After one half, not much has been cleared up

Sporting News, The, Jan 31, 2000 by Dave D'Alessandro

This is the week when the intrepid TSN basketball staff is supposed to bring its laser-like retrovision to bear on the past few months and look ahead to the next few. But after firing the intern who came up with that idea, we figured the best thing to do is just review a few things and then take some guesses that are wild enough to make readers reach for the lynch rope.

Understand, however, that I have committed myself to watching fewer games this year, ripping out the satellite dish because I suspected it was interfering with our reception of The Sopranos. You have to prioritize.

Besides, it's hard to make much sense of what's been happening anyway. Even now, a full year after the hysterical mass displays of grief over the retirement of that Jordan fella have subsided to a muted slobber, I'm confused as to where it's all going. Past seasons had a certainty about them, mostly bemuse of Jordan, and last season was an aberration because of the idiotic three-month sprint.

Even the team that emerged out of last season's mess is confusing. As alluring as the Spurs are to behold, they seem to have a shortcoming that no amount of star quality can undo. It's either age spots or boredom, I'm not sure which, but both came across during that seven-week period in which they were a sub-.500 (11-12) team.

So I'm staring at this season the same way most people stare at a passing police car or Steve Forbes' eyeballs: not with approval or disapproval, but with curiosity. Things are changing, almost too quickly. In the span of about four months, we've lost Charles Barkley, Bobby Phills, Danny Ainge, P.J. Carlesimo, Wilt Chamberlain, Stanley Roberts and Zydrunas Ilgauskas--in varying degrees of permanence, of course--and we damn near lost Tom Gugliotta and Leon Smith. Nothing seems safe or permanent anymore.

But enough of this witty banter.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER OF THE HALF-YEAR: Shaquille O'Neal. First in rebounding, second in blocks, third in scoring, best record in the league.

Next case.

LEAST VALUABLE PLAYER: The two things we always liked best about J.R. Rider were his face. On a Tuesday, J.R. announced he would seek a long-term deal with Atlanta because "it's a great situation, and I think we're putting a great team together." Following a loss three days later, he was suspended for calling his teammates losers and proclaiming, "That's why I didn't want to come to this (really bad word)."

RENT, DON'T BUY: Guys we expect to be traded before the February 24 deadline: John Starks, Danny Ferry, Tracy McGrady, Derek Strong, Chauncey Billups, Chris Gatling, Rod Strickland and Ike Austin.

Larry Hughes and Glen Rice? Just a hunch: They stay put.

TICK-TICK-TICK AWARD: Lenny Wilkens, the grand old water buffalo of professional basketball, seems to be running out of time. Through last weekend, the Hawks had lost 16 of 20, they were showing more indifference toward defense than ever before, and Stan Kasten's deadline to turn things around was just three weeks away. Can it get worse? Yes: If the Hawks fall between ninth and 13th in the lottery, their pick goes to the Clippers.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Rasheed Wallace. This conclusion was reached after his lockup job on Tim Duncan a week ago. He's a special kind of player, and the only one on the Blazers who stands a chance of adequately guarding Shaq. If he ever gets over those brain spasms (16 technicals!), he can get Portland over the top.

ALL-NBA TEAMS OF THE HALF-YEAR: The first team consists of Gary Payton, Allen Iverson, O'Neal, Chris Webber and Grant Hill; the second team comprises Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury, Alonzo Mourning, Kevin Garnett and Duncan; the third team is Jerry Stackhouse, Sam Cassell, Antonio Davis, Vince Carter and Karl Malone.

Toughest omission? Shareef Abdur-Rahim, but he's used to it by now.

BEST PERFORMANCE: Payton's tour de force at L.A., where he single-handedly stopped the Lakers' 16-game winning streak. He posted his usual can't-touch-this line (36 points, seven assists, six boards), hit the game-winning 3 and forced the game-clinching turnover.

BEST MATCHUPS: Webber (34 points, 19 rebounds) against Duncan (33 points, 20 boards) in Sacramento's win over the Spurs; and Hill (40 points) against Garnett (22 points, 14 boards, eight assists) in Detroit's victory over the Wolves.

WELL, DUH AWARD: Ron Harper, when word spread that the Lakers are interested in Dennis Rodman again: "He's a great guy to have on the team, but if we do bring him in, he'd have to do what we do as a team. He couldn't go off and do his own thing." Sounds like a plan.

WESTERN TEAM TO WATCH: There's no greater disparity in home/away records than those of the Kings, who are world-beaters at ARCO (16-3) and wimps on the road (8-10), where they've lost in Boston, L.A. (Clips), New Jersey and Atlanta. Pay close attention to their success on the eight-game trip they began this week.

EASTERN TEAM TO WATCH: Philly. We've assumed long enough that the Atlantic is a two-horse race, but the Sixers were within 2 1/2 games of first place coming out of last weekend. And this was despite losing Iverson for three weeks, Matt Geiger for four and Theo Ratliff for five.