Before the season, New York Knicks coach Pat Riley and his new neighbor, New Jersey Nets coach Chuck Daly, were all smiles and pats on the back.
But because John Starks’ flagrant foul last Sunday put star Nets guard Kenny Anderson out for probably a month or more, the two esteemed coaches-with six NBA titles between them-are snarling at each other.
There was, of course, the takedown of Anderson, which Nets President Willis Reed said could cost the franchise millions as it fights to hold the last home-court playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Then there’s the league’s $5,000 fine and no suspension for Starks, which outraged the Nets in light of recent $10,000 fines and suspensions to other players for almost playful-looking fights.
“I spend that much in one weekend shopping,” said Anderson. “It wasn’t just an aggressive foul. He’s a dirty player.”
“If it were Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal or Patrick Ewing, there’d have been an uproar,” snorted Daly.
Dirty? Us? We’ll show the NBA, Riley suggested.
“I remember two years ago in the playoffs when the (pre-Riley) Knicks got swept by the Bulls,” he said. “We were reading about a heartless, gutless team that would allow people to drive the lane, have lunch, get a car wash and cash a check before anyone would step up and play hard and defend them.
“Now we’re playing hard and playing tough, and those same people who were characterizing this team before . . . are they saying we should be like that again? No! We never will be soft again. Not as long as I’m here.”
And this from Knicks guard Glenn “Doc” Rivers: “It’s funny to hear Chuck Daly talk about us. Has he forgotten those Detroit Pistons (coached by Daly)? They were dirty. We play physical.”
There’s an interesting footnote to all of this: The coach of the Knicks’ defense is Dick Harter, who built a reputation at Oregon 20 years ago for coaching a clawing, shoving and kicking defensive team known as the “Kamikaze Kids.” He also was the architect of the Pistons’ defense in the early 1980s, when he was an assistant to Daly.
“Dick has been a big influence on me,” Riley said.
The two teams meet again April 21 in Madison Square Garden, where the Nets’ Rick Mahorn has promised to exact revenge.
No Moe, please: Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Moe felt sentimental about former player Dan Issel’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Said Moe: “Oh, Issel. He went to that institution (Kentucky) where they hit you in the head with a diploma if you drive through town with the windows down.” Added Moe about Issel’s gap-toothed expression: “He looked you in the eye and paralyzed you. (His famous head fake) worked because he looked so dumb.” It’s great to have good friends.
Riley on Starks, the third most prolific shooter in the league behind Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, on sailing out of bounds for a loose ball and signaling a timeout in the air: “At first, I thought John was going to shoot it.” . . . Jim Jackson may have been scared into signing with the Dallas Mavericks because scouts recently said he could fall to third guard in the next draft behind Anfernee Hardaway and Calbert Cheaney. Or maybe Mavericks owner Don Carter worried him when he told Dallas writers two days before Jackson signed, “My basketball people will shudder, but, yeah, I’d take him again.” . . . The Nets’ Reed on Bernard King: “I look at him as a Cazzie Russell for us, to come off the bench with instant offense.” . . . Chicagoan Ken Norman of the Los Angeles Clippers, a free agent who has rejected several proposed deals, supposedly is heading for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kendall Gill reportedly is upset about the Charlotte Hornets’ failure to deal him. “The guy has his head messed up,” said one Hornets player. “It’s obviously affecting the way he plays. He’s not into it at all.” . . . Kings personnel director Jerry Reynolds, after watching Michigan play: “They’re very talented, but they pay more attention to male bonding, slapping high-fives and chest-bumping than they do to playing hard.” . . . No longer sneaking up but coming full throttle in the Midwest Division toward first place are the Houston Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon’s brilliant play. Said the Kings’ Wayman Tisdale: “He protects the lane like it’s his little cub. In my opinion, he’s the best center in the NBA. I’ve never seen anyone do as much on both ends of the floor.”
Suns shining: They’re still laughing in Phoenix with the league’s best record. When Kevin Johnson, who has missed half the team’s games this season, walked into the locker room to suit up on a return from another calf injury last week, Mark West said: “What is it? Picture day?”
But the Suns dropped three of four last week, their poorest stretch of the season, before Philadelphia came in Wednesday to hand them a victory. There was talk of some grumbling about Charles Barkley’s routine late arrivals to games.
Said Danny Ainge: “Charles is certainly easier to deal with when you’re winning than when you’re losing. We haven’t had a chance to find out that other side yet.”
Some are wondering if it’s coming with forward Richard Dumas now out perhaps a month with an ankle injury.
And the Suns are 0-4 against the three top teams in the East after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers at home last week.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” insists Suns coach Paul Westphal. “We have reason to think things will be different in the playoffs. We’re quite confident we can beat those teams.”
Down cycle: The sky continues to fall for the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. The numbers tell it in Portland, where the Trail Blazers are scoring six fewer points per game than last season and opponents are scoring almost four more-a whopping 10-point diffential. Last year, Portland shot 47 percent to 45 percent for opponents. This year, it’s just the reverse.
The Jazz already has lost more home games than in the last two seasons combined, and the bench additions aren’t working out, so there are depth problems again. It also seems the two Olympians, John Stockton and Karl Malone, are tiring. Opposing guards routinely are beating Stockton. Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas snapped out of a scoring slump with 40 against the Jazz last week.
Said coach Jerry Sloan: “We have leaned too heavily on John and Karl, and the rest of our people have not stepped up. We’ve just run out of energy.”
“When it rains, it floods,” moaned Malone.
Around the league: Imagine how Boston’s Xavier McDaniel feels. Detroit’s Dennis Rodman suckered McDaniel into shoving him, drawing an ejection on McDaniel and two technicals that cost the Celtics a chance to beat the Pistons. “He’s the kind of guy, you can get under his skin,” Rodman said. “I did, and he exploded.” . . . “Back injuries automatically go with being Celtics captain,” coach Chris Ford said uneasily about Reggie Lewis’ absences last week with back problems. . . . At least one team official said he has heard the Pistons’ Olden Polynice, who recently drew attention with his hunger strike to protest conditions for Haitian refugees, make anti-Semitic comments apparently directed toward coach Ron Rothstein when taken out of games recently.
Credit New York’s Rivers, averaging little more than 10 minutes a game in the last four games after starting the first 25, with being a team player. “Coach goes with the flow,” said Rivers. But don’t be surprised if the old pro replaces Greg Anthony come playoff time. Riley may be looking good for resting Rivers’ legs during the season. . . . Now Tim Hardaway is out at least a week for the star-crossed Warriors with a knee injury. “I thought I was bulletproof,” Hardaway said.
Washington coach Wes Unseld wasn’t impressed with Miami’s Rony Seikaly’s league-high 34 rebounds against the Bullets with Pervis Ellison out. Seikaly outrebounded the Bullets 34-30. Neither was Heat owner Billy Cunningham, who saw Seikaly signaling to try to get back in the game when he realized he was close to a rebounding record. Cunningham chewed out Seikaly as he left the court. . . . But the Ripley’s Feat of the Week had to be Manute Bol’s six three-pointers (in 12 attempts) in the 76ers’ loss to Phoenix, all in the second half, one short of the league record. Bol, who didn’t play the first half, is a career 18 percent three-point shooter and was 2 for 31 the last three seasons. “I was hot,” said Bol, “but they kept leaving me open.” Moe had said earlier he didn’t want to start the five former Suns on Philadelphia’s roster because, “I don’t want to make it a circus.”
