Wednesday Insider

[Guest]

Rivers never knows

who's ready to go

by Terry Brown

Send an Email to Chad Ford

Also Below: Larry Legend loses out on Charlotte bid | Peep Show

NBA Power Outage: Lakers getting fewer second chances

The Good, the Bad, the Kitchen Sink

Live from Belgrade

Chad Ford, ESPN's NBA Insider, is traveling through Eastern Europe this week with NBA international scouting guru Tony Ronzone. Together, they're checking out some of the top European prospects for the 2003 NBA Draft. Follow Ford's trip in his daily journal:

Mon: Out of the Darko

Chat: Chad & Tony transcript

Tue: Face to face

Wed: The Springer League

The good news is that Grant Hill is going to live.

The bad news, well . . .

"We'll talk about that when we get over to the locker room," Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers tells his star forward.

All Hill wanted to know, all Hill ever wants to know, is who he is going to guard come next game. But all Rivers can tell him, all Rivers wants to tell him, is that he doesn't really know.

He doesn't know if Hill's ankle is going to allow him to play from day to day. He doesn't know if Tracy McGrady's back is going to flare up from quarter to quarter. He doesn't know if Mike Miller has a bad ankle or strept throat today. Darrell Armstrong needs more ice for his shoulder going on three months. Steve Hunter hasn't played all season due to a right knee injury. Was it Pat Garrity or Andrew DeClercq who fell down last game and banged his elbow?

Or both.

"When we're 100 percent, we can beat anybody, and we've shown that," Hill said to Jerry Brewer of the Orlando Sentinel.

But, as Brewer writes, "Rivers does not know who will play. All the prominent players are game-time decisions. Someone is always a game-time decision. Hill and Miller have already missed four games. McGrady has missed three. When the stars do not play, all that is left is effort and hope. The Magic had both Monday night, and still lost, 87-84, to Phoenix."

"Forget the moral victory," Armstrong says. "We're not into that. We didn't win."

When they win, the Magic average 101.4 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the field. When they lose, they average 94.2 points per game on 38 percent shooting. When they're all healthy and ready to go ... is anybody's guess.

On a team not known for its depth, the Magic have had six different leading scorers since preseason games opened and 11 different leading rebounders. The Magic have had to use 10 different starting lineups in 26 games because of injuries, resulting in a 13-13 record and a coach not knowing whether to smile or shed tears.

They won one game this year by scoring 117 points in regulation. They lost their last two by scoring 84 in each.

"He probably won't play tonight," Rivers says at the end of a West Coast trip in November as Brewer records the ongoing dilemma. "It's just a lot of things — the back-to-back games, the four games in five nights — and you just have to be careful. You know, one theory is that the air pressure from flying so far and so much is not good for the ankle."

Rivers stops himself.

"You know it's a guessing game when we start talking about air pressure!" he exclaims.

Health issues cloud lineup for Rivers most every game

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

Larry Legend loses out on Charlotte bid

And the winner is . . . not Larry Bird.

The NBA's 30th active franchise, to be located in Charlotte . . . again, has been awarded to BET founder and owner Robert L. Johnson, who will become the first African-American majority owner in the four major professional sports in America

The announcement is slated for today at around 11 a.m. EST after Johnson and his group beat out a group led by NBA great Larry Bird and backed by Boston business executive Steve Belkin and agreed to pay $300 million to the league. The team will begin official play in the 2004-05 season while Johnson continues his efforts to bring the Montreal Expos to the Washington, D.C. area also, the Washington Post reports.

"I'm heartbroken," Bird said in a statement released by his agent. "It's hard to realize that the dream I've had for so many years is not to be, and that an awesome opportunity . . . will not come to pass."

Ed Tapscott, who has the dubious distinction of selecting Frederick Weiss in the 1999 draft for the New York Knicks instead of Ron Artest or Todd MacCulloch, is tabbed as the franchise's first general manager.

"He's a guy who should be not only operating a team, but one day perhaps should be owning a team," Johnson told the N.Y. Daily News.

After a much-heated debate in previous years, the city of Charlotte had declined to build a new stadium for Hornet owner George Shinn after setting attendance records in seven seasons. But with Shin out of the picture, the league was able to facilitate funding for a new building it the area.

"Bob is going to do well," Michael Jordan said. "He has the first thing you need in owning a basketball team and that's loving the game — and the willingness to fork over the money to build a team solidly."

Johnson To Get Charlotte Franchise

Mark Asher / Washington Post

BET founder given team in Charlotte

Mitch Lawrence and Frank Isola / New York Daily News

Peep Show

Webber

Kings: Some 40-plus pages were filed in court recently involving the Chris Webber perjury charges yet defense attorney Steve Fishman has stated again that no real evidence has been brought forth against his client. "The grand jury did not indict Webber for accepting money from Mr. Martin," the documents read, according to the Sacramento Bee. "The grand jury indicted him for perjury, based on the answers he gave in his (prior) grand jury testimony." The charges have been criticized by some as being too vague. Attempts, however, to dismiss them have failed. A court hearing has been scheduled in Detroit for Feb. 5 before U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds, who will decide whether the case can go forward. It currently is set for trial July 8.

Nets: Net guard Kerry Kittles has a New Year's resolution: play basketball. After spraining ligaments in his left on Nov. 30, he has missed the last eight games and doesn't believe he'll be back before January. New Jersey coach Byron Scott has decided on sticking with Lucious Harris at shooting guard in the interim. "It could be 10 more days, four more days. I have no idea," Scott told the N.Y. Daily News.

White

Wizards: There has been a Jahidi White sighting. Out all season after having surgery on his left knee during the summer, he is expected to be examined by a team doctor shortly to determine if he can step up the rehabilitation process. "Not only now is he going to have to get healthy, he's going to have to get himself into condition," coach Doug Collins told the Washington Post of his muscle-bound big man. "That's not easy with the season going on. When you start playing games, you know we struggle with how many practices we can have and how hard our practices can be. That's a concern."

Nuggets/Mavericks: Tariq Abdul-Wahad will not only miss out on playing for the league-leading Dallas Mavericks this season after being traded from the Denver Nuggets last year, he may not ever play again, according to the Denver Post. For anybody. "I wish I could experience it firsthand," Abdul-Wahad said about the Mavericks' success. "I have no idea [when I'll play]. That's life. This is not something you can control, so why worry about it. The most important thing is your health. I still want to try to play a few more years." Abdul-Wahad has been plagued by knee problems for three years now. "To be honest, I can't say with 100 percent certainty we know Tariq will play again," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. "But we will know more after the season, after he has had lots of rest."

Hawks: Chris Crawford has been told that it will be at least four more weeks before he can even think about returning to basketball court to rehab his surgically repaired right knee. Crawford has played in only seven games over the last two seasons after tearing the ACL. "The doctor said the knee is structurally sound," Crawford told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But it needs to be strengthened, and that's what I'm going to focus on."

Cavs: Center Chris Mihm is still out of action. "He's not ready," Cleveland coach John Lucas told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Chris was dragging his left leg in practice. He still wants to play and I'm not surprised because he's been out for so long. He may see some action on Friday or Saturday." He has been missing since severely pulling his left hamstring during training camp. "I'm still confident in myself because of the way I came into camp," Mihm said. "I worked on my offensive game during the off-season and I'm excited about that. It's just a matter of getting back into shape and getting my timing back. I was excited to be out there practicing again. I just can't wait to be back on the floor."

Gugliotta

Suns: Forward Tom Gugliotta has been here before. "I'm going to have more tests [today]," Gugliotta told the Arizona Republic. "It's the exact same bone as last year, but I don't know if it's in the same spot." Team physicians believe they've found another hairline fracture in Goog's right foot and will immediately put him through extensive testing before surgery is even considered.

Webber perjury case: Evidence still cloudy

Sam Stanton and Denny Walsh / Sacramento Bee

Kittles might wait till next year

Ohm Youngmisuk / New York Daily News

White Will Be Checked Out

Steve Wyche / Washington Post

Abdul-Wahad's knee still sore

Marc J. Spears / Denver Post

Crawford loses another month to knee rehab

Jeffrey Denberg / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mihm will have to sit a little longer

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Gugliotta may have foot fracture

Bob Young / Arizona Republic