|
|
|
Thursday, December 7, 2000
Fred's Points: McMillan's task, and the Cavs
ESPN.com
|
What's the first thing you notice when you see ESPN's Fred Carter on NBA 2Night or SportsCenter? Of course, he points at you. It's his way of saying hello. So we've asked NBA expert Fred to greet us and make some points for ESPN.com each week. Enjoy.
Nov. 30
1. How do the Sonics move on from this point and are they still a playoff team? Will Nate McMillan have any more success than Paul Westphal did?
George Karl truly respected Nate McMillan's basketball intelligence when he was the coach of the Sonics and encouraged him in his quest to be a coach. I expect McMillan to come in and concentrate on the defensive side of the ball. Defense was McMillan's forte when he was in the league and is one of Seattle's major problems now. His first course of action will be to concentrate on the defensive end of the floor and make it an anchor for this team. When Seattle was winning the Pacific Division defense was their trade mark.
| |  | |
| Baker |
| |  | |
| Payton |
If he can do that then it will buy him time to develop an offense. Looking at the long term, though, the future is a little bleak for the Sonics. Their talent level is down and now is the time to take a look at a rebuilding mode, which is bad news for McMillan.
As far as their ability to reach the playoffs this year, someone in front of them is going to have to seriously stumble. The most likely candidate is Dallas, but the Mavs are playing pretty well these days and the teams in front of the Mavericks are pretty well established. The Lakers, San Antonio, Portland, Utah, Phoenix, Sacramento and Minnesota all look to be much stronger than Seattle.
I don't see any of those teams losing it to the degree that would be necessary for the Sonics to make it. Their battle to make the playoffs, regardless of whether they were being coached by Paul Westphal or Nate McMillan, was a very steep uphill one.
2. There are currently seven NBA teams with 10 or more wins, and only one of those teams plays in the East. Is this a fluke? And can you ever remember one conference being so much better than the other?
People's memories must be pretty short because when the Chicago Bulls were winning all those championships it was the Eastern Conference that was much better than the West. The disparity might not have been so lopsided but the East was definitely the beast until recently.
| |  | |
| Mutombo |
| |  | |
| Ewing |
Trades, injuries and lottery winners have shifted the balance of power to the left. Tim Duncan went to San Antonio instead of Boston and that started the slide. This year the ball really got rolling. Rik Smits retired, Patrick Ewing got traded, Dikembe Mutombo got malaria and Alonzo Mourning is seriously ill. The exodus of the dominant big men from the East has led to parity in the conference. The big names and big teams are clearly in the West.
The win total will stay low in the East because it's going to be a true dogfight. Most of the teams will have a chance to beat most of the other teams. But this is no fluke, it's just part of a cycle that will eventually swing back.
3. Kobe Bryant is averaging 27.6 points per game, while Shaquille O'Neal's average is only 25.3. Are you surprised at how fast the Lakers have appeared to become Kobe's team, or is it still Shaq's team?
The Lakers are not Kobe Bryant's team. Right now the offense is going that way. Who's going to be open? Shaq? I doubt it. Shaq has won scoring titles in the past and doesn't need to lead his team in points to know that it's his team. He is unselfishly giving up the basketball for the good of the team.
| |  | |
| O'Neal |
| |  | |
| Bryant |
Shaq could get 50 points any night he wants to and no one on the Lakers would complain. But he seems to be trying to work within Phil Jackson's system to bring another championship to the Lakers. Shaq is doing his duty and getting the rest of his team shots. As long as the team keeps winning he'll be fine with that. He knows Kobe is a young guy trying to establish himself. But make no mistake, this is Shaq's team.
Kobe is playing very well right now and I like the way they're playing. Keep in mind that after 15 games last year they were 11-4. After 15 games this year ... 11-4. Last year I think they lost another game and got to five losses before they ripped off 16 in a row. The rest of the NBA should beware. The Charge of the Light Brigade is coming. The Lakers will go on a roll. They're already on a five-game winning streak. I'm pretty sure there will be more.
4. Rick Pitino wants the Celtics to play defense or he's gone. Then on Tuesday the Celts hold Cleveland to four points in a quarter and 72 for the game. Is Pitino finally getting through to his team?
Rick Pitino might have been able to get his team up for a few games but his press conference was a very quick and temporary fix to a deeper problem. The Celtics simply lack size. The don't defend the paint, which makes it extremely difficult to rebound on the defensive end.
| |  | |
| Potapenko |
| |  | |
| Ratliff |
At the other end of the floor it also makes it tough to get any shots. Lack of size puts an enormous burden on a team trying to win consistently. It makes it very tough to do so. If you don't have someone back there to block shots there is very little chance to defend well. If you take Theo Ratliff out of Philadelphia's lineup, they're in the same boat as the Celtics and the rest of the Eastern Conference.
When you have a shot blocker, your guys up top can overplay the ball because they know they have someone behind them to pick them up. If the Celtics try to guard someone tightly on the outside, they don't have a ticket-taker back there to help out when they get beaten off the dribble.
So Pitino's motivational tool worked off the bat, but it won't last. With the parity in the conference the Celtics could win 35 games, but certainly no more.
5. The Mavs' Don Nelson or the Cavs' Randy Wittman: Which coach is doing the better job and why?
I think Randy Wittman is doing the better job because his team has changed a great deal. They've added players. They brought in Robert Traylor, Zydrunas Ilgauskas was out for a year, he has a young point guard in Andre Miller. He has a mishmash of young and old players like Lamond Murray and Wesley Person.
| |  | |
| Ilgauskas |
| |  | |
| Miller |
The thing that Wittman has really been able to bring to this team is defensive toughness. They're in the top five of defensive field goal percentage. They are also tied for the league lead in turnovers, so having so many defensive chances may have inflated the defensive figure. They play defense, turn the ball over, and play defense again. But he's doing a great job with a young team searching for an identity.
Don Nelson has some talent and he's a veteran coach. He's got the type of players he wants to coach who also have athletic ability. He's right within his wheelhouse and his team is responding. He can put on his apron and start cooking because he has the players he wants in the pot.
|
|
ALSO SEE
Fred's Weekly Points, Nov. 22
Fred's Weekly Points, Nov. 17
Fred's Weekly Points, Nov. 9
|
|
