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Friday, March 16, 2001
Rim: So what if MJ and Chuckwagon returned...
ESPN.com
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FROM THE BASELINE
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I'm the Man!
(Line o' the day)
Just look at the photo. Who is it? You have no idea. But on Tuesday, Houston's Moochie Norris had a great game -- off the bench. We just like saying Moochie. |
Moochie |
| MIN |
FG |
REB |
AST |
PTS |
| 38 |
9-17 | 6 |
4 | 28 |
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Shoulda stayed in bed
(Stinker o' the day)
Sure, he put up nice numbers. But ... he got in a fight, which will get him suspended. And his team lost. Not a good night. |
McGrady |
| MIN |
FG |
REB |
AST |
PTS |
| 49 |
10-28 | 10 |
8 | 25 |
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Ouch, my knee! (Injury update)
Well, let's all take a moment to salute The Dream. Yes, it looks like this might be it for Hakeem Olajuwon, who has a blood clot in his left calf and will miss the rest of the season. He's not under contract for next season. He's old and not real productive. You do the math.
Number on our mind
The number of minutes Jalen Rose played on Tuesday in the 3-OT game. Wow. |
61 |
They said it
"We shouldn't be a .500 team. I've had many sleepless nights thinking about this team and how we shouldn't be in this predicament. Why not come out and play the same way against Milwaukee or Chicago? It's been frustrating trying to figure out why we don't. Maybe now we'll finally have that fixed."
-- Get some sleep, Brent Barry.
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Barry |
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Wed., March 14
OK, so everyone else is doing it, so will we.
What if...
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| Barkley |
What if MJ and Chuckwagon did come back and played for the Wizards. What would the team look like? How would they play? Well, glad you asked. Here are some thoughts.
Sure, MJ is older now, but he would still be among the top scorers in the NBA, without a doubt. The guy would get his J back. He would be a step slower than before, but still has natural instincts and moves that 95 percent of David Stern's league can't duplicate. Does he have talent around him? Well, we'll deal with that. But Jordan could score 25 a night in his sleep and the one thing he wouldn't lose would be his feel for the game. He'd still make others better -- which he'd need to do here.
Charles Barkley might be a different story. Rumors had his weight around Super Bowl time being that of a Sumo wrestler. Even if Barkley got down to 300 pounds, would he be effective? His game -- at the very end of his career -- was still in decent shape, as he averaged 14.5 points and 10.5 boards last season in 20 games. Take away the last two games, since he blew out his knee in one and returned on the last day of the season for the other, and it's more like 11 boards per. He still shot well, he still got to the line, he still had the fire. There's no reason to think that he won't still do his boardwork, but getting in shape is another issue. Who's gonna beat him out of the starting PF spot? Michael Smith? Christian Laettner? Are you kidding? Barkley's been waiting his whole career to play with Jordan. Figure on 15 and 10 every night.
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| Hamilton |
Richard Hamilton is the best current Wizard to go with MJ and Charles. An emerging player who does have scoring ability and does slash well, Hamilton is getting 16 points a night and is still real raw. He will get better. He's no Scottie Pippen, but he could play on this team, though probably as the sixth man since he and MJ are both two-guards. Maybe he develops more all-around game and you play him at small forward. He needs to pass better and defend a lot more.
Chris Whitney remains the point guard, which isn't that bad. Not a good shooter, but he does hit his threes. He wouldn't be as accurate as Steve Kerr, but he has range and can spread the defense. And he's a good passer and improving defender who does play hard and with spunk. He starts. And if you need a shooter, Hubert Davis is about as good as it gets for hitting threes. He comes off the bench and Hamilton can handle the ball. Maybe Davis starts over Whitney and handles the ball. He's played some point.
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| White |
Jahidi White is better and worse than Luc Longley/Horace Grant. He's wide but short (6-9, 290), no doubt, and has potential to score and rebound, but he's always in foul trouble (3.2 per game this year), misses his free throws and doesn't pass a lick (14, all season total). We think Michael would probably prefer to have another undersized guy, Laettner, in the middle. He's a very good passer.
Who plays small forward? Well, Tyrone Nesby is still here. He's a high flyer without too many other intangibles that those Bulls teams had (defense, passing ability, etc.). Maybe Hamilton plays some small forward? And what do you do with Mitch Richmond? He still has game, but to afford Jordan/Barkley he'd have to be dealt away. Rookie Mike Smith isn't ready to contribute. Popeye Jones brings little but rebounding. Loy Vaught? Nope. So clearly MJ the exec has some work to do.
Bottom line: We've heard people say that a team with Jordan, Barkley and current Wizards wouldn't do well. We don't believe that. Those Bulls teams had nice spare parts and MJ and Scottie and they won all the time. A battered and behemoth Barkley, Hamilton and good parts in Laettner and Davis makes this team among the best in the East.
Top 10 list
From the home office in Bristol, Conn., here is one man's top 10 list of reasons why Mikey should stay off the court. The views of this man don't necessarily reflect those of the ... oh, whatever. Enjoy.
No. 1. Don't soil your image and spoil our opinion of you.
No. 2. The young guys are better than you now. Kobe, Vince, Allen, Rasheed, Tracy, C-Webb would eat your lunch every night.
No. 3. Don't do it for Charles Barkley. Chuck Wagon never took the game seriously. It would be the Harlem Globetrotters every night.
No. 4. If you want to come back, join up with Magic and tour Europe. You are still better than most "A" league players over there.
No. 5. They say you're playing at the club against some very good competition in Chicago. There are no good players in Chicago any more ... how can that be?
No. 6. The Wizards are still the Wizards. Your team wouldn't make the playoffs.
No. 7. The press loves you now ... as soon as you start losing in Washington, it could get ugly.
No. 8. Wouldn't you have to give up like $50-million to put the uniform back on?
No. 9. The Wizards always play a couple of games in Cleveland, Toronto and Detroit every January.
No. 10. Willie Mays.
Previous Rims:
Monday, March 12
Friday, March 9
Wednesday, March 7
Monday, March 5
E-mail us!
What's on your mind? As usual, we always want to read what you're thinking about the NBA or Rim. If you want future e-mails in this spot to be yours, then click here. Keep it concise and clean please.
I know the Pistons stink, but Stack is going bananas this season. He's led or been tied for second in scoring all season long, leads all 2 guards in assists (imagine if the rest of the team could score), and gets to the line exactly as often as Iverson. Every team keys on him (who else is there, Joe Smith?), and he still puts up incredible numbers. Like it or not, but he's one of the best players in the NBA.
Greg Sommerville
Ann Arbor, Mich.
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