Basketball Newsletter - Jan 18/2000
Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills celebrated his 30th birthday last
December. Less than a month later, he was killed in a car accident.
Phills's teammate David Wesley was on the same road at the time, but was not
directly involved in the crash.
How does a team recover from something like this? Phills was an emotional
leader of the underachieving Hornets. Would they make him their
inspiration to help them out of a recent 1-8 skid? Or would the losing
continue?
In their first game after the tragedy, Wesley was still an emotional wreck,
and the team's jump was anything but inspirational. They lost badly to the
Knicks.
But then they went home and played in front of the hometown crowd -
"Phills's Phans." Down by 10 to the Toronto Raptors at the half, the Bees
swarmed the court in the 3rd quarter, scoring 25 straight points. Toronto
still didn't know what hit them. Phills' Phans know!
And speaking of the Raptors...
There's a new rivalry developing in the NBA these days and it's old American pride, in fact it's Old Glory herself that has spurred it on here in Upper Canada. The USA Dream Team 2000 was chosen this week, and Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks was chosen over Toronto's Vince Carter -- you know, the guy who fills every building in the NBA except the Air Canada Centre? Well, a home-and-home series this week between the Bucks and the Raps ended up in bitter Carter-Allen rivalry, countless bloody noses, multiple bruises and body slams, a couple of suspensions, a franchise record 47 point performance by Mr. C and a dose of excitement for the Toronto fans that may finally start getting bums in those empty seats!
And speaking of bums...
It was fun while it lasted, the awakening of the hibernating Grizzlies. But it looks like it's business as usual again on the left coast. Vancouver has dropped 3 straight after pretending they were a good team. All year it's been the same... lose 3 or 4, win 1. Lose 7, win 2. Lose 4, fire the coach, win 1. Then win another, make it 3 in a row... then lose again. And again. And again. You wonder how many years an expansion team is allowed to perform like an expansion team. Especially when the owner isn't from these parts. They might just be singing the St. Louis blues soon.
Who's hot
* Suns forward Cliff Robinson. His numbers are solid - 20th overall in
points per game, 16th in 3-point percentage, and 12th in 3-pointers made. This guy goes through every season relatively unnoticed... until NOW! On Sunday, Cliffy scored 50 of his team's 113 points, the highest point total in the NBA this year. The first half-century man of the century! CTVSportsnet.com salutes you!
* How important is Chris Webber to the Sacramento Kings? He's their leading scorer and rebounder -- and some games even the top assist man. Sacramento's on a five-game winning streak leading into Tuesday's game against the Clippers, and Mr. Webber has averaged 30 points a game over that span
Who's not
* Maybe it was a good thing Charles Oakley was suspended for a game after a scrap Saturday night against Milwaukee. In his previous four games, the Raptors' grumpy old forward was a combined 6-27 from the field and scored only 17 points. He had scored 54 points in the four games preceding that awful stretch.
* The Golden State Warriors. Going into Tuesday's game against the slumping Magic, they had lost 12 in a row. 12 in a row! Shouldn't they have to pay a fine for that? Ugh! And what the heck is the Golden State anyway? Get a real team!
And another thing ...
Is Michael Jordan coming back... again? Rumour has it MJ is having talks with the Wizards and that he may be suiting up with the fledgeling Washington franchise. But when we say "suiting up" that's exactly what we mean... Michael may be management bound, so he'll be trading in his jam shorts and air shoes for some buttoned down collars and wingtips. Stay tuned!