This is what it’s all about. Yes, it’s the Bulls and 76ers in the Game 7s of their season, Wednesday and Saturday meetings for . . . eighth place in the Eastern Conference and a chance to be a playoff team with a losing record?
OK, so maybe it’s not such a big deal. But will it be Allen Iverson’s last run with the 76ers? Will we next season see the superstar pairing of Iverson and Kevin Garnett? Desperate teams and desperate times for franchises can lead to some amazing changes.
Perhaps no team has underachieved more this season than the 76ers. Not even the Knicks. Or the Sonics. The 76ers have Iverson. Chris Webber, though limited in mobility, has put up big numbers. They signed their big center, Samuel Dalembert, to a new deal, which actually may have been a mistake. Their role players–Andre Iguodala, Kyle Korver and John Salmons–could start for many teams. They’ve got size, depth, athleticism and one of the great finishers in the game in Iverson. But they’ve been unmotivated and undisciplined, an unhappy mess that barely defends and stands around during games watching Iverson and Webber.
“It’s time for somebody to do something,” Webber pleaded. “We say after every game, `Be consistent, this and that.’ We just keep talking. Maybe we just need to shut up and do a little more.”
The rumblings in Philadelphia are that Iverson’s stay has run its course. After all, Philadelphia isn’t exactly the most loyal community to its star athletes, and attendance is down toward the bottom of the NBA. Iverson says he wants to remain with the 76ers, but it’s difficult to see where the team can go now.
The 76ers had explored interest in Iverson before the February trade deadline. Iverson is difficult to play with because of the way he monopolizes the ball, and Webber demands the ball as well. They’ve gotten along, even though they don’t seem to fit. Given his bad knees and contract averaging about $20 million through 2007-08, Webber is harder to move.
The solution for Philadelphia may be acquiring Garnett, who last week expressed frustration with already being out of the playoffs again and said he won’t stand for it much longer.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor keeps saying he’ll retain Garnett, and rumors of Garnett being reunited with Stephon Marbury have begun. Garnett last week likened his days with Marbury to among his best in the NBA. And you figure the Knicks almost would give Marbury away to lose his salary, demands for the ball and disruptive behavior and comments. It’s equally difficult to see Iverson staying, especially if the 76ers miss the playoffs. That’s why this week’s games are probably more important to them than for the Bulls.
Garnett could be good for Iverson. Iverson likes to shoot, and Garnett likes to go get the ball. For Iverson, it would almost be like having George Lynch and Tyrone Hill retrieving the ball and giving it back to him like they did in 2001 on the way to the Finals. Leaving Philadelphia did wonders for Charles Barkley in 1992. Leaving Minnesota perhaps also would revive Garnett’s playoff hopes and remove the stress of having to score.
The 76ers look like they need to become a better all-around team and maybe add some young players and get salary-cap relief. Minnesota needs someone to help Garnett and persuade him they are trying to win.
Is it a potential match?
Or this deal
There may be a better deal for the 76ers, who certainly would look to move Iverson to the Western Conference. Memphis long has been a quiet suitor for Iverson. If Iverson’s act has worn thin in Philadelphia, he remains a big road attraction. Memphis, struggling in attendance and on the floor, once again seemingly is headed toward a first-round elimination. The backcourt is a mess with Damon Stoudamire injured. Owner Mike Heisley, a Georgetown graduate, long has liked one-time Hoya Iverson and yearns to put some excitement back in a franchise he has turned into a perennial playoff team with Jerry West.
The Grizzlies also have assets that could interest the 76ers, like Eddie Jones, who is going into his final season, meaning huge salary-cap savings for Philadelphia. Memphis presumably could throw in a young player like Hakim Warrick, someone like Shane Battier and maybe a first-round draft pick and have Iverson pair with the improving Pau Gasol while Philadelphia gets a chance to build something without starting over.
Goofus and Gallant
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Yes, it does pay to be nice to people and live a good life. There was an interesting dichotomy recently with Isaiah “J.R.” Rider and Calbert Cheaney. Rider, 35, hasn’t played in the NBA since 2002 and is due in court this week in Marin County, Calif., on charges of kidnapping his girlfriend. Cheaney, the player the Nuggets kept when they released Rider, had far more talent and NBA success. Yet Cheaney, also 35, is hanging on with the Warriors as he finishes the final season of his contract. He makes about $1.7 million and rarely plays. “If he wants to play another season, I’ll be the first one in [GM] Chris Mullin’s office lobbying to keep him here,” Jason Richardson said. “People don’t see all the stuff he does in the locker room. He’s a leader. He’s inspiring.”
A matchup for new age?
That LeBron James-Dwyane Wade showdown Saturday was a throwback to the great Michael Jordan-Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird-Magic Johnson shootouts of the 1980s. Now if the NBA can get them doing this in the playoffs, the league may have found something. . . . The NBA is hardly giving the Hornets a break by insisting they move back to New Orleans in 2008, and coach Byron Scott is suggesting it will hurt the franchise with free agents: “They want to know where they’re going to be, they want their kids in a certain school.” . . . The future of coach Jeff Van Gundy may be in doubt with Houston’s announcement that Daryl Morey, a 32-year-old statistical analyst with the Celtics, will succeed Carroll Dawson as Rockets general manager after next season. It’s a so-called “Moneyball” move for the NBA like the Oakland A’s model that has statistics transcending scouting.
Trendsetting Bulls
The Bulls aren’t the only team to tell players like Tim Thomas to stay away. The Bobcats sent Kareem Rush home on Saturday for the rest of the season and said he wasn’t working hard enough to meet their standard. . . . And there are “what ifs” everywhere, not just the Bulls’ with Elton Brand. The Wizards last week won in Golden State, led by former Warriors Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Said Jamison: “In hindsight you want to say that something special could have happened if they were patient, but this is a business. Look at the Wizards. They had Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton. They would have had a championship team if they’d kept those guys. It’s one of those things that happened and you got to move on.” . . . Warriors assistant Mario Elie on Baron Davis: “When Baron is on his game, he can be a top-15 NBA player. But Baron is just stubborn, and he’s lazy sometimes. People have to give him the truth instead of beating around the bush.”
Meantime, coach Mike Montgomery keeps getting asked by reporters about various college jobs, and in Oklahoma City last week responded: “Why would I want to go to Oklahoma? I had a better job when I was at Stanford.”
Double dribbles
Joel Przybilla said he may opt to leave the Trail Blazers as a free agent because of the way his teammates have given up on the season. A company that makes portable toilets was added as a team sponsor, thus opening up talk the season has finally been flushed. Przybilla will be among the big men the Bulls will strongly consider. . . . Pickup of the year? Try the Bucks’ Charlie Bell, who said he was considering retirement after playing in Italy and Spain the last four years. He has scored in double figures the last seven games, averaging 14.1 points, 6.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds in that span with T.J. Ford hurt. Against the Suns, Bell became the fifth player to record a triple-double in one of his first four NBA starts, joining Magic Johnson, Edgar Jones, Andre Miller and Scottie Pippen. . . . The Suns shut down Amare Stoudemire, in part because he continued to have knee problems, but also because they realized their running game had stopped to accommodate him. . . . As part of the Karl Malone retirement ceremony last week, a street was renamed Karl Malone Drive, and it intersects with the street named John Stockton Drive when Stockton’s number was retired last year. There are statues outside the arena of the duo executing a pick and roll.
Last shots
One of the keys to the Nets’ surge has been the play of center Nened Krstic, who credits assistant Bill Cartwright for much of his development. Said Krstic: “He has helped me a lot. He always talks to me, especially on post moves.” Two other former Bulls, Cliff Ray and Sidney Green, are possibilities as big-men coaches. . . . The Hornets’ Chris Paul has rookie of the year wrapped up, but the best rookies last month were Utah’s Deron Williams and Toronto’s Charlie Villanueva. Villanueva put up a rookie-high 48 points. Only Iverson, Jordan and Kelly Tripucka have scored more in a game as a rookie since 1976-77. Williams had his best month of the season, averaging 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. . . . Shooting poorly, Ron Artest says the Kings need to change their offense to run it through him. Said Artest: “I’m able to free people up, create those double and triple teams. And even if I take a bad shot, I look at myself [like] a Kobe [Bryant] or a Tim Duncan or a Michael Jordan taking a bad shot. You live with it.”
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