H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m
-------------------- October 18, 2005 NBA secret formulas...shhh
Continued << 1 | 2 | 3 >> The injured reserve list: Know also as IR (injured reserve) or IL (Injury list). There's really nothing much to explain here, since this is the most occuring NBA secret. Not everyone on the injured list is actually injured. But because a team can only have 12 active players on a roster, they need to put the rest on the IR. When the Dallas Mavericks first acquired Wang Zhizhi from the Shanghai Sharks of China, they had to put a perfectly fit player on the IL to make room on the roster for him. But don't feel sorry for the players on the injured list, they get their glory during practice, where they are encouraged to challenge the star players who like to be in cruise control at those times. Remember when Ruben Patterson proclaimed himself The Kobe Stopper? Well he was shutting down #8 in practice on a regular basis. Because practice is where the IR players get to make a case for their playing time, they go all out, where as someone like Kobe is looking forward to being healthy for the next game. Starting reserve: Have you ever seen a player in a team and thought he should be a reserve and not starting? Basically that's what you get when a team manager has sold part of his soul. Sort of. Corliss Williamson was starting in Sacramento ahead of Peja Stojakovic in the 1999-00 season. Yet it was clear, at least to a trained observer, that Peja was a higher caliber player. So what was going on? It seemed Corliss was convinced that he should be happy with his contract so the Kings could be built into the title contender they became. Because of his loyalty management elected to keep starting him in order to help keep their side of the bargain. In the end he was rewarded with some fresh ink, but had to be traded away to Toronto, because they had a better alternative at his position. Namely Stojakovic. In the 1999 lockout shortened season the Knicks had Lattrell Sprewell who was in his first season since choking coach P.J Carlesimo in Golden State in 1997. During games Allan Houston started at shooting guard, which was the same position Sprewell played. By mid-season, probably even earlier, Sprewell had beconme the crowd favorite, was the team's second leading scorer behind Patrick Ewing, and was the team energizer. He was known as the one-man fast break, because so many times he would break free and head the other way uncontested. Trying to be image conscious the Knicks started Allan Houston because he had a diplomatic character. Unlike Sprewell. They kept him on the bench in case anything went wrong: see we were never fully committed to him, he didn't even start. Overpaid "good" players: Good here is not reffering to the athletic swingman who can fill whatever role needed on your favorite squad. Rather here it stands for that well mannered player with the strong character, mama would like to show off to the whole neighborhood. Remember when Jayson Williams of the New Jersey Nets had signed a six-year, $90 million contract in 1997? Well it wasn't because he could scare Shaq away or outhustle Dennis Rodman or that he was a better passer from the post than Arvidas Sabonis. Instead he was the player team officials could count on to represent them in corporate and community events. Which he did well until his retirement in 1999 and then the shotgun incident at "Who Knew?". His uniquely named mansion. It's the same formula applied to Juwan Howard ($100 million) while he was with the Wizards. You might also recall those fat contracts David Falk used to be able to negotiate for Dikembe Mutombo. It was all due to the fact that Mutombo could always give a team a good reputation for his charity works and "good cause" pursuits. How about Allan Houston with that 9 figure pay? You don't think he deserved it? Me neither. But in New York they need a good guy to help fight off all that negative publicity the local powerful media outlets can unleash on them. -------------------- Previous: Interview with Ray Articles index |
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