One Last Shot: Jordan's Final Chapter.

[RMJH4]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Interesting trade for Steve Kerr ... looks like Jordan is surrounded himself with guys he knows and trusts. If the Wizards get to the playoffs, it'll be worth it, but if the veterans start to break down, it's another question entirely.

Yep that's it. Lot of injuries in the league at the minute, if we get more we are in trouble. Lets hope the old guys can hold up.

[RMJH4]

Jordan, Wizards go 6-2, extend lead at top of Eastern Conference.

December 7th, 2001 | by NBA.COM

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[RMJH4]

[RMJH4]

In

Around the NBA - December 2001

October 31st, 2001 | by slammagazine.com

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Well turn's out Jordan and the Wizards are for real this season. The Wizards lead the Eastern Conference with a solid 17-8 record. Its their home form, 8-3 that has them in this great position. Despite Jordan being on a minutes restriction most of November, players like Rip Hamilton, Patrick Ewing and Christian Laettner rallied and dragged them over the finish line.

This is what Jordan wanted all along. Develop the roster, get guys like Rip Hamilton to take the next step, and change the medias perception of the franchise. The Nets are hot on their tails, though with Jason Kidd out injured, it may be difficult to sustain the race over the next 3 weeks. Almost as a big a surprise as the Wizards has to be the Bulls sitting in third place. Led by a mixed bag of players like Eddie Robinson, Ron Artest, Brad Miller and rookie Eddy Curry, the Bulls have been a tough matchup for pretty much everyone so far this year.

Last years beaten NBA finalists, the Pacers are nicely positioned to take advantage when the Bulls fall back to earth. Reggie Miller and Jermaine O' Neal know they have what it takes to go far in the playoffs and may be coasting through the season so far. The Knicks, Hornets, Raptors and Bucks are the sleeper teams in the East. But the biggest shock of all is the Philadelphia 76ers who are fourth last with an awful record of 8-16. Injuries to Aaron McKie, Eric Snow and Matt Harping have really destroyed any run the Sixers could make to start the season.

They need to right the ship quickly or somebody like Mutombo could be on the move again. The Sixers added Mutombo this offseason, but has made very little impact so far, in fact the team has taken a step back. In the rookie of the year race, Jason Richarson has taken the lead over from Pau Gasol. Richardson hit a career high of 52 against the Wizards and has been an athletic freak this year. He leads the rookies in scoring with 17.0ppg. Richardson has been aided by a fellow rookie Gilbert Arenas who has shown the way forward for the lackluster Warriors.

Pau Gasol has been the all around best rookie in my books still, with 15.7 ppg, 8.5rpg, 2.6apg and 1.2bpg. The Grizzlies have taken a step back, but thats not on rookies Gasol and Battier who have brought it every night. The #1 pick Kwame Brown has not produced great numbers, but is top 3 in rebounds with 8.3, top 7 in assists with 3.0 and also top 7 in blocks with 1.0 per game. Solid but unspectacular numbers for the high school phenom.

Out West the Lakers have managed to get their act together and are back at the top of the conference. There is a real fight for 2nd place with the Timberwolves, Blazers and Mavericks are all only 1 game back. The Wolves have lost Kevin Garnett for 2 weeks, and the Blazers have lost Scottie Pippen for a month, so the Mavs could take advantage here. Sacramento will also look to close the gap as their uptempo offense looks to get back firing on all cylinders. The Clippers and Sonics prop up the bottom of the West but they aren't too far adrift yet.

The Sonics, now owned by Howard Schultz will have some decisions to make around the trade deadline. If they keep playing like they have been, its very hard to see them keeping 48 million in commited contracts for Vin Baker and Gary Payton. It might be time to move on and build around promising forward Rashard Lewis and rookies Earl Watson and Vlad Radmanovic.

[trekfan]

Oh man, the Wizards are off to a hot start in the regular season. Got to keep the momentum going till the All-Star break ... I hope everyone can stay healthy, looks like the East will see some chaos once big names start coming back.

[RolePlayer]

Even in video games the Hornets find a way to break my heart

[RMJH4]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Oh man, the Wizards are off to a hot start in the regular season. Got to keep the momentum going till the All-Star break ... I hope everyone can stay healthy, looks like the East will see some chaos once big names start coming back.

Yeah it'll get tougher when 76ers and Nets etc get back to full health. Win when teams have stars injured, and that will hopefully give me some breathing space. Well need a full bill of health, the Jordan ankle scared me!

Quote: Originally Posted by RolePlayer

Even in video games the Hornets find a way to break my heart

Yea but they are playing well at the moment, not far off the top of the East! Baron Davis is at his best, hopefully that's a nice throwback. Stay tuned for developments about the Hornets!

[georgiafan]

Looks like MJ is surrounding himself with a bunch of shooters with mullin and Kerr nice trade