Caught on the Fly

Sporting News, The, Feb 19, 2001

Hey, didn't you used to be an NFC Central juggernaut?

* Whispers 'round Dave Stern's league are that this extended look at a Shaq-less Lakers team conjures up a clear image: They're the Raptors in yellow and purple. Conventional wisdom is that you put a healthy Big Fella in a lineup sans you-know-who and it still wins 50. Clearly the reverse ain't too true.

* Bet your bottom bracket, the Spies say, that Arizona's hoping/puh-raying that Loren Woods snaps out of it on the Pac-10's back nine. Guy was dominating last year, but his numbers--points, boards-n-blocks--are down, down, down. Words to live by: A Serta-soft center's no way to get to Minneapolis.

* Fly hears NHL giggles at the Rangers thinking (dreaming?) they're in the playoff hunt. They're too lazy to play D, too soft to make a run and too shallow to make a meaningful deal. In short, this team's talking about playoff contenders' tail lights while a more realistic concern is Thrasher headlights.

* The Spies say M's skip Lou Piniella is worried about Pay-Rod's projected replacement, Carlos Guillen, who cut short his winter league stay because of--stop Fly if you've heard this before--a sore knee. Um, that'd be one of the two knees that've been cut on since 1998. "Given his history," admits Piniella, "it is a concern."

* Rise-n-fall of Hal Mumme's empire? For all his talents, he had 1) trouble gettin' along with folks, 2) a quick temper and 3) an ego that grew like kudzu. His U.K. staff might argue (like, the Spies say, these backbiters did constantly), but the bottom line is Coach M won only eight games when Tim Couch wasn't at QB.

* Buzz is Jason Williams' pledge of allegiance to Duke has an expiration date. His goal: Eliminate a Carey Maggette-sized NCAA Tournament distraction. But, alas, NBA personnel wonks tell Fly the kid's too good to be true ... to his school for a full four years.

* Fresh from the Rumorama, where the juice is always freshly squeezed: The Mavs, trolling for the Griz's Shareef Abdur-Rahim, are cooking up a five-team deal that includes the Knicks' Glen Rice, the Sonics' Gary Payton and the Wiz's top pick.

* The Spies predict a run on Scott Rolm come offseason '02 because of market conditions (read: a ton of free-spending teams with aging third basemen). Line forms to the rear and could/should include the Braves, Mets, Yankees, Orioles, Rangers, Red Sox and Cubs.

* Finally, basketball-biz buzz is that Henry Bibby's sick of being the hoops peg in a football hole at Southern California and is looking longingly at possible openings. In fact, Fly hears he was watching UNLV's courtship of Rick Pitino verrry closely.

DEFT SHOT

`He really loves to play the game, but it got to the point where he wants to walk and do the things that a normal 30-year-old would do.'

--Vikings starting strong safety Robert Griffith on Robert Smith's retirement.

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