Pietrus, Daniels making late charges

By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Monday, March 29
Updated: March 29
3:46 PM ET

Of all the amazing things that have happened this season, nothing has been quite as special as the rookie class of 2003.

From LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to less-heralded rookies like Dwyane Wade, Kirk Hinrich and Chris Bosh, this year's rookie class is arguably the best since 1999, when Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Lamar Odom, Wally Szczerbiak, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry and Ron Artest all posted impressive rookie seasons.

This year's class has been just as deep. In addition to All-Star caliber performances from James and Anthony and stellar debuts by Wade, Hinrich and Bosh, this year's class has had its share of less-heralded, but just as effective, support players.

T.J. Ford has been special in Milwaukee. I don't think any of us realized how good he really was until he went down with a spinal cord injury, and the Bucks promptly went into the tank.

Washington's Jarvis Hayes has been inconsistent, but when he's hot, he can really light it up.

The Mavs' Josh Howard has proved to be the steal of the first round. Taken with the last pick in the round, he's turned in a lottery-caliber rookie season. Don't let his so-so stats fool you. Howard is putting up 8.6 ppg and 5.6 rpg on one of the deepest teams in the league. Had he been drafted by a "normal" lottery team, I expect his scoring numbers would be probably double what they are.

Clippers center Chris Kaman has proved that he could turn into a decent center in the league. Big men usually progress much more slowly than guards, but Kaman's solid rebounding numbers and his ability to score in the post should pay off in the long run for L.A.

Players like the Suns' Leandro Barbosa, the Jazz's Aleksandar Pavlovic, the Heat's Udonis Haslem and the Wizards' Steve Blake also have shown real promise at times this year.

Now, in the last month of the season, several more rookies are making late runs at greatness. Here are five more guys, all having a great March, whom you need to keep an eye on.


Mickael Pietrus
Guard-Forward
Golden State Warriors
Profile


2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
43 4.1 1.9 0.5 .384 .680

Mickael Pietrus, SG, Warriors: Coach Eric Musselman already is calling Pietrus the best defender in the league. That's high praise for a rookie, but it's quickly becoming deserved. Pietrus plays with the same physical intensity of Ron Artest. The difference is Pietrus is more athletic and possesses greater lateral quickness. That's allowed Musselman to sic Pietrus on opposing teams' point guards.

It isn't a coincidence the Warriors went on a seven-game winning streak when Musselman decided to play Pietrus more than 20 minutes a game. It's also not a coincidence the Warriors, one of the worst defensive teams in the league, have held opponents under 90 ppg during the streak. In those games he hounded Steve Francis into 6-for-16 shooting and seven turnovers, and he held Tracy McGrady to 18 points on 5-for-14 shooting.

To top it off, Pietrus also is beginning to find his stroke offensively. Pietrus has struggled with his perimeter shooting most of the season, but lately he's been on fire, shooting 62 percent from 3-point range (13-for-21) over the last seven games. He dropped 20 points on the Rockets, 18 on the Bucks and 17 on the Clippers in that stretch. At this rate, he's quickly making Jason Richardson expendable at the two next season.


Marquis Daniels
Guard-Forward
Dallas Mavericks
Profile


2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
47 6.4 2.0 1.6 .487 .689

Marquis Daniels, PG, Mavericks: Howard may have been the steal of the first round, but Daniels has to be the steal of the draft -- sort of. Daniels (amazingly) went undrafted last June despite playing well in workouts and at the Chicago pre-draft camp. Just hours after the draft, the Mavericks, who traded their second-round pick to Denver, talked Daniels into playing on their summer league team. They loved him and signed him to deal before the summer was over. It was the smartest move they made all summer.

Daniels has been a revelation. He's a big guard with a good enough handle to step in and take over the point when Steve Nash needs a rest. Lately, he's been the best player on the team, period. Friday, Daniels had 31 points, nine boards and four assists against the Heat while shooting a sizzling 15-for-23 from the field. He followed that on Sunday with a 20-point, seven-assist, five-rebound performance against the Magic. In the five games Daniels has started, he's averaging 14.2 ppg.

Willie Green, SG, 76ers: He's been great replacing Allen Iverson at two guard. Like Iverson, Green is an undersized two who gives his team instant offense. He's averaging 16.3 ppg when he plays 20 or more minutes for the Sixers, who have been much better without Iverson and Glenn Robinson in the lineup. Green and second-year guard John Salmons have been a big part of that.

Mike Sweetney, PF, Knicks: Sweetney sat on the bench for most of the season, but with the Knicks suffering a myriad of injuries, the No. 9 pick in the draft finally is getting minutes, and he's making the most of it. While Sweetney isn't really scoring at a great clip, he is averaging 6.6 rpg in just 17 mpg in March. That's one of the top rebounding rates in the league. While it's doubtful Sweetney will ever turn into an all-star, he's showing he can be a big-time rebounder in the league.

Maciej Lampe, C, Suns: He's still not playing big minutes, but when Lampe does get into the game, good things usually happen. Suns sources claim a fight with Amare Stoudemire in practice has changed the season for Lampe. The kid is ****y and has never met a shot he doesn't like, but the Suns are starting to see a few returns from the first pick in the second round.

He had 12 points and six boards in 29 minutes at San Antonio on Sunday. He played 26 minutes against the Bucks and scored 17 points and grabbed seven boards. He played 18 minutes recently against the Clippers and scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting. Those numbers aren't blowing anyone away, but for an 18-year-old big man? The Suns will take it.

Around the League

# Big Improvements: Six teams already have surpassed their win totals from last season. The most impressive has been the Nuggets, who went from a league-worst 17 wins last season to 38 wins this year. The 21-win difference is due, in large part, to the influence of Carmelo Anthony and the offseason additions of Andre Miller, Voshon Lenard and a healthy Marcus Camby. In the rough and tumble Western Conference, that's pretty impressive.

The Cavs aren't too far behind. The addition of LeBron has given them 14 more wins that last year's 17-win team.

The most surprising upsurge? The Memphis Grizzlies. The team won just 28 games last season. This year, the Grizzlies already have won 47 and are on pace to win 52. That would give them plus-24 wins for the season, one of the most impressive turnarounds in NBA history.

What's amazing about the Grizzlies is they've made the improvement without adding a superstar or getting one back from injury.

The team with the biggest improvement in history, the 1997-98 Spurs, improved by 36 wins over their previous season. But that team added the first pick in the draft, Tim Duncan, and their starting center, David Robinson, who had missed the previous season with an injury.

The Grizzlies' biggest additions? James Posey, Bo Outlaw, Bonzi Wells and Jake Tsakalidis.

Shouldn't that be enough to get either Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown and/or their team president Jerry West a postseason award?

While the sentiment all season for coach of the year has been with the Jazz's Jerry Sloan (who's done an amazing job in Utah), Brown's ability to turn a bad lottery team into an elite team (not just a playoff team) in a short time span is unbelievable.

And though West didn't make a big deal or hit a home run for the draft, he did something last summer that only the best executives know how to do. He supported his coach by giving Hubie the pieces he needed to play his style of basketball. Brown's 10-man rotation has forced players to play Brown's way or sit at the end of the bench. Without credible replacements for everyone in the starting five, Brown's threats would've rung hollow. West's ability to give Brown a legit alternative at every position has everyone on the same page.

# Yao for MVP? If people are going to seriously argue that LeBron James, the first pick in the 2003 draft, should be in the mix for the league's MVP Award this year . . . I've got someone who should be ahead of him in line -- Yao Ming. Like LeBron, Yao has taken a lottery team on his back and turned it into a playoff team this year. Unlike LeBron, Yao has done it without the benefit of having the ball in his hands every possession.

Yao has been amazing for the Rockets down the stretch. He's averaging 21.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg and 2.5 bpg on 52 percent shooting in March and seems to be heating up with each and every game. Yao has been the key to the Rockets' success all season. When the Rockets lose, Yao is averaging just 10.9 shots a game. When they win? Yao gets 13.5 shots per game. Those 2.6 shots per game make a big difference. The inverse is true for the Rockets' second best player, Steve Francis. In wins he's averaging 1.1 more apg and 1.5 fewer shots a game.

With that said, there's no question, to me, that Kevin Garnett should win MVP this year. Second in my book is the Kings' Peja Stojakovic. Third is Tim Duncan. Fourth is Jermaine O'Neal. Fifth? Split it between Yao and Shaq.

# Most Improved? While we're on the subject of postseason awards, the Most Improved Award is the closest race in recent history. I can make a credible case for 10 players . . . with none having a huge edge over the other.

I've always hated to vote for a guy in his second year in the league. Players are supposed to improve from year one to year two so . . . I'm going to disqualify two guys -- Yao Ming (who should be the favorite) and Carlos Boozer -- from the get go. I'm putting Philly's Samuel Dalembert in this group as well, considering that this is the first year he's gotten any playing time.

I'm also going to disqualify a player who just so happens to be having a career year during a contract year. What Erick Dampier has done for the Warriors this year has been impressive, but I think we all know the reason behind the big improvement. While I'm disqualifying, I'm also going to kick out Ron Artest. Artest is having a great year, a career year, but really he'd be getting this award for behaving off the court. I don't think that's why you win it.

That leaves six credible candidates for the award: Michael Redd, Andrei Kirilenko, Zach Randolph, Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson and Mark Blount. All six are deserving. Of the six, I'm leaning toward Redd right now. He's had the biggest improvement and the biggest impact on a winning team. I also like the fact that he was a second-round pick who clearly had to work on his flawed game to get him to the level of all-star this season.

Randolph, statistically, has put up the best numbers. Blount has been the biggest surprise of the group. He's come out of nowhere to be legit center in the league. Kirilenko, Jefferson and Johnson have been great . . . but I'm not sure their improvements have been dramatically better. If you ask me, Kirilenko and Jefferson were just underrated last season. We should've seen this coming. Johnson didn't start putting up those numbers until Phoenix gutted their backcourt.

Peep Show

NBA Insider
Monday, March 29
Updated: March 29
9:24 AM ET

Miami Heat: Stan Van Gundy and the Heat are doing their best Rodney Dangerfield impressions these days. "I'm not going to get into why, but that's the whole game," Van Gundy said in the Miami Herald after the Pacers took 43 free throws to the Heat's 17. "[The Pacers] were on the line all night, we were driving the ball, we had more points in the paint [28-20]. We've been through this before . . . We'll have to look, because their technique must be great because they really lean on you, and they never foul." The players agree. "It seems lopsided," said Rafer Alston. "I'm pretty sure sometimes on Dwyane's drives he's getting hit. They have to hit him when he's driving because he's either going to dunk it or lay it in. We weren't getting any calls. Every time we turned around, Brian [Grant] hits a dude in his head band, and it's a foul. We're trying to play through it, but it's tough."

Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets may have lost the latest battle with the Jazz, but they claim the war isn't over."I think we'll be in pretty good shape, and I think you all will see us in the playoffs," Carmelo Anthony said. And he wasn't the only one. "It's certainly not over," guard Jon Barry said in the Rocky Mountain News. "There's a lot of time to go. Just got to get back on track with Seattle on Tuesday, take care of Houston on Friday and see where we're at. It's certainly a long way from over." Even the coach joined in. "This thing could change every day," Jeff Bzdelik said. "We just need to win, plain and simple." Then Marcus Camby got a little carried away. "We're still in control," Camby said. "These last seven ball games, we have to find a way to win all of them."

New York Knicks: While Isiah Thomas has switched to damage control, the rest of the Knicks aren't buying it. "It would definitely be a letdown," Kurt Thomas said in the New York Post. "The last two years not being in the playoffs, then having the opportunity right in front of you, if it didn't happen, it would definitely be disappointing." Recently, Thomas has told reporters that he wouldn't blame his team if it failed to make the playoffs despite a league-high $90 million in payroll with another $37 million in luxury taxes looming.


McGrady
Orlando Magic: Tracy McGrady can deride Drew Gooden all he wants. Gooden simply states that it takes one to know one. "Sometimes he gets frustrated and says some things he probably doesn't mean at the end of the day," Gooden said in the Daytona Beach News Journal. "It just goes in one ear and out the other. He's young, just like me." McGrady chastised teammates last week by claiming they quit at some point of the season.

Toronto Raptors: Heads are about to roll up North. "I'd like to think so but let's wait and play it out," team president Richard Peddie said in the Toronto Star when asked if his coach and general manager would be back next year. "You get frictions like this when a team's not playing up to what everyone wants it to play." Bets are being taken now. "Kevin (O'Neill) we're judging on one year, Glen (Grunwald) we've got to judge on the seven years that he's been general manager and that's something that I'll be doing," said Peddie. "Weighing all the aspects, from trades to free agents, the draft, selection of coaches, etc. Over the years, I think Glen's done a good job but it's a decision we have to make in the near term."

Detroit Pistons: Rasheed Wallace says his back hurts. Ben Wallace says ditto. "Even my braids hurt," said Ben Wallace in the Detroit Free Press. "It's just that time of year when everybody has aches and pains. A lot of teams have key players out right now. The key is which team adjusts the best and gets help from other players. I have the normal aches and pains, but my back tightened up on me and that makes everything else hurt." Sheed even had to sit out the last game. "We'll have to see," head coach Larry Brown said. "He's been playing with it (back), but it has been hurting him and getting worse."