The Lakers are fighting to stay out of last place. The Kings are bumping along in third place. The Spurs are losing sight of first place. The best teams in the powerful Western Conference known for its dominant big men?
The Dallas Mavericks and Seattle SuperSonics.
“There’s a lack of big men out there, your Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal types,” notes Seattle coach Nate McMillan, whose team is 8-2 and leading the Pacific Division. “The traditional power forward is really a small forward. The center is more a power forward. It’s not just us and Dallas. The league has gone to the [Dirk] Nowitzki-type player. Plus, the rules changes [allowing zone defenses] make it difficult to play with your back to the basket. Now you’re finding guys who face up.”
Anyone looking for explanations for why Dallas and Seattle are leading the West need only look to their style of play, which finds the NBA at a crossroads. The combination of zone defenses and 7-footers who run the floor and shoot three-pointers has resulted in an advantage for teams that spread the floor and shoot. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Dallas (10-0) is making a run at the league’s all-time best start of 15-0.
A big element as well for the Mavericks has been the play of 7-foot-6-inch Shawn Bradley, averaging 9.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks a game. His presence in the zone, though, has been the difference as innovative coach Don Nelson has shown you can defend within the new rules with a team full of lousy defenders. How far that will go in the playoffs is another question.
“We’re taking advantage of the talent we have, like Don Nelson is doing in Dallas,” Sonics general manager Rick Sund said.
Nelson is also the Mavericks’ general manager, but if you’re looking for an executive-of-the-year candidate, look to Sund. The Elgin native and former Northwestern player has put the pieces in place for a Mavericks-like team that plays entertaining ball by spreading the court and shooting well. Plus, he has provided a model for NBA team economics.
The Sonics stood up to Rashard Lewis’ threat to leave if he didn’t get the maximum contract. Lewis eventually signed for $60 million. The Sonics also have held off the sympathy vote to give Gary Payton an extension, and Payton is having a brilliant season playing for a contract, averaging 21.4 points and a league-best 10.4 assists. “Gary will be taken care of,” Sund said.
But the key for the Sonics was to find out if Payton could play with a young, developing team, and he has shown he can.
Sund also was in on the drafting of Europeans Vladimir Radmanovic and Predrag Drobnjak, who are starting and enabling the Sonics to play their open-court style. Wally Walker, Sund says, may have pulled off one of the best trades in dealing Hersey Hawkins to the Bulls for Brent Barry. Desmond Mason, a 17th pick in 2000, is a solid sixth-man candidate.
Free agency, Part I: With good seasons, Payton likely will remain in Seattle, Jason Kidd will stay in New Jersey and Tim Duncan will stay in San Antonio. Kidd supposedly wants to go to Seattle. But even if they let Payton go, the Sonics won’t have much more than about $8 million to pay a free agent, while Kidd could get a $14 million starting salary with the Nets.
The issue surfaced again last week in New Jersey when Duncan and the Spurs played the Nets.
“On the court, he makes his teammates better,” Kidd said. “He’s one of the best big men in this game. We will explore, at the end of the season, if we can play together.”
Offered Duncan: “If it comes to fruition, it will be great. Jason is every basketball player’s favorite guy to play with. You look at the Nets, he makes Kerry Kittles better, he makes Kenyon Martin better. Obviously, the chance to play with him would be a great opportunity, if it ever presents itself.”
The Spurs will have the salary space to satisfy Kidd because David Robinson is retiring. But the belief, with developing point guard Tony Parker, is they’ll go for Clippers free agent Michael Olowokandi to free Duncan from having to guard Shaquille O’Neal.
Free agency, Part II: Olowokandi is ready to go. With the Clippers off to a 3-7 start, there is talk that coach Alvin Gentry is on the way out, and he’ll likely be followed by many of his players.
In Miami last week, Lamar Odom, on the injured list, talked of playing for Pat Riley.
“I’d say Miami would probably be my first choice,” Odom said. “When your contract is up, even when you love a city, love the guys on your team, one day you might be somewhere else.”
Odom is a restricted free agent, but unrestricted free agent Olowokandi said: “Pat Riley is the kind of coach any player should definitely be honored to play for. He runs a first-class system that gets the best out of players. Take how Ike Austin played with the Clippers [and] then he did with Miami.”
The Clippers’ Eric Piatkowski, Corey Maggette, Andre Miller and Elton Brand also are free agents.
“Our start is discouraging,” said Brand, averaging 15.7 points and 12.8 rebounds. “With all the potential we have, it’s tough. When you’re playing against a team with cap room, guys want to put up extra shots. It’s like guys say, `OK, they got cap room, I’ve got to put up 10 extra shots.’ But that’s the nature of the business. You see other teams. They’re trying to lock up as many of their players as they can so they won’t have this. I haven’t felt it too much yet, but I’m afraid it will get worse.”
Then there’s former Clipper Darius Miles, now with the Cavaliers, walking off the court against the Pacers last week. He shook hands with Pacers coach Isiah Thomas and said: “Hey, man, come and get me. I want to play with y’all.”
Motivation, Part I: When the Bulls pull into Golden State on Wednesday, Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas will be looking to show up Bulls rookie Jay Williams. Arenas, the second-year guard from Arizona, still is upset about the Warriors’ desire to get Williams in the draft. Arenas, not a natural point guard, is playing the position and been a surprise, averaging 16.4 points, 7.3 assists, 7.2 rebounds and two steals. After getting 15 assists and two turnovers in a win over Memphis last week, Arenas said: “Write that he’s [Arenas] becoming a point guard. And also write that the Warriors make a better choice by sticking with Gilbert Arenas than drafting Jay Williams.”
Motivation, Part II: Cavs coach John Lucas on the message he gave to his losing team: “I put Phil Jackson’s name up there, along with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. I told them, `You guys probably want Phil Jackson [as coach]. I probably want these guys [as players]. What we have is each other.”
The quote: Warriors coach Eric Musselman after the firing of Sidney Lowe: “Better him than me.”
