NBA BASKETBALL
This Week in the NBA
<January 7, 2002>

By InsideHoops.com

Monday, Jan. 7: New York at San Antonio is always worth watching. The Knicks will never forget that it was the Spurs who prevented them from grabbing a ring in the NBA lockout-shortened season three years ago. January is an incredibly tough month for New York, as nine of the opponents they face have winning records, and one of the losing teams is the Philadelphia 76ers. Mark Jackson, just to remind everyone that he knows what to do with the ball, recently dished 17 assists. Allan Houston has improved his defense recently. Latrell Sprewell has been hot lately, and his defense has stepped up as well. Kurt Thomas had nice offensive games against Dallas and Orlando, but defensively he needs work. He'd benefit from some added upper body bulk. Marcus Camby has been exploding. He's the X-factor on this team. The Spurs are off to a great start, but their early competition was pretty light. January will serve as a gut-check for them as well. Tony Parker continues to develop, and recently showed some defensive flashes. Steve Smith continues to shoot the lights out from outside. Bruce Bowen realizes that his offense should be limited to open outside shots and layups, and that's all he tries to shoot. Tim Duncan, the Western conference Player of the Month for January, will face increased defensive pressure this month. David Robinson, when active and aggressive, is an excellent compliment to Tim. The bench guys have struggled with their outside shot. They need to find it sometime soon. Several players who don't start for the Spurs - Terry Porter, Antonio Daniels, Charles Smith and Malik Rose - get lots of minutes in the 4th quarter of games, so they need to produce.

Also: L.A. Clippers at Philadelphia features Jeff McInnis, Quentin Richardson and Corey Maggette tring to slow Allen Iverson down... Boston at Orlando features Paul Pierce against Tracy McGrady... Detroit at Minnesota showcases Wally Szczerbiak and Jerry Stackhouse going at it, and some Kevin Garnett guy destroying everyone.

Tuesday, Jan. 8: Phoenix at Utah is a solid Western battle. The Suns lack consistency and are hovering around the .500 mark. Lately, they've done little more than fire outside shots and play lousy defense. Coach Scott Skiles is trying all sorts of tricks to get the team to play harder, but yelling, screaming, offering them chocolate, chasing them with clubs and the like has not worked. Stephon Marbury is trying to lead, but that "making teammates better" thing isn't happening right now. Penny Hardaway is still missing lots of shots. He's healthy, at least, and playing tons of minutes. Shawn Marion remains inconsistent. Tom Gugliotta belongs on the bench. He's a big role player who can't really play a role because he misses shots and, most importantly, can't dig in, defend and hit the boards hard. The team has no center. A trade or major shakeup may be in order here. The Jazz, meanwhile, have steadily improved all season. Legal zone defenses made things really difficult on these guys, and they've been adjusting. Running a pick and roll is hard when help-defenders won't get called for an illegal defense. Utah is hovering around .500 as well, but they're creeping up, not down. John Stockton may be 82 but he can still pretend to be 28 - slower but still effective. DeShawn Stevenson starts at shooting guard, but Bryon Russell plays lots of minutes at this spot. Donyell Marshall is doing well at small forward, but because of his size, he has trouble guarding the quicker 3's in the league. Karl Malone is actually struggling lately and not shooting too well right now. Center is a seriously weak spot for Utah. Off the bench, the team's most consistent sub has been 105-year-old John Crotty, who backs up at both the point guard and shooting guard spots. Crotty often has trouble getting into the arena for NBA games, because security isn't used to seeing middle-aged blue-collar-looking guys on NBA teams. Backup forward Andre Kirilenko gets better each week. This is a matchup of two teams trying to prove something to themselves.

Also: L.A. Lakers at Detroit features Jerry Stackhouse and Kobe Bryant, and Ben Wallace trying to contain Shaq... New York at Houston is fun because Steve Francis should go for 29, 7 and 7... Toronto at Memphis presents rookie Shane Battier, who is proud of his defensive skills, guarding Vince Carter... Miami at New Jersey is interesting only because the Heat are hot lately.

Wednesday, Jan. 9: San Antonio at Boston features two of the league's best. The Celtics had an awful week and a half, racking up a bunch of losses. Miami, who isn't suppossed to beat anyone by more than one point, recently blew Boston out. But there is plenty of reason to believe the team will bounce back and keep playing up to par. It should be noted that Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker have both been injured lately, but they played through it. The two shared the December Eastern conference Player of the Month award. Kenny Anderson is having a really nice season, coming back from the near-dead. Rookie shooting guard Joe Johnson remains inconsistent. Tony Battie brings energy and hustle in the middle. There have been Kedrick Brown sightings recently. The kid is insanely athletic. This team should keep right on winning (though not necessarily tonight), because they've got clearly-defined roles and have been coming together all season. San Antonio will do what they always do, and the pressure is on Steve Smith to step up his defense.

Also: L.A. Lakers at Indiana is an excellent matchup. Shaq is back for the champs, and Kobe Bryant keeps wrecking everyone. On Indiana, Jalen Rose has struggled in finding his role. With Jamaal Tinsley rooted at the point, and Al Harrington getting increased minutes at forward, Rose has had trouble adjusting. Travis Best, sick of being lame minutes and a constant backup role, wants to be traded. He likes his teammates and the organization, but wants a chance to shine, because he can, but also because this is a contract year for him and he doesn't feel like being underpaid when signing a new deal this summer. Jamaal Tinsley's shooting has been horrible. Jermaine O'Neal keeps emerging, and it'll be fun seeing him challenge the Los Angeles paint.

Thursday, Jan. 10: L.A. Clippers at New Jersey is possibly the most fun matchup in the league. These two teams should play each other every week. The Clippers have been horrible on the road, only winning 2 of 10 away games. Only the Bulls have been worse in that department. L.A. is hovering at the .500 mark, and this week will be extremely tough for them, as they play 4 games in just 5 nights. Point guard Jeff McInnis plays hoards of minutes and has picked up his scoring lately. Corey Maggette has been starting at shooting guard, and while he's terrific defensively, on offense he has a lot of learning to do. Quentin Richardson is the X-factor off the bench. Q's mid-range game is still in construction, but when posting up or shooting outside, he helps the team a lot. Lamar Odom, who continues playing the role of a point-forward, needs to cut down on turnovers. He's just coming back from a sprained wrist. Odom has had a few problems all season, but his shooting should pick up as time goes on. He always contributes on the boards and in the assists column. Elton Brand consistently generates points. Michael Olowokandi's offense is taking forever to develop, but defensively he means a lot to this team. As for the Nets, Jason Kidd, who has slowly crept up the InsideHoops.com NBA MVP Watch list all season, is now a serious candidate. Very few other players can finish a game with under 10 points and have everyone in the building believe that he carried the team. Defensively, he performs as well. The Nets really need a backup point guard for when he sits down. Kerry Kittles is healthy and playing well. Kenyon Martin is more raw than originally thought. He grabs very few rebounds for the minutes he receives, has lost his head a few times recently, and his entire game still needs refinement. But this is essentially a rookie year for him, so none of this is surprising or particularly negative. His physically skills and potential are fantastic. Kidd-to-Martin for the alleyoop happens several times a game, and is awesome to watch. Keith Van Horn benefits from Kidd's presence. Todd MacCulloch is a hard worker who strives to keep improving. Go out of your way to watch this game if you can.

Also: New York against Dallas will be good. The Mavericks want payback, as the Knicks were the team that broke their winning streak. While guarding Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston, Dallas must box Marcus Camby out. They should also let Steve Nash go nuts, as none of the Knicks point guards should be able to contain him.

WEEKEND

Friday, Jan. 11: Washington at Milwaukee features Michael Jordan against Glenn Robinson... L.A. Lakers at Minnesota is an epic Western showdown... San Antonio at Philadelphia features Dikembe Mutumbo and Derrick Coleman going against Tim Duncan and David Robinson, while Allen Iverson causes havok for San Antonio's guards, and Tony Parker tries to return the favor.

Saturday, Jan. 12: Minnesota at Washington is a great matchup, but the Wizards could be tired after dealing with the Bucks last night... New Jersey at Orlando features Tracy McGrady and Kerry Kittles going at it, while Kenyon Martin tries to stick Mike Miller.

Sunday, Jan. 13: Phoenix at Sacramento is solid. Chris Webber needs to try to remained focused and avoid laughing at the Suns big guys. Shawn Marion must guard Peja Stojakovic as soon as he crosses half-court... L.A. Clippers at Toronto features Corey Maggette and Quentin Richardson trying to contain Vince Carter, while Elton Brand and Antonio Davis do battle down low.

Enjoy.