| Tuesday, March 21
By Mitch Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com |
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|  | | Phil Jackson is making all the right decisions for the best team in the NBA. |
NEW YORK -- As the Lakers steamroll their way through the East, here's
what's buzzing around the best team in the NBA today, and maybe in late-June, too:
Phil Jackson's impact gets bigger by the day. Under Del Harris and
Kurt Rambis, the Lakers didn't always pay attention to those coaches, as
was well noted during previous playoff flops.
"Now, when Phil whistles,
not only are the players on the court turning to look at him, but all
the players on the bench are also looking at him," said one team
official. "It's a whole new mindset."
Despite being on a pace to win 68 games, Jackson still sees room for
improvement in two areas.
"We are yet to be a consistent outside shooting team, and that's one of
the areas we have to find," he said. "Shooting comes and goes and you
can kind of accept that. But there's a certain consistency we feel we
need to get to. The other thing is to understand the execution and the
subtleties of what our offense is all about, in terms of end-of-game
situations and when we're under duress."
The outside shooting woes can be traced to Glen Rice, who is at only
43 percent. The late-game execution still will come down to Shaquille O'Neal
making his foul shots. In his last six games, entering Monday's clash
against the Heat in Miami, he made 64 percent.
Jackson is getting 40 minutes a night out of O'Neal, but is being careful
not to burn Shaq out. Now when Shaq needs a day off from practice,
Jackson allows him to take it. The previous coaches didn't. The
difference, at this late stage in the season, is obvious.
"Shaq's footwork is better than I've ever seen it," said Latrell
Sprewell after the Lakers raised their record vs. the East to 24-3 in a
seven-point win over the Knicks. "His quickness is something. It shows
in his drop-step moves, his reaction to double teams, his jump hook. I
haven't seen a big guy who can dominate like that since I was in my
early years in the league and Hakeem Olajuwon was doing it all."
Rice still thinks he'll command the $14 million max when he becomes a
free agent this summer. But considering his erosion of skills and the
fact that he's shooting only 43 percent, for the second straight season, he'll
be lucky to get nearly that much. Rice, who turns 33 in May, wants a
multi-year deal.
They won't dare say it publicly, but more than one key Laker thinks
their Feb. 29 win in Portland took the heart out of the Blazers. The
team they're more worried about in a playoff showdown? San Antonio.
Utah, which used to own the Lakers, is no longer a concern. The Lakers are
convinced that they have too much quickness for the Jazz.
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Nothing would please L.A. more than to see Minnesota in the first
round of the playoffs, so the Lakers are rooting for the Kings to finish
in seventh place. The Kings' versatile big men, including Vlade Divac
and Chris Webber, give the Lakers fits, especially when Shaq has to
venture out away from the basket.
Rim Shots I
Not a lot of interest in Isaiah Rider, although one GM
admitted, "In this league, someone is always willing to give a
problem-guy another chance, especially with all of his talent." Nets,
Orlando and Charlotte definitely not interested. Rider isn't eligible
for the playoffs.
The players still haven't spoken up as a group on
the Great Microphone Controversy. The Players Association is considering
filing an unfair labor practice charge against the NBA with the National
Labor Relations Board or going to court to get an injunction against the
use of boom mikes. The union contends that the use of all mikes was
subject to mandatory negotiation. Its objection to boom mikes is that
they'll pick up more potentially embarrassing remarks from players. Look
for the league, in full retreat with the coaches on this issue, to try
to win back some concessions on the lapel mike issue this summer. It's
not David Stern's nature to take a setback so easily.
League voices
say that Tom Gugliotta's replacement on Dream Team is certain to be
Vince Carter. You're shocked, we know.
While NBC is moaning about its
NBA ratings being down, CBS can't be too happy that Thursday's opening
of the NCAA Tournament got outrated by the WWF's Smackdown.
With the hiring of Del Harris, Gar Heard and Brad Davis to run their defense,
Mavs now have 10 assistants. We know new owner Mark Cuban has bottomless
pockets, but this is ridiculous. Harris, incidentally, is the new
front-runner for the head coaching job. You'll remember, Harris did
follow Don Nelson in Milwaukee in 1987.
If the Rockets can get to 30
wins -- they need only six more -- Steve Francis figures he should win
Rookie of the Year over Elton Brand. Lamar Odom, once a contender, is
destined for third.
Wiz front-office spies say that ticket sales were
doing fine until Michael Jordan announced that Wes Unseld was returning
with a new multi-year extension. "That day the phones stopped ringing,"
said the spy.
Mavs are 4-2 since they told Dennis Rodman to take a hike.
Rim Shots II
Look for St. John's point guard Erick Barkley to declare for the
draft via early eligibility. Barkley is being grouped with Michigan
State's Mateen Cleaves and Ohio State's Scoonie Penn and is shaping up
as a 14-through-18 pick.
With back-to-back losses to the Knicks and
Pacers, Hornets fell to 4-15 vs. divisional leaders and second-place
teams. And, they're 1-8 vs. teams with winning records since Feb. 15.
Paul Silas needs to go to the whip more, at least to try to get Eddie
Jones out of his current funk.
If UCLA's job had opened up, Rick
Pitino would have been interested in moving on from the Celtics.
P.J.
Carlesimo is denying that he had friends sniff around Georgia Tech to see
if there was any interest.
Marcus Fizer of Iowa State has raised
stock more than any other player. "When a guy commands a double and
triple team in college, you're talking about a great player," said one
scout. Fizer has gone from late first-rounder to a lottery pick.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.
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