| | It is a good thing voters in Bexar County, Texas, of which San Antonio
is the county seat, go to the polls the same day the NBA opens its
regular season to vote on authorizing additional tax dollars to build a
new arena for the Spurs. Unless civil curmudgeons turn out in record
numbers, the citizenry of the NBA's reigning title town figure to vote
to tax tourists a few more dollars so the Spurs' owners can have a
pleasure palace, complete with revenue-generating club seats and suites.
|  | | The Jazz are hoping that John Stockton can lead them to a division title. |
Unless they do, the Spurs are gone, and with them, Tim Duncan, whose
message to the voters when he opted not to sign a contract extension
before the season was perfectly clear: Don't mess up my new house.
San Antonians haven't faced a crisis this compelling since General
Santa Ana and his troops formed up to storm that little mission that
still sits downtown, near the San Antonio River. You know ... the Alamo.
And you know how that turned out.
A month into the season, though, and who knows how the Nov. 2 arena
vote might turn out. Ask the citizenry of Denver if they would vote to
fund a new stadium for the Broncos after their horrendous start this
season.
No way.
Fans, you see, are fickle beyond belief.
This is not to say the Spurs won't defend both the Midwest and Western
Conference titles they claimed last season. They will. It is to say they
may struggle a little early while they are finding out how to replace
one of their most valuable players, Sean Elliott.
Elliott will miss the season -- or the vast majority of it -- recovering
from kidney transplant surgery. That he intends to attempt a comeback
this season is remarkable, but no more so than the fact he played the
entire playoffs last spring knowing he would have to have the kidney
transplant in the offseason.
So what do the Spurs do without Elliott?
"We're not going to find anybody who can do for us what Sean Elliott
did for us," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Were not going to do
it. It won't happen. We've got to find somebody that embodies what he
did to whatever degree we can."
Popovich gets passionate about Elliott because he was one of the few
who knew of Elliott's condition during the playoffs and because he asked
Elliott to take the defensive assignment on every playoff opponent's
best scorer in every series.
None of the candidates to replace Elliott in the starting lineup -- Jaren Jackson, Malik Rose and Chucky Brown -- can defend great scorers
like Elliott could.
Of course, once potential scorers get past whichever Spur is guarding
them, they run smack into Tim Duncan and David Robinson. That hasn't
changed, and it is the reason the Spurs will repeat as Midwest -- and
Western -- champs.
Duncan should have been last season's regular season MVP, and he was a
runaway NBA Finals MVP. He is the league's best player. Period.
Robinson is becoming an elder statesman, and his back hasn't gotten any
more limber with another year gone. But he remains one of the league's
most athletic centers and best big men.
Picking the Spurs to win the division is easy. Figuring the rest of the Midwest is a crapshoot.
Houston hardly resembles the superstar-top-heavy unit it was last
season, what with Scottie Pippen shipped off to Portland for a cast of
thousands. Rarely does the team that gives up one player for several end
up the better in the deal, but the Rockets did get some talent back from
Portland for Pippen, including Kelvin Cato, the best backup for Hakeem
Olajuwon that Rudy Tomjanovich ever has had. And Walt Williams was built
to thrive in a fast-paced offense.
Oh, yes, the Rockets intend to run this season like never before, which
has come as something of a shock to Olajuwon's system. The
35-year-old center would like the Rockets to slow it down and post him
up a few times, and rest assured Tomjanovich will figure out a way to
get that done.
And, of course, Charles Barkley is battling injuries as the season
approaches, no doubt contributing to his insistence this will be his
last NBA season.
Houston has the NBA's best rookie, though, and Steve Francis is going
to get to play plenty, and in an offense in which he ought to thrive.
There's your Rookie of the Year.
The Rockets also have Shandon Anderson and the Utah Jazz do not,
which is why I'm placing Houston ahead of Utah in my projected Midwest
final standings.
The Jazz are getting old. I know we've been saying the same thing for,
oh, about five years, but this time it is true. Jeff Hornacek is playing
his final season, and Karl Malone had to sit out most of the preseason
with back stiffness. Plus, Greg Ostertag is still Utah's staring center.
Nevertheless, until Malone and John Stockton head off to retirement,
presumably at the same time, Utah always is going to be one of the NBA's
elite teams. They are that good. And just watch Malone's back loosen up
as soon as the games really count.
Duncan may be the best player in the entire NBA, but only marginally so
over the second-best player in his own division, Minnesota's Kevin
Garnett, another legitimate MVP candidate. Garnett has grown since being
drafted out of high school four years ago, both physically and as a
personality and league statesman. He exudes charisma, more so than any
player since that guy in Chicago with the wagging tongue retired.
Garnett is not 6-foot-11. he is a 7-footer with point guard handle and
small forward skills. If the T-Wolves had a legitimate center and a more
reliable perimeter scorer than Anthony Peeler, they might move past the
Jazz and Rockets. They are hoping Wally Szczerbiak can learn how to cheat
enough on defense to allow him to be that perimeter threat, but it's not
likely to happen this season.
Denver general manager Dan Issel fired head coach Mike D'Antoni and
took the job himself, a clear indication he thinks the Nuggets will be
better. A lot of that belief rests on whether center Raef LaFrentz is
fully recovered from knee surgery he had just eight months ago. Denver
made a major offseason trade, getting Ron Mercer from Boston for Danny
Fortson and figuring Mercer can perfectly complement power forward
Antonio McDyess, a legitimate candidate for one of the remaining 2000
Dream Team spots.
The Nuggets, though, will rise or fall with Nick Van Exel, who signed a
six-year contract extension worth $60 million. Issel is counting on the
dough buying him sell-out defensive effort from a guard who never has
paid much attention to that end of the court.
Dallas has made more goofy roster moves since Don Nelson took over the
basketball operations than the rest of the division, combined. Latest
curiosity: Getting high schooler Leon Smith out of the draft and farming him out to the
CBA. Little wonder, though. Nelson believes Shawn Bradley is a
legitimate NBA center.
The St. Louis ... er, I mean Vancouver Grizzlies made yet another
horrendous draft mistake -- remember Antonio Daniels? -- when they took
Steve Francis in spite of the fact he didn't want to play in Canada, or
on a team that already had a starting point guard like Mike Bibby.
Francis forced a trade to Houston, and desperate teams rarely
get market value. The Grizzlies got three backups, and two of those,
Michael Dickerson and Othella Harrington, will be starters. What does
that tell you? British Columbians won't have to fret about the Griz much
longer, though. New owner Bill Laurie owns the St. Louis Blues and the
Kiel Center Arena in St. Louis. Guess what, Vancouverites? Enjoy your
team while you can, if you can enjoy a team that will have finished in
last place in the Midwest every season it played there.
Mike Monroe, who covers the NBA for the Denver Post, writes a Western Conference column for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him at monroe128@go.com | |
ALSO SEE
NBA Preview 99
Preview '99: Welcome back to the NBA
Preview '99: NBA from A to Z
ESPN experts' picks for 1999-2000
Atlantic Division: Heat, Knicks to battle
Central Division: Improved Hornets take over
Pacific Division: Pippen, Portland ready to rule
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