| "The New New Jersery Nets" (January 13, 1998)
I was watching the Raptors versus the Nets last night. Decent game. A couple notes on each team. First the Nets.The Nets are a really good team. I didn't know they were so good. I hadn't seem them with Keith Van Horne. He really makes the team dangerous. I think they are a little undersized with their present personnel because Jayson Williams, who is a great rebounder and a good power forward, is undersized at center. Sure, he can out rebound most centers, but he has some trouble defensively against them. With a true center, and I don't mean Yinka Dare, they could be dangerous. I'll talk about this later. Van Horne is the real deal. He's a straight scorer. He can shoot. Put it on the floor. Fade away. You name it, he can do it. No he isn't the next Larry Bird. Let's see who was considered the next Larry Bird. Detlef Schrempf was the first "next" Larry Bird. Then it was Michael Smith from BYU, drafted by Boston. Smith bombed. Danny Ferry was also the next Larry Bird. He was a bust but has turned into a decent NBA player. Christian Laettner was also the next Larry Bird. He is a good player and all-star but he doesn't have Larry Bird qualities either. What are Bird qualities? Great shooter. Clutch player. A 6th sense on the court. A natural feel for everyone on the court. A strong will not to lose. A super presence on the court. Basically, one of the true greats. But besides all that, he was a superior passer and rebounder and defender for a guy who was slow and couldn't really jump. He was consistently averaging 7 assists and 8 rebounds a game. He was a triple double waiting to happen. Van Horne has the ability to pull down 10 boards a game and score 25 like Bird, but he'll never average 7 assists a game. Van Horne compared himself to Derrick McKey. I don't know. McKey is more unselfish and never really wanted to score. If anything, he's like Tom Chambers, not because he's white, but because he can score from anywhere, rebound some and plays mediocre defense from the power forward position. Both were 'tweeners. Too slim for constant power forward duty, but tall enough to play there. Too slow for constant small forward duty, but tall enough to score from there. Van Horne is a good player. He may be great. So Van Horne can really play. He was matched against some bad players for the Raptors, so it's not really fair to measure him against those guys. Kendall Gill, an undersized small forward, is really good as well. He's got a bad rap as a malcontent, but he's a good player. A natural shooting guard, he's moved to small forward and does a decent job rebounding and playing defense. He really does a number offensively, because he's so damn fast. Him and Kittles, they wreak havoc on teams because of matchup problems and mismatches. Kerry Kittles is a really good player. Probably the most complete player who came out of the draft. On a team where he'd be the guy, he'd average 22 points a game. He has skills, inside, outside, on the floor, off the dribble. He has no real weakness. Also, he's surprisingly strong, which belies his slim build. He reminds me of Scottie Pippen. I've gushed about New Jersey enough. They have some really good players to build on. And Sam Cassell at point guard. He wasn't playing, so I didn't see him, but he's a good point guard. Sherman Douglas, though, was playing great. He looked slim, not pudgy, like his days in Boston. He was playing like he was at Miami or Syracuse, knocking down those ugly layups and jumpers. I've heard rumors of a three way deal which would include Mitch Richmond going to Miami, Ike Austin (and others to balance out the cap) going to New Jersey and Kendall Gill going to Sacramento. If cap differences were balanced out, this would be a good deal for everyone. If Austin could be resigned by New Jersey, then he'd add a needed component, a true center so everyone could slide down a position. I don't know if Austin is the real deal, but it's rare to find a center who plays like he does, big, quick and athletic. It seems to me that Austin wants to play for Utah with the Mailman next year, so I can't see Austin resigning with any team unless they come up Brian Williams type money. I don't know if Utah can, especially with the resigning of Eisley, Ostertag and Russell.The Nets will grow to be a really good team. They have a good power forward who loves to rebound. A good solid point guard who can score. Kerry Kittles, a complete package at shooting guard. Even if they don't unload Kendall Gill, he's a good scorer and will probably be moved to the bench as the sixth man when or if the Nets get a center. I can see them trying to get a center in the draft, yet again. I guess they should have never let Chris Dudley go way back when. There's not a glut of centers in the free agent market this year, so Austin will be a hot commodity.The Raptors. Yet, again another game they let slip away. Do you want to know why the Raptors lose close games? They don't put their best players on the court during crunch time. Who are the Raptors five best players (who are healthy, so discount Walt Williams)? Damon Stoudamire. Doug Chrisite. Marcus Camby. John Wallace. Tracy McGrady. Some would argue Reggie Slater is better than McGrady and they be right, but McGrady is more explosive an offensive talent and a better player, I think. He may make mistakes, but he's also more likely to do something they will lead to the win. Darrell Walker seems to play players who are more likely not to lose then to win. During the stretch run, the Raptors had Stoudamire, Chrisite, Camby, Lloyd Daniels and Reggie Slater on the floor. Daniels, after a great first game for the Raptors, played like crap. He couldn't hit an open jumper all game. Slater, the Bull, is a strong player. He's gone some decent offensive moves and plays a decent defensive game, is the kind of player who should get 15 minutes a game. Any longer and his relative offensive deficiencies and lack of height are truly apparent. Wallace didn't play much, if at all, in the fourth quarter and McGrady was sat down towards the end of the game. So much for letting the kid learn on the court. The Raptors had the game within 4 with about 8 minutes left in the game. It was a close game, but the Raptors let it fall through their hands again. Their two best players are Camby and Stoudamire, yet the Raptors ran two or three straight plays for Slater in the post. Go figure. Camby should get most of the touches in the post. He's their best post player. He has skills. He and Damon in a two man game would be most effective. There are a lot of teams that rely on two players and a third and do quite well, Utah, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Charlotte. The Raptors should let Camby shoot more. He should be letting 15-20 shots a game go, along with Damon's 20 a game. They are the best players, and should be getting the most shots, especially down the stretch.John Wallace is the second leading scorer on the Raptors and in only 30 minutes a game he averages over 14 ppg. Doug Chrisite needs 8 more minutes and averages less per game. You've got to let your best players (at least your best scorers) be on the floor during crunch time. Walker's excuse probably would be that Wallace is a defensive liability. He's right. But at least he can make a stop or two, and can score as well. Slater wasn't lighting it up. Daniels was stinking it up. Besides, the Nets are a relatively small team. Damon matches up against Sherman Douglas. Christie against Kittles, and didn't do a good job, since he lit up the Raptors for 31. So much for Leo Rautins theory he's the best defensive player in the NBA, because he shut Jordan down. Christie picks himself up for those games and falls for others. Camby was matched against Williams. Slater was matched against Wallace. Daniels was playing Gill. The Raptors could have taken Slater out and put Wallace in. Wallace isn't much smaller than Van Horne. He's two inches shorter, Slater is three. Wallace is about the same weight, about 225-230 pounds. Besides, Wallace could make Van Horne work on defense. Daniels against Gill was a joke. Daniels was never known as a defensive specialist. He's weak there. They could have played McGrady and at least had more athleticism on the floor. Hell, Shawn Respert could have done more. Respert knows the offense and is a pretty good defensive player too boot.I shouldn't complain. Let's face it, without Popeye Jones to play 30 minutes a game at power forward and Walt Williams to play 30 minutes a game at small forward, the Raptors are going to struggle. No real center doesn't help either. Zan Tabak isn't the answer. I hope Damon and the rest of the Raptors realize this is just a bump on the road. Sure they suck now, but next year, when they get healthy, they'll get better. They suck this year, pick up a good draft pick, not some lame-ass number 9 pick (and never play him seriously), maybe a big man or a true shooter putting Christie to the bench permanently, would be a great help. The Raptors when fully healthy have a decent team for a third year expansion team. Next year will be their fourth. Most expansion teams work on a five year plan. A starting five of Sharone Wright (who can at least take up some space, score and bang for 25 minutes), Marcus Camby, Walt Williams, Doug Christie and Damon Stoudamire isn't too bad. With John Wallace, Popeye Jones, Tracy McGrady, Carlos Rogers, Shawn Respert and Reggie Slater off the bench, they have a deep bench, if relatively untalented. I think, if they were healthy this year, they could win 25-30 games, but without their two biggest men, they'll be lucky to win 15. Isiah or not, they were screwed before the season began, because they didn't have a big man. Then they lost Jones and a string of injuries hit key players like Williams, Camby, Rogers, etc. Maybe the Raptors would be better off just playing out the string, maturing some young players (i.e. McGrady) and packing it in until next season. San Antonio did that and now they're number one in the Midwest. Return to the 1998 edition of Hoop-LA
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