http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13623263p-14465639c.html
NBA beat: Can't they all just get along? Well, uh, no
From Europe to Miami, tempers have flared and will flare.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, September 25, 2005
Today's team theme: chemistry.
It boiled over violently and embarrassingly so in the European Championships amid poor on-court performances and locker-room brawls, followed by coach and player defections. More on that mess later. OAS_AD('Button20');
In Miami, the Heat is trying to stockpile a monstrous roster for an NBA title run. With Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade already in place - and having just missed reaching the NBA Finals last season - Miami brought in a host of new talent starving for its own championship riches for an over-the-top push.
But is it too much? Too many proven ballhandlers and scorers and leading men who aren't ready for reduced roles, regardless of what they say now? Jason Williams presumably will start at point guard, but with Gary Payton now on board, how long before the man formerly good enough on defense to be known as "The Glove" squawks? He has started his entire basketball life. Williams has been known to be erratic, sitting a lot of fourth quarters in his Kings and Memphis Grizzlies stops.
Payton grumbled the last time he was in a title situation, with the Lakers two seasons ago. He's a nice fit in Florida if he accepts his off-the-bench assignment. That simple. And if he outplays Williams? Stay tuned. Should produce some fiery practice duels, at least.
What's more, Antoine Walker is going to want his shots. Alonzo Mourning will want more minutes, now that he'll have a full training camp under his belt. And Shaq needs his touches, too. Does it all put Stan Van Gundy under the microscope, with club president Pat Riley doing the viewing and perhaps itching at a coaching return, even though he angrily denied it earlier this summer? It's up to Shaq to father the load, and it'll all play out as one of the season's subplots.
Meanwhile, in San Antonio, the Spurs added two veterans accustomed to big minutes and tons of shots in Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel, yet neither will start, a condition they accepted for a chance to hoist the NBA hardware. For now.
Trouble in paradise
Serbia-Montenegro was supposed to be hugging and rejoicing about now, but the one man it missed the most wasn't even in uniform.
You think Vlade Divac - Captain Feel Good - would have allowed this sort of meltdown? Teammates tore into each other on a global stage. Players fought with opponents, the boiling point coming after a loss to Tony Parker and France. The former champs were ousted with a 2-2 mark, a disaster in a region of great basketball achievement and even greater expectations. The Kings' Peja Stojakovic decided not to play.
Serbia-Montenegro coach Zeljko Obradovic resigned, saying bickering players caused his club's "catastrophic play." He partly blamed himself. Captain Dejan Bodiroga was among three players who quit the team.
"The players had bad personal relations - their egos led to this shameful end," Obradovic told reporters covering the event. "My mistake was not throwing three or four of them off the team. They hate each other so much that they don't even look at each other."
Just like that, end of an era.
Barnes update
Matt Barnes attended the WNBA Finals-clinching game at Arco Arena on Tuesday, envious of the title feel and still wondering where he'll collect his next paycheck. The former Clippers, Kings and 76ers swingman with Sacramento roots said he had a tryout with the Spurs but may have been derailed by the Finley signing. He'd still love a return shot with the Kings.
"I'll be somewhere," he said.
Bobby Simmons, formerly of the Clippers and now with the Milwaukee Bucks, told The Bee's Sam Amick that Barnes is too good not to be in an NBA training camp, saying, "From watching Matt, he's gotten better over the course of time with the playing time he's received. He'll be long term (in the NBA), but he just has to find his niche. It takes going out there and getting rebounds, being a defender. You just have to pretty much fit in. Once he fits in, that'll determine how long he's in the NBA. I like Matt."
Hamilton's take on Evans
Detroit veteran Richard Hamilton told The Bee that former King Maurice Evans should boost the Pistons off the bench.
"(Evans) brings us a young athletic guy that can play multiple positions, really gets off his feet, can run the floor," he said. "Y'all have seen that in Sacramento. Hopefully he'll be a plus to our team." And Hamilton said some starters can rest easier knowing Evans can spell them.
"I think that we want to try and take some pressure off of us playing loads of minutes," Hamilton said. "In order for us to be successful, and get through the playoffs again, everybody has to be healthy, everybody has to be prepared to go for that long run, and the better the bench is, the better our team is. I've seen (Evans) play when we played against him. I know the guy puts his body on the line for anything. You want a guy who's confident, who wants to be here, and won't just settle for being in the NBA. All of us are workaholics, so he should be a great fit."
Baseline jumpers
* Former 76ers owner Pat Croce on the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on keeping Larry Brown for six seasons, "To keep him there, I told him, 'If you leave, I'll break your legs.' "
* Once the Kings rescinded the qualifying offer to Darius Songaila, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said there were "16 or 17 teams dying to get the guy." Chicago is dying for a playoff return with Songaila throwing his elbows in its colors.
* Shaquille O'Neal on ESPN's "Quite Frankly" on Phil Jackson's return to the NBA: "He went back for 7 (million a year). I could have gotten him 12 with Sacramento. All he had to do was call me."
* Because too many teams thought he wasn't starter-worthy and because the money just wasn't there, Vladimir Radmanovic has re-signed with Seattle for one more season, thus keeping the Sonics among the playoff lot.
* Richard Jefferson of the Nets on the "Wheel of Fortune" set, "I pray my wife looks like (Vanna White) at whatever age (Vanna) is."
* Jefferson on Bill Walton's showing on the WOF, "Bill got dead last. That's so bad. He was a big talker, but we're going to kill him now. Kill Bill."
* You could make a pretty prolific starting five with the NBA talent that watched the Monarchs nail down the WNBA championship at Arco Arena on Tuesday: Mike Bibby, Bobby Jackson, Andre Miller, Kevin Martin and Matt Barnes.
The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
NBA beat: Can't they all just get along? Well, uh, no
From Europe to Miami, tempers have flared and will flare.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, September 25, 2005
Today's team theme: chemistry.
It boiled over violently and embarrassingly so in the European Championships amid poor on-court performances and locker-room brawls, followed by coach and player defections. More on that mess later. OAS_AD('Button20');
In Miami, the Heat is trying to stockpile a monstrous roster for an NBA title run. With Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade already in place - and having just missed reaching the NBA Finals last season - Miami brought in a host of new talent starving for its own championship riches for an over-the-top push.
But is it too much? Too many proven ballhandlers and scorers and leading men who aren't ready for reduced roles, regardless of what they say now? Jason Williams presumably will start at point guard, but with Gary Payton now on board, how long before the man formerly good enough on defense to be known as "The Glove" squawks? He has started his entire basketball life. Williams has been known to be erratic, sitting a lot of fourth quarters in his Kings and Memphis Grizzlies stops.
Payton grumbled the last time he was in a title situation, with the Lakers two seasons ago. He's a nice fit in Florida if he accepts his off-the-bench assignment. That simple. And if he outplays Williams? Stay tuned. Should produce some fiery practice duels, at least.
What's more, Antoine Walker is going to want his shots. Alonzo Mourning will want more minutes, now that he'll have a full training camp under his belt. And Shaq needs his touches, too. Does it all put Stan Van Gundy under the microscope, with club president Pat Riley doing the viewing and perhaps itching at a coaching return, even though he angrily denied it earlier this summer? It's up to Shaq to father the load, and it'll all play out as one of the season's subplots.
Meanwhile, in San Antonio, the Spurs added two veterans accustomed to big minutes and tons of shots in Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel, yet neither will start, a condition they accepted for a chance to hoist the NBA hardware. For now.
Trouble in paradise
Serbia-Montenegro was supposed to be hugging and rejoicing about now, but the one man it missed the most wasn't even in uniform.
You think Vlade Divac - Captain Feel Good - would have allowed this sort of meltdown? Teammates tore into each other on a global stage. Players fought with opponents, the boiling point coming after a loss to Tony Parker and France. The former champs were ousted with a 2-2 mark, a disaster in a region of great basketball achievement and even greater expectations. The Kings' Peja Stojakovic decided not to play.
Serbia-Montenegro coach Zeljko Obradovic resigned, saying bickering players caused his club's "catastrophic play." He partly blamed himself. Captain Dejan Bodiroga was among three players who quit the team.
"The players had bad personal relations - their egos led to this shameful end," Obradovic told reporters covering the event. "My mistake was not throwing three or four of them off the team. They hate each other so much that they don't even look at each other."
Just like that, end of an era.
Barnes update
Matt Barnes attended the WNBA Finals-clinching game at Arco Arena on Tuesday, envious of the title feel and still wondering where he'll collect his next paycheck. The former Clippers, Kings and 76ers swingman with Sacramento roots said he had a tryout with the Spurs but may have been derailed by the Finley signing. He'd still love a return shot with the Kings.
"I'll be somewhere," he said.
Bobby Simmons, formerly of the Clippers and now with the Milwaukee Bucks, told The Bee's Sam Amick that Barnes is too good not to be in an NBA training camp, saying, "From watching Matt, he's gotten better over the course of time with the playing time he's received. He'll be long term (in the NBA), but he just has to find his niche. It takes going out there and getting rebounds, being a defender. You just have to pretty much fit in. Once he fits in, that'll determine how long he's in the NBA. I like Matt."
Hamilton's take on Evans
Detroit veteran Richard Hamilton told The Bee that former King Maurice Evans should boost the Pistons off the bench.
"(Evans) brings us a young athletic guy that can play multiple positions, really gets off his feet, can run the floor," he said. "Y'all have seen that in Sacramento. Hopefully he'll be a plus to our team." And Hamilton said some starters can rest easier knowing Evans can spell them.
"I think that we want to try and take some pressure off of us playing loads of minutes," Hamilton said. "In order for us to be successful, and get through the playoffs again, everybody has to be healthy, everybody has to be prepared to go for that long run, and the better the bench is, the better our team is. I've seen (Evans) play when we played against him. I know the guy puts his body on the line for anything. You want a guy who's confident, who wants to be here, and won't just settle for being in the NBA. All of us are workaholics, so he should be a great fit."
Baseline jumpers
* Former 76ers owner Pat Croce on the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on keeping Larry Brown for six seasons, "To keep him there, I told him, 'If you leave, I'll break your legs.' "
* Once the Kings rescinded the qualifying offer to Darius Songaila, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said there were "16 or 17 teams dying to get the guy." Chicago is dying for a playoff return with Songaila throwing his elbows in its colors.
* Shaquille O'Neal on ESPN's "Quite Frankly" on Phil Jackson's return to the NBA: "He went back for 7 (million a year). I could have gotten him 12 with Sacramento. All he had to do was call me."
* Because too many teams thought he wasn't starter-worthy and because the money just wasn't there, Vladimir Radmanovic has re-signed with Seattle for one more season, thus keeping the Sonics among the playoff lot.
* Richard Jefferson of the Nets on the "Wheel of Fortune" set, "I pray my wife looks like (Vanna White) at whatever age (Vanna) is."
* Jefferson on Bill Walton's showing on the WOF, "Bill got dead last. That's so bad. He was a big talker, but we're going to kill him now. Kill Bill."
* You could make a pretty prolific starting five with the NBA talent that watched the Monarchs nail down the WNBA championship at Arco Arena on Tuesday: Mike Bibby, Bobby Jackson, Andre Miller, Kevin Martin and Matt Barnes.
The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
