www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1078963&format=textNice deal if you get one
Trades can be a real pick-me-up
By Mark Murphy / NBA Notes | Sunday, March 9, 2008 |
www.bostonherald.com | NBA Coverage
Photo by AP (file)
It takes a veteran like Mike Bibby time to take in all the new faces.
But the veteran point guard is quick.
There he was in TD Banknorth Garden’s visiting locker room on March 2, attempting to characterize his new Atlanta teammates, and perhaps trying to score some early points as well.
He noticed that young Jeremy Richardson, a little used rookie who played last year for the wonderfully named Delta State Mad Ants, was listening while trying hard not to make it obvious from his spot four lockers over.
“Take that Richardson for example,” said Bibby, breaking into a big smile. “He can really shoot that thing.”
Richardson, his cover blown, melted into a body-shaking laugh, and Bibby followed suit.
Bibby is clearly enjoying himself again.
After missing most of the season in Sacramento with injury, and repeatedly hearing that Beno Udrih - not him - was now the future at point guard, Bibby was ready for a divorce.
It could even be said that the Hawks, one of the youngest and most exciting units in the NBA, have brought out the kid again in Bibby.
“Hey,” he said, seemingly taking offense. “I’m young.”
“These guys are young and they can get real easy baskets for me,” Bibby said. “It’s just good to be a part of it.
More to the point, then, is the fact that Bibby, like most of the other big-name players who were sent packing at an amazing rate over the past year, is refreshed.
Like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in Boston, Jason Kidd in Dallas and Pau Gasol in Los Angeles, Bibby has broken out with some of his best basketball in years.
“I think so,” he said of the validity of the rejuvenation principle. “I was injured the first three months of the season and it was frustrating. I’m still trying to get back into shape and everything. My minutes were cut down and I’m trying to get that back. But this has really felt great.”
The Celtics [team stats], tracking the Hawks’ surge in efficiency since Bibby’s arrival, discovered some interesting improvements.
“They’re averaging five, six more shots a game, and four more (3-pointers) a game than before he got there,” Celts coach Doc Rivers said. “You’re talking about quite a change when a team goes from taking 93 shots a game to 98.
“He’s clearly had an impact on guys like (Al) Horford and Josh Smith.”
Most of all, though, the change of scenery, going from a dead end in Sacramento to promise in Atlanta, has re-energized Bibby.
“He’s engaged,” Rivers said of Bibby. “There’s a smile on his face and he’s playing hard. And guys do get disengaged.”
Consider the comments of Nets president Rod Thorn after finally trading the disillusioned Kidd, who may have been as discouraged by the lack of a contract extension as anything happening on the floor.
“It became very apparent that his heart wasn’t in it,” Thorn said at the time of the trade.
Kidd arrived in Dallas with a lift in spirit that was reflected in his numbers, with six double-figure assist performances in his first eight games, and significant increases in his shooting (from .379 overall to .468 as a Mav), 3-point shooting (.372 to .588) and steals (1.68 per game to 3.13).
Compare the fortunes of Bibby and Kidd to those left behind.
Ron Artest, who had been banking on a trade deadline move, has been making life hell for Kings coach Reggie Theus.
Antoine Walker has been talking nonstop about his disappointment over not being moved off the Minnesota roster, though not badly enough to accept the Timberwolves’ lowball buyout offer.
Indeed, it has to be tough to feel left behind in today’s NBA.
Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, the Lakers, Cleveland and Atlanta - playoff teams of varying strengths - are all running on the power of change.
“I haven’t seen something like this since I’ve been in the league,” said Allen. “We’ve always said as players that general managers in this league were afraid to pull the trigger on trades in this league.”
And now this.
“Every year the team that wins the title is the one that triggers the chain reaction for the other teams and how they try to build a lineup,” Allen said. “If Dallas had won the title last year, you’d see teams trying to put together teams in that style. People have been trying to build what they have in San Antonio for a long time.
“But Miami set a trend two years ago, and Detroit and Miami have been the two teams that Danny (Ainge) could equate with.”
First, of course, Ainge had to acquire Garnett and Allen, two players hungry for a change.
Feud for thought
About that brewing feud between Theus and Artest:
Has Theus forgotten that he was once a highly respected player in this league? One whose background is the chief currency behind his rise as an NBA coach, not to mention his credibility with players?
How else to explain that Theus has started fining players $5,000 for criticizing him in public.
Sounds like a coach who may not be long for this league.
The Sacramento Bee reported last week that Artest was fined for second guessing Theus’ decisions following a loss to Miami last Monday, going so far as to wonder if the coaching staff had lost its interest in making the playoffs.
Theus called public comments of this nature detrimental, and said, “We don’t make comments about other players and staff in the paper. We don’t do it.”
Theus does, however, go after his players.
John Salmons was fined $5,000 for walking out on one of Theus’ team lectures - an event witnessed and reported by the media.
Mikki Moore, disappointed at not being involved more in a game against his old Nets team last December, was also fined $5,000 for speaking out.
Hughes is Bullish
Larry Hughes could have easily been distressed by his trade from 2006-07 NBA finalist Cleveland to Chicago, especially since the Bulls have further to go to reach respectability than most teams involved in that trade deadline activity.
But judging from the guard’s recent comments, it’s hard to think just what, exactly, he’s been thinking.
For starters, Hughes said he welcomed the trade because he wasn’t comfortable with his role.
“I play to enjoy myself,” he said. “Some people take this the wrong way, but winning a championship is not what I base everything on.”
Miami’s Jason Williams, then with Memphis, was summarily roasted for making a similar comment several years ago.
And it should be said here that Hughes is a player of great perspective. The focus of his career, ever since leaving Saint Louis University after his freshman year, was to do everything possible to make life easier for a younger brother who suffered from a congenital heart condition. His brother died last year.
But right now those comments come across as sour grapes, and can be interpreted as an inability to mesh with the most important man in Cleveland, LeBron James.
“I was asked to sacrifice for the team to win, and for everybody, I guess, to get paid,” he said. “That is what was told to me, and I wasn’t happy with that.”
More to the point, Hughes proved not to be either the point guard or a good enough shooter to open the floor up for James.
Apparently he’ll be happier staying home in May. . . .
As several diligent and indignant e-mailers pointed out, I incorrectly reported in last week’s notes that the Celtics drafted Jon Barry in 1993 instead of taking a chance on Sam Cassell or P.J. Brown.
The actual choice, with the 19th pick, was Acie Earl - an even larger indictment on the choices of Celtics CEO Dave Gavitt, who took the clumsy center from Iowa sight unseen when he slid out of the lottery and into the Celtics’ lap.
