Zo earning his pay for a change
NOTHIN’ BUT NET But Mourning still has the $10 million the Raps gave him to keep warm on cold Miami nights
Oh, you’re gonna love this, Raptor fans.
Alonzo Mourning, when he’s not counting the nearly $ 10 million ( all figures U. S.) the Raptors gave him as a lovely parting gift last season, has taken on a huge role in Miami since Shaquille O’Neal went down with a sprained ankle. He had 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots against New Jersey on Monday and followed that up with seven blocked shots against Indiana. By our math, that’s 12 blocked shots in two games. And the Raptors — the entire team — have 13 in four games. Kinda sucks, doesn’t it?
“ Think he can do that pretty consistently because we didn’t leave him out there for long stretches,” Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said of Mourning. “ One thing I tried was try not to run his tank to empty.” The 35-year-old Mourning, who was involved in the Vince Carter trade in case any of you forgot, bristled at the suggestion.
“ Stan did what he had to do,” he said. “ I’ve got a little bit more confidence in myself than a lot of other people do.
“ I want to be in there. I wouldn’t be a great player if I didn’t want to be out on the floor. It was time where he felt as though I needed to take a rest and I felt differently. I think more people look at me as a transplant patient than they look at me as a basketball player.” Hmm, wonder how the Raptors look at him? ANOTHER SLAM:
Oh, you’re gonna love this one, too, Raptor fans.
In the aforementioned MiamiNew Jersey game, when Mourning had all those points and all those rebounds, young Vince Carter — who also used to play in these parts — had one of his greatest dunks ever. Over Mourning.
It was so ferocious, Mourning wandered away with his head bowed down and shaking. How good a dunk?
“ One of the top 10 in the whole history of the NBA,” was the assessment of Miami guard Dwyane Wade. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Carter bashing. NO SHOPPING SPREE:
Somewhere, we hope the family of Latrell Sprewell is not lined up at some soup kitchen.
Still no job in sight for Sprewell, who keeps being turned down by teams almost daily. Acouple of rumours sprung up this week that had Sprewell destined for the Atlanta Hawks and/ or the Miami Heat.
“ We’re loaded at the wing positions and we really have no interest in Latrell Sprewell joining our team,” said Hawk GM Billy King. Same for Miami coach Stan Van Gundy.
“ I don’t know anything about it,” he said of a report that had Sprewell’s signing imminent. “That has not been anything that anyone has spoken to me about.” THE CHAIN GANG:
Commissioner David Stern stops by Miami for the Heat opener and, of course, the league’s dress code (Imagine? Asking players to dress well? The horror!) comes up. And so does the racial overtone of a ban on chains in some minds.
“ Most of the people I see with chains are elderly Jewish gentlemen,” says the commish. A PRO AT PACKING:
Chicago’s Tim Thomas is now with his fifth team in eight seasons and he still can’t figure it out. Once considered good young talent, he’s been buried on the bench in Chicago, sitting out the entirety of two games this week, his $ 14 million annual salary not enough to persuade coach Scott Skiles to at least give him a chance.
“ We’re playing at a level right now, in practice and in games, that I haven’t seen Tim get to yet,” said the rather hard- nosed coach. “ It’s up to Tim.” And Thomas just doesn’t get it.
“ That’s his opinion,” he said. “ I feel good. I’m ready to play. I’m always positive. I’m a mentally strong person. Little things like that are not going to bother me.”
After all, he does have that financial cushion to fall back on. SUPER STINK:
Take heart, Raptor fans. Check out this blunt assessment of the Seattle SuperSonics from coach Bob Weiss this week, after a loss to Memphis.
“ You saw the game. We stunk,” said Weiss. The Sonics are here Sunday to face the Raptors; someone will have to win. We think. ABOVE AVERAGE?
Remember our guy here writing last week how New Jersey’s Richard Jefferson was the absolute “ average” NBA player in height ( 6- 7 to 6- 7.18 league average), weight ( 225 to 223.08), age ( 25 to 26.7) and experience ( 5 years to 4.38)?
Well, how about these stats through five games for Jefferson: 23.6 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game, 5.8 assists per game.
“ He’s way above average,” said teammate Vince Carter ( yeah, him again). “ His ability to get to the basket is above- average. His ability to rise over people when he gets to the basket is above average. He can defend well, above- average. So I think that’s an untrue statement.” To which we say: “ Duh! Way to hit the nail on the head, Vince.”