NBA BASKETBALL
The NBA Week
<January 14, 2002>

By InsideHoops.com

Monday, Jan. 14: San Antonio at New Jersey is a matchup of NBA Finals hopefuls. The Spurs are hurt by the loss of Bruce Bowen, who is out a few months with a broken finger. Offensively, Bowen is worse than you, but defensively he's fantastic and very important to the team. Because Bowen is out, Steve Smith moves to small forward, and Antonio Daniels becomes the starter at shooting guard. Rookie point guard Tony Parker is coming along. He still needs a better outside shot, but at age 12 he's not suppossed to have one yet. Now that he's starting, Daniels needs to hit from the outside as well. Tim Duncan is an MVP candidate. David Robinson has slowed down lately and is lacking energy; plus, his injured right hand is bugging him. Off the bench, Terry Porter can still penetrate and hit from the outside. Malik Rose continues slowly but steadily developing into a more versatile player. Meanwhile, the Nets continue to rack up wins, and they're leading the Eastern conference. Jason Kidd does magical things with the ball almost every time he decides to make a play. Kerry Kittles has been shooting the lights out, hitting way over 50% of his shots over the last few weeks. Kenyon Martin, back from a two-game suspension for clocking Tracy McGrady, has taken a few steps back. He needs to get his head straight. Keith Van Horn's shooting percentage still needs work. Todd MacCulloch just needs to be steady on offense, hit the boards and take up space to be effective, and he's doing just that. It'll be fun seeing these guys go up against Tim Duncan.

Also: Memphis at L.A. Lakers could be interesting becaue the Lakers are coming off an upset loss to the Bulls and should be pissed off... Dallas at Orlando features Michael Finley and Tracy McGrady doing battle.

Tuesday, Jan. 15: L.A. Clippers at Minnesota is a solid matchup. The Timberwolves are winning about 74% of their games this season and have not slowed down as expected, after their hot season start. They've been without Terrell Brandon, but Chauncey Billups has done a fantastic job filling in at the point. Wally Szczerbiak continues his growth into an All-Star caliber player; he's scoring and doing lots of other stuff. Kevin Garnett is awesome. Gary Trent has played well recently but just got hurt. Center Rasho Nesterovic isn't playing as well lately as he had been, but with other Wolves stepping up, he hasn't needed to. Anthony Peeler, Felipe Lopez and other bench guys are doing the job. Joe Smith should be back soon, and that will help. The Clippers, meanwhile, are the worst road team in the entire NBA if you ignore the Chicago Bulls. Hovering around the .500 mark, several key Clippers are playing with nagging injuries. Coach Alvin Gentry is under fire for starting Eric Piatkowski over Quentin Richardson and Corey Maggette at shooting guard. Point guard Jeff McInnis keeps playing well. Lamar Odom, still waiting to become injury-free, is still inconsistent, turning the ball over too much, and not playing as well as he did last year. Elton Brand, fantastic all season when healthy, has a sore elbow and it's hurting him a bit. Michael Olowakandi is still there, moving around and taking up space, trying to be active. His presense and defense is important. Watching KG go against anyone, especially the Clippers, is always fun.

Also: The Spurs, after dealing with the Nets, get to experience Michael Jordan... Milwaukee at Indiana features lots of terrific individual matchups... Dallas at Atlanta is interesting because Theo Ratliff is back. Seeing him try to annoy Dirk Nowitzki and company will be fun... Houston at Philadelphia features Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley on one end and Allen Iverson on the other.

Wednesday, Jan. 16: Washington at New Jersey is solid. You can see Nets commentary above. The Wizards may be worn out from playing the Spurs last night. It takes a lot of energy dealing with all of New Jersey's fast breaks. Wizards point guard Chris Whitney is pumping out more offense lately. Shooting guard Hubert Davis, filling in for the injured Rip Hamilton, is shooting the lights out from outside. His shot is essential for Wizards success. Michael Jordan keeps destroying most smaller forwards, but guys with size and quickness have been able to annoy him. Popeye Jones hits the boards, defends, and his name is Popeye Jones - an obvious plus. Jahidi White keeps improving, as is Brendan Haywood. The two more than do the job at center. Rookie Kwame Brown has something weird going on and feels fatigued more than he should. Tests are still being done.

Also: Miami at L.A. Lakers features Alonzo Mourning against a possibly Shaq-less Laker team. At the time of this writing it's expected that Shaq may be suspended for trying to assassinate Brad Miller. If so, the key battle here would be Eddie Jones, a former Laker, against Kobe Bryant... New York at Boston should be fun for Celtics fans, as their team is rolling and the Knicks have been horrible... Indiana at Milwaukee features terrific individual matchups... Seattle at Utah features Gary Payton and the emerging Rashard Lewis battling the steadily-improving Utah Jazz.

Thursday, Jan. 17: Utah at San Antonio is solid. After battling the Sonics last night, the Jazz try to contain Tim Duncan on the inside and Steve Smith on the outside. You can see Spurs commentary above. As for the Jazz, they started the season very badly and have steadily improved, finally pushing themselves over the .500 mark. John Stockton can't move his feet too fast anymore on defense, but offensively he's more or less still himself, which at his age is incredible. DeShawn Stevenson starts at shooting guard but doesn't do very much. Byron Russell, unfortunately, is coming off the bench and missing lots of shots. Donyell Marshall is solid, and dealing with a bad hip. A nice recent surprise for Utah is the emergence of Scott Padgett, who has recently been coming off the bench to score in double figures. Karl Malone's back hurts, but he keeps trucking. Center Jarron Collins keeps hustling and trying to learn to play this game. Rookie Andrei Kirilenko shows terrific flashes. With the Spurs dealing with the defensive loss of Bowen, and the Jazz playing their best basketball of the season, this should be an excellent game.

Also: Dallas at Memphis is cool because you have Dirk Nowitzki on one end and Pau Gasol on the other... Philadelphia at Charlotte features Baron Davis running very fast in one direction, and Allen Iverson running slightly faster in the other... Miami at Portland features a bunch of annoyed guys trying to get back at their old teams.

WEEKEND

Friday, Jan. 18: New Jersey at Toronto. The Raptors need more leadership, and Antonio Davis appears most willing to step up to the plate. All season, Toronto has lacked the extra intensity needed to push them over the hump in many close games. The team is also suffering without Morris Peterson. Alvin Williams has questionable offense, but his defense is excellent. Vince Carter is Vince Carter. While Peterson's finger heals, Jerome Williams, Tracy Murray and Dell Curry must try to contribute at the 3-spot. Hakeem Olajuwon is needed more for defense and shot-blocking than anything else... Golden State at Sacramento should feature the Warriors hitting the boards while the Kings outscore them by 13... Orlando at Milwaukee features Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller against Ray Allen and company.

Saturday, Jan. 19: Washington at Chicago - the return of Michael Jordan to Chicago. Expect the longest ovation in the history of the National Basketball Association. They shouldn't even play the game. They should just let the crowd cheer for 48 minutes (with a break in between for halftime analysis of the cheering) and then call it a night... L.A. Lakers at San Antonio features Duncan, Kobe and Shaq all hoping to someday be worthy of the type of ovation Jordan is receiving in Chicago.

Sunday, Jan. 20: No games scheduled. Watch football.

Enjoy.