CLIPPERS SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO KINGS' BLUEPRINT.Byline: SCOTT WOLF Scott Richard Wolf (born June 4, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Boston, Massachusetts to Steven Wolf and Susan Enowitch, Wolf was raised in West Orange, New Jersey. He graduated in 1986 from West Orange High School. / NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= John Stockton's last-second basket broke the hearts of Sacramento fans Friday night, but it can't diminish the remarkable transition the Kings have made from perennial league also-ran to a potential team of the future. Consider that a year ago, the Kings were barely considered much better than the Clippers. So how is it that Sacramento is currently giving Utah a coronary in the playoffs while the Clippers are once again winning the NBA's Mr. Irrelevant "Mr. Irrelevant" is the tongue-in-cheek title bestowed each year upon the last pick of the annual National Football League draft. While the origin of the nickname is obscure, the term's meaning is obvious: the last player selected in the draft is the one most likely to be the first Award? Just examine the amount of activity between the two clubs from the conclusion of last season until the league ended the lockout lockout, intentional closing up of a company, factory, or shop by an employer to prevent employees from working during a strike or labor dispute. The term lockout in February. The Kings made a major trade, acquiring forward Chris Webber For the Canadian-born former BBL basketball player, see . Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III, better known as Chris Webber or C-Webb (born March 1, 1973, in Detroit, Michigan), is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.. from Washington. The Clippers made no trades. The Kings filled their hole at center with a huge free-agent addition, former Laker Vlade Divac Vlade Divac (Serbian Cyrillic: Владе Дивац, pronounced [ˈvlaːdɛ ˈdiːvaʦ] . The Clippers filled their void at point guard by belatedly signing an overweight Sherman Douglas Sherman Douglas (born September 15 1966, in Washington, D.C., U.S.A.) is an American former professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers. from 1989 to 1992. . The Kings re-signed their key free agent, forward Corliss Williamson Corliss Mondari Williamson (born on December 4, 1973 in Russellville, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player, who played for four teams during his 12-year NBA career. His nickname is "Big Nasty", a moniker he received from his cousin when he was 13. . The Clippers had two key free agents, forward Loy Vaught Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a retired American basketball player who spent ten seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. and center Ike Austin, and let both go without receiving any compensation. The Kings made a bold decision on draft day, taking point guard Jason Williams Jason Williams can refer to any of the following people:
Vincent Lamar "Vince" Carter (born January 26, 1977) is an American All-Star basketball player in the NBA. He currently is a starting shooting guard for the New Jersey Nets. He is considered one of the best scoring guards in the game today. and went the safe route by selecting center Michael Olowokandi Michael Olowokandi (born April 3 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria), nicknamed The Kandi Man is a Nigerian professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He currently is a free agent. , who could develop into a star, but probably for another team. The teams did one thing similar. Both fired their coaches at the end of last season, and both hired coaches viewed as retreads. With one major difference. The Kings didn't wait until just before the lockout to hire Rick Adelman Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16 1946 in Lynwood, California, United States) is a former basketball player, assistant coach and head coach in the National Basketball Association. , like the Clippers did with poor Chris Ford. And Kings vice president Geoff Petrie gave Adelman a chance by adding some talent to the roster. Ford never had a chance with the crew he was given in training camp. So when the Kings are on national television today in Game 5 against the Jazz, maybe the Clippers will notice that a blueprint does exist for turning around a troubled franchise. It can be done in one season. But for this to happen, there's one key thing the Kings didn't have to worry about that the Clippers do: A cheap, meddling med·dle intr.v. med·dled, med·dling, med·dles 1. To intrude into other people's affairs or business; interfere. See Synonyms at interfere. 2. To handle something idly or ignorantly; tamper. owner. No more massages: Orlando's Darrell Armstrong won the Sixth Man Award this week, but it might be awhile before he goes back to the massage table. Armstrong played the last week of his season with a sore right shoulder - the same one where he had the rotator cuff rotator cuff n. A set of muscles and tendons that secures the arm to the shoulder joint and permits rotation of the arm. Also called musculotendinous cuff. surgery last season. The soreness, though, is not related to surgery. He thinks it is related to a recent massage he had before the Magic played at Milwaukee. ``She rubbed a little too deep on the shoulder,'' he said. ``I think she was trying to turn me into Stretch Armstrong.'' It's only money: Miami guard Tim Hardaway's wallet is feeling a little lighter. After falling short on an $854,000 assists-to-turnovers bonus during the regular season, Hardaway was fined $5,000 by the NBA for failing to leave the court in a timely fashion and verbally abusing the officials following his ejection in Game 3 against the Knicks. Hardaway was asked if the fine was justified? ``I got my money's worth,'' he said. Green to Miami? The Heat are interested in signing former Lakers forward A.C. Green, who is unlikely to re-sign with Dallas. It's no coincidence with former Lakers coaches Pat Riley and Randy Pfund making decisions in Miami. ``He'd be a nice addition to a team,'' general manager Pfund said. ``You'd certainly be right to assume, with some history there.'' No faith: Not that people in Minneapolis didn't think the Timberwolves would make the playoffs, but the team had to share the Target Center this week with the Shrine Circus. The San Antonio Spurs' locker room doubled as the clowns' dressing room. By any name, he's a bust: It's a good thing Bison Dele, aka Brian Williams, had 17 points in Detroit's victory in Game 4 against Atlanta. His teammates in Detroit - including Grant Hill - have given up hope of forcing him to play harder and feel like he must be traded for the Pistons to have any chance of joining the NBA's elite. Bring back Casey: Two of the Nets' most important players - forward Keith Van Horn For the American football player, see . Keith Adam Van Horn (born October 23 1975, in Fullerton, California) is an American basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks. Van Horn graduated from Diamond Bar High School and played for the University of Utah. and guard Kendall Gill - have asked the club to re-hire interim coach Don Casey, but management has told players to keep quiet about the coaching position. RANKING THE NBA: 1 TO 10 AND NO. 29 A look at staff writer Scott Wolf's weekly NBA ratings: 1. San Antonio: David Robinson demands ball, Spurs take out T'Wolves. 2. Indiana: Bird dumbs down substitution pattern, Pacers sweep Bucks. 3. Lakers: One way or another, Glen Rice becomes the issue. 4. Utah: Just 0.7 seconds away from elimination, end of era. 5. Portland: Blazers resting while Jazz go five games against Kings. 6. Miami: Riley's called a genius for getting No. 1-seeded Heat to Game 5? 7. Houston: Is it time to begin the major overhaul? 8. Philadelphia: Larry Brown's already nervous about reunion with Pacers. 9. Atlanta: Few realize Hawks have three first-round draft picks. 10. Sacramento: Just when they got our attention, season appears over. No. 29 Clippers: Baron Davis will be available - don't mess this one up. BY THE NUMBERS 32-2 - Run of points by the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Knicks during their Game 3 victory over the Miami Heat. 15 - Number of years Utah guard John Stockton has participated in the playoffs, which ties him for the third-best mark in NBA history. 4 - Number of categories that Orlando's Darrell Armstrong averaged career-highs en route to the NBA's Sixth Man Award. Armstrong averaged 13.8 points, 6.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.16 steals. 0.5 - Seconds remaining in overtime on Tuesday when Indiana's Dale Davis tipped in a Mark Jackson miss that resulted in a 108-107 OT win over the Milwaukee Bucks. SIGN OF THE TIMES No playoff series got less respect from the NBA than Philadelphia-Orlando. When the original schedule was announced, this was the only one of eight series without a travel day between the fourth and fifth games. When Orlando won Game 2 to force a fourth game, the NBA refused to announce a starting time for Game 4. The league waited until two other series ended - and three hours after Philly won Game 3 - to finally decide the starting time for Game 4. RUMOR OF THE WEEK The Clippers are interested in re-signing free agent forward Lorenzen Wright, then trading him to Boston for Kenny Anderson and Ron Mercer. The teams would also swap their first-round draft picks as part of the deal. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) ANDERSON (2) MERCER |
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