Doling out a few more awards - From Courtside - basketball players and coaches - Brief Article

Basketball Digest, Summer, 2002 by Brett Ballantini

ALTHOUGH OFFENSE FINALLY appeared to wake up in 2001-02, the NBA's top defenders are the ones who have found their way onto our awards banquet podium.

But you've got plenty of time to read about our award-winners and trace the defensive intensity that runs through every one of them. It's time to dole out some honors that slipped through the cracks of our standard awards buffet:

THE BREAKING POINT AWARD (for major trade, marginal improvement) goes to Sacramento. This summer the Kings dealt ticking time bomb Jason Williams--he of the tats and crowd-pleasing, other-worldy handle--to the Memphis Grizzlies for Mike Bibby. The trade first looked to be a steal for Sacto, but now appears even.

While it's true Bibby brought some sanity back to Sacramento, Kings coach Rick Adelman sat him through some key fourth quarters in favor of Bobby Jackson. Bibby's numbers vs. Williams were a bit of a wash: 44.80% vs. 38.2% shooting, 81.7% vs. 79.2% at the line, 5.0 vs. 8.0 apg, 1.1 vs. 1.71 spg, and 13.7 vs. 14.8 ppg.

THE DOH! AWARD (for simple answers to complex questions) goes to Toronto's Lenny Wilkens, who could have saved himself a lot of grief after the All-Star break had he known that all he had to do to get the Raptors into the playoffs was take a baton to Vince Carter's knee.

THE POOR COACHING AWARD goes to Milwaukee's George Karl. At the start of the season, he saw Anthony Mason as the missing piece that would get the Bucks into the Finals. By season's end, Karl spoke of the postseasonless Bucks as an "average" team that had overachieved even to get to within one game of the Finals in 2000-01. In between those highlights, Karl did little to endear himself to his club with a misguided side-swipe of Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers.

Blame for the season ultimately must fall on the Bucks themselves--sullen Sam Cassell and Glen Robinson, silent Ray Allen, and that artery-clogger himself, Mason--but Karl eventually could end up finding himself the first coach/owner to be fired.

THE REVERSE ASTERISK AWARD (or: what a difference two years makes) goes to Grant Hill and the Magic. In NBA annals, August 3, 2000, was to forever be known as the day Hill joined the Magic; Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins would be nothing more than answers to a trivia question, filler to placate depressed Detroit Pistons brass. Who knew that not two years later, twice-injured Hill was turing out to be the asterisk?

In two seasons in Orlando, Hill has played in 18 games, totalling 645 minutes, 150 rebounds, 89 assists, 13 steals, six blocks, and 290 points. Wallace and Atkins, starters on the East's second-best regular-season team, have played in 320 games and averaged about 33 minutes, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals, three blocks, and 19 points between them.

THE STEALING BACK INTO THE NBA AWARD goes to New Jersey Nets GM Rod Thorn, in a landslide. On draft night he selected and wisely dealt me-first Eddie Griffin to Houston for the Rockets' three first-rounders, Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, and Brandon Armstrong--a deal we pointed out in November (and Thorn later agreed) would have been a steal at Griffin-Jefferson straight up. A day later, Thorn turned Stephon Marbury into Jason Kidd (and a division title).

THE WHAT ABOUT ME? AWARD goes to the Utah Jazz's miraculous John Stockton, who turned 40 but outplayed most, if not all, the league's twentysomethings. Michael Jordan got a ton of pub for attempting a comeback at 38, but he finished the season on the Sideline, broken down. Stockton started the season in a shooting slump but finished at 51.7%-10% better than "baby boy" MJ's 41.6%, and Stockton's 12th of 18 seasons shooting better than 50%.

THE WHAT'S THE POINT? AWARD goes to the Golden State Warriors, who became the first team in NBA history to lose at least 60 games in three consecutive seasons.