Hoops Chatter

Catching up on a few things while my Kevin Garnett appreciation piece lingers on another few weeks…

* The KG magnet is working well in Boston. Of the Celtics signings to fill out their roster since the big trade, Scot Pollard is no great shakes but Eddie House is a nice little microwave to have from outside coming off the bench to spell Rondo and Ray Allen, and, the real coup, glue guy James Posey has agreed to come to Boston to firm up its suspect defense. Like House, Posey is also a threat from three-point territory. The real winner in all this is Kendrick Perkins, who will be wide open on the weakside low block every time the C’s set up with KG on one block, Pierce and Allen on the wings, and gunners including Allen and House outside the arc.

* The flipside is the traded-KG magnetic force propelling Juwan Howard away from the Wolves. Howard’s stated desire to be traded just weeks after he himself was acquired was eminently predictable following Garnett’s departure, but the Wolves should resist compliance for at least a year. Anyone scanning Minnesota’s roster will notice a void of veteran leadership, at a time when the post-KG wake promises to wash up all kinds of pecking order disputes, even as Randy Wittman implements the hard-ass discipline that has been the most frequent justification made for his rehiring. Bottom line, the Wolves need Howard’s level head and mitigating demeanor, especially with clubhouse balm Mark Madsen waylaid by a watercraft incident. Too bad for Juwon, who isn’t getting any younger and wants a shot at a ring– or at least a chance to believe his role as lead babysitter will lead to tangible rewards before he retires.

* As if often the case, the best free-agent signings are teams retaining their keystone players (Gerald Wallace in Charlotte, Chauncey Billups in Detroit, Mo Williams in Milwaukee). Otherwise, there are a lot of gambles out there thus far. The Celts getting Posey is an exception–he’s a perfect fit–and I’d add to that a quartet of point-guard signings. The diciest of the four is Chucky Atkins going from nothing-to-lose Memphis to the impending pressure-cooker of a Nuggets squad that can’t afford to squander the Melo-AI-Camby combo one more year. Still, I think Atkins will be an upgrade over Steve Blake, who bears the scars of not stepping up in last year’s playoffs versus the Spurs. Blake’s return to Portland is a good idea for both sides, however, as he is the right guy to mentor Jarrett Jack and help along Greg Oden and company as the Blazers quicken into feared contenders for the next decade or so. Brevin Knight will give the Clips a nice little bridge between the fast-fading Sam Cassell and the recently drafted rookie. And Derek Fisher going back to the Lakers is a no-brainer all the way around.

In contrast, the big-man signings are fraught with risk. Did Jamaal Magloire permanently fall off the table that fast due to age and injuries, or will the chance to play with Kidd, Carter and Jefferson resurrect his low-post tenacity? Is Darko Milicic a tease or a burgeoning star? And how is he not redundant with Pau Gasol in Memphis? Mikki Moore was a wonderful story last year, and I’m glad he’s getting paid, but he’ll soon discover that playing with Bibby and Kelvin Martin is a tad different than Kidd and Jeff. Joe Smith is no upgrade over PJ Brown in Chicago (but perhaps a better fit with Ben Wallace, if not Joakim Noah).

Like the Sports Guy and many others, I believe Orlando grossly overpaid for Rashad Lewis, who does a lot of the big things and precious few of the little ones that turn a star into a superstar. But getting Adonal Foyle off the scrap heap to help Dwight Howard was a nice move. In signings that have more pronounced playoff implications, Grant Hill is a decent gamble for Phoenix, who is totally mortgaging its future (how many of their draft picks has Portland owner Paul Allen bought by now?) in order to win now. And Eddie Jones brings 10-12 minutes of quality defense and hustle to an already-stocked Dallas team whose biggest hurdle will be psychological in 2007-08.

* It is hard not to conclude that scandalized ref Tim Donaghy didn’t blow whistles that shaved points to abet the alleged mob figures who allegedly had him by the short hairs due to gambling debts. And I understand and appreciate that the credibility of the entire NBA will take a hit for it. But as a constant watcher of NBA games, one of the things I selfishly fear is that the refs as a group will have suffered sufficient loss of face that the rules about players bitching over calls will effectively vanish. As one who tends to side with employees over management in most labor disputes, I was surprised at how much I welcomed the potential reduction in absurd bellyaching after every blown whistle. But after a month or so of enforcing the rule, the refs seemed to slowly but surely relax their intolerance–or worse, selectively enforce it–as the season went on. Amid all the calls for upgrading the refs and removing any taint of scandal from their ranks, I hope that a bone gets tossed to the quality refs who will have to endure a horrendous season in 07-08 in the wake of the Donaghy matter. Specifically, David Stern should reiterate that needless complaints–and I’m talking about melodramatic reactions and extended debates by players who clearly just hacked/charged/travelled/etc–will result in additional fouls. Let’s clean up the game all the way around. I’ll take that over dress codes any day.

* Finally, while it is true that the United States has been unbeaten throughout its performances in FIBA Americas Championship Series over the decades, I do believe the current squad obliterating the South Americans this summer is the best all-around ballclub since the fabled Dream Teamers of the 1980s. When you can throw out three rugged floor generals like Kidd, Deron Williams and Billups at the point, have three-point specialists Michael Redd and Mike Miller as backcourt options, trump any opponents’ athletes with LeBron, Kobe, Melo and Tayshaun Prince as your swingmen, and finish off with Dwight Howard, Amare, and Tyson Chandler as your beef inside, you have got a team without discernable weakness.