NEW YORK -- OK, Allen and Larry, let's see how you do against the
varsity now.
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| Shaq |
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| Iverson |
The Sixers have been beating up on the JV, winning 13 of 14 against
the Eastern Conference's Sisters of the Poor and posting a 14-2 mark
overall. But Tuesday, the fun and games end when they play the Lakers
in L.A. The next game isn't easy, either, with a date Friday in Portland
against the Blazers.
If the Sixers get deep-sixed in either place, even with the Lakers and
Portland not exactly playing at the tops of their games, no one will be
shocked.
The East is that bad.
Philly's big men figure to get manhandled by Shaquille O'Neal -- if Kobe
Bryant ever wants to pass the reigning MVP the ball.
"This will be a good gauge of how good Philly really is," said one
Eastern Conference VP. "They've been killing the rest of our conference.
But are they any better than Dallas? Probably not. And you have to look
at what happened when they played the Spurs."
Do we have really to? That's like gawking at a train wreck. The Sixers
got crushed on Nov. 25 at San Antonio 96-76. In their only other game
against a Western Conference team, they nipped the T-Wolves. At least
their 1-1 record against the West is better than the rest of the East.
Going into the week, the West had won 47 of 73 games against the East.
Can you say, total domination?
"They'd be in the middle of the pack if they were in the West,"
Minnesota's Chauncey Billups said. "And we'd probably be one of the top
teams in the East. That's just the way it is."
It's called total disparity.
How bad is it? At the start of the week, the Midwest Division had more
teams with winning records than the entire Eastern Conference. But
what's Philly gonna do, apologize for its schedule? Before playing
Monday in Denver, they still were one of the top defensive teams around,
giving up the second-fewest points in the NBA (83.9), while holding
opponents to 39.8 percent shooting -- the best of any team. And they were 3-0 in
games decided by three points or less. So far, Allen Iverson and Larry
Brown haven't had any major run-ins, either.
All's been well in the City of Brotherly Love.
"They're like the Knicks of the mid-90's," Charles Oakley said
recently. "They don't have a lot of talent. But they've got guys who
play defense, hustle for loose balls, rebound and play well together.
And other than Charlotte, they're the only team in the East with any
kind of size. The West has all the size and all the big guys. The East
is like the Rucker League. Just a bunch of guys running around putting
up shots."
Tuesday in Staples Center, the Sixers get to play against the real NBA.
Rim Shots
George Karl thinks Gary Payton will be on his best behavior
with Nate McMillan the rest of the season.
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| Payton |
"That's because Gary is on trial for the rest of the season, and he
knows it," said Karl, the ex-Sonics coach. "After this year, who knows
if it will work. But the thing about Gary is, you get him behind closed
doors, get him face-to-face, you tell him what you want him to do, and
he'll go out and do it. When it's one on one, there's a lot of pussycat
in Gary."
But Paul Westphal only saw the tiger. Speaking of the ex-Sonics coach,
he left town confiding that he had no idea that Patrick Ewing had lost
so much. Didn't they check the tapes before making that deal?
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| Rice |
The way
the Ewing trade shapes up now, one month into the season, it's the first
one in history that hasn't helped any of the teams involved. Glen Rice's
four-year, $36 million deal is the biggest golden parachute handed out
by the Knicks since Don Nelson was last seen floating past the Statue of
Liberty on his way to Maui. Rice has shot below 50 percent in 13 of the first
17 games, and in 12 games he's failed to hit a three. Yet, he's
complained about his lack of playing time in fourth quarters.
"You know
what, their job is to play and mine is to coach," said Jeff Van Gundy,
not at all happy about Rice's comments. "I'll make the decisions."
While Rony Seikaly is wriggling his way out of his European contract --
and everyone thinks he'll end up in Miami -- one overseas scout called
his recent play "awful."
The Joe Smith case isn't done yet. Next week
arbitrator Kenneth Dam determines what Minnesota execs were involved in
arranging the secret agreement. The maximum penalties -- to be handed out
by David Stern -- are suspensions lasting up to one year. Owner Glen
Taylor is almost guaranteed to get the max. GM Kevin McHale, who wasn't
directly involved in the negotiations but signed off late on the deal,
is also facing a year. As far as McHale goes, he just might quit. He's
been bitter about agent dealings ever since Kevin Garnett got his record
$126 million extension. That was back in 1997.
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| Geiger |
Rim Shots II
Dikembe Mutombo to the Sixers? The latest rumor floating
around is Mutombo to Philly for Matt Geiger and Toni Kukoc. Don't bet on
it. The Hawks are rebuilding. They don't want Geiger, who's always hurt,
or Kukoc, who's 32. But anyway, does Philly want to give up its only
other scoring option after Iverson?
The Knicks are looking to the Western
Conference to find a third team who can help them do a three-way deal
for Mutombo. The Clippers fill the bill, being under the cap and with
such young players Atlanta could be interested in as Keyon Dooling and
Quentin Richardson. The Clips also have a number of No. 1 picks, some of
which originally belonged to the Magic. Clips have been shopping Eric
Piatkowski and Corey Maggette.
Phil Jackson got on Shaq about his free
throw shooting in preseason, but has said next to nothing on Kobe's
constant one-on-one play, an obvious ploy to win the MVP. You notice a
double standard here? The Big Unhappy Camper has. Shaq thinks if the
Lakers had to trade him or Kobe, Shaq would be the one packing his bags.
Makes no sense.
Charles Oakley told friends after he punched out Jeff
McInnis that the Clippers' guard threatened him. Oak, who's been in feud
with McInnis since last summer over a woman, doesn't take threats well.
He also doesn't believe in settling his disputes in private. He attacked
Tyrone Hill on the floor before a preseason game, in full view of both
teams, and earlier punched out Charles Barkley in front of all the
players when they assembled to vote on the latest collective bargaining
agreement.
George Karl having problems with all his "stars?" Karl
would beg to differ with that description. "They're pseudo stars," he
said.
The T-Wolves are remembering the late Malik Sealy by posting a placard
with his name and number on locker when they're on the road. At home,
they've glassed off his locker permanently, with his uniform inside. "We
don't do that just for show," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said of the
locker tribute. "Guys still think about him a lot. We all do. There are
a few who go over and touch his locker before every game. He meant that
much to us."
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| Sprewell |
Latrell Sprewell is taking over the Knicks' leadership
role. Just one question: Does this mean Sprewell takes this leadership
role all the way? He can't be ripping teammates for laughing off losses
when he's been known to saunter into the locker room late for games.
More than just a few times, too. If Sprewell wants to be the leader the
Knicks have sorely lacked over the years, that means he has to accept
the whole bundle of responsibilities. That's everything from showing up
on time, to putting in the extra time on the practice floor. This also
means that Sprewell can't be about anything but winning. Remember, he's
the same player who a couple of seasons back remarked of his losing
record as a Warrior and Knick, "that's only a stat." Said Spree: "I am
taking it more personal. I'm tired of coming close."
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.
