pounds when he arrived in Cavs camp a year ago. Kemp swears he'll be ready this time. "It's going to be a rebirth of my career," he says. 2. Is Kenyon Martin the real deal? Martin, the NBA's No. 1 overall draft choice, has been running and playing five-on-five with Nets teammates during informal workouts for weeks. The former Cincinnati star appears to be fully recovered from the broken lower right leg that kept him out of the NCAA tournament last March. But can he defend small forwards? 3. How's Tim Duncan's knee?
Like Martin, Duncan has been running and participating in informal workouts with teammates in San Antonio for several weeks. He had surgery in May to repair the torn lateral meniscus in his left knee and has suffered no apparent setbacks in his rehab. However, the 7-foot forward still must show that his knee can hold up under the strain of full practices. 4. How's Grant Hill's foot? Hill played his first game of five-on-five with teammates last Monday, and afterward proclaimed himself 100 percent ready for the season. He said he felt no ill effects from the broken left ankle he suffered last spring. Magic G.M. John Gabriel says Hill has been one of the hardest-working players on the team. 5. Can Allan Houston, Glen Rice and Latrell Sprewell coexist? The three Knicks perimeter players say they can share the ball, but it's hard to see how New York coach Jeff Van Gundy is going to find minutes -- and shots -- for all of them. This might be a good time for Van Gundy to test the "Big Backcourt" of Houston and Sprewell, with Rice at small forward, to see if it is a viable option. 6. Can Miami head coach Pat Riley give the Heat a crash course in chemistry? With newcomers Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason and Brian Grant, there is some question as to how fast Miami squad will gel. Riley will have to teach his famous team defense in a hurry. Mason, for one, has stated that he doesn't expect any problems at all. 7. Can Allen Iverson and Larry Brown mend fences? Iverson, who reportedly wants to be his team's captain, has been in Philadelphia working out for weeks, a good sign. Of course, Brown has been in Australia helping coach the U.S. Olympic basketball team. Clearly there will be some sort of Brown-Iverson summit in the coming days, but how long will the peace last? 8. Who will be Kevin Garnett's wingman? If Joe Smith departs the Timberwolves, who will replace him at power forward? Minnesota is hurting at that position, with journeymen Sam Mitchell and Tom Hammonds the only players with any experience at the spot. Andrae Patterson, all of 6-9, will get a look as well. KG, chief of the Fun Police, won't be having many good times in camp. 9. Will J.R. Rider show up on time? Rider, who showed up late for training camp last year in Atlanta, will be given a chance early in the season with Los Angeles to prove whether he has really changed his ways. Also, the Lakers will be watching to see if the guard can mesh his power game -- in which he likes to use back-to-the-basket moves -- into head coach Phil Jackson's more free-flowing triangle offense. 10. Can the Pacers' Kiddie Corps play? It sounds like a law firm or a '70s rock band: Harrington, Bender, Croshere and O'Neal. In reality it's a quartet of promising-but-unproven talents who will have to learn the NBA game fast if the Pacers are to have any hope of repeating as Eastern Conference champs. New coach Isaih Thomas gets his first answers in camp. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Look for his columns
throughout the offseason. Click here to send Marty a comment.
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