Despite what you may read here and elsewhere, there are a lot of good guys playing in the NBA. But there’s only one who memorizes the names of the writers around the country so he can call them by their first names, whose walk from the locker room to the court every game is like a parade with greetings to every usher and ballboy and autographs and high-fives for the fans. And who finally may be in the playoffs for the world to see.
“I’ve never been on a team with veterans you can hold accountable,” said Elton Brand, drafted by the Bulls in 1999, traded to the Clippers in the 2001 draft-day deal for Tyson Chandler and re-signed by Los Angeles in 2003.
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“I had Rusty LaRue at point guard (with the Bulls). Last year, guys were so young again, but now [Cuttino] Mobley is here with a contract, Sam [Cassell], my contract. It manifests itself in a swagger. There’s a confidence that’s never been here before, a feeling we can compete and win.”
There is no reason the Clippers can’t continue their early surprise start in leading the Pacific Division given the continuing shift in the NBA’s continental divide.
This season at least five of the top six teams in the league (Detroit, Indiana, Miami, Cleveland, Milwaukee and perhaps New Jersey) are playing in the East. Five years ago, an Eastern Conference team might not have been good enough to make the playoffs in the West.
The Bulls will see this shift firsthand on their western trip this week. The schedule doesn’t seem so big or daunting this season with no back-to-back in the first four games before four days off at home. Plus Golden State, Portland, Seattle and the Lakers were a combined 11-13, mostly playing Eastern teams thus far.
The Clippers, with a legitimate NBA starter at every position and a top coach in Mike Dunleavy, are poised to move into the Western elite, which means every team after the Spurs. That would be a relief for Brand, entering his seventh season with an All-Star appearance, a USA Basketball invite and zero playoff games.
“There always was the feeling because of the teams I’ve been on, no pun intended, I’ve been branded a loser,” Brand said. “But I see guys like [Kevin] Garnett, [Tracy] McGrady, the super-duper max guys missing the playoffs, and it shows you need a team.”
Brand seems to have one now with the hard-working Clippers fourth in opponents’ shooting. And Brand has done some work of his own. Injury-free for the first time in two years, he has lost weight and refined his jump shot. He ranks in the league’s top 20 in scoring, rebounding, shooting and blocks.
“Early in the summer, I was disappointed when we lost Bobby Simmons and Marko [Jaric] wasn’t signed,” Brand admitted. “But then we get the long three-point threat in Cuttino, a point guard like Sam, depth. I now see an organization that is about winning. I feel we can be one of the best teams in the West.”
Rocky Mountain, indeed
There is this big mystery around the NBA this season. No, not Tim Duncan’s hair. It’s Earl Watson’s seat. Or why the Denver Nuggets paid $30 million for the free-agent point guard and don’t play him. He has played just six minutes through the first six games. And just what were they up to signing Watson with Andre Miller and Earl Boykins? It really was a good plan. And it might have elevated the Nuggets to the top of the West, instead of where they sit now as one of the early disappointments. The problem started when a deal with Boston–Miller and now injured Nene for Paul Pierce–fell through. It would have given Denver the big shooting guard they needed to go with the defensive point guard they wanted in Watson.
Instead, the team is something of a mess with Kenyon Martin–the Nets’ decision to let him go looks better and better–saying his knee remains a problem and he has become a jump shooter. And a bad one, it should be added. Coach George Karl has questioned the conditioning of Martin and Marcus Camby. The king of ME basketball, Carmelo Anthony, decided he doesn’t want to play the post, where opposing coaches have been saying he almost cannot be defended because of his strength and quickness.
“I told [Karl] that the [low] block ain’t working no more,” Anthony said.
Not much has for the Nuggets.
Chilling in Danville
A Toronto Star reporter, just trying to help the winless Raptors, found 6-foot-9-inch Keon Clark hanging out back home in Danville, Ill. Yes, he’s just out of jail again on a child-support misunderstanding and upset about the NBA’s dress code. “I’m just trying to live my life without nobody telling me what I gotta wear,” Clark said. Clark, who played for the Nuggets, Jazz and Raptors, says he’s done with the NBA even though the Pacers called recently. He is, by the way, also now out on bond on drug charges. “Jail ain’t built for 6-9 guys,” added Clark, whose father is in prison for murder. “I’ll put it like this: When I was lying on the bed, I had my feet out of the bars.”
CSI New York, Miami
“It’s chaos,” said Malik Rose. “I’m a little disheartened.” And so it has been with the Knicks. New coach Larry Brown changes rotations and lineups game by game looking for a spark. One New York tabloid screams that Stephon Marbury is “On The Block.” Brown’s comments about the roster problems are interpreted as an attack on team President Isiah Thomas. Free-agent center Jerome James, who came to camp at 320 pounds and now is on the inactive list, mopes about being replaced by Eddy Curry and is in a practice fight with rookie Nate Robinson. Brown benches the veterans after three games to play his rookies and then benches them after two more losses. That said, the Knicks do play better defense already.
Meantime, in Miami, Gary Payton offered, “If I was the coach, I would do it a different way,” referring to Stan Van Gundy’s preference to spread the ball around rather than feed a hot hand. Then there’s the obscenity-laced dispute on the court between Jason Williams and Antoine Walker on who ran the wrong play. Alonzo Mourning says he isn’t playing enough and Udonis Haslem says Van Gundy doesn’t see the court as the players do. Plus Dwyane Wade is setting personal highs for turnovers. Yet, despite it all and Shaquille O’Neal out, the Heat is over .500 with none of its next eight opponents with a winning record.
Motor City horsepower
There has been much surprise about the Pistons being among the league leaders in scoring. It’s not that Larry Brown held them back. After all, they went to the Finals in both of Brown’s seasons and won a title. But Brown is controlling and called every play. There’s a story the Pistons like to tell that Chauncey Billups broke from a last-shot play to hit the game winner and Brown yelled at him for 20 minutes after the game for not running Brown’s play. Brown’s offense often was geared to being in position to get back on defense. New coach Flip Saunders lets the point guard call plays more often, he runs plays constantly for hot players, he plays zone defenses to allow the players to rest more for offense. But what will happen in the playoffs with the slower game? Saunders’ playoff record is 17-30, though he never had a team this talented.
The Kings of what?
Let’s see if we’ve got this straight. You live in Sacramento and make fun of other cities? Phil Jackson’s red neck haven got plenty of heat last week–and mea culpas from the Kings owners–for a pregame montage depicting debris and destruction in Detroit. It’s just another example of marketing gone wild in the NBA, joining a list that includes the Jazz’s skit mocking Lakers teammates Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone, the Mavs’ cartoon video of former Kings guard and now Maverick Doug Christie, portraying him as a dog on a leash being led by his wife. And it was the Kings who once lit a Lakers’ jersey on fire before a game to spur the crowd and defaced a Shaquille O’Neal milestone basketball pulled from a game.
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Toronto rookies Charlie Villanueva, Joey Graham and Jose Calderon are being forced to carry purple and pink Dora The Explorer backpacks on the road as a rookie hazing. No wins, but they’re having fun. … With his improved shooting this season, Tony Parker marveled that defenders have even started jumping at his pump fakes for the first time. … Houston’s Luther Head moved past Jon Barry in the rotation as the team looks for more perimeter shooting. …
Minnesota and Portland, with uncertain teams, recorded decade-low attendance marks last week. . . .
It must be true because he said it. Paul Pierce said he should be first team all-defense. “The only reason I’m not on the All-Defensive team year in and year out is because I don’t have a top-five shot blocker on my team. That’s the only thing that’s holding me back,” Pierce said. After those comments in a loss to the Spurs, Pierce spent much of the game yelling at a fan who was urging him to pass the ball.
Last shots
The field of big men starting to come available looks like this: Seattle unrestricted free agent Vladimir Radmanovic (more a perimeter shooter), the Bucks’ Dan Gadzuric (whom Milwaukee figures to have to move to get below the luxury-tax threshold), the Bobcats’ Melvin Ely (small but good in the post) and the Raptors’ Aaron Williams (who could be on the way out along with Jalen Rose as the team has shown its most life with the kids playing). … There’s no D-A-M-O-N in team. Cavs guard Damon Jones continues to decline interviews in a pout over losing the starting job to Eric Snow. …
The Heat announced it would retire the No. 13 jersey of Dan Marino to join the retired jersey in its rafters of Michael Jordan. It has no jersey retired of a Heat player. Hard to believe they passed on the chance to retire the jersey of the only NBA player ever named Bimbo. … You know his family is getting desperate for food by now. Latrell Sprewell’s agent said Sprewell would like to fill Atlanta’s need for veteran leadership. The Hawks declined. …
The run and gun Bulls? At 98.2 points per game, the Bulls are averaging more than any season since 1996-97 and are ninth in the NBA in scoring. With a smaller team, they’re driving the ball more and kicking while leaving the middle open, more reminiscent of the early Jordan teams. They’re third best in three-point shooting and still an excellent third in opponent field goal percentage.
SAM’S TEAMS OF THE WEEK OF THE NBA
SAM’S BIGGEST SURPRISES
1. CLIPPERS: More than just a fast start. For the first time in a decade, they have veterans and are solid at every position.
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2. WIZARDS: Playing some defense in addition to an explosive offense. Six of next seven are on the road, so we’ll see if they’re for real. They’re No. 1 in defense thus far.
3. TRAIL BLAZERS: Looked like a 10- win team filled with teenagers and malcontents. But they’re giving teams tough games and played the Pistons best of anyone this season.
4. PISTONS:We knew they were good, but THIS good? They look like the league’s best team with the Larry Brown shackles off the offense.
5. BUCKS Most resilient team of the first two weeks with every win a big comeback with victories already over the Pacers and Heat.
SAM’S BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
1. SUPERSONICS: Internal squabbling, blowout losses almost every game.They seem buried two weeks into the season.
2. NUGGETS: Injuries have come early and gone seems the swagger from their 32-8 close of last season.George Karl lost his magic quicker than ever.
3. KNICKS: Improving some, but they’re digging themselves a hole with players uncertain about rotations and the future.
4. KINGS: Amid changes in personnel and a lame-duck season for coach Rick Adelman, they seem to have lost their zest and lan for the game.
5. RAPTORS:We knew they’d be bad, but no team seems to despise one another more and play against their own best interests.
SAM’S DUMBEST PLAYS OF THE WEEK
1. DARIUS MILES,TRAIL BLAZERS: Getting called for a defensive zone technical foul when he stopped to tie his jersey pants in the lane.
2. SHANE BATTIER, GRIZZLIES: Moving to triple-team Boston’s Paul Pierce, who Eddie Jones had pinned on the baseline, leaving Ricky Davis open for a free-throw line game-winner.
3. GARY PAYTON, HEAT: Fouling Houston’s Derek Anderson on a three with 1.7 seconds left and a five-point lead, then heatedly argued with the official and nearly earned a technical foul.
4. CHRIS DUHON, BULLS: Giving up a pivotal layup to Tony Parker in overtime when Duhon was distracted by the Spurs’ bench signaling timeout.
5. ANTHONY JOHNSON, PACERS: Backing off with a two-point lead and a second left to give Mo Williams an open threepointer for the Bucks’ win. Johnson with 7.3 seconds left had fouled Michael Redd on a three-pointer to give Williams a chance to win the game.
SAM’S QUOTE OF THE WEEK
‘People say Indiana is the best team, or Miami or Cleveland. All right, come on and play us. Let’s step into that 94-by-50 (court) and we’ll see what happens. That’s what we’re about.’
— Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups, who should not only make his first All-Star Game this season but be a starter.
SAM’S GAME OF THE WEEk
Rockets at Spurs
8:30 p.m.Thursday, TNT
With Tracy McGrady back, it’s a chance to see just who can make a run at the Spurs in the West this season. The Rockets appear to have the best personnel for it with McGrady and Yao Ming and are working on a 15-game regular-season losing streak in San Antonio.
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