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Friday, December 22, 2000
Fred's Points: Nuggets talk, Jamison, Hawks
ESPN.com
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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.
1. What's your take on the Nuggets' situation? Should Dan Issel be fired? Should he step down? Has he simply lost his team? And what do you think will happen?
This is a difficult situation. They won their last game and hopefully they've resolved things. But coaches today find themselves in a very unsettled place. Years ago, when I was a player, the coach was the boss. Whatever he said went. Time have changed, notably in terms of how you discipline players.
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| McDyess |
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| LaFrentz |
You simply can't berate, demean or humiliate players in front of their teammates. You may get them in the office and say certain things. But when you're amongst the group you have to handle things in a certain way. It's the same in the military, these days. Public humiliation is not accepted.
Coaches are not going to win this battle. They have to adapt to this new generation of players and find other ways to get their point across. If they don't many of them will find themselves on the outside looking in.
Former coaches are well aware of what happens in situations like these. This is most likely the kiss of death for Dan Issel. A rift like this leads to you losing your players and it leads the organization to lose their confidence in you. It also impacts season ticket sale, which might be the most important factor. If the organization thinks the atmosphere around the team is in any way detrimental to the business operation, they won't hesitate to make the change.
The one thing that cures all is winning. The Nuggets got a very nice win on the road in San Antonio Thursday. Raef LaFrentz, who was really the flashpoint of all this controversy, had a very nice game. Maybe they've turned the corner. If they fall back into the pattern they were in, though, Issel's days in Denver are numbered.
2. Antawn Jamison scored 51 points in back-to-back games last week. Is it possible this guy can average 25 points a game for an entire season?
It would be very nice to see that. Until now, Jamison has been considered the lesser player from draft day. He was the reigning college player of the year, yet Vince Carter, who played under him at North Carolina, went on to be the big star. I'm sure he spent plenty of time wondering exactly what went wrong.
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| Carter |
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| Jamison |
But he persevered. He changed his position from power to small forward and had a tough time adjusting. But he continued to work on his jump shooting and has developed into a pretty good shooter. He's playing with poise and confidence and is no longer the forgotten Carolinian. They talk about Rasheed Wallace, they talk about Jerry Stackhouse and, of course, Vince Carter. Now they're starting to talk about Jamison as well.
I think he has the ability to keep this up over the course of the entire season. He can play the game inside out. He can drive to the basket and make the jump shot. And he can rebound on the offensive end. He has the tools to keep himself in the middle of things. The Warriors are looking for a star and Jamison might finally be able to fill that role.
3. The Hawks still aren't very good, despite beating Sacramento on Tuesday, but Jason Terry's great play at shooting guard does give them hope. If you were running the Hawks, what moves would you consider at this point?
The very first thing the Hawks need to do is move Dikembe Mutombo. No disrespect to him, but overall the talent pool on that team is extremely low. They are not going to be able to expand that pool much with their first-round pick in the draft. Mutombo is a talented player and a trade would bring a number of players or multiple draft picks. But the longer he remains a Hawk the more likely they are to lose him to free agency. The Hawks need to look at the best scenario available to them. That's dealing Mutombo.
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It's tough to find the immediate help the Hawks need in the draft. You end up drafting high school players who need time to grow. The Hawks don't have time.
There's no one on Atlanta's roster who I would consider untouchable or worth building a franchise around. You can't afford to lose your fans, and the Hawks are bad enough that that might happen. If the product isn't viable your season ticket base erodes. You have to have something to sell. Right now the Hawks don't. They need lots of help and moving the big man might be the only way to get started.
4. Grant Hill's ankle obviously isn't healed, since he left Tuesday's game with more pain and may not play this weekend. If this lingers and he's not 100 percent, what does this mean to the Magic?
This has to be disheartening both for Grant Hill and the Magic organization. He hasn't fully recovered. Hill is a very hard worker and extremely dedicated. He will do everything he can to get well. This looks like a situation where he came back too early in the desire to get back on the floor and help his team. That's the competitor he is.
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If he's not able to play it's going to be very difficult for the Magic. They were picked to possibly win the division. To win night in and night out without your marquee player is tough. Hill's injury has hampered them and dropped them back to the middle of the pack with everyone else.
Last year Orlando was able to sneak up on teams because teams didn't know them. This year teams are not looking past the Magic. It makes it tough for them to win. They need Grant Hill. If they don't have him, it's a long season.
5. Everyone raves about how good the West is, but on the road, the Kings, Suns, Lakers and Spurs are each either at or under the .500 mark. Is there something about playing on the road this season that's different from the past? Are teams relying too much on home games?
Those teams are losing games mostly to other Western Conference teams. When Utah came East they had a pretty successful run. West vs. East on the road is different than West vs. West on the road. The West is definitely better. But there are so many good teams out there that it is very difficult for anyone to win on the road.
There are two different levels of parity. There's parity within the Western Conference and parity within the Eastern Conference. It's just that the parity in the West is at a much higher level. The migration of the big men from the East to the West, starting with Shaq years ago, has led to this division of talent.
So the problems those teams are experiencing on the road has more to do with the strength of the conference and how difficult it is to win on the road against quality teams than anything else.
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ALSO SEE
Fred's Points: Dec. 7
Fred's Points: Nov. 30
Fred's Weekly Points, Nov. 22
Fred's Weekly Points, Nov. 17
Fred's Weekly Points, Nov. 9
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