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 2007-02-14 14:59  #1
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Mike Monroe: All-Star break will crank up the trade-rumor mill

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA021407.07C.COL.BKNmonroe.trades.1fe127d.html

Web Posted: 02/14/2007 12:03 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News

Every mover and shaker in the NBA will be in Las Vegas this weekend, and the trade deadline is one week from Thursday.

You know what that means: Trade Rumor Central.
Let's start some of our own, with the understanding each is based on kernels of truth that came from some of our best inside-the-NBA sources.

It's going to be an upset if the Clippers trade Corey Maggette, who has been on the trade rumor merry-go-round for weeks.

This is not because the team's basketball staff doesn't want to get rid of him or that Maggette wants to stay in L.A. On the contrary, the team's coaches want him gone, and his agent, Rob Pelinka, has asked for and been given permission to talk with other teams about potential deals.

The team's coaches believe Maggette is responsible for having single-handedly ruined team chemistry, separating himself from teammates to the point he sits at a table by himself when the coaches have a breakfast meeting on road trips in lieu of a morning shootaround. Maggette has had two reported confrontations with head coach Mike Dunleavy during, or after, games this season. While Dunleavy has taken the "high road" in discussing the incidents, don't doubt he would be much happier if Maggette were gone.

Why, then, is Maggette still with the Clippers? Ask Donald T. Sterling. He owns the team, and Maggette, we're told, is his favorite player. Sterling has nixed several possible deals already and has made it clear to Dunleavy and general manager Elgin Baylor they are not to do a Maggette trade he does not approve.

If you're wondering why Maggette started in Elton Brand's stead in the Clippers' game at Detroit on Monday night, it was because that game, unlike the team's previous game in Indianapolis, was televised back in Los Angeles. The coaches were hoping Sterling would see enough of Maggette's uninspired (and uninspiring) play to perhaps lift his embargo on a deal. Maggette didn't disappoint, missing seven of 10 shots in a blowout loss.

Though the Warriors already pulled off the biggest trade of the season — Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Ike Diogu, Troy Murphy and Keith McLeod to the Pacers for Al Harrington, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Stephen Jackson and Josh Powell — Don Nelson is said to be itching for one more pre-deadline deal. Expect Mickael Pietrus to be dangled but only if GM Chris Mullin can get value in return. Pietrus intrigues a lot of teams, but when Jason Richardson is fully healthy, there won't be a lot of playing time for him.

Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry will be actively seeking a deal. His team is close enough to first place in the East to believe top seed in the Eastern playoffs is possible. Trouble is, the one asset he has that other teams most often ask about, forward Anderson Varejao, makes only $950,000. There aren't many players out there making that little money who could provide the same sort of value.

Portland will work hard to move center Jamaal Magloire, but the Blazers are looking for expiring contracts and draft picks. They had even contacted the Spurs about Magloire, with an eye on Eric Williams' expiring $4.3 million deal. Tuesday's Spurs-Bobcats trade means that won't happen, but the Blazers will continue to shop around.

Though he is the most talented player who clearly is available, it doesn't seem as if Pau Gasol is going anywhere. Ordinarily, players who ask to be traded diminish their value, but the Grizzlies aren't going to give away a big man with the skills Gasol owns. The Bulls want him, but the price — a package that likely would include Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni and P.J. Brown — seems prohibitive.


Mike Finger: Dynasties never last for long

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA021407.01C.COL.BKNfinger.dynasties.1bee69e.html

Web Posted: 02/13/2007 11:23 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News

They built a foundation with unheralded-but-brilliant draft picks, pulled off a couple of shrewd trades, and were led by a trio of elite players who seemed destined for each other, if not the Hall of Fame. They ended up with three championships to show for it, then woke up one day and found themselves looking awfully old.
And now?

The Spurs hope their next step works out a lot better than the Cowboys' did.

Dynasties in sports are funny things, what with how they can be so coveted and so taken for granted at the same time, and how they take so long to build and yet can fall apart so quickly. Few of them last longer than the prime of a star player, and those that do always require a little luck.

Sometimes, they even can start to look alike, even when they span different decades and different sports. Before Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the most beloved sports triumvirate in San Antonio had been Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith.

A decade later, it's easy to forget how quickly the power of "The Triplets" disintegrated. The Cowboys won their third Super Bowl in 1995, won their division in 1996, and by 1997, full-scale panic had set in. Aikman didn't look as sharp, Irvin had lost a step, and the supporting cast wasn't as strong as it once was. Some said the naysayers were overreacting, but Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since.

Those Spurs fans who believe in déjà vu or numerology (a third championship in 2005, a division title in 2006, panic in 2007) can't like where this is heading. When the Cowboys hit the wall in 1997, the eldest two of their marquee trio were 31 and 30 years old. Today, Duncan is 30, and Ginobili is 29.

Of course, there are limits to this comparison. Basketball players don't peak at the same age as their football brethren, and the circumstances offer more differences. The Spurs, for example, are in no danger of being coached by the likes of Barry Switzer and Chan Gailey. And the Cowboys never had the opportunity to be rescued by the likes of Melvin Ely.

Ely won't save a dynasty by himself, but he can do more than some might think. He was talented enough to be the 12th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, and he automatically becomes the Spurs' second-best low-post scorer as soon as he puts on a uniform. If he can provide the same kind of subtle spark Nazr Mohammed offered in 2005, he will have done his part.

If anything, Tuesday's trade shows the Spurs realize how fleeting dynasties can be. Even though the Mavericks and Suns have looked light years ahead of them over the past few months, the Spurs still have to believe they have a better chance to win this season than they do next year or in any after that. The window only stays open for so long, and it's better to spend energy keeping it pried open than to let it slam shut and search for another one.

The Cowboys figured that out the hard way. Four coaching searches and a multitude of new game plans later, they still haven't found another window. And they aren't the only ones.

The landscape is littered with dying sports dynasties, and it gets more cluttered every day. This week, Duke men's basketball team was shut out of the Top 25 for the first time in the coaches' poll's nine-year history. The Yankees just spent another offseason trying to recreate the formula that enabled them to dominate the World Series from 1996-2000.

And last month, the New England Patriots — who like the Spurs and Cowboys had built their own three-title dynasty — were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs for the second year in a row. Tom Brady, by the way, is about to turn 30.

But Brady isn't over the hill yet, and neither is the core of the Spurs. Duncan is still two years younger than Steve Nash and just two years older than Dirk Nowitzki, and he'll be starting in the All-Star Game this week. Parker will be joining him, and Ginobili continues to display the kind of energy that belies his bald spot.

So there are a few reasons for optimism, just as there were 10 years ago with a different big three.

The Spurs can only hope the similarities end there.


After failure with Nuggets, Bzdelik pushes Air Force into national prominence

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA021407.01C.BKCairforce.bzdelik.1bee033.html

Web Posted: 02/13/2007 11:19 PM CST
Mike Monroe
Express-News

DENVER — It is 46 minutes before tipoff of the Spurs-Nuggets game at the Pepsi Center on Jan. 10. Gregg Popovich is making a fashion statement.

Addressing reporters, the Spurs head coach is wearing an Air Force Academy cap, proud to represent the school whose basketball team he captained in the 1969-70 season.

Popovich answers the usual questions about the Spurs and gives the typical answers before someone asks him about this season's Air Force team, a 65-57 winner over New Mexico the previous night.

"Now that's the real basketball story here," Popovich says. "Let's talk about that."

Animated now, Popovich gushes about his friend, Jeff Bzdelik, the coach who is guiding Air Force to places it never dreamed possible, certainly not when Popovich was the team's leading scorer 37 years ago.

"They've got people waiting in line to buy tickets," Popovich said, shaking his head in astonishment. "When I was playing there, we might have seven people in the stands, and two of them were my roommates."

Air Force's surge into college basketball's Top 25 is one of this season's best stories. The Falcons are 21-4 and rank 17th in the Associated Press poll heading into tonight's home game against Utah. On their way to a national ranking, the Falcons recorded victories over Stanford and Wake Forest.

Matching Bzdelik in 2005 with an Air Force program already on an upswing was a natural. Fired as head coach of the Denver Nuggets 28 games into the 2004-05 season, Bzdelik was available and eager. He had remained in Colorado, where his son was one of the top prep golfers in the state.

Popovich was one of the first to phone Bzdelik with words of encouragement after the Nuggets let him go in favor of George Karl.

When Chris Mooney departed and Air Force needed an able replacement, Popovich phoned again, urging Bzdelik to go after the job.

"I took it upon myself to call Hans Mueh, the athletic director, to let him know that he wasn't just getting somebody that had some sort of name, quote-unquote, because he was in the NBA," Popovich said. "He was getting a blue collar, nuts-and-bolts steady individual who really knew how to coach. I wanted him to know Jeff's (dismissal) in Denver had absolutely nothing to do with his ability to coach."

Speed up the offense

Bzdelik liked what he discovered when he got to Air Force: a team made up of intelligent, hard-working players well-schooled in a solid offensive scheme. Some of the Falcons had exceptional talent. He went to work tweaking the system and emphasized individual player development.

"Players make the offense," Bzdelik said. "The offense doesn't make the player. Case in point: Tex Winter. They ran the same system in Chicago after Michael (Jordan) and Scottie (Pippen) left and didn't have the same result."

Bzdelik inherited some decent players, including one he believes can play in the NBA if he finds the right situation. Most nights, however, the Falcons are smaller, slower and less skilled than their opposition. No team in NCAA Division I, however, plays with more discipline or vigor.

Where previous Air Force teams relied on the Princeton offense, both to create easy baskets and slow the tempo, Bzdelik has his team running.

"I wanted to quicken the pace of the offense," Bzdelik said. "It's such a great offense, why allow the defense to set and rest and relax and exhale and dig in?"

Finding the right place

Working with the Falcons rekindled Bzdelik's love affair with coaching. His Nuggets experience, where he was 73-119, had soured the relationship. Carmelo Anthony, while still a rookie, showed Bzdelik the ultimate disrespect by refusing to enter a game when the head coach called his name. At Air Force, where countermanding a direct order is unthinkable, he found players willing to run through walls at his bidding.

"What a great opportunity for us to have an NBA coach come in here," said Dan Nwaelele, the 6-foot-5 Air Force swing man with the potential NBA future. "He knows the game of basketball inside and out, and he's got experience on the next level."

Bzdelik understood the challenge of coaching basketball at a service academy. Recruits aren't pampered and promised pro careers. Instead, they undergo basic training and military regimen. Graduates are committed to five years as Air Force officers, though the Air Force hierarchy has been willing to address the status of the school's most talented athletes on a one-by-one basis should they have professional sports opportunities.

Nwaelele, Matt McCraw, Nick Welch, Tim Anderson and Jake Burtschi form Bzdelik's core, but he uses his bench liberally and keeps his players fresh. The matchup zone defense he employs has helped the Falcons shut down more talented offensive teams. He employs some offensive sets Popovich has asked to borrow.

"Don't get carried away," Bzdelik said. "When Coach (Popovich) calls, it's not to ask for advice. He usually just wants to give encouragement. Mostly, he calls and says, 'When are you going to win another game?'"

Popovich never tires of talking about the Falcons and Bzdelik. He frets about the academy's ability to keep his friend. Ricardo Patton won't be back at Colorado next season, and Bzdelik's name is at the top of its list of potential replacements.

"I don't want to say I'd try to break his legs if he did that," Popovich said, laughing, "but suffice to say that there would be a whole lot of people who would hate to lose him, starting with the players who are playing for him, and also the institution and all of us who have graduated from there and watched it."

The Falcons continue to thrive and surprise, even as they have succeeded to the point victories are expected. They have been to the NCAA tournament twice in the past three years, including last season, Bzdelik's first. They seem destined for another NCAA bid, perhaps with a good seed that could put them in position for a school first: a victory in the NCAA tournament.

Popovich and every roommate he had in his four years as a cadet will want tickets for that.
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Blessing in Disguise

Heaven in Hell
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 2007-02-15 08:55  #2
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