| Tuesday, February 1
By David Aldridge Special to ESPN.com |
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If it's Super Bowl week, it must be time for the NBA's have-nots to start
complaining.
Every year around this time, you start hearing the bleating from players who weren't voted to start in the All-Star game -- and who need to make the
team to get some of those juicy bonuses. You hear from their coaches, who
say with all the fake sincerity they can muster that "it would be a crime"
if their guy doesn't make it.
| | Stephon Marbury doesn't make the cut on David Aldridge's all-star squad. |
Truth is, the league loves it when guys whose numbers aren't up to snuff get the shutout. It gets people talking hoops at a time when the whole
country is feasting on football's ultimate day. If the suits were really
interested in getting every deserving soul a trip to San Francisco next
month, they'd do what I've been advocating for years: expand the all-star
rosters to 15 from their current 12. But they won't.
So, as part of my annual service to you, dear reader, here's who should
be on the all-star team in each conference. I start from scratch and pick
one through 12, in deserving order. And I don't worry if there aren't five
guards, five forwards and two centers. The point is to get the best 12
players on the floor, right?
Here we go.
Eastern Conference
1. Grant Hill, Pistons: The silky moves to the hoop have been augmented
by a near-deadly mid-range perimeter game. He's become more than proficient
from behind the three-point arc. He's become a fourth-quarter killer. A
cynic would say it's a contract-year deal (Hill's got an out after this
season), but that sells Hill short.
2. Allen Iverson, Sixers: Between the controversies, he's been dynamic.
Yes, he's shooting 41 percent from the floor, and yes, he takes a lot of
shots; it's what he demands and what Larry Brown allows. Still, if you're
going to shoot as much as he does, you have to do better at the line than
.731. But his team is winning. And who would people rather see?
3. Vince Carter, Raptors: Okay, maybe they'd rather see this guy.
4. Alonzo Mourning, Heat: 'Zo brings it every night. He's overtaken
fellow Hoya Patrick Ewing in all-league sweat levels. I've said on NBA 2Night and I'll write it here: Alonzo Mourning is a man.
5. Glenn Robinson, Bucks: If the Big Dog gets dogged this year, it is a
crime. He's 14th in the league in scoring -- and that's no mean feat, considering how often Sam I Am can chuck the ball up -- and he's improved his
defense and rebounding. There is not a better perimeter shooter in the
league, and doggone few scorers as unstoppable when on their game.
6. Eddie Jones, Hornets: The Hornets fell apart without him on the
floor. He's a scorer, a defender, a team leader. And if the Hornets don't come
correct with the loot this summer, he's out of there.
7. Allan Houston, Knicks: Some nights, he's the only reason to watch.
The sweet jumper has been there for years, but Wade's kid can take anyone off the dribble and doesn't get embarrassed on D, either.
8. Ray Allen, Bucks: The Olympian doesn't bring it every night
defensively, but who the hell watches this game for defense? The sweet
all-around game more than makes up for his occasional lapses.
9. Reggie Miller, Pacers: A slow start had us worried, but just when
things looked grim, the praying mantis picked up his game. There's still no
one as dangerous with the ball in true clutch time.
10. Shawn Kemp, Cavaliers: He's putting up 18.7 points and 9.1 rebounds
nightly; imagine what he'd be doing if he wasn't carrying around the
equivalent of an infant child every day.
11. Dikembe Mutombo, Hawks: The Mount's sending them back as well as ever, and he's gotten more comfortable at the offensive end. But truth be
told: if 'Zo didn't need a breather every now and then, I'd go with just one
center.
12. Sam Cassell, Bucks: I can't help it -- I've got a soft spot for him.
His assist-turnover ratio is just under the Stockton Minimum of three for
point guards, but the 9.6 assists per night show he's not being selfish. (The higher dime average also gives him the nod on my team over Stephon Marbury.)
Tried to include: Marbury; Darrell Armstrong, Magic; Jerry Stackhouse,
Pistons.
Western Conference
1. Shaquille O'Neal, Lakers: He's done everything everyone's ever asked
of him so far this season: score (27.6), rebound (14.6), block shots (3.51),
lead and settle into the Triangle gracefully. The league's most dominant
player.
2. Chris Webber, Kings: Perhaps he wouldn't have grown up if he'd still
been in Washington, but don't you think the Wizards would like to have that
trade back? The best power forward in the west, which is saying something.
2a. Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves: KG remains my favorite player, and damn near favorite guy, in the league. Plays the game the way it should be played
on the floor, where he'll see time at all five positions; keeps it real with
his close-knit Official Block Family off the floor.
2b. Jason Kidd, Suns: Forget the triple-doubles; just go to a Suns game,
if you can, or pull them down on the satellite dish, if you can, and watch
this guy's effort, night after night. Worth the price of admission.
2c. Karl Malone, Jazz: For about the 10th straight year, the Mailman has
made idiots like me look, well, idiotic for writing the Jazz off. It doesn't
matter what's going on with the rest of the squad, as long as
Stocktontomalone is on the floor, Utah will win. And win big.
6. Gary Payton, Sonics: We know GP gripes a lot, but his heart's in the
right place. He wants to win, and his game reflects it. He'll do whatever's
necessary on a given night to get the W.
7. Tim Duncan, Spurs: Duncan plays like a metronome -- no flash, but every five seconds, here he comes (post-up), doing something without flash
(rebound and putback), doing it until you stop it (block), which you can't
do without a lot of help (outlet pass), which opens up Duncan's teammates to
kill you (Spurs win).
8. Kobe Bryant, Lakers: Yeah, he missed the first month, and you could
make a case for rookies Steve Francis or Lamar Odom. But I won't. The only
thing that can stop Kobe is Kobe, if he believes all the hype. Which he
doesn't.
9. Rasheed Wallace, Blazers: Mike Dunleavy's finally come around to our
way of thinking -- when the game's in doubt, give this kid the ball and let
him go to work. You'll thank us in June.
10. Michael Finley, Mavericks: Scottie had it wrong: Finley's an
all-star. Period.
11. John Stockton, Jazz: It would be a cliche, and wrong, to say that the
Little Guy has forgotten more about playing the point than his brethren will
ever learn, because he hasn't forgotten a damn thing.
12. Clifford Robinson, Suns: Phoenix has depended on its Cliff Notes all
season to put out fires at small forward, power forward, even two guard. He
added the three years ago; now it's a weapon. Quick enough to take you off
the dribble; long enough to be a factor on the boards; old enough to have
grown up and become a terrific player and leader.
Tried to include: Pippen; Antonio McDyess, Nuggets; David Robinson,
Spurs.
What to do with Ewing?
The Knicks' dance with Patrick Ewing requires a delicacy and grace that
has escaped that ham-fisted organization for years. The big fella is a proud
fella, and to shunt him to the side will be difficult.
On the record, the Knicks say all the right things, how they know they
need Ewing in the fourth quarter for offense. But the cold reality is that
they're looking for an exit strategy, and with Ewing on line for big bucks
through 2001, they're stuck with one another.
"It's not going to all come back," a Knicks insider said. "The guy is 37 and has been hurt three straight years. He's not going back to when he was 31."
Trading Ewing isn't a realistic option, although the Knicks are shopping most of their players outside of Allan Houston. The problem for Gothamites: Marcus Camby, the one player everyone is interested in, is a base-year guy, at 50 percent of his salary (around $4.5 million) until early March, when it becomes 75 percent.
Rumors have abounded for years that Ewing would like to finish his career in Washington, but even though Michael Jordan (and their mutual agent, David Falk) are in power there now, the Wizards already have their full complement of aging talent. And every team in the league outside of Portland is terrified of having big-ticket players on their caps with the luxury tax looming in three years.
So far, Ewing has been quieter about his reduced role than you might expect. There were grumbling a few weeks back that he was ticked at coach
Jeff Van Gundy because he thought VG was trashing him privately to the
Gotham media. Van Gundy denies it, and says Ewing's transition is more about
his supporting cast than himself.
"When you're a great player, your role on the team is all dependent on
the talents of the people on your team," Van Gundy said. "So early in his
career, Mason, Oakley, those type of guys, we had many more
defensive-oriented guys on the team, so he had to shoot more, and the ball
went to him all the time, and rightfully so. Now, we don't have as many
defensive guys and rebounding on the team. So what he's done is okay, I can
still score, but I have to concentrate my efforts (on defense). But that's
not him accepting that role; it's the other players' strengths on the team
defnining his role."
There is truth to that. The Knicks couldn't finish in the Finals with Duncan and Robinson clogging the middle, because there was no
Ewing to take them outside or off the dribble. If the Knicks are going to
get out of the east, Ewing has to be more than a safety valve against the
likes of Mourning and Rik Smits.
"He's gotta have a presence offensively," Allan Houston said. "I don't
think he'll ever get to the point where he's just a guy who will rebound and
help out. He may not average 20 points, but the bottom line is he will be a
presence, and that's what you need. If you run pick and roll, he pops out to
hit that jump shot."
The Knicks say that they can approach Ewing and talk to him. But the reality is that he's older -- by a lot -- than most of them. His circle of friends in the locker room are long gone. And Ewing knows better than anyone else that his skills are not what they once were.
Still, they trudge on together, like an old married couple. There's nowhere else for either of them to go.
League rumblings ...
Jordan has told GM types around the league that he wants to make a deal. But like most other teams, he probably won't do it until just before the trading deadline, when all the offers for the likes of Ike Austin are in. Even though Phil Jackson is saying the Lakers no longer have interest in Austin, they do. Expect there to be suitors for Tracy Murray as well.
The Bucks haven't given up yet on Robert Traylor, even though George Karl is giving him no run whatsoever. Tractor has dropped 12 pounds and is down to a svelte (for him) 282. But lax defense and poor rebounding are still going to keep
him glued to the pine for the time being.
The Bucks love their team chemistry now that Dale Ellis has been shipped to Charlotte. Ellis and Karl almost came to blows on more than one occasion, and Ellis had told comrades around the league that the Cassell-Robinson-Allen troika was among the most selfish he'd seen. Translation: There weren't enough shots for unconscionable gun Ellis when he was on the floor. | |