Category: NBA (Page 581 of 595)

The University of Indiana continues its instability since the departure of Bobby Knight. Mike Davis has announced that he will resign at the end of the season, ending a 6-year reign as the basketball coach for the Hoosiers. The University and Davis have worked out a smooth transition. The challenge for Indiana will be to lure Steve Alford away from a very successful Iowa basketball program. Randy Wittman’s name has also been mentioned.

The Detroit Pistons are close to trading forward Darko Milicic and guard Carlos Arroyo to the Orlando Magic for Kelvin Cato and a lottery-protected, first round draft pick.

Less than three years ago, Pistons GM Joe Dumars had the #2 pick in the 2003 draft. Everyone knew that the Cavs were going to take LeBron James, so that left guys like Milicic, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich and T.J. Ford for Dumars to choose from. Each of the players listed after Milicic have had varied success in the league. Wade is a superstar, while Bosh and Anthony are confirmed stars. Kaman has developed into a top 10 center, while Hinrich and Ford are two of the better young guards in the league.

Dumars has said that he drafted Milicic because he could afford to. The Pistons were coming off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance (where they lost to the New Jersey Nets) and instead of adding an NBA-ready player, he decided to draft for potential. It was a risky move, and by all accounts, it backfired. But Dumars has gotten a pass on this misstep, mainly because the team won the title the next season and appeared in the finals the year after. This year, the Pistons have the league’s best record, so it’s hard to nitpick Dumars’ past decisions.

But how good would the Pistons be with Chris Bosh coming off the bench? The Pistons could eventually let Rasheed Wallace go, bringing Bosh in to start alongside the other Wallace. Or how about Dwayne Wade in the starting lineup, moving Rip Hamilton to sixth man status?

But this is all conjecture, because had Dumars not taken Milicic, he probably would have taken Carmelo Anthony. At the time, Tayshaun Prince hadn’t yet emerged as a solid player and many thought Dumars would select Anthony and upgrade the small forward position. But would the Pistons be better off with the offensive-minded Anthony in the starting lineup instead of the defensive-minded, consummate-role player Prince? I don’t think so.

So now Darko should get a chance to play. In the limited minutes that I’ve seen, he has looked like a fundamentally sound big man. His “Per 48” stats (stats projected out to 48 minutes per game) for this season aren’t bad: 12.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 5.8 bpg and 8.6 fpg. His ability to swat has to be the most encouraging thing about his game, but his propensity to foul is a bit worrisome. He was unable to crack Larry Brown’s rotation and has been unable to crack Flip Saunders’ as well, which has prompted this move. If the trade does go through, he should have ample time to play alongside Dwight Howard, who is one of the great young forwards in the game. Since he’s been unable to earn playing time thus far, maybe if he’s given time he’ll finally be able to shed the nagging “bust” label.

And if Dumars is able to get a first round pick in return, and turn that pick into a productive player, he can forget all about that 2003 draft.

Yesterday, the Cavs beat the Spurs, 101-87, and once again played well at home against a good team, advancing to 14-2 against teams with a record over .500. What’s troubling is their record against sub-.500 teams: 5-5.

“We have to grow up,” James said. “We can’t keep beating Phoenix, Detroit and San Antonio and then lose to sub-par teams.”

Obviously, their record against good teams is encouraging, but their mediocre performance against mediocre/bad teams is worrisome for Cavs fans. They’ll likely be facing a so-so team in the first round of the playoffs, so if this kind of play continues, they may run into trouble getting to the second round.

After ESPN analyst Mark Stein wrote an article blasting the Miami Heat for their offseason trades, and questioning the team’s passion and chemistry so far this season, the Heat promptly defeated the Pistons, 100-98, behind some phenomenal play by Dwayne Wade.

(from the Sun-Sentinel article):

Wade scored all 17 points in the final 4:27. This wasn’t about the Heat proving it is better equipped to beat Detroit in the playoffs than it was last May. This was about the Heat stealing a game because its two stars were healthy, properly utilized and at their signature best: Shaquille O’Neal scoring 21 in the first half and Wade scoring 29 in the second. The guard’s final 17 came on two layups, one short jumper, three free throws and four long jumpers, including the winner from 18 feet with 2.3 seconds left.

He did not miss a shot in that stretch. He was unguardable. Supernatural.

According to the article, Pat Riley alleviated the tension before the game by dancing for ten minutes in Miami’s locker room.

If indeed that’s what Pat Riley was doing for a tension-relieving 10 minutes, after cranking up the Doobie Brothers’ “Listen to the Music” before Sunday’s 100-98 victory against the Pistons.

“I don’t know what it was,” Dwyane Wade said of the hapless hoofing and accompanying soundtrack.

“Not even Zo knew what it was,” Udonis Haslem said.

It was Riley’s way of saying “sometimes you have to listen to your own music.”

Sometimes you need to go back to dancing simply, and with the guy who brings you the most hope.

I’d love to have tape of that.

But back to the Heat, who did make a statement Sunday. I still don’t like the offseason trade that (basically) brought Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey to the team in exchange for Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler and Qyntel Woods. The Heat took the Pistons to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and, in my estimation, only needed to be tweaked. Bringing in Walker, Williams and Gary Payton (via free agency) constitutes more than a tweak. This team is about Wade and O’Neal and there isn’t any room for any more players that think they’re stars.

The main concern going in was Williams’ and Walker’s ability to adjust their games to incorporate a more conservative shot selection. Williams seems to be doing a better job than Walker in that respect. The guard is shooting at a .449 clip, which is a career best and well ahead of his career shooting percentage of .394. Walker, meanwhile, is shooting .423, which is way too low for a player of his size and effectiveness inside.

I still say that giving up Eddie Jones was too steep a price for these two players. He is a good shooter and a tough defender, and I can’t help but think that the Heat would be much better off if he were still on the roster. They still could have signed Payton to move Wade to off guard, which was the main reason for the trade for Williams. Of course, had Riley taken Jameer Nelson, Delonte West or Chris Duhon (instead of high school shooting guard Dorell Wright) in the 2004 draft, they might already have a point guard to run the show. Why Riley would draft a high school project who plays the same position as his franchise player is beyond me. Throw in the fact that O’Neal isn’t exactly in his prime and one would think that Riley would draft some more immediate help.

Only time will tell if Miami is better off with the current roster. Either way, the answer will be clear. Miami simply has to make it to the Finals to justify the trade.