 |
 |
|
| | Tuesday, November 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||
ESPN.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Many of you have written to ask if we'll continue to rip Shawn Bradley. Well, when it's deserved we will. Mr. Bradley, for those who are interested, followed up his three-game stretch of blocking only two shots by swatting six against the Magic the other day. Shawn hasn't played more than 20 minutes in five of seven games this season, and for the season he's averaging 5.7 points, 4.7 boards, and has committed more fouls than he has blocks. Shawn, we're watching. Anyway, here's Around The Rim summing up the weekend as a whole. Any comments, click here and e-mail us. Right to the Heroes and Goats ... in case you're wondering why Sacramento's sixth man is on the list of heroes, well, he's a pretty good player doing a pretty good job for a pretty good team. The Kings have a great starting five, among the best, but our questions with them surrounded the Lawrence Funderburke-led bench and questionable usable parts. With Jon Barry, Darrick Martin and Tyrone Corbin among the contributors here, the Kings are more legit.
Pat Riley's teams are known for playing good defense. They are not known for torturing the people who do the boxscores at games. But the Heat are right there for the NBA lead in points per game and with pretty much the same lineup as last season when the team scored in the 80s most games. They were winning, of course, but painful to watch. "This is as good as we've been since [late in 1996], when we went 6-0 out West," Heat forward P.J. Brown said. "We're running well, our defense is good." The defense shut down the Knicks on Sunday, but it's been the offense bombing teams out of the building. The Heat scored 128 points twice in the first 10 days of the season, and have topped 100 in all but two games. If the game with the Knicks was closer last night (the Heat were up 17 with 4 minutes left) 100 would've been scored again. Why is this happening? Well, Alonzo Mourning isn't really doing anything different than he did last season. Tim Hardaway's numbers look the same, and same with P.J. Brown. Voshon Lenard and Dan Majerle are combining for 19 points a game, which is critical, but the big reason this team is scoring is because there's a natural scorer here that hasn't been in the past. Jamal Mashburn can score. The man once averaged better than 24 points in 80 games back in 1994-95. But injuries have a way of killing that quick first step or hindering how you jump. Currently, Mash is scoring a hair under 20 points a night and, believe it or not, shooting better than 50 percent. He also has a 2-to-1 assist-turnover ratio. "We are capable of playing both ways on both ends of the floor," Mash said. Apparently, that goes for himself as well.
Charles who?
Francis' problem all preseason was the turnovers. He'd commit more of them than he would accrue assists. He's still a little too wild, but his play this weekend -- not the play of Hakeem Olajuwon or Barkley on Saturday -- directly led to a pair of wins. Against the Lakers, Francis scored 22 points and added 7 assists, just like a good point guard should. He also hit 6-of-11 shots, including three three-pointers. The next night against the Warriors, Francis added 27 points and 8 assists (only 1 turnover) and hit 9-of-10 from the line. For the season, this embattled rookie has pretty sweet numbers -- 17.3 points and 5.4 assists, a decent .447 field goal percentage and 2 steals a night. It's only going to get better. "He brings so much to the team, quickness, explosiveness," Hakeem Olajuwon said of Francis. "I think the situation is ideal for him and us. He has so much energy but at the same time he is under control."
Quote of the night | ALSO SEE Around The Rim, Nov. 12
| |||||||||||||||||||||
