Subj : Notes To : All From : Ed Grinnell Date : Sun Jul 30 2000 06:13 am * Crossposted in NBA_ECHO * Crossposted in SPORTS The Phoenix Mercury have really taken some hits this year and it continues. After Timms went down, Cleary eventually took over and was beginning to show what she could do before she was hit with the injury bug. Oh and head coach Cheryl Miller got into the act with surgery on her knee a couple of weeks back. **** I watched Houston and LA play and an ABL game broke out. For one of the few times this season, the WNBA let their players "play" and didn't treat them like a bunch of girls. I think they did go too far and let too much go but it was an improvement. **** LA didn't think that they could beat the Comets in Houston, they KNEW that they could. The Sparks are a team that has all the confidence in the world and the only thing that could hurt them is if the officials favor the Comets during the playoffs. P.S. - Lisa, start playing SMART. Leslie has played pretty stupid at times this year and it could cost them in the playoffs if she doesn't stop getting stupid fouls. **** The New York Liberty are 6 games ahead of the Washington Mystics, who are the 5th place team in the East. With 6 games left, the Mystics are 5 1/2 games out BUT hold the tie-breaker with the Liberty so as hard as it is to believe, the Liberty haven't clinched a playoff spot. Believe it or not, it is possible for the Liberty to MISS the playoffs. New York is tied with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams in head-to-head competition and if they went into a tailspin, they would lose the tie-breaker. Now, I'm not saying that they will miss the playoffs but that they MUST win one more game or have Detroit lose two games and Washington lose one more game. **** What gets me is the way that some players get over confident when they think that their situation is about to change in their favor and then live to regret their stupidity. I've never been a fan of Allen Iverson but he really showed how stupid he was when he started shooting his mouth off when it looked like Larry Brown was headed for North Carolina. After Brown took his name out of contention, you KNEW that ownership HAD to side with him and Iverson had to shape up or get shipped out. For the past year, Iverson said "Now, it's our turn" but he doesn't want to do the things that are required to get to the next level. Since Day One, the guy has shown nothing but immaturity and that's even for a guy who was as young as he was. His last game at Georgetown was a loss where he got one assist and all his supporters tried like hell to put down his teammates when it was his inability to share with others was the reason and not their inability to score that was the reason for him only have one lousy assist. He did get some assists during his first two years when he was playing more point but still not enough to justify him having the ball in his hands directing the offense (It's funny but his average assists for his first two years were 7.5 and 6.2 while Eric Snow's averages for the last two years were 6.3 and 7.6). Iverson is BELOW average as a shooter in all categories so it's not like the team will lose a lot if they replace him with someone else. He scores a lot but only because he shoots a lot. The team needs someone who wants to play and who wants to do things for the team and not himself. That's NOT Iverson and unless he grows up, he's going to end up like Jim Jackson, who short-circuited his career and has played for 6 teams in the last 4 years. **** The Magic are really disappointing when it comes to how they treat former players. After they yanked away a $30 mil contract from Ben Wallace, management has poor-mouthed him so that they don't look foolish for letting him get away (I'm sorry but I don't see where Matt Harpring is a better choice than Wallace. The Magic should have let him get away and kept Wallace). **** I wouldn't crow to hard if I were a fan of the Spurs. Duncan's contract looks more like he plans on leaving when Robinson retires in a few years AND they can't find an adequate replacement. **** With all the money that they have to give back, look for players to be a little more stubborn when negotiations begin for the next CBA. They were stupid to bow to public pressure last time and they'd be stupid to do it again. They've paid back the owners ten-fold since 1984 and it's time that they become the kind of union that the NFL and MLB have. **** Win, lose or draw, the NBA players NEED the CBA. After Isiah Thomas bought the CBA for $9 mil, the NBA offered to buy it for *slightly* more than that. When Isiah wanted more, the NBA stopped negotiations and decided to build their own developmental league (Can you say "Strike replacements?"). The NBA will undoubtably withdraw their $3 mil per year stipend to the CBA so IF the league can get BET to ante up for games and possibly work out some deals with others like ESPN, they might be able to keep the CBA around without hurting themselves financially. --- TrekEd 1.00 * Origin: Remember when bonus shots used to be 3 to make 2? (1:170/1701) .