Preseason All-Eastern Conference First Team

[KBLegolas]

Preseason All-Eastern Conference First Team By Ravi Singh
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Sep 27, 2002, 11:15am
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With the preseason rapidly approaching, training camps start on October 1st, it was time to put together the preseason All-Eastern Conference first team. So without further adieu:

Point Guard - Jason Kidd. Is there any doubt? The brilliant floor general combines the vision, passing skills and on-court leadership traits of former Laker great Magic Johnson with outstanding ball hawking tendencies. Averaged a triple double in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics last season collecting an Oscar Robertson like 17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 10.2 assists over the course of six games. That's 11.2 rebounds from the point guard folks and while those rebounding numbers are off the charts for the position and even Kidd, the 6'4" guard snared an average of 7.3 caroms for the 2001-02 season and has averaged 6.4 for his career. Former Celtic great Larry Bird often talked glowingly about players that could consistently grab a rebound on one end of the court and then finish on the other end. Bird stated those players are very rare. Who better than Kidd to exemplify Bird's thoughts on this? Who better than Kidd to grab a defensive rebound and either finish himself or create an easy look for a teammate five seconds later? In the 2001-02 season, Kidd ranked 1st in triple doubles, 2nd in assists per game and 3rd in steals per game.

Shooting Guard - Tracy McGrady. The competition was excellent at this position with Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Eddie Jones, Jerry Stackhouse, and cousin Vince Carter to name a few, but McGrady gets the nod over all of them because of his brilliant all around offensive game and ability to get his teammates involved. The 6'8", 210 pound guard averaged 25.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists over the course of last season while single handedly carrying the Magic to the postseason despite a painful back injury for much of it. Playing through said injury answered questions surrounding his toughness and competitiveness and his performance in the postseason against Charlotte in which he averaged 30.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.75 blocks per game was spectacular.

Small Forward - Paul Pierce. Despite his troubles fitting into team play with Team USA, Paul Pierce is hands down the premier small forward in the Eastern Conference. A healthy Grant Hill would have given Pierce a run but Hill's absence from the league for the better part of two seasons disqualifies him from consideration. While not yet the complete offensive player of McGrady, Bryant, Hill and Jamal Mashburn for that matter, because he is unable to consistently make those around him better, Pierce is clearly the best defensive player of the four and may be the most competitive. The fire burns bright in his eyes and much like his Celtics predecessor Larry Bird, when the game is on the line, this 6'6", 230 pound forward's killer instinct takes over with a dagger through the heart of an opponent sure to follow. For the 2001-02 season, Pierce averaged 26.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.05 blocks per game and much like Kidd and McGrady, raised the level of his play in the postseason. In 16 playoff games, the Celtics All-Star averaged 24.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.25 blocks.

Power Forward - Antoine Walker. By far the toughest selection to make because of Jermaine O'Neal's rise to prominence during 2001-02 and Shareef Abdur-Rahim in Atlanta. However the nod goes to Walker because of his all around contributions to his team. In fact, no player, aside from Jason Kidd, is asked to do more for his team than this 6'9", 245 pound player. In addition to the 22.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5 assists per game Walker averaged for the Celtics this season, the power forward was often tasked with bringing the ball up court under pressure and running the offense in the absence of starting point guard Kenny Anderson. This while also playing a rover position in the Celtics demanding defensive system. Walker expended this level of energy for an NBA 3rd most 42 minutes per game and because he missed only one game all season, Walker led the league in total minutes played. Because he is equally, if not more, comfortable on the perimeter as he inside, Walker is a nearly impossible cover for a lone defender. Too big for small forwards, he can post them at will and too quick for traditional power forwards he is able to drive past them with his outstanding ball-handling skills or shoot over the top of them with his impressive three point shooting arsenal. Walker's greatest accomplishment as a professional may have occurred during the 2001-02 post season. It was then that he became his team's leader and that maturity combined with his still evolving game puts him at the top of the power forward list in the Eastern Conference.

Center - Dikembe Mutombo. By default as fellow Georgetown alumni Alonzo Mourning is unlikely to play this season because of health concerns. Mutombo is the best center in a conference devoid of serious competition other than Mourning and Ben Wallace. While Brad Miller, Elden Campbell and Antonio Davis are serviceable big men, none outside of Mourning and Wallace possesses the defensive acumen that the 7'2", 265 pound Mutombo possesses. Unfortunately for the 6'7" Wallace, he has even less offensive game than his New Jersey counterpart. Mutombo averaged 11.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.38 blocks per game last season and finished 5th and 6th league wide in blocks and rebounds per game respectively. Until the youthful Eddie Curry and/or Brendan Haywood matures, Mutombo will be the premier center of a very mediocre crop.



Antoine Walker?! What are they thinking? IMO it should have been Kenyon Martin - he would complement the team perfectly, especially since Kidd is starting at PG... the deadly duo... But then again maybe the league has a problem with three players being on the team that are from the Nets

[JohnnyRodz]

IMO it should have been Kenyon Martin - he would complement the team perfectly, especially since Kidd is starting at PG

Hey,it isn't the All-Flagrant Foul team. If it was Kenyon would be the MVP.

[KBLegolas]

You probably missed the second half of the season in that case buddy, he didn't get T'd up once after the ASB....

[JohnnyRodz]

KB,I was joking with you. And I'd pay good money to see him clobber McGrady again.

[KBLegolas]

No hard feelings, I'm just used to getting pissed off at people on the IGN Boards who egg on players unjustly

[netsfreak]

Yes Kenyon did get T'ed up after the all-star break.

I was at the game vs. Atlanta where he got in a beef with Rahim and gave him a nice shot with the elbow.

And Kenyon at the moment is not the best PF in the East, and I am a Nets fan.

[KBLegolas]

Not bad, one Technical after getting countless ones before... says something about the man...

[hoopscitylive]

Doesn't make him an all-star, though. Don't forget about Antonio McDyess, if he's healthy. I'm not saying he's all-east, but at least a contender.