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Front-office fallout Bad personnel moves doomed Blazers, Heat
Updated: Monday April 30, 2001 10:16 PM
With two of the highest payrolls in the league, the Blazers ($88 million) and Heat ($73 million) were supposed to be NBA title contenders this season. Instead each got unceremoniously swept out of the first round. Now they're looking to make changes. In Portland, site of the biggest meltdown since Chernobyl, head coach Mike Dunleavy is likely to be fired. It wasn't Dunleavy's fault that the Blazers were put together with little regard for team chemistry or that Bonzi Wells got injured right before the playoffs, but in the NBA somebody always takes the fall. Dunleavy could end up in Cleveland, where Shawn Kemp once grazed. Heat head coach Pat Riley says he's seeking a 12-step program for coach-aholics after his team's dismal performance against the Hornets. Here's step 1: Don't count on Tim Hardaway to be healthy in the postseason. Riley is still one of the game's best head coaches, but his personnel moves as GM this year were awful. Here are five other things we learned this weekend: 1. Reality bites In sports, we've become so accustomed to feel-good stories about star athletes overcoming some personal crisis to reclaim glory that it's almost a surprise when they don't. Heat center Alonzo Mourning was able to come back from his rare kidney disease, but ultimately he was not able to lead Miami back to the top of the Eastern Conference, as so many predicted. He averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds against the Hornets, but lacked his usual energy. Meanwhile, Knicks forward Marcus Camby, still recovering from the trauma of having his mother and two sisters held hostage last week, sat out Sunday's Game 3 against the Raptors. Clearly distracted, he had just two points and two rebounds in 31 minutes Thursday night in Game 2. 2. Pride still matters Who says NBA players don't really care? Down 2-0 and facing almost certain elimination, the Timberwolves, the Magic and the Mavericks each won hard-fought third games to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. In Orlando, Magic guard Darrell Armstrong played 49 minutes with a sore groin to help his team snap an 11-game losing streak to the Bucks. In Minnesota, Wally Szczerbiak (18 points) spared head coach Flip (Nostradamus) Saunders from eating crow for at least one more game. And in Dallas, Steve Nash took seven stitches to the forehead but returned to hit the game-winning shot over John Stockton for the Mavs' first playoff victory since 1988. 3. Air Canada needs to fly New York's half-court defense and mental toughness make it a difficult playoff foe for any superstar. However, Vince Carter (30.7 percent shooting in the series) is playing into the Knicks' hands by settling for too many long jumpers. Even with Latrell Sprewell and Kurt Thomas clogging his runway, Air Canada should take a page out of Allen Iverson's flight manual and look to attack the rim more in Game 4. Iverson took it hard to the hoop in Indiana on Saturday, getting knocked to the floor seven times in all, but wound up shooting 14 foul shots. As a result, he finished with 32 points despite 11-of-28 shooting from the floor. 4. T-Mac is a rottweiler While Carter has struggled, his former teammate and cousin, Tracy McGrady, has been spectacular. In Orlando's victory Saturday night, McGrady had 42 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists (with just two turnovers), three steals and two blocks while playing 50 minutes. He also made several clutch baskets down the stretch, including an incredible left-handed layup off glass with a backspin that would have made his neighbor Tiger Woods jealous. T-Mac did all this after pumping in 35 points in Game 2, including 20 in a row in the second quarter. To top it off, he called Bucks veteran forward Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson a "puppy dog" before Game 3, then went out and backed it up by holding the high-scoring forward to just 14 points for the third consecutive game. 5. The Suns could use Paul Silas No, not as a coach, though the Hornets' boss certainly got the better of Riley in their first-round matchup. Rather, the Suns could use a young Silas on the boards against the Kings. Phoenix has been outrebounded in all three games (a combined 157-128), yielding a slew of second-chance points. In Sunday's Game 3, Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac each came up with pivotal offensive rebounds in the closing minutes to turn a 90-90 score into a 94-90 Kings lead which they did not give up. Sacramento's work on the glass isn't a surprise: the Kings finished the season third in the NBA in rebounds per game. But they ranked last in rebounds allowed, a vulnerability Phoenix has thus far been unable to exploit. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
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