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| ALSO SEE All-Star starters named with Carter top vote-getter Stockton, Malone Jazz up roster as All-Star reserves  Aldridge: Dissecting Jordan's return | | | |
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 | Tuesday, February 1 The stars I'd like to see Special to ESPN.com | |||
If it's Super Bowl week, it must be time for the NBA's have-nots to start complaining.
Every year around this time, you start hearing the bleating from players who weren't voted to start in the All-Star game -- and who need to make the team to get some of those juicy bonuses. You hear from their coaches, who say with all the fake sincerity they can muster that "it would be a crime" if their guy doesn't make it.
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| Stephon Marbury doesn't make the cut on David Aldridge's all-star squad. |
1. Grant Hill, Pistons: The silky moves to the hoop have been augmented by a near-deadly mid-range perimeter game. He's become more than proficient from behind the three-point arc. He's become a fourth-quarter killer. A cynic would say it's a contract-year deal (Hill's got an out after this season), but that sells Hill short. 2. Allen Iverson, Sixers: Between the controversies, he's been dynamic. Yes, he's shooting 41 percent from the floor, and yes, he takes a lot of shots; it's what he demands and what Larry Brown allows. Still, if you're going to shoot as much as he does, you have to do better at the line than .731. But his team is winning. And who would people rather see? 3. Vince Carter, Raptors: Okay, maybe they'd rather see this guy. 4. Alonzo Mourning, Heat: 'Zo brings it every night. He's overtaken fellow Hoya Patrick Ewing in all-league sweat levels. I've said on NBA 2Night and I'll write it here: Alonzo Mourning is a man. 5. Glenn Robinson, Bucks: If the Big Dog gets dogged this year, it is a crime. He's 14th in the league in scoring -- and that's no mean feat, considering how often Sam I Am can chuck the ball up -- and he's improved his defense and rebounding. There is not a better perimeter shooter in the league, and doggone few scorers as unstoppable when on their game. 6. Eddie Jones, Hornets: The Hornets fell apart without him on the floor. He's a scorer, a defender, a team leader. And if the Hornets don't come correct with the loot this summer, he's out of there. 7. Allan Houston, Knicks: Some nights, he's the only reason to watch. The sweet jumper has been there for years, but Wade's kid can take anyone off the dribble and doesn't get embarrassed on D, either. 8. Ray Allen, Bucks: The Olympian doesn't bring it every night defensively, but who the hell watches this game for defense? The sweet all-around game more than makes up for his occasional lapses. 9. Reggie Miller, Pacers: A slow start had us worried, but just when things looked grim, the praying mantis picked up his game. There's still no one as dangerous with the ball in true clutch time. 10. Shawn Kemp, Cavaliers: He's putting up 18.7 points and 9.1 rebounds nightly; imagine what he'd be doing if he wasn't carrying around the equivalent of an infant child every day. 11. Dikembe Mutombo, Hawks: The Mount's sending them back as well as ever, and he's gotten more comfortable at the offensive end. But truth be told: if 'Zo didn't need a breather every now and then, I'd go with just one center. 12. Sam Cassell, Bucks: I can't help it -- I've got a soft spot for him. His assist-turnover ratio is just under the Stockton Minimum of three for point guards, but the 9.6 assists per night show he's not being selfish. (The higher dime average also gives him the nod on my team over Stephon Marbury.) Tried to include: Marbury; Darrell Armstrong, Magic; Jerry Stackhouse, Pistons. Western Conference
1. Shaquille O'Neal, Lakers: He's done everything everyone's ever asked of him so far this season: score (27.6), rebound (14.6), block shots (3.51), lead and settle into the Triangle gracefully. The league's most dominant player. 2. Chris Webber, Kings: Perhaps he wouldn't have grown up if he'd still been in Washington, but don't you think the Wizards would like to have that trade back? The best power forward in the west, which is saying something. 2a. Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves: KG remains my favorite player, and damn near favorite guy, in the league. Plays the game the way it should be played on the floor, where he'll see time at all five positions; keeps it real with his close-knit Official Block Family off the floor. 2b. Jason Kidd, Suns: Forget the triple-doubles; just go to a Suns game, if you can, or pull them down on the satellite dish, if you can, and watch this guy's effort, night after night. Worth the price of admission. 2c. Karl Malone, Jazz: For about the 10th straight year, the Mailman has made idiots like me look, well, idiotic for writing the Jazz off. It doesn't matter what's going on with the rest of the squad, as long as Stocktontomalone is on the floor, Utah will win. And win big. 6. Gary Payton, Sonics: We know GP gripes a lot, but his heart's in the right place. He wants to win, and his game reflects it. He'll do whatever's necessary on a given night to get the W. 7. Tim Duncan, Spurs: Duncan plays like a metronome -- no flash, but every five seconds, here he comes (post-up), doing something without flash (rebound and putback), doing it until you stop it (block), which you can't do without a lot of help (outlet pass), which opens up Duncan's teammates to kill you (Spurs win). 8. Kobe Bryant, Lakers: Yeah, he missed the first month, and you could make a case for rookies Steve Francis or Lamar Odom. But I won't. The only thing that can stop Kobe is Kobe, if he believes all the hype. Which he doesn't. 9. Rasheed Wallace, Blazers: Mike Dunleavy's finally come around to our way of thinking -- when the game's in doubt, give this kid the ball and let him go to work. You'll thank us in June. 10. Michael Finley, Mavericks: Scottie had it wrong: Finley's an all-star. Period. 11. John Stockton, Jazz: It would be a cliche, and wrong, to say that the Little Guy has forgotten more about playing the point than his brethren will ever learn, because he hasn't forgotten a damn thing. 12. Clifford Robinson, Suns: Phoenix has depended on its Cliff Notes all season to put out fires at small forward, power forward, even two guard. He added the three years ago; now it's a weapon. Quick enough to take you off the dribble; long enough to be a factor on the boards; old enough to have grown up and become a terrific player and leader. Tried to include: Pippen; Antonio McDyess, Nuggets; David Robinson, Spurs.
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THE TOP 10 1. Portland 2. L.A. Lakers 3. Utah 4. Indiana 5. San Antonio 6. Miami 7. Sacramento 8. New York 9. Seattle 10. Minnesota
THE BOTTOM FIVE |
The Knicks' dance with Patrick Ewing requires a delicacy and grace that has escaped that ham-fisted organization for years. The big fella is a proud fella, and to shunt him to the side will be difficult. On the record, the Knicks say all the right things, how they know they need Ewing in the fourth quarter for offense. But the cold reality is that they're looking for an exit strategy, and with Ewing on line for big bucks through 2001, they're stuck with one another. "It's not going to all come back," a Knicks insider said. "The guy is 37 and has been hurt three straight years. He's not going back to when he was 31." Trading Ewing isn't a realistic option, although the Knicks are shopping most of their players outside of Allan Houston. The problem for Gothamites: Marcus Camby, the one player everyone is interested in, is a base-year guy, at 50 percent of his salary (around $4.5 million) until early March, when it becomes 75 percent. Rumors have abounded for years that Ewing would like to finish his career in Washington, but even though Michael Jordan (and their mutual agent, David Falk) are in power there now, the Wizards already have their full complement of aging talent. And every team in the league outside of Portland is terrified of having big-ticket players on their caps with the luxury tax looming in three years. So far, Ewing has been quieter about his reduced role than you might expect. There were grumbling a few weeks back that he was ticked at coach Jeff Van Gundy because he thought VG was trashing him privately to the Gotham media. Van Gundy denies it, and says Ewing's transition is more about his supporting cast than himself. "When you're a great player, your role on the team is all dependent on the talents of the people on your team," Van Gundy said. "So early in his career, Mason, Oakley, those type of guys, we had many more defensive-oriented guys on the team, so he had to shoot more, and the ball went to him all the time, and rightfully so. Now, we don't have as many defensive guys and rebounding on the team. So what he's done is okay, I can still score, but I have to concentrate my efforts (on defense). But that's not him accepting that role; it's the other players' strengths on the team defnining his role." There is truth to that. The Knicks couldn't finish in the Finals with Duncan and Robinson clogging the middle, because there was no Ewing to take them outside or off the dribble. If the Knicks are going to get out of the east, Ewing has to be more than a safety valve against the likes of Mourning and Rik Smits. "He's gotta have a presence offensively," Allan Houston said. "I don't think he'll ever get to the point where he's just a guy who will rebound and help out. He may not average 20 points, but the bottom line is he will be a presence, and that's what you need. If you run pick and roll, he pops out to hit that jump shot." The Knicks say that they can approach Ewing and talk to him. But the reality is that he's older -- by a lot -- than most of them. His circle of friends in the locker room are long gone. And Ewing knows better than anyone else that his skills are not what they once were. Still, they trudge on together, like an old married couple. There's nowhere else for either of them to go. League rumblings ...
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