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Too much talent?

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: Looking for an assist from the Franchise | Can the Pacers keep it together? | Will the Lakers make a deal? | The Next Shaq? | Peep Show

Aristotle once wisely advised that there should be moderation in all things. Gluttons and fanatics self-destruct -- just ask Dennis Rodman. The same philosophy generally holds true in basketball. There really can be too much of a good thing.

Rasheed Wallace

Forward

Portland Trail Blazers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

33 17.2 8.0 2.3 .447 .687

The Blazers over the past few years have been the poster child of what happens when you ignore Aristotle's advice. GM Bob Whitsitt, who has a great eye for basketball talent, has shrugged off the notion that a team needs role players and instead filled his roster with All-Star caliber players and blue-chip prospects to create several of the deepest teams in recent NBA history. Of course, the whole notion has been fools gold.

Good players don't want to sit. There are only so many minutes at each position and, invariably, two or three guys are left out. Players start griping, chemistry sours and before you know it, the Blazers are at home watching the second round of the playoffs on their big screens.

Bonzi Wells

Guard-Forward

Portland Trail Blazers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

29 16.5 5.4 2.9 .451 .743

Faced with a rocky start this season, coach Maurice Cheeks threw out the depth charts and 11-man rotations and designated two players -- Rasheed Wallace and Bonzi Wells -- as his go-to guys. The result? The Blazers have won 10 of their last 12 games.

While teams like the Lakers and Nets win games with a couple of stars and a gaggle of role players, several NBA teams are pushing the envelope of gluttony this year. Two young teams in particular, the Pacers and Rockets, are wrestling with the blessings and curses of having a plethora of young talented players on their roster. How they deal with it will likely mean the difference from a rollicking playoff ride to an early first round exit.

Looking for an assist from the Franchise

Steve Francis may be "The Franchise" in Houston, but his ball hogging ways are wearing thin on his teammates. The last couple of years, Francis, along with Cuttino Mobley, was the Rockets' offense. If he didn't have a big night, the Rockets simply could not win.

Steve Francis

Guard

Houston Rockets

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

32 23.2 6.2 6.2 .437 .796

This season it's different. Yao Ming is turning into a beast in the post. Glen Rice is healthy and can knock down 3s. Maurice Taylor is rounding back into playing shape. Eddie Griffin may have more raw talent than anyone on the team. And did we mention that before James Posey was acquired in December, he was the Nuggets' second leading scorer.

Times have changed, but Franics is struggling to cope with it. He likes the weight of the world on his shoulders. But his teammates would love to carry some of the load. The Rockets are loaded with talent. The nights of Francis and Mobley combining for 40 shots a game should be over. Shouldn't they?

Rice finally spoke up after a tough loss to the Warriors on Saturday. The team has lost six of its last eight.

"I'm a strong believer that this team is a much better team," Rice began. "When we play together as a team, moving the ball around and keeping everyone involved, the stats show that we're a much better team, a much more potent team, and we have to do that on a consistent basis.

Glen Rice

Guard-Forward

Houston Rockets

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

28 9.2 3.4 1.4 .409 .740

"There's a spot for everything in this offense we're running. It's a motion offense, and it's just up to us to go out there and keep everyone involved and take advantage of the openings that we have. A lot of times we just concentrate on one or two things too often, and teams now gear up to stop the best players on our team. We need something to fall back on."

Rice didn't name names, but it was clear that his comments were directed at Francis. While Francis bristled at the notion that he must get Rice more shots -- "You can't do that. I have to make sure everybody gets the ball. ... You just have to analyze the situations, the matchups, and take it from there," -- the fans begged to differ.

During one early moment when the Timberwolves took an eight-point lead Tuesday night, a fan could be heard in a quiet Compaq Center pleading with Francis to "pass the ball."

Franics listened and the Rockets rolled. Not one Rockets player took more than 13 shots in Tuesday's win. All but one of the nine Rockets who saw the floor took at least five shots. The only one who didn't was named Steve Francis. Francis took just four shots, the fewest of his career. He finished with 14 points and a season-high 11 assists.

"This is the way you've got to play basketball," Francis said after the game. "If the shots are there, I'm going to take them. If they're not, I can pass the ball."

After the game, Rice just smiled as said, "I told you so."

"You can see how easy it was, until the fourth quarter when we fell asleep. It was great to see. It was great to be a part of that. We're learning. We have to continue to look at the games we have gone out and moved the ball around. I just can't stress how important that is for guys. The fourth quarter we were not moving the ball, not getting it inside. That right there will tell the story."

Sharing can be fun

John Lopez / Houston Chronicle

Rockets hold on despite fourth-quarter collapse

Jonathan Feigen / Houston Chronicle

Rice wants Rockets to spread out shots

Michael Murphy / Houston Chronicle

Can the Pacers keep it together?

The Pacers have the most talented roster in the Eastern Conference; they have the third best record in the NBA; and they're getting better. So why exactly, is just about everyone writing them off?

The team is young. Their coach, Isiah Thomas, isn't going to win any popularity contests. And some wonder who their go-to guy will be once the real NBA season gets under way.

The Pacers aren't blinking. "Every night you go into a game and look for mismatches," Thomas told the Indianapolis Star. "The next night it could be totally different."

Al Harrington

Power Forward

Indiana Pacers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

34 12.9 5.4 1.4 .474 .765

Thomas has refused to designate one or two players as the guys on offense. Reggie Miller has the experience and the track record. Jermaine O'Neal is the All-Star. Brad Miller has the consistency. Ron Artest has the tenacity. And lately, Al Harrington has been lighting it up. It's all great now. But will the Pacers be so willing to share in April?

Too much of a good thing? The Pacers are one of eight teams that have five or more players with double-figure scoring averages. Their fifth-leading scorer, Al Harrington, averages 12.9 points. Among fifth-leading scorers throughout the league, only the Clippers' Michael Olowokandi, also at 12.9 points, averages as much.

The Pacers have eight players who have scored more than 20 points in a game this season. They have a couple of others -- Austin Croshere and Jonathan Bender -- who can also go for 20 if given the minutes. Depth is great, but what happens when a young player, subbing for an injured starter, gets a taste of the high life.

No player represents this dilemma better than Harrington, who can go from zero to 40 in three games flat. His point totals, starting 10 games ago, have been 0, 19, 18, 40, 23, 8, 2, 9, 33, 28.

Starting five games in place of the injured O'Neal in late December, Harrington averaged 21.8 points. Starting again Monday at Philadelphia, in place of the suspended Artest, he scored 28 before fouling out with 4:06 left in regulation. How will he respond, however, when both O'Neal and Artest are back playing 30 to 35 minutes a game?

For now, winning is overshadowing personal agendas. "Our chemistry is excellent," Thomas said. "For a team like this with a lot of young players trying to carve their niche in the league, it's very admirable."

So is the way everyone is stepping up at the same time.

"You expect Reggie to make shots and you expect Jermaine O'Neal to make shots," Philadelphia coach Larry Brown lamented after the Pacers beat them on Monday. "But everybody was making shots."

No go-to guy? Pacers keep foes guessing

Mark Montieth / Indianapolis Star

Victories bring Pacers closer together

Mark Montieth / Indianapolis Star

Will the Lakers make a deal?

I hate it when this happens. A week and a half after writing that Phil Jackson basically was employing a maritime barricade on the Lakers front office, GM Mitch Kupchak is sounding like Monte Hall.

Over the past few seasons, the Lakers have been stubborn when it comes to trade talk. They listen politely and then, after consulting with Jackson, they say "Thanks, but no thanks." Kupchak says things may change this year.

"That's not the case this year," Kupchak told the L.A. Times. "You have to do your job."

Kupchak would not say he is shopping players, only that he is listening and mulling the possibilities. He said Tuesday he had received no serious offers, and neither had he made one.

"But, yes, there have been conversations regarding personnel," he said. "As we get closer to the February deadline, there will be more. It's our hope these guys pull together and win games. But we cannot assume that. It's unlikely anything's going to happen, because of the way it is to make a trade in this league. But, it's possible."

Robert Horry

Power Forward

Los Angeles Lakers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

33 7.3 6.7 2.8 .393 .708

Despite all the commentary to the contrary, the Lakers do have assets that could land them a decent player. Robert Horry is basically in the last year of his contract because of a team option on his final season. Samaki Walker, Tracy Murray and Mark Madsen are also in the last year of their deals. In the NBA, there is no better currency. Combine their salaries and the Lakers have $11.3 million in very marketable assets.

If Kupchak can convince owner Jerry Buss to spend the money, and if he can talk Jackson into shaking up the roster, the Lakers can be players. How great would Brian Grant look in Laker gold? Or what about Tim Thomas? Or a combination of Toni Kukoc and Anthony Mason? The Pacers would part with Austin Croshere and Ron Mercer. The Nuggets are clearing cap and would probably part with Marcus Camby for a draft pick or two. The T-Wolves are ready to part with Joe Smith. And some combination of Stromile Swift and Lorenzen Wright may fit the bill in Memphis as Jerry West tries to get his team under the cap.

The Lakers can be players, folks. They just need Phil to give them the word.

Still, Kupchak knows that in the end, the Lakers future rests on Shaq. "This team is only going to be as good as he carries us," Kupchak said. "I don't think that's a secret. If he can play like he has played since he's been here, we're going to win games. If Shaquille had been healthy from the beginning, there's no doubt in my mind our record would be substantially better than it is now."

This Is the Year Kupchak Probably Will Take Call

Tim Brown / Los Angeles Times

The Next Shaq?

You know Shaq. The Shaq of the MAC, Gary Trent. And even 17-year-old Greek center Sofaklis Schortsianides, nicknamed "Baby Shaq." But none of them, not even Shaq himself, have anything on Auri Allen.

What's the big deal? Allen, a seventh-grader at St. Vincent De Paul School in Tennessee, is a 12-year-old, 6-foot-8, 280 pound dunking machine. Shaq, by way of comparison, stood 6-5 and weighed 220 pounds when he was 14 years old.

Allen will be featured on an episode of Ripley's Believe it or Not tonight at 8 p.m. ET on TBS. About an hour after the shoot, one of the cameramen asked, "Who's your favorite basketball player, Auri?" Auri said it was the Lakers' O'Neal. Just then, O'Neal came up behind Allen and put him in a bear-hug.

"I couldn't believe it," Auri told the Tennesean. "I was speechless."

Now here's where it gets fun. Shaq then played a friendly game of one-on-one with Allen and one of his friends. After the game, Shaq took Allen out to lunch, let Auri talk on his cell phone with Halle Berry and J-Lo, and then brought Allen with him to the Lakers game at the Staples Center.

Just before they all said their goodbyes after the game, and just before Shaq gave Auri his cell phone number, Shaq punched two keys on his cell and asked for Bruce Teilhaber, the owner of Freidman's Shoes in Atlanta.

"Shaq told him that his cousin was coming to Atlanta soon to buy 10 pairs of shoes and to put them on his bill," Auri said, pointing to a pair of size 18 Timberlands on his feet. "That was really nice of him. My mom has a hard time finding shoes for me."

While we can now all ponder whether the David Stern will swoop in and fine the Lakers for wooing Allen, Auri still can't get over the most important part of the day.

"J-Lo," said Auri, shaking his head again. "I'll remember that for a long time, too."

Believe it or not, Allen visits with Shaq

Bryan Mullen / The Tennessean

Peep Show

Anfernee Hardaway

Shooting Guard

Phoenix Suns

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

35 11.0 5.1 4.3 .434 .811

Phoenix Suns: Penny Hardaway is still adjusting to his new supporting role. "Since his [Amare Stoudemire's] emergence on the inside, I've definitely taken a step back," Hardaway told the Arizona Republic. "Shawn [Marion] and Steph [Marbury] can't, so I'm trying to be a team player, because we need to get him the ball as much as we can. We want to get him going, because when he gets it going it's going to make things easier for all of us."

Sacramento Kings: Chris Webber tried out his bruised knee Tuesday night and put up 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes. Webber said the true test comes today. "I feel good right now," he told the Sacramento Bee. "It wasn't the most serious injury, and we knew there wasn't anything broken or torn. But it was scary because it hurt and I didn't have my movement."

Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki is crossing his fingers that the Mavs lock up French superstar Antoine Rigaudeau. "He's the man in Europe, that's for sure," Nowitzki, who played against Rigaudeau before coming to the NBA more than four years ago, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "He's a great shooter for his size. ... He can put it on the floor, and he's a very good player. I don't know if that means he can help us right away. We'll see." The Mavs waived rookie guard Adam Harrington to make room for Rigaudeau.

Toronto Raptors: One day after releasing Greg Foster and Jermaine Jackson, the Raptors moved quickly to replace them with two veterans. The Raptors are set to sign playground legend Rafer Alston and big man Art Long today, according to the Toronto Star. Alston, the star of several AND-1 videos, had some success in Milwaukee last season. However, he left the team for the Warriors this summer, only to be cut for financial reason just before the season started. Long, who gained notoriety for once being charged with punching a mounted policeman's horse (an incident he denies ever took place), began the season with the 76ers, was traded to the Nuggets and then released. Both players will be signed to 10-day contracts.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Talk about your pains in the butt. T-wolves backup point guard Rod Strickland stayed at the team hotel for Tuesday's game against the Rockets because of a deep bruise on his right buttock that might have become infected. "It's hurt him as far as being energetic," coach Flip Saunders said of Strickland's performance over the past two weeks. "It's like getting kneed back there, and you have it all the time. It's like a cramp that's always in there."

Hardaway adjusts to support role

Bob Young / Arizona Republic

Webber says true test will be today

Martin McNeal / Sacramento Bee

Deal for guard is probable

Art Garcia / Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Grunwald fiddles while Raptors burn

Doug Smith / Toronto Star

Wolves guard out with bruise

Robbi Pickeral / St. Paul Pioneer Press