Looking for ExplosionsWritten by Ted Bauer
Every time you see Dwayne Wade slice lane and elevate for an all-too-easy two points, or witness LeBron’s skywalking feats of fancy --- or, heck, even watch Luke Ridnour whip ball around perimeter of Key Arena, looking for an open three for one of his teammates --- you should be reminded of 2003 NBA Draft.The top picks of that board have arrived, in many cases far sooner than expected. LeBron is a perennial magazine cover boy, and most oft-asked question in week before All-Star break was “Is he next Jordan?” Carmelo’s game dropped a bit after Athens, but under George Karl, he has begun to diversify his overall package a bit, and Nuggets are improving behind him. Wade is one-half of arguably most dynamic 1-2 punch in league right now, and later selections from ’03 --- Ridnour and Collison in Pacific Northwest, Josh Howard down in Dallas, and David West in imploding New Orleans organization --- are making significant gains in their games. With apparent acceleration of NBA’s learning curve, a question naturally arises: which players from 2004 NBA Draft --- current rooks --- could become league-wide sensations by midpoint of next season? Never fret. Hoops Avenue has your hook-up: Emeka Okfaor, F/C, Bobcats: Okafor could swipe ROY honors this year. Ironically, his biggest threat is probably former teammate Ben Gordon, now a true “Baby Bull.” More on Gordon in a second, but Okafor has put surprising Bobcats on his back. In a game against Bulls this past weekend, he scored 26 to complement 12 rebounds, and is, statistically speaking, 10th-best center in NBA already. Okafor has had nagging back injuries since his days in Storrs, though, and he’s been sidelined for portions of his rookie campaign. If he can play through, and lottery-bound Bobcats can nab one of point guards likely to come out this year, Okafor’s stock could rise substantially in his sophomore campaign. He’s a smart baller, and with a true point guard --- no offense, Jason Hart --- he could be man in Charlotte for years to come. Dwight Howard, F/C, Magic: Howard should be getting more props from media in general for his excellence on boards --- he’s a hair under 10 boards a game for season, and his offense and defense improves consistently from week to week. Howard might get media backhand because as high schoolers in NBA go, he’s far short of Bron Bron, but far north of Kwame Brown at this point in their careers. Howard is still very young, and cast in Orlando is eclectic. He probably won’t be a perennial All-Star, 20 and 10 guy until 2008, but watch his constant upward progress, whether for fantasy purposes or sheer enjoyment. Ben Gordon, G, Bulls: I’ll save comparisons to Vinnie Johnson --- everyone who follows league has read that more times than Gordon has lifted Bulls in fourth quarter. The true question with Gordon long-term is same as all others in his mold: what happens when he becomes one of five? When Gordon eventually enters starting line-up, be it in Chicago or his next stop (wherever that may be), will his game change at all? Will he be more dominant, or slink to background? Regardless, these are not questions you need to deal with next year --- Bulls are young, they’re learning how to win, and East doesn’t figure to get significantly better this off season. Look for Gordon to be a catalyst for next several years, and produce gaudiest overall statistics of 2004 class for first four years of a career.
| | Can McHale Defrost the Wolves?Written by Ted Bauer
Everyone who has visited or lived in Twin Cities during this time of year knows how ridiculously cold it can get. What almost no one can figure out in Minnesota and around NBA is deep freeze Timberwolves have plunged into.Kevin McHale, Minnesota’s VP of Basketball Operations, finally took his team’s temperature on Saturday and decided to call 911. Actually, he called long time Timberwolves coach and longer time friend Flip Saunders to inform him he was being relieved of his coaching duties. Then McHale announced that he had a replacement for Saunders waiting in wings - himself. Nearly every preseason forecast had Wolves and San Antonio meeting in Western Conference finals, and many felt this would be Minnesota‘s year to win it all. Yet if playoffs started today, Minnesota would be on outside looking in, with Los Angeles - yes Clippers, and Denver only one game back in loss column for 9th seed. How does a team that was #1 seed in West last year, two wins from NBA Finals, and returning all their key players, go so far south so quickly? For starters, their home record is dismal for any team that has playoff hopes. Through Saturday, only five teams in league have lost more games at home than 12 Wolves have dropped, and those five teams (Utah, Golden State, Charlotte, Atlanta, and New Orleans) are five worst teams in league. Their record against Eastern Conference is an equally disturbing 7-13, one of only four teams in West that don’t have a winning record against East (again, see Utah, Golden State, New Orleans). If you can’t dominate at home, and against East, you aren’t going far in West. At least give McHale credit for trying to clean up mess he largely created. The blame for NBA’s biggest bust this season sits squarely on his shoulders. Saunders is a quality guy and a good coach who truly paid his coaching dues on way to NBA. But he wasn’t right guy for Wolves, and McHale let his friendship with Saunders cloud that reality. If Saunders had coached anywhere else, in any pro sport, he would have been gone long before having chance to lose in first round of playoffs his first seven tries. Regular season wins are nice, playoff series wins are mandatory. McHale was apparently satisfied with that nice regular season record, until a shortage of those wins jeopardized another trip to playoffs.
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