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Drafts doomed P.J. It wasn't Sprewell; it was dreadful draft-day decisions
Posted: Friday December 31, 1999 01:59 AM
Although the stench of the "choking incident" continues to hover over the Golden State franchise like bunson-burned sulfur in a chemistry classroom, it was not the main reason Carlesimo was fired on Monday night. And neither was the fact the Warriors have been decimated by injuries this season. (Erick Dampier, the Warriors' starting center, has yet to play a game this year following surgery on his left knee, and only journeyman Tony Farmer has appeared in all 28 games.) No, the main reason P.J. Carlesimo, a very good basketball coach and a classier guy, is out of work is that his team was woefully short of talent. And the coach had a lot to do with that. Carlesimo was hired June 5, 1997 -- 20 days before the NBA Draft that year -- and with Al Attles as the team's interim general manager, the Warriors chose Adonal Foyle with the eighth overall pick. There were quite a few raised eyebrows after Foyle was picked that high back then but not nearly as many as there are now. That's because Toronto chose Tracy McGrady with the very next pick. Yes, the Warriors desperately needed a pivot at the time, but then again, so did Portland when they picked center Sam Bowie in 1984 and passed on guard Michael Jordan. Unfortunately for P.J., his team made a similar draft-day mistake a year later. With Garry St. Jean as the Warriors' geeneral manager, Golden State picked Vince Carter fifth overall. Brilliant, right? Not quite. Before the first round was over, St. Jean had traded Carter (along with $750,000) to Toronto for Antawn Jamison. Finally, a day before this past June's draft, the Warriors traded the 10th overall pick and Duane Ferrell and Bimbo Coles to Atlanta for Mookie Blaylock and the 21st overall pick. The Hawks picked Jason Terry, a point guard of the future, while the Warriors are stuck with Blaylock, a point guard of the past. Blaylock's shooting percentage -- under 35 percent -- makes Allen Iverson cringe, and he's currently on the injured list with a strained calf. Plus, Golden State is the third-worst shooting team in the league. In fairness to the Warriors, they did make some productive trades during the past two and half years, acquiring Jason Caffey for basically a pair of second-rounders and getting Dampier for Chris Mullin. And it's tough to criticize the Sprewell trade (in which Golden State received John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings from New York) because they basically had to get rid of him. But there's no hiding the fact that P.J. and the Warriors missed badly during the past three NBA drafts. Do you think Carlesimo gets canned with a starting lineup that revolved around the athletic Carter and a bench that featured the multi-dimensional McGrady? Ask Butch Carter. He has the Raptors primed for their first playoff appearance in franchise history.
Chica-goneThings just keep getting worse in Chicago. On Sunday, the Bulls failed to amass a triple-double. Not just a player, but the whole team. Chicago tied an NBA record for fewest assists in a game with three in its loss to the Nets. The Bulls' line: 76 points, 45 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 steals and 3 blocks. Those are Wilt Chamberlain numbers. Except Wilt would have had more assists and blocks. At least Chicago is keeping with its plan to go young. Rookies Elton Brand and Ron Artest are the team's top two point scorers, something that hasn't happened in the league since 1986, when Cleveland's top two scorers were Ron Harper and Brad Daugherty. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Clearly, how successful Jerry Krause will be in two areas this summer -- the draft and free agency -- will dictate how quickly the Bulls can step up to mediocrity. With at least a top-four pick in next year's NBA draft (in addition to owning the Spurs' first-round pick), the Bulls will get a shot at one of the top players in what presently appears to be a very weak draft. With the league's lowest payroll, Krause will have the option at making runs at some of the premier free agents next summer. But Krause also has the league's lowest-scoring team, and he'll need more than a big-name free agent to turn it around. Four years ago, the Bulls were 24-3 through their first 27 games in route to an NBA-record 72-10 mark. This year's Bulls are 2-25 (their two wins coming by a grand total of three points), and, at this point, would love to finish 10-72. Don't bet on it. We'd have a better shot at seeing John Rocker riding the No. 7 train in New York this spring than seeing the Bulls finish with 10 wins.
Pine soulIt's no secret that Sacramento is the NBA's top-scoring team, but it's the work of the team's subs that has seemingly gone unnoticed. Calling themselves "The Bench Mob," the Kings' irregulars have given the team energy, effort and scoring -- basically mimicking the starters. Led by Peja Stojakovic, Jon Barry and Lawrence Funderburke, each of whom averages more than eight points a game, the Bench Mob regularly beats the starters when they scrimmage. "We go at it everyday in practice, and the starters, I think, have [beaten] us twice this year -- we give them a couple of confidence-builders every once in a while," Barry said. "It's healthy competition."
Tip-Ins
Tom Heitz has been involved with Turner Sports production for four years, and currently provides behind-the-scenes analysis for the NBA on TNT.
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