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Home , Brendan Haywood, Christian Laettner, Don Chaney, Eastern Conference (NBA), Jeff Van Gundy, Marcus Camby

The Bronx Journal/February 2002 S P O RT S A 1 5 The Wizard of Odds

GREG VAN VOORHIS SPORTS EDITOR The Chronicles: Month 2

f any of you, my more weeks. Although it seems that Superman, devoted readers, read Michael Jordan, has pulled off another mir- last month’s article acle, this time in a blue cape rather than his normal Bull red, he should not count the and the first issue of my Bulla eggs before they are hatched. With long chronicles of New Jersey, , , Indiana, and ahead of the Wiz in the stand- Michael Jordan’s return, you ings, and teams like , Charlotte, would have noted that yours Orlando, , and all with- in a few games of Washington, their fine truly believed that the play of late must hold up or else they will be , then an in danger of losing the playoff spot which they would hold were the to start abysmal 3-10, still had a t o d a y. Of the eleven teams mentioned chance to turn their season above, including Washington, only eight will make the playoffs come April. around and become a playoff For the Wizards to make it into the play- team as long as MJ was at offs, they should finish their season with at least 40 wins, meaning that they would the helm of their revival. have to go 22 and 24 the rest of the way. And who woulda thunk it? They will do so. In a few weeks, they But ‘His Airness’ has gone should get both Richard Hamilton and back from injuries, and and done it, as his Wiz are one never knows what mid-season trade currently 18-18, good for 6th Michael can pull-off behind the scenes in order to make a final push toward the play- in the Eastern Conference offs. and playing strong. Also on the horizon, Michael will repre- sent the Wizards at the All-Star break next Most impressive during the turnaround month as he will be voted a starter for the has been the fact that most of it has been Eastern Conference by the fans. accomplished without the services of Richard Hamilton (lost due to a groin pull), their most consistent player and leading scorer during the early stretch of the run. Knicks in Need of Rasheed The Wiz have put together a franchise best Camby, , and Sprewell is just not nine-game winning streak and have since eff Van Gundy got out when the Michael has working anymore, and it is time for some gone 6-8, most of which has come against gettin’was good and new Knicks new blood in New York. pretty stiff competition. J coach now has his Columnist Peter Vescey has said that a In Hamilton’s absence, Jordan, currently also passed a hands full. trade of Sprewell and Thomas or ninth in the NBAin scoring average at 25.5 After starting the season playing .500 Houaston and Camby might be enough to points per game, along with 6 rebounds and , a slow-start for our hometown pry Rasheed Wallace away from Portland. 5 assists per outing, has been magnificent, milestone this team, the Knicks are losers of six straight If that is the case, and I were Knick man- tallying 51 and 45 points in back to back games, and are 4-13 since Jeff Van agement, I would be all over it. Whenever wins, following a career low 6- perfor- Gundy stepped down as head coach of the you have the possiblity to trade small for mance and Wizard loss. Michael has also month as he club. But this is only the beginning. big, you should jump on it. passed a milestone this month as he has Players such as Latrel Sprewell, Allan True, Rasheed would bring a lot of bag- become one of only four players in NBA Houston, , and Shandon has become gage along with his All-Star to New York, history to accumulate 30,000 career points. Anderson have already questioned interim but at this, it is absolutely worth the risk. The Wizards’ success can also be attrib- head coach Don Chaney’s game deci- Losing Latrel Sprewell would be quite uted in large part to the play of rookie cen- sions, and the Knicks seem to lack the one of only costly, but I do not see a deal involving ter Brendan Haywood and second year fire and desire that took them to the 1998 bringing Rasheed to the guard Tyronne Lue, aquired via free agency NBAFinals. Knicks, and I would not part with Camby from the Lakers. The pair come off of the Sure, there is no . True, four players in to get Rasheed. Envision a starting line- bench and bring timely defense and potent the energy and passion that Chris Childs up of , Houston, Shandon offense to the Wiz. brought to the floor night in and night out Anderson, Rasheed Wallace, and Marcus At 7’0”, Haywood’s size alone spells NBA history to has been replaced by the court-savvy Camby. That would be quite dangerous in problems for opposing centers, and Lue’s Mark Jackson. Yes, Clarence the Eastern Conference. defense became notorious in last year’s Weatherspoon, the Knicks biggest aquisi- With head coaches Dunleavy, NBA Finals when he was called upon to accumulate tion this off-season, has missed more than , maybe even defend , mostly during fourth half of the season due to injury, and the available next season to coach the Knicks, quarters of games which is when ‘the void that LJ left when he retired has been a turnaround could be on the horizon for Answer’usually goes off on scoring tirades. 30,000 career much more difficult to refill than anyone New York if were willing to The recent surprising play of Jahidi White could have imagined, but a combined 14- roll the dice on a trade now. If one is not has also provided the Wizards with an 23 record almost halfway through the sea- made by the trade deadline, few teams inside presence, sorely needed with points son? Come on! will be calling for an aging, disgruntled Christian Laettner being out with an I would like to propose a few trade sce- Sprewell during the summer. The time is Achilles injury that will sideline him a few narios. The Knicks are in need of rebulid- ing, not remodelling. The combination of now to make a change in New York.