Marc Stein Blog below.
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Chat with Marc Stein
Welcome to The Show! On Monday, ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein will drop by to talk NBA Playoffs. Send your questions now and join Marc in The Show, Monday at 11 a.m. ET!
Marc Stein: Hello, all. Finals are almost here. I'm guessing I'll hear from a Heat fan or two today. Here we go . . .
Steve (South Pasadena): As a fellow Heat crow-eater (I thought the off-season moves were terrible), I sympathize with what you're going through. Why isn't Riley rubbing this in everyone's face more? He's never been the type to deflect media attention before. Is he mellowing with old age, or waiting until they win a title before he starts celebrating?
Heat Fan: Riley was right, you were wrong. We're all waiting for the apology.
Timmy C (DC): How does Dallas guard Shaq?
Gabriel (Plantation, FL): Marc do you ever learn? I mean you picked the Pistons to win in six and your doing the same with the Mavs. The Heat aren't the same team that went 2-14 against the top teams in the league. And their defense is no longer the worst in the league, they are the best defensive team in the playoffs right now, in opposing FG%, and only rank behind the Pistons in points allowed. The Mavs haven't faced a team that can play the shut down defense Miami showed it was capable of doing in the Conference Finals. You're going to wind up backing the losing horse, Heat will win in 5.
Marvin(Woodbridge,Va): Recent rumors are saying Shawn Marion is unhappy being on the Suns and want to be traded. What would it take for the Wizards to get him? Also why we he be unhappy playing with the best team player in the NBA Steve Nash.
Dan Washington, DC: Do you think that the 6 game suspension of DJ Mbenga was excessive considering he was not on the active roster and Antonio Davis was only suspended 5 games last year? A very loyal mav's fan would like to hear your opinion.
Jamonti (Auburn Hills, Mi): How much of an X-Factor do you think Josh Howard will be in this finals series?
James (East Lansing): Marc, did you know the Pistons averaged 106 points per game in the playoffs before Rasheed sprained his ankle and ony 82 after he sprained it? Is a healthy Rasheed that important to the offense?
Marc Stein: They still got plenty of open shots and didn't make 'em. It's a good stat, but it's no alibi for the Pistons. Those are the kinds of injuries you just have to grind through in the playoffs. Wade was in worse shape in Game 6 than Sheed.
Curtis (Lansing): I approach you as a humbled, hurt Piston fan. I don't think Joe D should blow up this team as so many knee jerk reactions I've seen would reflect. I think only a few tweaks are necessary, so as a quick guard who can penetrate and wake up the stagnant offense and develop the bench. What do you think, and what are some viable options to put pieces into place?
Marc Stein: Me, neither. The problem is that re-signing Ben at a big number makes those "few tweaks" really hard to make. Detroit is inching ever closer to luxury-tax territory just with its starting five, which is why Darko was dealt to Orlando. It's a tough call, but Joe D has to consider parting with one of the starters to get multiple players back and freshen up the bench.
Rusty, Manila: Is Shaq basketball legacy secure even without winning another ring? No longer team mates, who do you think needs it more to pad their HOF careers, Kobe or Shaq?
Marc Stein: Answer is both. Three-peaters have a secure legacy . . . but they both need at least one more ring so we don't have to lament their breakup for the next 50 years.
Rocky: Denver, CO: Which team will benefit most from this long lay-off?
Marc Stein: Dallas. Some extra time to recover from that hospital trip won't hurt D-Wade, but the Heat didn't want a break this long now that they've finally rolled up some momentum.
Mick (Miami): The most surprising story of the playoffs might be Antoine Walker accepting third banana status on any NBA team. Part of the Riley genius quotient I guess.
Marc Stein: Ever since Wade and Payton snapped at each other in the Chicago series, Riley has all of the Heaters doing what he says. I didn't like the moves when he made them, but I can't deny that Riles is one of the few coaches out there with the juice to make these guys listen.
Brad (NM): Any possibilities of seeing Shaq chokeslam Mark Cuban?
Marc Stein: Zero. Shaq loves Cuban and that's a big reason why he wanted to come to Dallas before the Miami option came up.
Di (DC): Why isn't San Antonio getting the criticism Detroit is? They had a franchise best record yet they all talk about how Detroit screwed it all up.
Marc Stein: Good question. Has to be because Detroit dominated all the regular-season pub and because Miam was so far away from what it is now during the regular season. Dallas was a threat to San Antonio all season. The Heat were only a threat to themselves.
Andrew (New York City): Marc - Shifting away from the playoff talk for just a second, what's the latest on the Larry Brown front?
Marc Stein: The obstacle is money. Larry knows that the Knicks don't want him back and the Knicks know Larry ain't going to walk away from $40 mil. It'll resolve itself before October, but I fear this saga is going to drag on a lot longer.
Matt (Sacramento, CA): Can Musselman, Artest, and Bonzi all coexist??
Marc Stein: Turns out Musselman and Bonzi are tight, which is covered in the blog today. Muss and Artest? I'm just as curious as everyone else. Of course, we'd say that about anyone Sacto hired.
Matt Hanna (NYC): Any Heat fan that thought their team was as good this year as last year while they struggled to win 50 games and were in a dog fight with the small scrappy 7th seed bulls, is a liar. Miami underachieved all year. Give them credit for getting their act together and toppling Detroit, but lets face it, they earned all their criticism throughout the year, just as they have earned all the praise they're getting now.
Marc Stein: Yup. You pay tribute to Riles and the Heat for what they're doing now. Riles almost as down on this group as I was during the regular season.
Smooth (Upstate, NY): Big Dallas fan here Marc. In your opinion, whose serves a better steak . . . Nick and Sam's or Bob's?
Marc Stein: Bob's Steak and Chop House is the official Dallas restaurant of the Stein Line. Looking forward to my first-ever Finals trip there.
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Dirk just a year from free agency?
by: Marc Stein
posted: Monday, June 5, 2006 |
Stein Line news and notes from around the league, collected during the playoffs:
This was the plan even before Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks to their first NBA Finals berth, but Dallas is understandably even more eager now to sign Nowitzki to a contract extension this summer.
Nowitzki has two years -- and $31.5 million -- left on his current deal, but can opt out and become a free agent after next season.
Club sources indicate that inking the 27-year-old to a new deal, thereby ensuring he never gets to the opt-out point, is a top offseason priority for Mavs owner Mark Cuban. League rules would allow for Nowitzki to receive a three-year extension, which would keep him in Dallas through the 2010-11 season.
You have to like Cuban's chances, too, given that the Mavs have made up for the free-agent departure of Steve Nash -- which initially stung Nowitzki deeper than any other setback in his career -- by surrounding him with a young and deep core that has averaged 59 wins over the past two seasons and now sits just four wins shy of a championship.
• If you're fantasizing about your team's chances of prying Shawn Marion away from the Phoenix Suns, consider this your official warning to settle down.
I suppose dealing Marion is an option Phoenix might have to explore a year from now, given that it'll be awfully expensive to keep Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Le Matrix.
Yet the sense I get, after spending much of the postseason covering the Suns, is that they want to evaluate them as a working trio and give them every chance to succeed together before making any rash changes. Which is the prudent course to follow when you're talking about such special and diverse talents.
Granted, it's impossible to know whether Stoudemire and Diaw can play extensively together, since both like to operate at the elbow.
It's also too soon to know if Marion is prepared to stomach fourth billing, which could be his destiny in the desert if Diaw continues to progress next to Nash and a healthy Stoudemire.
But it's also true that Diaw, even if he gets an extension, has to play one more season on his rookie contract anyway, meaning he'll be earning less than $2 million next season no matter what. The real financial crunch that could lead to some Matrix shopping, in other words, doesn't come until the summer of 2007.
• Interesting story in circulation about Rockets general manager-in-training Daryl Morey, who's often described as the NBA's answer to Billy Beane of the Oakland A's and "Moneyball" fame. Morey will meet several of his GM peers for the first time this week when he attends the annual pre-draft camp that has been moved from Chicago to Orlando.
The story: Houston owner Les Alexander, so determined to put a statistical ace in the Beane mold in charge of his basketball people, approached the real Beane first to see if he had any interest in trading baseball for basketball.
The Rockets, when rebuffed, then targeted Morey, who was working for the Celtics under Danny Ainge and in the same town where Theo Epstein took over the Red Sox -- and took them to a historic World Series championship -- with about as much experience as Morey has.
• Look for Kings coach-elect Eric Musselman to lobby his new bosses to re-sign Bonzi Wells. Hard.
Wonder aloud all you want about Musselman connecting with Ron Artest -- and the fact remains that anyone Sacramento hired would have to answer the same questions -- but concerns about Muss and Bonzi meshing appear thoroughly unfounded.
I'm told that Eric's late father, Bill Musselman, was so close to Wells as a Portland assistant that Bonzi kept the last voice mail message he received from the elder Musselman for years.
That closeness made Eric Musselman and Wells allies in Memphis, even though Wells' clashes with Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello are what got him traded to Sacramento.
• Way back in the first round of the playoffs, when the Lakers and Clippers were seemingly headed for a Hallway Series, I tried to find out if Sam Cassell's alleged interest in switching locker rooms at Staples Center next season is legit.
Had no luck, though.
Cassell wouldn't bite when I suggested that the winner of a Hallway Series would earn the right to sign him in free agency. He just let out one of his Sam I Am cackles and said: "I knew you'd ask me something like that."
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Chat with Marc Stein
Welcome to The Show! On Monday, ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein will drop by to talk NBA Playoffs. Send your questions now and join Marc in The Show, Monday at 11 a.m. ET!
Marc Stein: Hello, all. Finals are almost here. I'm guessing I'll hear from a Heat fan or two today. Here we go . . .
Steve (South Pasadena): As a fellow Heat crow-eater (I thought the off-season moves were terrible), I sympathize with what you're going through. Why isn't Riley rubbing this in everyone's face more? He's never been the type to deflect media attention before. Is he mellowing with old age, or waiting until they win a title before he starts celebrating?
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Marc Stein: He's waiting til he gets to Dallas and sees me. That's my theory.
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Marc Stein: Seriously . . . that's not really his style and I think he doesn't want to crow too much BEFORE the Finals. It's been a rough ride for him in Miami. Many excruciating disappointments. Happy as he is to topple Detroit, Riles ain't going to be satisfied if they can't win it all as well. Heat Fan: Riley was right, you were wrong. We're all waiting for the apology.
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Marc Stein: Not all of you. Not anyone who read last week's chat, where I paid tribute to Riley about five times. But in case you missed that, I'll have a column about the Heat on the site tomorrow and I'll be dropping in on Dan LeBatard's Miami radio show today.
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Marc Stein: Better than Miami will deal with Dirk. The Mavs are going to play at a faster pace than anything Shaq has seen so far. Which will affect him offensively. And Dampier, for all of Shaq's Ericka jokes, does a passable job on him when he's not in foul trouble. Of course, Damp might have two fouls getting out his car in this series.
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Marc Stein: Probably should have included the question on that last one. Timmy C (DC): How does Dallas guard Shaq?
Gabriel (Plantation, FL): Marc do you ever learn? I mean you picked the Pistons to win in six and your doing the same with the Mavs. The Heat aren't the same team that went 2-14 against the top teams in the league. And their defense is no longer the worst in the league, they are the best defensive team in the playoffs right now, in opposing FG%, and only rank behind the Pistons in points allowed. The Mavs haven't faced a team that can play the shut down defense Miami showed it was capable of doing in the Conference Finals. You're going to wind up backing the losing horse, Heat will win in 5.
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Marc Stein: So you're saying the Heat plays better D than San Antonio? Interesting. It's not the same Heat, true, but it's not the same Dallas, either. Marvin(Woodbridge,Va): Recent rumors are saying Shawn Marion is unhappy being on the Suns and want to be traded. What would it take for the Wizards to get him? Also why we he be unhappy playing with the best team player in the NBA Steve Nash.
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Marc Stein: Did a blog today on personnel matters and touched on the Marion speculation. Click there after we're done here. But basically my message to any fan out there hoping their team can steal Marion away from Phoenix needs to come up with a new dream. The Suns want to see how Amare, Diaw and Marion play together. Also, even if Diaw gets a contract extension this summer, it doesn't kick in until the 2007-08 season. So the financial crunch of keeping Amare, Boris and Trix together doesn't really come up until the summer of '07. In other words, Marion is not available and won't be made available any time soon. Dan Washington, DC: Do you think that the 6 game suspension of DJ Mbenga was excessive considering he was not on the active roster and Antonio Davis was only suspended 5 games last year? A very loyal mav's fan would like to hear your opinion.
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Marc Stein: Not excessive at all. The league always said it would that suspensions would get longer after Antonio Davis got five games. Mbenga had the best intentions -- just like Antonio did -- but it's a good rule. Players can't go into the stands. Period. Jamonti (Auburn Hills, Mi): How much of an X-Factor do you think Josh Howard will be in this finals series?
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Marc Stein: The X-factor is his health. Howard has to have a great series for Dallas to play how it wants to play and he was a force against Phoenix even after messing up both ankles. Heat have to hope his condition deteriorates. James (East Lansing): Marc, did you know the Pistons averaged 106 points per game in the playoffs before Rasheed sprained his ankle and ony 82 after he sprained it? Is a healthy Rasheed that important to the offense?
Marc Stein: They still got plenty of open shots and didn't make 'em. It's a good stat, but it's no alibi for the Pistons. Those are the kinds of injuries you just have to grind through in the playoffs. Wade was in worse shape in Game 6 than Sheed.
Curtis (Lansing): I approach you as a humbled, hurt Piston fan. I don't think Joe D should blow up this team as so many knee jerk reactions I've seen would reflect. I think only a few tweaks are necessary, so as a quick guard who can penetrate and wake up the stagnant offense and develop the bench. What do you think, and what are some viable options to put pieces into place?
Marc Stein: Me, neither. The problem is that re-signing Ben at a big number makes those "few tweaks" really hard to make. Detroit is inching ever closer to luxury-tax territory just with its starting five, which is why Darko was dealt to Orlando. It's a tough call, but Joe D has to consider parting with one of the starters to get multiple players back and freshen up the bench.
Rusty, Manila: Is Shaq basketball legacy secure even without winning another ring? No longer team mates, who do you think needs it more to pad their HOF careers, Kobe or Shaq?
Marc Stein: Answer is both. Three-peaters have a secure legacy . . . but they both need at least one more ring so we don't have to lament their breakup for the next 50 years.
Rocky: Denver, CO: Which team will benefit most from this long lay-off?
Marc Stein: Dallas. Some extra time to recover from that hospital trip won't hurt D-Wade, but the Heat didn't want a break this long now that they've finally rolled up some momentum.
Mick (Miami): The most surprising story of the playoffs might be Antoine Walker accepting third banana status on any NBA team. Part of the Riley genius quotient I guess.
Marc Stein: Ever since Wade and Payton snapped at each other in the Chicago series, Riley has all of the Heaters doing what he says. I didn't like the moves when he made them, but I can't deny that Riles is one of the few coaches out there with the juice to make these guys listen.
Brad (NM): Any possibilities of seeing Shaq chokeslam Mark Cuban?
Marc Stein: Zero. Shaq loves Cuban and that's a big reason why he wanted to come to Dallas before the Miami option came up.
Di (DC): Why isn't San Antonio getting the criticism Detroit is? They had a franchise best record yet they all talk about how Detroit screwed it all up.
Marc Stein: Good question. Has to be because Detroit dominated all the regular-season pub and because Miam was so far away from what it is now during the regular season. Dallas was a threat to San Antonio all season. The Heat were only a threat to themselves.
Andrew (New York City): Marc - Shifting away from the playoff talk for just a second, what's the latest on the Larry Brown front?
Marc Stein: The obstacle is money. Larry knows that the Knicks don't want him back and the Knicks know Larry ain't going to walk away from $40 mil. It'll resolve itself before October, but I fear this saga is going to drag on a lot longer.
Matt (Sacramento, CA): Can Musselman, Artest, and Bonzi all coexist??
Marc Stein: Turns out Musselman and Bonzi are tight, which is covered in the blog today. Muss and Artest? I'm just as curious as everyone else. Of course, we'd say that about anyone Sacto hired.
Matt Hanna (NYC): Any Heat fan that thought their team was as good this year as last year while they struggled to win 50 games and were in a dog fight with the small scrappy 7th seed bulls, is a liar. Miami underachieved all year. Give them credit for getting their act together and toppling Detroit, but lets face it, they earned all their criticism throughout the year, just as they have earned all the praise they're getting now.
Marc Stein: Yup. You pay tribute to Riles and the Heat for what they're doing now. Riles almost as down on this group as I was during the regular season.
Smooth (Upstate, NY): Big Dallas fan here Marc. In your opinion, whose serves a better steak . . . Nick and Sam's or Bob's?
Marc Stein: Bob's Steak and Chop House is the official Dallas restaurant of the Stein Line. Looking forward to my first-ever Finals trip there.
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Dirk just a year from free agency?
by: Marc Stein
posted: Monday, June 5, 2006 |
Stein Line news and notes from around the league, collected during the playoffs:
This was the plan even before Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks to their first NBA Finals berth, but Dallas is understandably even more eager now to sign Nowitzki to a contract extension this summer.
Nowitzki has two years -- and $31.5 million -- left on his current deal, but can opt out and become a free agent after next season.
Club sources indicate that inking the 27-year-old to a new deal, thereby ensuring he never gets to the opt-out point, is a top offseason priority for Mavs owner Mark Cuban. League rules would allow for Nowitzki to receive a three-year extension, which would keep him in Dallas through the 2010-11 season.
You have to like Cuban's chances, too, given that the Mavs have made up for the free-agent departure of Steve Nash -- which initially stung Nowitzki deeper than any other setback in his career -- by surrounding him with a young and deep core that has averaged 59 wins over the past two seasons and now sits just four wins shy of a championship.
• If you're fantasizing about your team's chances of prying Shawn Marion away from the Phoenix Suns, consider this your official warning to settle down.
I suppose dealing Marion is an option Phoenix might have to explore a year from now, given that it'll be awfully expensive to keep Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Le Matrix.
Yet the sense I get, after spending much of the postseason covering the Suns, is that they want to evaluate them as a working trio and give them every chance to succeed together before making any rash changes. Which is the prudent course to follow when you're talking about such special and diverse talents.
Granted, it's impossible to know whether Stoudemire and Diaw can play extensively together, since both like to operate at the elbow.
It's also too soon to know if Marion is prepared to stomach fourth billing, which could be his destiny in the desert if Diaw continues to progress next to Nash and a healthy Stoudemire.
But it's also true that Diaw, even if he gets an extension, has to play one more season on his rookie contract anyway, meaning he'll be earning less than $2 million next season no matter what. The real financial crunch that could lead to some Matrix shopping, in other words, doesn't come until the summer of 2007.
• Interesting story in circulation about Rockets general manager-in-training Daryl Morey, who's often described as the NBA's answer to Billy Beane of the Oakland A's and "Moneyball" fame. Morey will meet several of his GM peers for the first time this week when he attends the annual pre-draft camp that has been moved from Chicago to Orlando.
The story: Houston owner Les Alexander, so determined to put a statistical ace in the Beane mold in charge of his basketball people, approached the real Beane first to see if he had any interest in trading baseball for basketball.
The Rockets, when rebuffed, then targeted Morey, who was working for the Celtics under Danny Ainge and in the same town where Theo Epstein took over the Red Sox -- and took them to a historic World Series championship -- with about as much experience as Morey has.
• Look for Kings coach-elect Eric Musselman to lobby his new bosses to re-sign Bonzi Wells. Hard.
Wonder aloud all you want about Musselman connecting with Ron Artest -- and the fact remains that anyone Sacramento hired would have to answer the same questions -- but concerns about Muss and Bonzi meshing appear thoroughly unfounded.
I'm told that Eric's late father, Bill Musselman, was so close to Wells as a Portland assistant that Bonzi kept the last voice mail message he received from the elder Musselman for years.
That closeness made Eric Musselman and Wells allies in Memphis, even though Wells' clashes with Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello are what got him traded to Sacramento.
• Way back in the first round of the playoffs, when the Lakers and Clippers were seemingly headed for a Hallway Series, I tried to find out if Sam Cassell's alleged interest in switching locker rooms at Staples Center next season is legit.
Had no luck, though.
Cassell wouldn't bite when I suggested that the winner of a Hallway Series would earn the right to sign him in free agency. He just let out one of his Sam I Am cackles and said: "I knew you'd ask me something like that."
