Insider Special: Good, Bad, & Kitchen Sink

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The Good, the Bad, the Kitchen Sink

By Terry Brown

Monday, April 14 Updated 3:21 PM EST

It took a great basketball player, perhaps even the greatest, to beat Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. It took an even better one to allow the likes of Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady to do the same.

On April 16, the last day of the 2003 regular season, Allen Iverson gets the honors.

And the game is that much better because of Michael Jordan . . . again.

The Good

Shawn Marion, Phoenix Suns

Week's work: 4-0 record, 26.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, 3.7 spg, 0.7 bpg, 55% shooting

Other players have scored 106 points in four games. Other players have won four games in a row. Other players have led their team's into the playoffs. But this week, Shawn Marion scored 106 points in four straight wins to lead his team into the playoffs and regardless of what happens a week from now, two weeks, a month, Shawn Marion scored 106 points in four straight wins to lead his team into the playoffs.

Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic

Week's work: 3-0 record, 36.3 ppg, 8 rpg, 5 apg, 1.3 spg, 1 bpg, 13 triples, 42% shooting

Crown him.

Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

Week's work: 2-1 record, 22.3 ppg, 17.3 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.6 spg, 2.3 bpg, 58% shooting

There is still one player who can rebound better than Kevin Garnett, a few that can score more and bunch of point guards who can pass better. But there isn't a player in the game today who can score and rebound and pass and defend and inspire and rub his belly, pat his head and chew gum at the same time better than Kevin Garnett, and not once in this paragraph have we mentioned that he's 7-foot. Oops.

Toni Kukoc, Milwaukee Bucks

Week's work: 3-0 record, 22.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2 spg, 1.6 bpg, 4 triples, 64% shooting

Still got it when it counts most.

The Bad

Steve Francis, Houston Rockets

Weak work: 1-2 record, 11.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5 apg, 1 spg, 1.6 bpg, 25% shooting

Stevie, Stevie, Stevie. On the season, he's averaged 21.1 points per game. In the last 11 contests, though, with the season on the line, neck and neck with the Phoenix Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot, he dipped below that average on 10 different occasions. In fact, the only time he did score more than 21 points, they lost. Sure, Yao will get his ROY trinket, Rudy T will recover and the Rockets will get another lottery pick. But that won't change the fact that Shawn Marion scored 106 points in four straight wins to lead his team into the playoffs and Stevie Francis didn't.

Eduardo Najera, Dallas Mavericks

Weak work: 1-3 record, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.6 bpg, 31% shooting

We know he isn't necessarily supposed to shoot. He isn't supposed to score. But 15 made field goals compared to 18 personal fouls for the month as your team goes 3-4 down the stretch is getting a little carried away. And the fact remains, when the Mavs win, Najera averages 7.8 ppg on 59 percent shooting. When they lose, he averages 3.9 ppg on 42 percent shooting. Amazing what two buckets will do.

Bryon Russell, Washington Wizards

Weak work: 1-2 record, 1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 1 spg, 0 bpg, 20% shooting

Let's hope he listened to his 5th grade English teacher and did get that degree from Long Beach State before turning pro.

The Ugly

John Lucas lost his job after the Cleveland Cavaliers went 8-34 to start the season. Three months later, his replacement, Keith Smart, is 8-30.

The Kitchen Sink

CHRIS' SAKE

Chris Webber will tell you that it has nothing to do with the Lakers or the Spurs or the Lakers or the Mavericks or the Lakers.

So we're left wondering why last year's pre-season MVP favorite is averaging only 23.1 points per game (his lowest in four years) and only 10.6 rebounds per game (after averaging 13 per game in 1999) while shooting a career-low 46 percent from the field as his steals and blocks drop below last year's levels and he shoots a putrid 60 percent from the free throw line if it is really about Chris Webber and the Sacramento Kings.

After all, they've got a point guard running the team who was recently selected to the Olympics. They've got a swingman who is arguably the best outside shooter in the game today. They've got a shooting guard locked onto the All Defensive squad. They've got a wise and venerable leader in the post and one of the best benches in the league.

What they don't have, though, is Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal or Jason Kidd or Allen Iverson or Kevin Garnett or Tracy McGrady or even Dirk Nowitzki.

In 40 postseason games, Chris Webber has averaged 21.4 points per game on 45 percent shooting which is down from his career regular season average of 22.2 points per game on 49 percent shooting.

On the other hand . . .

Duncan scores 22.9 in the regular season and 23.9 after it. Shaq goes from 27.6 to 28.2 in the playoffs, Kidd from 14.8 to 15.9 and KG from 19.4 to 19.5 and he has yet to win a series.

Now sit down before I read off these next few numbers.

Allen Iverson scores 27 per game in the regular season before warming up to 30.3 in the playoffs. Nowitzki goes from 20.1 to 25.6. Tracy McGrady jumps from 20.3 to a whopping 28 points per playoff game.

The bigger the game, the bigger the player required.

Simply, as another regular season comes to an end and another postseason begins, before it will ever be about the Sacramento Kings, it will have to be about Chris Webber.

BLUE LIGHT

Before being snubbed, or so he thought, for the All Star game this season, Kenyon Martin averaged 13.1 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting for the New Jersey Nets through the month of January. Since then, he's averaged 20.6 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting.

LAYING IT ON THE LINE

Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby has hit 51 free throws in a row dating back to his March 22 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. But even if he hit his next 51, assuming he can can get to the line that many times in the final two games of the regular season, his free throw percentage would still be 3 points behind league-leader Allan Houston who has gone 357 of 388 from the stripe for 92 percent.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Greg Ostertag grabbed 24 rebounds in Utah's last two games, both wins, after averaging 4.8 boards per game in December, 4.9 in January, 7.2 in February and 7.4 in March. For the month of April, he's at 9.6 rebounds per game meaning that he should just be hitting stride as the regular season comes to an end just like the year before and the year before that and the year...

LESS IS MORE

Jermaine O'Neal averaged 28.6 points and 10.3 rebounds this week in three games for Indiana and the Pacers still lost each of those games. But the bigger surprise is that when the Pacers have won this season, their all star forward has averaged 19.3 points. But when they've lost, he's averaged 22.4 points.

SZCZZZZZZLING!

Wally Szczerbiak has averaged 0.7 three-pointers per game over his career even after boosting those numbers by 1.1 per game this season. So you can understand why everyone in Minnesota was jumping up like crazy yesterday while Kevin Garnett was bowing down in homage as the swingman went 6 of 7 from long range and 19 of 26 overall to score a franchise-tying 44 points in their win against the Bulls to remain a half-game ahead of the Blazers for the fourth spot in the West.

BULL MARKET

Regardless of what happens in the next week, the Chicago Bulls are going to finish with a horrendous 3-38 record away from home, equal to Cleveland's road win total and one less than the Denver Nuggets.

But at home, they are currently 26-14, better than Philadelphia, Boston, Orlando and Milwaukee, four teams headed to the playoffs.

STYX AND STONES

Vince Carter, who hasn't played a full season since 2000

2001: 27.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.5 spg, 1 bpg, 47% shooting in 39.7 mpg in 75 games

Grant Hill, who hasn't played a full season since 1999

2000: 25.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 5.2 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.5 bpg, 49% shooting in 37.5 mpg in 74 games

LONE STAR SPECIAL

Dallas Mavericks (58-22) versus San Antonio Spurs (59-21)

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas

7:30 pm EST

This game was going to be for the best regular-season record in the entire NBA. Now, we're just crossing our fingers that the Mavericks can get out of it alive.

THE END

"I'd never say never."

—Jerry Stackhouse stopping short of joining Michael Jordan in a two on two against Elvis and Bruce Lee.