The Dallas Mavericks’ Michael Finley continues to be a lot of teams’ worst draft nightmare. The Proviso East product is an All-Star after being the 21st pick in the 1995 draft, one spot after the Bulls took Jason Caffey. Ouch.
Lots of NBA egos also are bruised after Dallas coach Don Nelson was widely mocked for selecting 20-year-old German Dirk Nowitzki in the 1998 draft, and the 6-foot-11-inch Nowitzki has emerged as one of the most notable big men in the NBA.
“A lot of people talked about the next coming of [Michael] Jordan, who it would be,” says Finley. “But if you look at Dirk and what he does on the court–a guy who can take it off the board, take it coast-to-coast, and has a deadly three-point jumper; he’s just coming into his own. His size and everything is easy to compare him to Larry Bird.”
Both Nowitzki, the best-shooting big man in the NBA, and Finley are averaging more than 20 points per game, but the best player for Dallas this season is probably Steve Nash, the 6-3 point guard who has overcome two injury-plagued years in Dallas to double his career numbers in virtually every category (averaging 16.9 points and 7.3 assists this season) and give the Mavericks, who are at the United Center on Monday night, perhaps the most versatile threesome in the NBA.
“We believe we have as good a trio as anyone else in the league,” says assistant coach Del Harris. “You might challenge that with Shaq, Kobe and a ball boy. Or Karl, Stockton and one of their dancers. But if you take our three, they stack up pretty well against anybody.”
The Mavericks, who were the worst team in the NBA in the `90s with zero playoff appearances since 1990, are in a three-way battle with the Spurs and Jazz for first place in the Midwest Division. They probably don’t have the rebounding to make a serious playoff run in the West, though they may have some surprises left. They are said to be one of the few serious bidders for Vancouver star Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and can make the deal without trading any of their top three players.
Widely criticized for seemingly foolish deals in breaking up their one-time big three of Jamal Mashburn, Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd, and for questionable draft decisions (Leon Smith and Chris Anstey), Nelson has put together an exciting young team.
The Mavericks even have won five straight on the road. They are without Nelson, who recently underwent prostate cancer surgery, and assistant Donn Nelson is coaching the team until his father returns.
“I’m not sure exactly what it is,” Don Nelson said before his surgery. “We’re a pretty good team. We’re not a great team. But we’re playing well together. I didn’t expect this record. Are you kidding me? If you had told me that we would have all these road games and we would have this record at this time of year, I would have called you foolish.”
No one’s calling the Mavericks foolish anymore. On the court, anyway.
Week to remember: It was a year ago Friday, Jan. 12, 2000, that the Bulls were leaving their shootaround in Charlotte before their game with the Hornets when the shocking word came back that Hornets guard Bobby Phills had been killed in an auto accident.
The Bulls, this time in Chicago, will play the Hornets on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. And it is expected to be a week of somber remembrances in Charlotte, where the Bulls will be Tuesday, and for David Wesley. Wesley, now the Hornets’ second-leading scorer, was Phills’ best friend and was racing Phills that morning when Phills lost control of his car and crashed. Wesley is having his best season and is now playing Phills’ shooting guard position. Wesley figures to have to deal with continuing questions about the accident again all week.
Said former Hornet Eddie Jones: “Whether he should have been traded out of there or whatever, he’s stepping up and playing his part. Through all what people are saying, he’s having a great year. He’s dealing with it and pushing on.”
Meanwhile, the biggest problem for this season’s Hornets, as many figured, has been the return of the disruptive Derrick Coleman. Coach Paul Silas has played the good soldier, but is said by insiders to be upset management forced him to put Coleman back in the lineup. The Hornets’ seven-game winning streak immediately was broken and they lost four straight. The Hornets this season are 3-9 with Coleman and 18-4 without him and, incredibly, 61-62 when he plays and 35-8 when he doesn’t since coming to Charlotte. Hello, anyone home?
Best in the West: Heading toward the halfway point in the season, the hot Portland Trail Blazers are suddenly the best team in the West.
Criticized for apparent disinterest, age and the acquisition of Shawn Kemp, the Blazers have won seven straight since a team meeting when Scottie Pippen led a group of players asking coach Mike Dunleavy to stop yelling so much and allow the players to open the offense more. It has helped Pippen, who has made 15 of his last 29 three-pointers in the run, and he has combined with Bonzi Wells to give the Blazers more team speed.
The other key has been Wells replacing Steve Smith–now being called Wally Pipp around Portland–in the starting lineup after Smith got the flu. Wells stepped in and while some said it was to showcase him for a possible trade for Abdur-Rahim, Wells is averaging almost 20 points starting and fueling a Portland running game.
“He just has a way of slithering away from people, and he’s got great timing and great hands,” said Dunleavy, again said to be in trouble if the team misses the Finals. “There’s no master plan here. Even before Smitty had the flu, he hadn’t been feeling that great, so I’ve been trying to limit his minutes and let him regroup and gather himself.”
Fast breaks: No surprise this was coming, but with the Pistons slipping and Jerry Stackhouse still putting them up, teammate Chucky Atkins yelled at Stackhouse during a loss to Miami last week to “play some defense.” After coach George Irvine said the team wins with defense, Stackhouse corrected that: “We have to come up with a scheme so we can run a consistent offense. You can talk defense all you want to, but you have to have offense and points to win games.” It won’t matter much with nine of 15 road games for the Pistons in December, which should put them out of the playoff race even in the East. … The Pacers just posted consecutive losing months for the first time in seven years. . . . The Bulls must be having stomach problems after watching Cleveland’s Chris Mihm, now awaiting a knee scan after being hurt, average 17.5 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks as a starter for injured Zydrunas Ilgauskas last week. . . . First-year Atlanta coach Lon Kruger is starting to gain respect around the NBA quickly with his moves to put Jason Terry off the ball and effectively use Lorenzen Wright after he was buried last season by Lenny Wilkens. … Both Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant have said they will bypass the All Star weekend slam-dunk contest and Karl Malone, who tried to boycott last year’s All-Star Game, again said he doesn’t want to play in this year’s game. This season, he may not deserve it after shooting 42 percent the last 13 games and averaging about 15 points amid talks he has back problems. The Bulls could have a good chance to sign the player who may be the 2000-01 rookie of the year. The early leader is Golden State’s Marc Jackson, with double-doubles in seven of the last 12 games and averaging 15.3 points and eight rebounds as December’s rookie of the month. Under league rules, the most the Warriors can offer Jackson, who played in Europe after leaving Temple, is their salary exception, which is expected to be about $4 million for two or three years. The Bulls could at least triple that under the salary cap. “It doesn’t matter where I play,” said Jackson. Though it does to Vancouver’s Abdur-Rahim, whom the Bulls have talked about. His agent says Abdur-Rahim won’t go to another rebuilding team. … Sounded like some Cleveland coach talking about Michael Jordan after Allen Iverson hit for 54 against the Cavs on Saturday. “Believe it or not, we tried doubling him,” Cavs coach Randy Wittman said. “But he got the ball so far out, and was shooting before the double team got there. Plus, his jump shot was falling. What could we really do, anyway?” Quietly, the 76ers again are pulling away in the East. … Predictably, Scott Skiles was not impressed with Tony Delk’s 53-point game, the highest-scoring game in history for someone with a career average below 10 points. Said Skiles: “He . . . had a career night. I wouldn’t read a whole lot into it.”
