So you think you can be an NBA general manager. We know I do. So let’s test ourselves. Here are the preseason picks by NBA general managers about the league and the Tribune’s picks from, as Jerry Krause once labeled me, the Monday Morning General Manager.
PLAYOFFS
SMITH: I picked the Pistons to win the Eastern Conference and the Spurs to win the West. I also picked the playoff teams and had all eight right in the East (including the Bulls in the eighth spot) and seven of the eight in the West (I had the Rockets in and the Clippers out).
GMs: The Spurs were the choice of 77 percent of GMs to win the championship, followed by the Heat. Miami was picked as the East champion (73 percent to 15 percent for the Pistons).They had the division winners right except in the Central (they had Pacers over Pistons, 58 to 39 percent).
MVP
SMITH: Spurs center Tim Duncan (right). It wasn’t his best season, but I’d still pick him first if I wanted one player in the league.
GMs: The bigwigs went with the big men, taking Duncan first and the Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal second.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
SMITH: Raptors forward Charlie Villanueva. He had a surprisingly good season and probably was the second-best rookie. I had the Hornets’ Chris Paul and the Jazz’s Deron Williams after him.
GMs: They liked Bucks center Andrew Bogut (40 percent) and Paul (36). They thought the Knicks’ Nate Robinson, the Hawks’ Salim Stoudamire, the Kings’ Francisco Garcia and the Pacers’ Danny Granger were sleepers.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
SMITH: Lakers forward Kobe Bryant. He had to do way too much scoring–not that he objected–to worry about this honor.
GMs: Pistons center Ben Wallace. They also liked Kings forward Ron Artest, who was with the Pacers when this pick was made, and the Spurs’ Bruce Bowen.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
SMITH: Magic big man Dwight Howard (above). He almost led the league in rebounding and might have if the Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett had not taken the last two weeks off. I couldn’t have identified probable winner Boris Diaw of the Suns in a lineup before the season.
GMs: They went for Howard as well, also mentioning 21-year-old Blazers forward Travis Outlaw, a big disappointment. They also thought Suns guard Raja Bell, whose average jumped more than two points to 14.7,would be the most underrated acquisition, edging Spurs pickup Michael Finley.
COACH OF THE YEAR
SMITH: The Lakers’ Phil Jackson. Should be a contender with a big improvement from last season despite little improvement in personnel.
GMs: Knicks head man Larry Brown was their pick by a big margin over the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, Jackson and the Jazz’s Jerry Sloan.
CONCLUSION
Not so good with Brown, who had a virtual mutiny on his hands this season and managed certainly his worst season. Other than the Bell pick, which was sharp, the general managers tend to lack the depth you would expect and in most categories made the obvious choice. It was interesting how much they doubted the Pistons. They also whiffed on the 34-48 Warriors, believing overwhelmingly that they would be the most improved team.
SAM’S PLAY OF THE WEEK
Manu Ginobili takes out and bloodies tough guy Ron Artest with an elbow–albeit inadvertent–to open the Spurs’ rout of the Kings in Game 1. It was like an earlier Sopranos episode with Tony coming out of the hospital weak, so he slugged the toughest guy in the room. It was a heck of a message to the Kings, who look to Artest for their courage. It also puts the spotlight on Artest to see what he’ll do next time as these are the kinds of situations that have caused him to boil over.
SAM’S QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We were fortunate Mark Madsen wasn’t on tonight”
— Memphis forward Brian Cardinal’s deadpan on the rarely used Minnesota reserve who attempted seven three-pointers in the season finale as Timberwolves, perhaps looking for a better draft position, didn’t exactly exert themselves at the end of the season. Madsen was 1-of-15 shooting in the game, a 102-92 victory for the Grizzlies. Madsen had attempted 51 shots all season before that game.
