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Points in the Paint

USA!! USA!!!

Hey there everyone, and welcome to another late edition of Points in the Paint. My computer acted up again, so I am a day late and a dollar short once again. This week we hit USA Basketball, Reggie Miller, and Penny Hardaway. Let's get to it!!

Now that's more like it!!

USA Basketball managed to turn back the clock this week, crushing their depleted and overmatched competition during the Tournament of the Americas. Thanks to their disappointing finishes in both the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 World Championships, the U.S. must finish first or second in this tournament to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. So far, so good; they've run everyone they've faced out of the gym in the round robin portion, and will probably do the same in the elimination round. So it looks like we won't have to worry about them missing the Olympics, which would the ultimate embarrassment. Now while these wins should cause us to get too confident since just about every other team in the tournament is playing without its better NBA guys, it's still an improvement over the last two teams. It looks like the guys who pick the players have finally gotten the right mix, adding in shooters in Michael Redd and Mike Miller to go along with the Lebrons and Carmelos of the world. But the biggest addition of all is one Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant plays both ends of the floor at an All-Star level, unlike Lebron and Carmelo who aren't much good at the defensive end, and has the killer instinct that's needed here. Attitude has been a big issue lately, because everyone else treats winning a gold medal the way our guys treat winning the NBA Finals. But Kobe Bryant doesn't play that; he goes for the jugular every time out, and these guys need that. Yes he wants to score a lot and look good doing it, but if those don't come along with a win, then he's not OK with it.

Jason Kidd has been another crucial piece; his ability to dominate a game without scoring even ten points makes all the difference in the world, and his experience gets respect from the other players that young point guards like Chris Paul can't command yet. With Kidd on the floor you also have another good defender who won't let opposing point guards abuse him the way that they have done to the recent U.S. teams. So are they ready to beat a fully stocked team from Argentina or Spain yet? No, but they're a lot closer than they were a year ago.

Thanks, but no thanks!

Reggie Miller decided that he would rather stay retired than go ring chasing with the Celtics; he said he was up to it physically but not mentally, which I can understand. It reminds of when I tried to go back to school after I'd finished my degree and was working full time. I was more than capable of doing the coursework, but I didn't need it for my job and just flat out couldn't get fired up enough to go to class and do homework for classes I didn't need. I ended up quitting after a few semesters. Now if Reggie could just show up at the arena, put on a uniform, and just play home games like I suggested he'd probably be back already. But that isn't the case, and he's more than likely looking at those dog days in January and February and knowing that he'll likely be mailing it in for several games at a time. It's not so much that he's gotten lazy as it is that he has nothing to prove to anyone, and it's easy to relax and not go full bore any more once that happens. I'll give him credit for being honest, because he could have taken the payday and gotten a cool million or so even though he knew he'd be stealing it half the time. The NBA has been littered with old guys long past being able to make a major contribution who were hanging around and picking up a check because their guaranteed contract hadn't run out yet or because some GM got nostalgic and thought he cold get 10 to 15 quality minutes out of a guy even though he was darn near 40 and hadn't played more than 5 minutes or so per night in recent years. Miller left when he was still a good player, and did not have to suffer through the embarrassment of getting DNP-CDs on a regular basis because there was no longer any point in running him out there any more. Good for you, Reggie; enjoy the retirement you've earned.

A Penny for your thoughts

No word yet on any of the other Space Cowboys I talked about last week, but one guy I didn't mention did come back: Anfernee Hardaway returned to the NBA when he signed with the Miami Heat. So now the original Shaq sidekick will be playing with the guy who Shaq has become the sidekick for. Like Kobe Bryant, Hardaway didn't get along so well with Shaq and went through a short and less intense power struggle with the big man back in Orlando. There really wasn't a winner because Shaq packed up for L.A. three years after they got together. People who only started watching the league a few years ago have no idea just how good this guy was; he was named first team all-NBA in his second and third seasons at age 23 and 24, and was considered the best all around perimeter player in the league during the period that Michael Jordan was absent from the game. He finished third in the MVP voting in 1995-96, behind Jordan and David Robinson, and was poised to take the mantle from Jordan once he decided to hang it up for good. Then the wheels began to fall off. The injuries began to set in; after missing a combined five games in three years he went through a five season stretch where he missed 23, 63, 32, 22, and 78 games. Along the way he went from a being a reliable 20 point per game scorer to a 15 to 16 point guy all the way down to a 10 point per game guy, at only 31 years old. He stumbled around for a few more seasons, no longer able to warrant more than sixth man level playing time. After a disastrous 4 game season with the Knicks, where he was traded back to Orlando only to be deactivated for the rest of the season because the Magic only wanted his expiring contract and not him, he disappeared from the league entirely.

You had to see Penny play to truly grasp what I'm talking about here; the man was truly spectacular. People were saying the same things about him then that they say now about Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, etc; the man was that good. He went from an MVP candidate at age 24 to being just a guy at 29 to being washed up at 32. That's how quickly things can turn; another example is Fat Lever, a guard who played during the 80s and early 90s. For a four year stretch, the 6-foot-three Lever averaged 18.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists. Then, just when he should have been in the middle of his prime at age 30, he got hurt and was never the same. A two time All-Star at age 29, he was out of the league at age 33 due to his injuries. Lever was an excellent all-around player, not quite the scorer that Wade is now but just as good an assist man and a better rebounder. And just like that, it was gone. Lever sat out a season, just like Penny did, and tried to make a comeback but after a year in which he averaged career lows in scoring and rebounding he called it quits. Penny is trying to do the same at 36 years old, as a reserve on a Heat team that is trying to get back to the Finals for one final hurrah for Shaq. He'll likely have a good night here or there, but don't be surprised to see the DNP-CDs pile up as the season wears on. It would be nice to see him and Shaq make one last play for a ring together after their embarrassing four game defeat twelve years ago.

Now about that Western Conference

I know I previewed the East a few weeks ago, and haven't mentioned the West yet. Well, there's a good reason for that: I have no clue. The West is too loaded to make any major predictions right now. It looks like six of last season's eight playoff teams are likely to make it back in this coming season: Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah, Denver, and Houston. The last two spots are up for grabs, and will be fought over by the Lakers, Kings, Hornets, and Warriors. That's about all I know right now for sure. Memphis could easily be much better than they were last season, while the Los Angeles Clippers season ended when Elton Brand got hurt a few weeks ago. I'll try to figure out something there soon.

OK, that's it for this week. Next week….I have no idea. Until then.

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