Wednesday Insider

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Are the Knicks courting

more trouble?

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: Celtics on Big Vin: "Thank God he didn't come in fat" | Every Rose has its thorn | Sixers-Nets feud heating up | Peep Show

The love-hate relationship between the Knicks and Latrell Sprewell swung back toward the Barry White side of the fence Tuesday just one day after Knicks president Scott Layden suspended Spree from the team.

Layden said he's ready to forgive Spree and said he "absolutely" believed that Spree would play for the Knicks this season. Coach Don Chaney concurred.

"It's not that management wants him out," Chaney told the New York Times. "We're all together in this. We all want him back so we can win some games. We realize that with him out, it hurts our chances to win. So the coaches, the players and the management want him back. To me, it's not a personal thing. Rules were broken, he was fined and we'll go from there. It's not personal at all."

Chaney is hoping for a quick return.

"The only thing I'm concerned about with Latrell is his speedy return," Chaney told the N.Y. Daily News. "My only interest is getting him on the court as soon as we can. I welcome him back. I want him back. If it lingers on it becomes old news. I want the team together. That's my main concern and I hope it happens soon."

Layden and Chaney better think of something fast. Spree's teammates remain firmly on his side and are getting restless. "I'm shocked," Kurt Thomas said of the suspension. "I'm really shocked. I'm in a state of dilemma right now. This is a soap opera around here."

Spree's agent, Bob Gist, isn't so sure that the chasm between Spree and the Knicks can be bridged.

"The wounds are getting larger and the prospect of reconciliation seems to be dying," Gist told the New York Post. "If there's no prospect of reconciliation, we should talk about the next step."

Of course, the next step is a trade and the rumors continued to swirl around Big D. Would the Mavs approve a Nick Van Exel-for-Spree trade? Mavs owner Mark Cuban told the Post on Monday that the team wasn't against Spree, but wanted to keep Van Exel. "It has not been discussed but we have no anti-Spree sentiment. We are very happy with Nick and think he is very valuable to what we are trying to do."

Cuban could be playing hardball. The Mavs need Spree more than they need Van Exel. While the swap would basically amount to the Knicks swapping one headache for another one, at least Van Exel plays a position that the Knicks need help with.

The team really needs an infusion of youth, but will have a hard time finding it with Spree. Instead, the best the Knicks can hope for is a cheaper, quieter migraine. Several team executives floated other potential suitors for the Knicks Monday.

One GM told Insider that the Knicks were still trying to work out a deal with the Timberwolves that would land them Wally Szczerbiak. According to the GM, the Knicks were willing to dangle this year's No. 1 pick along with Spree for Wally, Marc Jackson and Anthony Peeler. Another scenario, according to a team executive, had the Suns offering Penny Hardaway and Alton Ford.

More realistically, the Knicks are stuck with Spree and Spree is stuck with the Knicks. It's a marriage made in [censored], but given the behavior over the past month, a fitting reward for both parties.

Knicks Say They'll Get Over Sprewell Rift

Chris Broussard / New York Times

Chaney makes Spree Plea

Frank Isola / New York Daily News

Gist: May be time to deal Spree

Marc Berman / New York Post

Knicks a no-ring circus

Rick Telander / Chicago Sun-Times

Celtics on Big Vin: "Thank God he didn't come in fat"

Expectations can be dangerous things, especially if they're hanging around the enormous neck of Vin Baker.

Baker landed a major belly-flop this preseason. The Celtics are doing their best to spin this into something positive. Blame it on the offense, new digs or unreasonable hopes. Just don't blame Big Vin.

"I don't get carried away in preseason," GM Chris Wallace told the Boston Globe. "He's had his moments. He provides us with a scoring option we've not had before. He can get the ball in the paint and score. I don't believe he's done."

Done may be a bit premature, but Baker's averaged 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds through the first six games. He also has committed 30 personal fouls. Did someone say foul?

"He played well in the playoffs against San Antonio last year," personnel director Leo Papile added. "It's virtually impossible for a guy to disappear between May and October. To say he's done is premature. He didn't age in dog years over the summer."

Monday, coach Jim O'Brien announced that Tony Battie, not Baker, will be the team's starting center when the season opens.

"That's correct," said O'Brien. "We had a meeting with him at the time of the trade and I told him our starting frontcourt was set, and he was fine with that."

The Celtics gave up their starting point guard, one of last season's first-round picks and they picked up the remaining four years and $56 million on Baker's contract. All of this and he can't beat out Battie?

"Thank God he didn't come in fat," said Papile. "Remember, he's a rotation guy, not a savior."

Thank God for small miracles.

When will Baker heat things up?

Dan Shaughnessy / Boston Globe

Baker not cooked

Gus Martins / Boston Herald

O'Brien stands by Battie

Gus Martins / Boston Herald

Every Rose has its thorn

The Chicago media took a break from the daily Jay Williams-Jamal Crawford family feud soap opera to toss a few stones in Jalen Rose's direction.

Has Rose, who has been a media target (he blames Isiah Thomas) for the past year, fallen out of favor with the Bulls?

Several stories over the past few days have questioned Rose's leadership, his dedication and whether Rose and Williams can co-exist. A recent New York Post report went further, claiming that Jerry Krause has placed Rose back on the trading block.

Krause denies the rumors, but of course, he denies everything. "Jalen's a pro," Krause told the Chicago Sun Times. "He's fine. As long as Bill's [Cartwright] happy, I'm happy."

And is Cartwright happy? Publicly, the answer is yes. "He does a good job talking to the young guys and making them aware of what they need to do," Cartwright said. "If a guy doesn't know an opposing player very well, he communicates that to him. He does all the things that are necessary. He plays hard. He's played at every practice, and he's pretty resilient."

But the Sun Times cites sources inside the Bulls who question whether Rose is a good fit in Chicago.

Rose scoffs at the criticism. He says he'll do whatever it takes to get the Bulls back on the right track. "Leading the league in scoring is not something I ever sought to do," Rose told the Chicago Tribune. "I don't know if I have the potential to do it, but maybe it can happen. I know we're [probably] starting two second-year guys, maybe a first-year guy. We have a team with most guys not having played five years. I'll have to provide consistency and consistently provide numbers. Hopefully I can come up with that production and give the team something to rely on every night."

Jury still out on Rose

Roman Modrowski / Chicago Sun Times

Good start crucial for Rose

Sam Smith / Chicago Tribune

Sixers-Nets feud heating up

The 76ers were the Eastern Conference defending champions before getting knocked off the pedestal by an upstart Nets team last spring. Injuries and a lack of team chemistry led to the Sixers' downfall last season. So forgive them if they're a little testy about everyone writing them off this year.

Nowhere is that more evident than in a brewing feud between the Nets and Sixers. Over the past few weeks, the Nets have taken their shots at new Sixers Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch. And then, former Sixers center Dikembe Mutombo seemingly pimp slapped his old team, saying there was a "big difference" between the Nets and Sixers.

"A big difference," Mutombo told the New York, "is the enthusiasm we've got on this team. More guys are ready to play, ready to win. The work ethic is much higher."

Then he acknowledged that the trade last summer that sent him from Philadelphia to New Jersey was "a blessing." "It's like God trying to give me a last chance to get a ring," said Mutombo.

Sixers coach Larry Brown wasn't happy.

"I love the guy," Brown told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "but he has brain damage."

The debate continues to rage, even among Sixer and Nets players, concerning who got the better deal in the trade.

Allen Iverson complimented MacCulloch the other day by saying "his hands are soft, he catches passes that I give him." Was that a knock on Mutombo, who lost countless passes off his hands?

Mutombo complimented his new team by saying: "There's no player who has come in saying, 'Hey guys, you've got to make sure I score 20. You've got to make sure I get my 30.' Nobody cares if he scores two points or 10 points. All we care about is winning."

Think Iverson resembles that remark?

The Nets have gone to great lengths to diss Van Horn's defense. "You can teach guys how to play defense," coach Bryon Scott said recently, "but you can't teach a guy how to close out on a guy much quicker. You can't teach quick feet."

Brown wonders whether Van Horn just had the wrong teacher.

"I think Keith is going to be a good defender," Brown told the Philly Daily News. "I'm not going to get into what someone else thinks; my job is to help players get better. I haven't coached one guy who couldn't improve on defense if he had the willingness, and I have somebody here who wants to do the right thing. Offensively, if we go to him enough, if we get him enough touches, there's no reason he can't average 20 points."

Van Horn has been the most diplomatic. "For whatever reason, Byron and I, we just never communicated great with each other and we're probably both at fault for that...I really felt, for 5 years there, I gave 110 percent. Going to the NBA Finals and averaging 18 points and eight rebounds a game isn't anything I need to be ashamed of."

Mutombo admits that he is happy to be a Net

Ashley McGeachy Fox / Philadelphia Inquirer

Mutombo: I was misunderstood

John Smallwood / Philadelphia Daily News

Sound of Fury Coming from Van Horn

Fred Kerber / New York Post

Van Horn might be what Sixers need

Phil Jasner / Philadelphia Daily News

Peep Show

Rockets: Yao Ming makes his debut against the Spurs tonight "I think every minute on the floor to get his nervous system -- I don't care how he does -- used to being in a Rocket uniform makes sense to me," coach Rudy Tomjanovich told the Houston Chronicle. "But what the [censored] do I know?" Yao should get a good tast against reigning MVP Tim Duncan. Yao appears to be catching on, but obviously he's never seen Kelvin "Jack Squat" Cato play before. "If I want to be good in the NBA," he said, "I have to be strong like Kelvin Cato." Even Cato was shocked by Yao's comment. "He's going to see a lot stronger than me," Cato said. "But he's better than me already. He can score. . .He's going to be a shock for a lot of players, considering you just don't see 7-6."

T-Wolves: Vice president Kevin McHale said Tuesday his team is taking a wait-and-see attitude about possibly signing a new, healthy, point guard. "We're talking to people, but we'll see what happens," McHale told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. McHale said he continues talk to the agent for Rod Strickland, who is available. "At a certain point, you're saying, 'Are those guys better than the ones you've got? Are those guys going to give you more?' " McHale said. "I will say one thing: Everybody who's available now, there's usually a reason they're available now."

Lakers: The team put Shaquille O'Neal on the injured list, meaning he'll miss, at a minimum, the Lakers' first five games. Coach Phil Jackson actually expects Shaq to miss even more games, but Shaq is more optimistic.

Clippers: Elton Brand, center Michael Olowokandi and sixth man Quentin Richardson practiced Tuesday for the first time in more than two weeks. Brand underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Sept. 26 and isn't expected to be sound for at least another week or so. Olowokandi has a sore left knee and Richardson has a sprained right knee. Their availability also is uncertain. "I'm really frustrated with all the injuries," coach Alvin Gentry told the L.A. Times. "We haven't had all our guys out there for one single [exhibition] game. We can't walk out there on opening night and expect that everything is going to click."

Hornets: Baron Davis' back is better and he says he may be able to play in the Hawks' pre-season finale on Friday. "My back is loose," Davis told the New Orleans Times Picyune. "But I still feel a few spasms. If I feel as good as I did tonight. I'll try to go." . . .P.J. Brown also plans on playing Friday. "The ankle feels good," said Brown, who felt a pop in the ankle during a shootaround before the team's first exhibition game Oct. 9 in Indianapolis, and has sat out since. "I'm going to practice and get one in Friday so I'll be ready to go next Wednesday."

Raptors: Lamond Murray will be out of action for at least the next two months with a sprained ligament in his right foot. "No, it's not good at all," a beleaguered general manager Glen Grunwald said Tuesday. The Toronto Star is reporting that the Raptors are inviting veteran free agent Voshon Lenard into camp to try to replace Murray.

Cavs: Dajuan Wagner had surgery Tuesday to remove a blood clot in his ureter, the tube that connects his left kidney with his bladder. Wagner will end up missing all of the Cavs' exhibition games. He'll probably miss several games early in the regular season. "I'll wait a lifetime on the little fellow," coach John Lucas told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I want him to get well. He was going to be a major contributor right away. But now I'm going to go slow until he's completely healthy. We'll wait on him."

Magic: The team will determine the severity of Darrell Armstrong's injured right shoulder this morning after he undergoes magnetic resonance imaging, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Armstrong left in the second quarter of the Magic's 82-74 preseason victory Tuesday against the Grizzlies and did not return. He had been complaining of a stiff shoulder for the past week. He exited after falling on a drive to the basket. There was only light contact on the play. It's the same shoulder in which Armstrong tore a rotator cuff in the 1997-98 season and missed 34 games.

Nets: Chris Childs was suspended indefinitely without pay by the Nets Tuesday "for failure to be in condition to play NBA basketball," according to team president Rod Thorn. According to the New York Post, Childs is 30 pounds heavier than his playing weight. Thorn said, if necessary, the Nets would assess the possibility of replacing Childs, depending on what players become available. No word yet on whether he gained all of the weight eating jelly doughnuts on Latrell Sprewell's yacht.

Mavs: Popeye Jones was expected to do a lot of the heavy lifting for the Mavericks this season. But even light lifting was a pain for him Tuesday. Jones was expected to start his preseason Wednesday at Boston after missing almost all of training camp with a sprained ankle. But he suffered serious back spasms when he leaned over to pick up his travel bag as he was leaving his hotel. "Popeye hurt his back," coach Don Nelson told the Dallas Morning News. "We wanted to get him into the rotation. But I don't know if I'll be able to do that now."

Nuggets: Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said Ryan Bowen will make his second consecutive preseason start tonight. And Bzdelik indicated Bowen, entering his fourth season, is the front-runner to start at small forward when the regular season opens a week from today at Minnesota. "Ryan has experience, and he executes well under duress," Bzdelik said. "He kind of helps glue everything together." Bowen seems to have beaten George McCloud, Rodney White and Nikoloz Tskitishivili for the starting spot. Bzdelik also believes McCloud's versatility might be better utilized in a reserve role. "He gives us a dimension coming off the bench," Bzdelik said. "But nothing is cemented."

Heat: Coach Pat Riley said he now plans to keeps the maximum-allowed 15 players under contract this season. "It's not going to be an issue," he told the Sun-Sentinel. "We want to develop players, continue to develop players. Zo's going to take up a spot, obviously, there, on the injured list. So the other two players will probably be players that we want to develop, continue to look at."

Bucks: What is George Karl going to do differently this season in order to help the team become successful? "I think the biggest thing for me is last year, I was an ego manager and not a basketball coach," Karl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I enjoy the games and the preparation. I would like to get back to doing a lot more focused on that rather than this crazy stuff I gotta do with you."

Rockets will unveil Yao's talents

Jonathan Feigan / Houston Chronicle

At this point, Wolves wait

Robbi Pickeral / St. Paul Pioneer Press

Shaq to Go on Injured List; Brand, Olowokandi practice

Tim Brown and Elliot Teaford / L.A. Times

Davis says he could play Friday vs. Atlanta

Jimmy Smith / New Orleans Times Picayune

Raptors invite Lenard to camp

Doug Smith / Toronto Star

Wagner has clot removed

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Burke deserves spot

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

Flab-bergasted

Fred Kerber / New York Post

Mavs' Williams can still run fast break

Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News

Bowen might open season as a starter

Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News

Riley, eyeing developing talent, to keep 15

Ira Winderman / Sun Sentinel

Karl keeps lost season under wraps

Bob Wolfley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[Gray Mule]

Heat have a 15 man roster?

Apparently so. That's what it says.

Gray Mule

[Traceman]

to hide the fact that they are lying about injuries to players on the injured list. The whole thing is a joke but we are getting screwed because our GM won't lie. What is the world coming to? I wish Mark Cuban would get as upset about this issue as he does about the refs but that won't happen because he hides players on the injured list too!

[Gray Mule]

Read my post "RESULOLUTION" under home court

section and let me know what you think.

Gray Mule

[Traceman]

I'd love to see it happen. That being said, good luck getting it past the NBA Players Association. In addition, I think some of the cheaper organizations would be opposed to the proposal because it would mean having to pay 2 more players.