To live and die in la
At times in Around The Rim we get a little punchy and agitated and rip certain individuals for their poor play. We don't mean anything by it. Obviously, we can't dunk like Vince or pass like Kidd or shoot like Rice. Well, on that last one... Today we are going to anger all those Lakers fans who think their team is infallible and still a lock for an NBA title. You think Phil Jackson was just posturing a few weeks ago when he admitted his team had issues? Heck, we missed it, too. The Lakers won 16 straight games! But even while that was happening, all was not well. The Spurs won the title this past season because of Tim Duncan and David Robinson. You can't deny that. But they would not have been able to win it without a few other guys, as well. Avery Johnson isn't a big offensive threat, though at times he scores, but he gets the ball to the right people. Sean Elliott and Jaren Jackson were serious outside shooters in the playoffs, combining for more than 20 points a game. And the Spurs didn't have to rely on one man to do the rebounding.
Because there are no other three-point threats on this team, trading Rice is a little dangerous. Maybe he's just slumping or can't get in a groove. Maybe it's that darn triangle offense thing. Rice may score 25 a night for the Bulls if the Toni Kukoc deal goes through. He can't do that in L.A. · It's time to rip the Ron Harper-Derek Fisher experiment. Neither guy is even shooting .375 from the field. Neither guy hits 70 percent from the line. And combined they would barely be 15th in the league in total assists. They don't get the ball to the right people. Tough to win this way. · Back to Rice: When he averaged 26.8 points a game in 1996-97, he was one of the top players in the league. Last year he was hurt, so we'll give him a break. Currently he's at 16.7 points. Now this is a guy who does nothing else, mind you. He doesn't go into the paint to rebound, can't pass, doesn't defend well. He hits shots, from anywhere. But not this year. In December, Rice shot 42 percent. In January, he dropped down to 39 percent. Do the Lakers need an outside presence? Absolutely. The Spurs would be much b
Some common words found in the essay are:
Harper-Derek Fisher, Spurs Elliott, Charles Oakley-type, , Isaac Austin, Jaren Jackson, Phil Jackson, Remember Harper, December Rice, Clipperville Oh, ball people, threes 45, draining threes, avery johnson, neither guy,
Approximate Word count = 744
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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