Dont shoot the messenger
Heat's Anderson is a nice fit
By Michael Cunningham
Staff Writer
Posted November 23 2004
Miami · So here is Shandon Anderson, playing for the Heat, his fourth team in 10 seasons.
He's played for good teams in Utah, a bad team in Houston and had his name sullied by management in New York. He once took less money to play with a team where he thought he fit better and went from starting with the Knicks to playing a specific role with the Heat.
Now, after all of that, Anderson just wants to win a championship.
"Being realistic, you hit 30 and you figure, OK, you are starting to be in the twilight of your career a little bit," Anderson said. "So you definitely don't want to be on a team where you are struggling to win ballgames and there is no light at the end of the tunnel."
There is plenty of light with the Heat. The club is expected to contend for the conference title but it needed a defensive specialist.
So the Heat signed Anderson, a 6-foot-6 swingman, on Nov. 14. That night, he played 11 minutes, and he's averaged 18.8 minutes in five games with the Heat.
"It is exciting because every night everybody is coming after you," Anderson said. "That is how it was in Utah, where I started out. Every night you had to play hard because teams are coming after you."
Philadelphia was one of those teams Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena. The 76ers were without leading scorer Allen Iverson, but they got within four points when Corliss Williamson scored their first four points of the quarter.
Williamson had been giving Heat forward Udonis Haslem fits in the post, so Heat coach Stan Van Gundy turned to Anderson. Williamson managed just two points, on free throws, with Anderson guarding him over the next four minutes.
Anderson earned the reputation as a hard-nosed defender with the Utah Jazz, which took him in the second round of the 1996 draft out of Georgia.
"He showed up the first week, and I knew he was going to play in the NBA," said longtime Jazz assistant coach Greg Johnson. "He is a very, very hard worker. He is about winning. There is not a lot of flash to his game, but he works hard and he is ready to play."
Anderson spent three seasons in Utah, and the Jazz twice won more than 60 games and had 37 victories in the strike-shortened 1998-99 season. That was when John Stockton and Karl Malone paced the Jazz, but it was players like Anderson who complemented them.
His teammates in Utah took to calling him "Rock," out of respect for his game and approach, both solid.
"We always liked Shandon," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He played hard for us. I just always liked his work ethic."
The Jazz did what it could to keep Anderson. Utah reportedly offered him more than $3 million per year and guaranteed him a starting spot, but he took a two-year deal from Houston worth about $2 million per season.
In Houston, Anderson started every game for two seasons but the Rockets weren't contenders like the Jazz. Utah endured a 34-48 season in 1999-00 and went 45-37 the next year.
Still, Anderson said he doesn't regret signing with the Rockets. "Things happen for a reason," he said. "Sometimes it may not seem that there is a reason, but you just move on and keep pushing."
New York was Anderson's next stop, and it ended badly.
Soon after Isiah Thomas took over as team president last winter, he started purging the roster of players brought in by Scott Layden. Thomas painted Anderson as unprofessional after last season, and the Knicks bought out Anderson's contract a day before the Heat signed him.
To some of those who have played and worked with Anderson, the Knicks situation didn't make sense.
"I was shocked to see all the stuff that happened in New York based on what I saw of him and how I perceived him as a player and a teammate," said Heat center Michael Doleac, Anderson's teammate in New York for two seasons. "I thought he was great. I don't know what happened there with Isiah. It was kind of strange the second it started when Isiah came in."
Sloan said it's unfair to comment on the particulars of Anderson's situation in New York since he doesn't know the details, but doubts that Anderson caused trouble.
"I don't think he had any problems," Sloan said. "Knowing Shannon, I am surprised. He never caused any problems when I had him."
Sloan said Anderson was a good post-up player with the Jazz, and Johnson said Anderson can slash into the lane and set up teammates. Give him time, Anderson said, and he'll do the same for the Heat.
"People don't understand, I have only been here a week, though it seems longer," Anderson said. "I am still trying to pick things up offensively. I have to get accustomed to playing with these guys."
11/23/2004 2:22 PM
