Senior class shows effects of stripmining

By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

The college basketball season is finally underway. Have you seen your collegiate senior lately? NBA scouts are looking for quality in that class, but so far the search is coming up empty.

"It's not going to be as ugly as last year," one veteran NBA scout said. "But that's not saying much. Last year was the worst senior class in the history of the draft."

Since high school stud Kevin Garnett broke the college barrier in 1995 and declared for the NBA draft directly from high school, the number of college seniors in the first round has dwindled at an alarming rate. In 1995, there were 20 seniors taken in the first round, six in the lottery. In 1998, the number dipped to 14 seniors, with five in the lottery, and the slide continued each year thereafter:


1999: 13 first-round seniors; only four in the lottery.
2000: 11 first-round seniors; only three in the lottery.
2001: Four first-round seniors; only one – Shane Battier – in the lottery.
2002: Eight first-round seniors; only one – Melvin Ely – in the lottery.
2003: Nine first-round seniors; only three in the lottery.
The 2004 draft was among the worst ever for collegiate seniors. Just four – Rafael Araujo, Luke Jackson, Jameer Nelson and Tony Allen – were taken in the first round.

It couldn't get any worse, could it?

In a perfect world, college seniors all would be driving Pintos, scrounging for lunch money in the cushions of their dorm-room sofas and strutting around campus, ready to lead their teams to the coveted Big Dance before picking up a diploma and waiting to see which NBA team might pick them.

In the real world, the talented high school class of 2001 has all but defected to the NBA. Can you imagine a draft that had Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Emeka Okafor, T.J. Ford, Devin Harris, Ben Gordon, Mo Williams, Josh Childress, Kirk Snyder, David Harrison and Delonte West playing the roles of savvy four-year veterans?

While some try to claim college seniors are losing in what is becoming an increasingly brutal war of expectations and fortune-telling, something more simple and more insidious appears to be taking place.

"The NBA has been strip-mining the college game for years," one scout said last season. "It's finally coming back to haunt us. The only guys worth taking in the lottery any more are the young ones. The older players that are left usually don't have enough talent to contribute in a meaningful way. Experience is a great, but if you're not going to be able to come in and average 18 a night, then I'm going with the kid who could turn into Kobe or KG down the road."

He's got a point. Of the top 20 scorers and top 10 rebounders in the NBA, only one, Tim Duncan, played four years in college.

A senior of a different ilk dominates the categories – the high school senior. Five of the top 10 scorers in the NBA right now never played a minute of college ball.

Luckily for seniors this year, scouts are reporting that this may be the worst high school class since 1996. They also feel this year's college senior class is one of the stronger ones in recent memory. Several scouts identified nearly a dozen seniors with a shot at the first round this year.

Here's a quick look at 10 seniors the scouts will be watching this season.


One scout says Gonzaga's Turiaf is "one of the worst-finishing bigs I've ever seen."
Ronny Turiaf, PF, Gonzaga
The facts: 6-foot-10, 245 pounds; 23.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg on 61 percent shooting
The skinny: Gonzaga's import from France has turned himself into one of the most lethal low-post scorers in college basketball. He's one of the most talented big men in the game with his back to the basket. He possesses excellent footwork and several different go-to moves off the block. He plays very physical and gets to the foul line better than just about any other college big man. Once he's there, he shoots 81 percent. The aggressiveness also has a downside. Turiaf is constantly getting fouls quickly, which limits his effectiveness (and minutes) for the rest of the game. Scouts like Turiaf, though none believe he'll be a star at the next level. Why? According to one scout, "He's one of the worst-finishing bigs I've ever seen." Look for Turiaf to be a mid-to-late first-round pick in 2005.

Joey Graham, SF, Oklahoma State
The facts: 6-7, 220; 17.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg,n 59 percent shooting
The skinny: Graham may be the best player in the Big 12. When he gets going, get out of his way. Graham has the body of a power forward and the speed and dunking acumen of two guard. His game starts with his back to the basket, but in the past year it slowly has moved all the way out to the 3-point line. He'll settle in the middle as a small forward in the pros. We know he can dunk, but what else can he do? His rebounding and shot-blocking need work. So does the jumper. He still needs to show the ability to do more off the dribble, and some scouts have questions about his work ethic. Still, he has the body, athleticism and size to make a great wing. An endorsement from Michael Jordan after Graham's impressive stint as a counselor in his summer camp doesn't hurt either. If he continues to play well, he'll go anywhere from the mid-to-late first round.

Danny Granger, F, New Mexico
The facts: 6-8, 220; 18.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.8 spg 55 percent shooting
The skinny: Granger is a versatile big man with long arms and a sweet shooting stroke. He's shooting 50 percent from 3-point range and grabbing nearly 10 rebounds a game. That isn't easy to do. Granger is also known as a superb defender who can guard both forwards and guards. He has a real fiery streak in him that scouts love. "He reminds me a little of Joe Johnson," one scout told Insider. "He can guard four positions and play four positions on offense. I think he'll primarily be a three, but he can also play two and even a little one." Granger may be one of the most underrated prospects in the country. Look for him to take a Kirk Snyder-like leap on draft boards as the year progresses and more scouts see his game. Right now, he's on the first-round bubble, but expect his stock to rise as high as the mid first round when more scouts take a look.


Warrick has improved by leaps and bounds.
Hakim Warrick, SF/PF, Syracuse
The facts: 6-9, 208; 19 ppg, 9.5 rpg on 58 percent shooting
The skinny: Warrick is an incredible athlete who jumps like he's on a trampoline. He improved in almost every aspect of his game this year. He added a nice mid-range jumper. He put on some weight and found ways to score down low. He's very quick, posing match-up problems at both small forward and power forward. He gets to the line a lot. Despite the fact he had a great junior season at Syracuse, his stock is slipping. Why? No one is sure exactly what position he would play in the NBA. He doesn't have the perimeter or ball-handling skills to really be a three. He doesn't have the strength or low-post moves to excel at the four. Scouts wonder if he's the second coming of Darius Miles, an athletic big man without a go-to skill. Some scouts think he could be a very good four, because of his length and quickness. They believe he'll get stronger and be just fine in the post once he gets on an NBA strength training regimen. Only a few of them see him having a future at the three. He could go anywhere between the mid first round to the early second. Warrick will be very hard to project, because he's really an "eye of the beholder" type kid. Normally athletes like him make it in the game unless they have no feel. But then again, he could be the second coming of Marcus Haislip. Someone like Isiah Thomas will love him. Someone like Larry Bird probably won't. He could go anywhere between mid first round and the early second round.

Julius Hodge, SG/SF, North Carolina State
The facts: 6-6, 191; 18.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 5.7 apg on 57 percent shooting
The skinny: Don't let his wiry frame fool you. Hodge is a great, tough athlete who can be absolutely fearless taking the ball to the hole. His passing skills are above average, leading some scouts to believe he could make the transition to the point. He's shooting an impressive 57 percent from the field this season and has a knack for drawing fouls. His perimeter shot, turnovers and defense are the biggest question marks. Scouts just aren't sure what position he plays in the pros. Hodge can play some one, but it's not his natural position. He's not really a two, because of his lack of a 3-point shot. He could be a three, but is he big enough? Scouts feel he could go anywhere between the mid first round and the early second. He reminds me of Josh Howard a little bit – another talented ACC player of the year, who didn't quite fit a mold and slipped in the draft. We all know how Howard turned out. There's a chance Hodge could do the same.

Ryan Gomes, SF/PF, Providence
The facts: 6-7, 240; 18.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg on 49 percent shooting
The skinny: Gomes was one of the most-improved players in the country last season. He has all the skills to play in the post and added a nice perimeter game to his repertoire last season. This year, he's taking his jump shot a step further and is now draining 3s at a 40-percent clip. He has good athleticism and great strength at both positions, but position is the biggest issue with Gomes. He's a bit of 'tweener. Scouts feel he's too small to excel in the pros at his natural position, the four. While his perimeter game has improved to the point you can start thinking about him as a three, scouts wonder whether he has the quickness to guard threes in the league. There's some buzz on Gomes, but only as a late-first-round pick. The more scouts watch him; the more they seem to like him. If he continues to prove he can make the transition to the three, it might be enough to convince NBA teams his upside is worth the risk.

Wayne Simien, PF, Kansas
The facts: 6-8, 255; 17.8 ppg, 13 rpg on 51 percent shooting
The skinny: He's a blue-collar bruiser with a solid NBA body and plenty of strength and toughness. Simien is an outstanding rebounder, especially on the offensive glass. He has developed a nice baseline jumper, shows soft hands and is quicker than his bulky frame would suggest. He also has impressive leaping ability for a player his size. He's a very good free-throw shooter for a big man. He has a real motor and toughness. But is he big enough to play the four? Scouts feel he's closer to 6-foot-7, which will raise a lot of concerns. He doesn't have long arms either, which can be a problem. He has great touch from 10 feet out, but no touch around the basket. He's not a good shot blocker, which is a surprise considering his leaping ability. Scouts also claim he has bad hands. Durability is also an issue – he has missed a lot of games the past few years with injuries, although he's been relatively injury-free for the past 18 months. Simien is a bubble first rounder right now.

Jawad Williams, SF/PF, North Carolina
The facts: 6-9, 220; 16.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg on 61 percent shooting
The skinny: Williams has a sweet stroke and pretty good ball-handling skills for a 6-9 kid. He's much more comfortable on the perimeter than he is on the block, but he started to work on that by adding 21 pounds to his wiry frame. Scouts claim he has looked much more aggressive around the basket this year. Scouts see him as a likely second-rounder right now.

Lawrence Roberts, PF, Mississippi State
The facts: 6-8, 235; 14.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg on 37 percent shooting
The skinny: Roberts was one of the most improved players in the country last season. He is a big-time rebounder on both the offensive and defensive boards. He's a pretty good athlete who can run the floor and has good strength for the position. Scouts worry a little bit about his size and his perimeter skills. He's off to a poor start this season, which isn't helping. Most scouts believe he's a second-round pick.

Luther Head, PG, Illinois
The facts: 6-3, 175; 15.9 ppg, 5.3 apg on 50 percent shooting
The skinny: Head always has been considered the third wheel in Illinois behind guards Deron Williams and Dee Brown. However, head coach Bruce Weber believes Head is the best guard on his team. "Luther has been maybe our best guard, and people don't even realize it," Weber said last week. Head, a senior from Chicago, has been great for the Illini this season. He's a great athlete with excellent floor vision and legit 3-point range. Scouts have been traditionally a little down on Head because of his inability to shoot off the dribble, but he seems to have worked on that over the summer and is getting serious interest from scouts. He's a bubble first-rounder who could make his way in if he can prove he can play the point full time in the pros.

The best of the rest: B.J. Elder, G, Georgia Tech; Channing Frye, PF/C, Arizona; Chris Thomas, PG, Notre Dame; Luke Schenscher, C, Georgia Tech; David Lee, PF, Florida; Taylor Coppenrath, F, Vermont; Matt Nelson, C, Colorado State; Travis Diener, PG, Marquette; Dijon Thompson, G/F, UCLA; Alan Anderson, G, Michigan State; John Lucas, PG, Oklahoma State; Rawle Marshall, SG, Oakland (MI).



Draft Cards

A plethora of NBA scouts and GMs were in St. Louis on Thursday to watch one of the biggest high school tournaments of the year – the KMOX Shootout. Last year, the Shootout was the coming out party for Shaun Livingston, who went on to become the fourth player taken in the 2004 draft.
This year, the highlight was a matchup between two players who have a legit shot at the first round – Gerald Green and Andray Blatche.

Green is a 6-8 swingman playing at Gulf Shores Academy in Houston. He was the MVP of the ABCD camp this summer and is currently the highest-ranked high school player on Insider's boards.

Green has drawn comparisons to a young Tracy McGrady. He's very athletic, with a 41-inch vertical. He also possesses great range on his jump shot, can create his own shot off the dribble and is an excellent ballhandler. Scouts claim he's one of the fastest players in the draft despite the fact that he's 6-8. He's averaging 29 points, 15 rebounds, seven blocks and five assists this season.

Blatche is a fifth-year senior forward playing at South Kent Academy in Connecticut. Blatche, who stands 6-11, can play both the three and the four. Scouts say he's a poor man's KG – a finesse big man who likes to face the basket on offense but crash the boards on the defensive end. Through nine games, Blatche is averaging 27 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks.

Both players have their weaknesses. Green needs to put more muscle on his wiry frame. Scouts also claim he's very immature and struggles in the classroom. Blatche, despite his size, has become enamored with his perimeter game. Scouts say he spends too much time shooting 3-pointers and not enough time in the paint.

In their showdown Thursday night, both players were good, though Blatche's team ultimately defeated Green's 80-76 in three overtimes. Blatche finished with 24 points and 22 rebounds. He made six of 14 shots from the field and 11 of 14 from the line. However, he also had 11 turnovers.

"I like Andray, but his game really needs to mature," one NBA scout who attended the game told Insider. "I just wish he went inside more. I know he's trying to show us that he's versatile, but he also needs to show us that he's smart enough to take advantage of his size in the paint."

Green finished with 29 points. He, too, seemed to be obsessed with impressing scouts.

"He really settled for a lot of jumpers when I thought he could have taken the ball to the hole a little more," the scout told Insider.

Today, Green is projected as a late-lottery to mid-first-round pick. Blatche is a bubble first-rounder.


Kansas shooting guard J.R. Giddens has watched his NBA draft stock take a hit the past several weeks. He's off to a slow start for the Jayhawks, averaging just 10 ppg. Several NBA scouts already have traveled to Lawrence to watch him practice and play, and they haven't been impressed.
"He's a great athlete," one NBA scout said. "And he can really knock down the 3-point shot. But he has absolutely no in-between game. If he's not dunking or launching a 3, he can't score."

Said another scout. "He only looks like a player when he's open. He doesn't know how to clear space. I also have no faith that he can stay healthy."

While there's still plenty of time for Giddens to turn things around, we're going to be downgrading his stock in favor of another swingman on whom everyone seems to be high again ...


Texas A&M's Antoine Wright seems to have rebounded from a horrific sophomore season. Wright, a lanky 6-7 junior swingman, looked like he was a lock for the lottery after an amazing freshman season for the Aggies. However, last season his numbers dropped across the board as he shot just 36 percent from the field and 29 percent from the 3-point arc.
This year Wright seems to have regained his shooting stroke and his confidence. He's averaging 17.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg on 60 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point arc. If he can continue to play like that, scouts claim he's talented enough to be a lottery pick.


Scouts on an Adriatic scouting trip were very impressed with 6-8 Croatian guard Marko Tomas. He played at the Chicago pre-draft camp last year, but his production was limited because of an ankle injury. This season the 19-year-old is averaging 18.4 ppg and 3.1 apg (which is great for Europe) for Zagreb. Scouts love his aggressiveness, athleticism and size in the backcourt.
Tomas has been playing point for point for Zagreb this year because of injuries and he has excelled there. Tomas played point until he was 15, but a growth spurt moved him to the two. But scouts say he has the potential to be an NBA point – at least part of the time.

"He reminds me of Marquis Daniels a little bit," one scout told Insider. "He's one of these guys who's a little bit unassuming, but when he gets on the court, man that kid can do it all. To me, he's the real international sleeper in this draft."

The Croatian media are already calling him the next Drazen Petrovic. That's totally unfair. But at 19, Tomas certainly has been impressive. The scouts Insider talked to this week claim he's a likely top-20 pick in the upcoming draft.


A number of NBA scouts have been traveling to Serbia lately to check in on KK Reflex. The team is playing two important prospects, Nemanja Aleksandrov and Mile Ilic. However, scouts have walked away from Reflex's game impressed by a virtually-unknown forward – 22-year-old Milan Majstorovic. The 6-9 small forward is getting big minutes for his team and recently dropped in 18 points on Olimpija in front of a host of scouts.
"People always forget about these draft-eligible international players," one scout told Insider. "If they haven't been on the radar as teenagers, they tend to slip through the cracks. This kid has size, talent and most importantly, experience. He's still very inconsistent, but I think he's helping himself much more than Aleksandrov or Ilic are right now. Those guys need to play, but right now their playing time is very sporadic."

Scouts are projecting Majstorovic as a possible second-rounder right now.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

Chris Crossed
By Ric Bucher
Comment on this article





It's not important that you believe in God, but be grateful Chris Kaman does.

If he didn't? Well, imagine a wiry, attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disordered, 7-foot, 265-pound man fascinated by guns and knives and driving ultrafast, trying to navigate the idle time/disposable cash/array of temptations obstacle course laid out for NBA players. In LA -- or Sin City, as Kaman calls it -- of all places.

The question is posed to the posse Kaman shuttles from Michigan to his five-bedroom house in Redondo Beach to insure that question will never have to be answered. They're all sitting on the sweeping staircase just inside the front door of his crib, a cascade of rolling eyes, shaking heads and nervous laughter. "He might be dead," says his 18-year-old sister, Jessica. "I'm serious."

Worse, he might not be the only one.

"The first time we met, he was standing in the doorway with a knife," whispers Ben Chamberlain, friend and full-time housekeeper. "Chris was like 9. I was 13, but I was afraid of him."

Kaman overhears this and yells, "Are you guys telling about how I tried to stab Ben?"

Ben: "I didn't say that!"

Kaman: "Yeah, but I did try to stab you!"

Christopher Zane Kaman is both feared and beloved, a one-man reality show pitting good vs. evil. Good is winning, but evil gets in just enough licks to make it interesting. Kaman prefers to keep this part of his life private, because he doesn't want to come off as holier than thou, which might discourage you from becoming a true believer.

Not that he has time to proselytize.

That would require slowing down, and even as he has been nursing a sprained left ankle that has discolored his leg halfway up his shin and halfway down his foot, he hasn't stopped moving. The injury limited his court time to four games in November, preventing Kaman from fully enjoying the Clippers' 9-6 start. That doesn't sound like much, but hey, this is a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs since 1997.


* * *
AFTER A while, there's a honk on the street, and Kaman dashes (bum ankle and all) to the door to find Jessica in the truck he bought her. He notices an unfamiliar car behind hers. "Are you bringing boys over to my house?" he yells. Before she can answer, Kaman adds, "I'm telling Dad!"

A minute later, he's retrieving a basketball at the request of a photographer. "Whatever you do, don't dribble it!" he warns. Someone asks why, which in Kaman's ear sounds like "Show me."

"Watch," he says, bouncing the ball in the narrow foyer at the bottom of the stairs. Tank, his rottweiler, bursts out of the bedroom and leaps at the ball, jaws snapping. Kaman's eyes are wide as he keeps a shoulder-high dribble going to coax more frantic leaps from the 60-pound canine. "He'll start growling in a second," he says.

But when it's Kaman's turn to ponder where he'd be without his faith, he spins away as if from a defender on the block. "It's not a valid question," he says. "I've never had to worry about that. That's negative."


What seems like an innocent inquiry may not be for Kaman, who has reason to be careful about what he lets into his head. The middle child of Leroy and Pam Kaman's three kids was found to have severe attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder at 2, which explains why he could never shake the impulse to do or say whatever came to mind. Most of it was relatively harmless. At 4, he locked out the babysitter and fried up a dish of potato chips and ketchup while she tried to get back in. As a teen, he booby-trapped the entire backyard with fishing line. When his parents didn't know where he was, they'd look up at the neighborhood rooftops. Chris liked to sit and tear off shingles.

"I didn't think of myself as dangerous," he says. "I always felt my thoughts were harmless, but I look back now and think I was crazy." His older brother Mike, who also had symptoms of ADHD, takes part of the blame. "He'd do anything we dared him to," he says.

Kaman's antics didn't go over well at Tri-unity Christian, the small private school in Grand Rapids, Mich., he attended from kindergarten through high school. If he wasn't being forced to sit next to the teacher, he was being sent to the principal's office. Mark Keeler, one of Tri-unity's basketball coaches, practically had to hold down Kaman in the huddle. "He'd go back out on the court, and I'd know he hadn't heard a word," Keeler says.

Kaman, 22, grew to 7feet by the end of his junior year. But Ritalin had killed his appetite, leaving him Manute Bol-thin. Kaman was always the tallest man on the court, and yet Tri-unity won its two Class D state titles before and after his tenure. "I got frustrated with him a lot," Keeler says. "Most plays for him had to be a lob."

A late-night talk with his brother in his junior year prompted Kaman to think about his future. Mike, then a children's pastor at Gaylord (Mich.) Community Church, sensed Chris needed direction. "He was getting in trouble because he couldn't sit still," Mike says. "Working with hyperactive and ADD kids, I know that's their biggest problem. If you overcome that, they're like guided missiles. They chase their dreams with all the passion in the world."

Kaman's dream, as far away as it seemed, was the NBA. So he began to channel his excess energy toward improving his game. He gave up his meds for his senior year so he could begin to bulk up. Still, only two unflashy local programs recruited him, Division III Hope College and eventual winner Central Michigan.

For all the misery created by its bad wiring, Kaman's brain also offered a tantalizing gift that blossomed in college: ambidexterity. Bowling, batting or shooting 20-foot jumpers, Kaman can do it with either hand. "As far as athletic ability, he is truly a balanced individual," says Clippers assistant Kim Hughes. In three years, Kaman turned that ability into lottery status. After averaging 10.7 ppg over his first two seasons, Kaman doubled that in his junior year, putting up 22.4 a night. The breakout swayed the Clippers to make Kaman the sixth pick of the 2003 draft. Then again, they almost didn't stick around long enough to notice him. The first time GM Elgin Baylor went to see Kaman play, he nearly left the gym before the tip-off. Baylor was turned off by Kaman's bouncy, splay-footed gait. "I couldn't believe he was a good basketball player," he says. "With that goofy walk, you'd never know he could run the floor the way he does."

Being viewed as too moralistic can be as problematic for an NBA hopeful as a checkered past. In Kaman's case, some teams thought twice about choosing the big man because they were concerned about whether he'd fit in an NBA locker room. But the Clippers have had no issues with their teammate. For Kaman, on the other hand, the NBA life is a daily issue. "I try to live the way the Bible tells me," he says. "I like my teammates as people, I just can't see myself doing what they do. The hardest part is staying positive when people are talking about the wrong stuff, stuff I don't need to hear. Bad company robs good spirit. Who do you hang out with, what do you do?"

That's no concern in the confines of his home, which is why Kaman rarely strays from it. His strategy for keeping bad influences at bay is to limit his exposure to them, and to engage in nothing that allows him to think beyond the task at hand.

So the LA nightlife is off-limits. He doesn't go out to eat, to avoid the possibility of being tempted by a pretty waitress. For Kaman, looking is sinning.

His live-in, three-man Christian posse from Grand Rapids helps Kaman remain true to The Word. He met all of them at Tri-unity Christian or at his church, the nondenominational Resurrection Life. Chamberlain, who on this particular day is sporting a post-9/11 "Michigan Is Praying for New York" T-shirt, runs the show. Jeremy Scully, having earned a degree from a culinary school in Pittsburgh, is the chef. Ben's younger brother, Caleb, Kaman's best friend since grade school, is the electronics whiz. These guys, right down to the pet rottweiler, are their own version of HBO's Entourage (a show none of them has seen) ... well, without the naked models, casual sex, Jell-O shots and spontaneous trips to Vegas. Basically, they're looking to be saved, not laid.

"We don't leave the house unless we have to," Ben says. "And Chris hates to be home alone."

Jeremy: "Don't say that. People will think we're house rats."

Ben: "We are!"

* * *
THE LEGACY of faith in a higher power runs deep in the Kaman clan. A great-great-grandfather started Michigan's First Assembly of God Church. Legend has it that a great-aunt was raised from certain smallpox death as a baby by family prayer. Chris' mom prayed with her three children every night as they grew up.


Ben sends two or three Bible verses a day to his buddy's BlackBerry, but that's not what keeps Kaman on the straight-and-narrow. His posse knows that is accomplished only by keeping their big friend active. The ankle sprain made this a more complicated challenge. Halo 2, acquired the minute it was available, worked for a bit. But after 40 hours of almost nonstop play, Kaman had mastered it. So the men of the house raised the stakes, concocting a real-life version of the game.

After turning out the lights and opening the sliding glass doors, they grab air guns and plastic BBs, don masks and split into two-man assault teams. Late-night screams have prompted neighbors to complain about "the noisy parties."

"As if we'd ever have one of those," Scully says.

Left adrift in Grand Rapids last summer, Chris and Mike decided to build the tree fort they'd always dreamed of as kids. There they were at 4 a.m., dropping 14-foot poles on the 25-acre spread Kaman bought for his folks. In three weeks they had a house on stilts, complete with sliding-glass door and electricity. Next summer's plan is to enter a car on Michigan's demolition derby circuit. It won't be the '72 black Chevelle with the engine Kaman boosted to 700 horsepower.

The Redondo Beach house bears the brunt of his perpetual motion these days. When Kaman decided he needed a 700-pound safe to store his knife collection, he installed it himself. But lugging it on a dolly up the outside marble staircase did a number on the steps. Then, shortly after hearing Kaman begin to cut a hole in a closet wall, Ben heard spraying water just seconds before Kaman sprinted past him in search of the shut-off valve.

The BBs have done damage as well. Small divots pock the walls and every picture. The one of Ali standing over Sonny Liston at the top of the stairs wears the scars of a particularly heavy ambush. Kaman is inspecting one divot when his eye is drawn to a red mark about six feet up the wall. "I think that's from my shoe," he says. "He's levelheaded in choices of morality," Mike says. "He's just crazy when it comes to fun."

Know who Elton Brand is reminded of when he thinks of Kaman? "Ron Artest, my teammate in AAU," he says. "It might not be the right timing to say that, but it's true. They're nice guys who walk to the beat of their own drum. Chris' faith is just part of the package. He gets some slap about it in the locker room, especially about not chasing girls, but I definitely respect him for it."
His faith is an issue for no one besides Kaman. Marko Jaric, a renowned playboy who tools around in a $240,000 Aston Martin, considers him a friend. The last thing Kaman wants is for people to think he believes he's superior. That would be un-Christianlike. And you won't find a cross hanging from his neck or him giving thanks to Jesus in interviews. He used to wear WWJD wristbands, but he turned them inside out, and he stopped wearing them because they kept breaking or getting ripped off in games.


"If I say, 'Jesus Christ!' he'll punch me," says Hughes. "But then he'll turn around and use the F-word in front of a woman. He's a paradox."

Kaman shakes his shaggy head. "My mouth is my biggest problem," he says. "Sometimes I don't control what I say. Thing is, I don't really consider myself a religious person. I just want to be a good person who loves God. The main reason is, when life is over, where do you go? I want my soul to go to a good place where I can live forever."

For now, he's content to live in the hills above LA, cloaked by his posse. On his bedroom wall, facing his four-poster bed, hangs a framed photo of a lighthouse surrounded by stormy ocean, a massive wave poised to swallow its base. A tiny figure, the lighthouse keeper, stands in the hollow of all that water seemingly unaware of his impending doom. Kaman studies the picture for a moment, then picks up a car magazine.

"Ahh," he says. "Home."

This article appears in the Dec. 20 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Curry, Chandler and Bulls would benefit from divorce

By Greg Anthony
ESPN Insider

Friday, the Bulls faced the Sixers in a game featuring two teams going nowhere fast.

In the case of the Bulls, their high expectations in the preseason quickly turned into the reality of losing. What is wrong with the Bulls? The culture of losing is swallowing this franchise and all that are involved with it and personnel changes will have to be made.

I've seen it all too often: Talented players who do not happen to be leaders are expected to develop into winners. It just doesn't happen.

Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon are all good players individually, but collectively? Well, this team is 3-13 and painful to watch. At times, they look lost.

They're a bad basketball team and will be until they accept that the culture has to change and admit that the strategy implemented by Jerry Krause failed miserably.

You cannot build a team around two kids who are not physically, mentally, or emotionally ready to deal with the adversity and scrutiny that is the life of a professional athlete.


Curry (left) and Chandler's futures might improve outside of Chicago.
Look at the best high schoolers that have entered the league. Not one (with the exception of LeBron James) was ready to lead or win right away.

The player with whom these two have the most in common with is Jermaine O'Neal, the three-time All-Star with the Indiana Pacers.

Drafted out of high school by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1996, O'Neal did not average more than 12 minutes per game his first four NBA seasons. But he practiced against the likes of then-Blazers Rasheed Wallace, Arvydas Sabonis, and Brian Grant everyday.

All the while, that Blazers' team was winning while it groomed a young star. Eventually his potential intrigued the Pacers so much they traded for O'Neal in 2000, and since then he has developed into one of the best bigs in the game.

From Krause, GM John Paxson inherited a team with no veteran leadership – that's pure and simple. The only thing more difficult than winning is teaching players without any history of winning how to become winners.

That's learned by following examples, none of which exist in the current Bulls' lineup. As their roster exists, you would have a better chance of hitting the lottery than Paxson will at getting this train wreck back on track.

Trades have to be made and you know what will happen: Both Chandler and Curry will develop into very good basketball players. Unfortunately it won't happen in a Bulls uniform.

They have become losers and have the body language of losers, which is unfair, because they were asked to do the impossible.

When they came to the NBA out of high school, they had to carry the mantle as saviors when neither was physically or mentally ready for that.

They will never fulfill their potential as long as they are the most talented players on their team. They are gifted players who have not learned how to be leaders because everything throughout their entire experience on the professional level has been about losing.

As great as James has been, he has been surrounded by players who have been consistent performers on decent teams. And, oh by the way, he is probably the most complete 19-year-old player the game has ever seen.

Curry and Tyson are not in LeBron's league in terms of otherworldly talent. Each needs to be on teams that can help them mature as men and grow as basketball players. All the while their team can consistently get wins and compete for the playoffs.

What allows players to improve is being in an environment where they can learn through success. I remember Coach Tarkanian telling me in college that you learn more from wins than losses. Losing teaches you how to lose, and that is a lesson these young Bulls know all too well.

In order for Curry and Chandler to succeed, they need a change of scenery. A trade will also provide the Bulls with their best chance of getting that franchise up to the level of mediocrity.

Greg Anthony, an NBA analyst for ESPN and former player, is a regular contributor to Insider.

Miami has the chance to get a little hotter

By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
The Good, the Bad, the Upside
Insider's Chad Ford rounds up the state of the NBA every Monday, looking at The Good and The Bad and offering a little dose of optimism in The Upside.
The Bad


The Hornets are considering a fire sale. Big mistake.

What's wrong with Detroit's D? Look at the team's O.

Can Kobe put the drama aside and just play ball?
The Upside


Trading Kwame Brown might help him and the Wizards.

Allan Houston to Toronto? Sorry. Not gonna happen.

Are the 76ers showcasing Samuel Dalembert?

Divisions in the NBA are pretty meaningless unless they're used to show just how wrong we were about the league this fall. Before the season, we said the Southeast Division was the weakest in the NBA. Six weeks into the season, the three top teams in the East – the Heat, Magic and Wizards – all play there.

We also said the Southwest Division would be the best in the NBA. Statistically, it's the worst in the West.

Overall, the best division in the league is the Northwest. The worst? The Atlantic. The disparity? The five teams in the Northwest have a combined 60 wins. The five teams in the Atlantic have 40.

So it should come as no surprise that the top team in the Good and Upside categories this week, the Heat and Wizards, come from the Southeast. And the leader of the Bad, the Hornets, comes from the Southwest.


The Good
Miami Heat: The conventional wisdom coming into the season was that Shaquille O'Neal would give the Heat a shot at being the best team in the East.
Who would've thought it would be a combo of Dwyane Wade and some pitiful competition that would actually get them there?

The Heat have won four straight despite Shaq contining to have just a so-so season. Not only are his numbers down across the board (17.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg in his last five) but he ranks behind Wade, Christian Laettner, Udonis Haslem and Damon Jones on the team's plus/minus chart.

Still, it's tough to measure two things about the Heat's searing start. First, when you look at their opponents of late, maybe the Heat should be doing better than 15-7. They've played the Bulls, Raptors, Bucks, Grizzlies and Jazz in December, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Nuggets in Denver.

Second, Shaq's presence has opened things up tremendously for everyone else. Wade and Damon Jones have been the biggest recipients. Jones is shooting an impressive 46 percent from 3 and ranks first in the league in 3-pointers made. Wade doesn't really shoot 3s, but he's shooting 52 percent from the field this year – up from 46 percent last season. That improved field-goal percentage is primarily coming from jumpers.

Eddie Jones
Guard
Miami Heat
Profile


2004-2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
22 10.0 4.5 2.8 .335 .789


However, one guy hasn't seen the same halo effect that Jones and Wade have. Eddie Jones has been awful. He's shooting just 30 percent from 3, down from 37 percent last year and 41 percent in 2002-03. Overall he's shooting just 34 percent from the field and seems out of synch.

That's why the Heat have been flirting with the idea of trading Jones to the Raptors for Jalen Rose.

Rose isn't much of a cure-all (he's shooting just 33 percent from 3 and 40 percent from the field) but the Heat believe he may be a better fit in the team's new offense. Rose is two years younger than Jones, is a better passer and can still take over a game in ways that Jones no longer can.

With that said, head coach Stan Van Gundy has concerns. Jones is a better defender and a better teammate. Everywhere Rose has gone, his popularity has quickly wilted.

Jalen Rose
Guard
Toronto Raptors
Profile


2004-2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
22 15.0 3.4 2.3 .410 .911


As far as bad contracts go, both are awful. Jones and Rose both make more than $13 million per season and both have two years left on their contracts after this season. But with the Raptors desperate to start shaking up their terrible chemistry, a 33-year-old Jones would be a godsend at this point.

Trading Rose to the Heat also would greatly open up the Raptors' options in trading Vince Carter. With Rose out of the picture, Toronto will have more suitors for Carter. Several teams that are interested in Vince have backed out because of an insistence that Rose be included in the deal. The Raptors could use the Heat as part of a three-way trade sending Rose to Miami and moving Jones and Carter off a separate teams. This would be an acceptable solution to a team like Portland, which has balked at accepting Rose's contract.

Phoenix Suns: Every week it's a different Sun making the news. That's how it is when your team has the best record in the league (17-3), leads the league in scoring at 109 ppg and is blowing out teams by an impressive 11.4 ppg.

Joe Johnson
Guard
Phoenix Suns
Profile


2004-2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
20 15.6 4.4 3.1 .447 .788


Week 2 we raved about Steve Nash. Week 3 it was Amare Stoudemire. Week 4 we couldn't get enough of Shawn Marion. Last week the love went to Quentin Richardson.

This week, Joe Johnson stepped to the forefront. Johnson averaged 18 ppg, 4 apg and shot an amazing 72 percent from behind the arc (13-for-17 from 3) in the Suns' four wins. For the season he's shooting 54 percent from downtown. Only Fred Hoiberg is shooting better, and he's taken only half as many 3s.

New Jersey Nets: How much did Richard Jefferson miss Jason Kidd? The Nets' second-best player was off to a decent start without Kidd, but look what he's doing since Kidd returned.

Jefferson is averaging 24.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 5 apg while shooting 52 percent from the field. Before Kidd returned, Jefferson was shooting just 41 percent from the field and averaging five turnovers per game.

The Nets are 3-1 since Kidd came back and have very winnable games against the Knicks, Raptors and Hornets in the next week.

"Let's put things in perspective," head coach Lawrence Frank told the N.Y. Daily News. "He's had two or three practices, and he's played in a couple of games. This is his preseason. But the guy's such a high-level guy, for him to step in as he has, he's as good as it gets."

Sacramento Kings: It looks like that window that is supposed to keep closing on the Kings remains stubbornly open. Through Sunday's games, the Kings look like a clone of last year's squad, statistically.

They are averaging virtually identical numbers in points per game, points allowed per game, rebounds per game, assists per game and field goal percentage.

And ... it's the usual suspects getting it done. We've already talked about Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby. After a pretty slow start to the season, Brad Miller has been the latest King to come alive. Over his last five he's averaging 19 ppg, 10.6 rpg and 4.4 apg on 51 percent shooting from the field. The team is 4-1 during that stretch.

Seattle SuperSonics: As long as the Sonics don't have to play the Celtics, they look like they own the NBA right now. The Sonics scored impressive road wins against both the Spurs and Mavericks this week before getting walloped, for a second straight time, by the Celtics.

What do the Celtics know that the rest of the league doesn't? Doc Rivers has played small ball against the Sonics both times.

"We match up well with them," Paul Pierce told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "They have guys that are versatile and can play a lot of positions, and I think we are the same thing."

The Celtics also have good perimeter defenders who have harassed the Sonics into poor shooting nights. The Sonics shot just 32 percent from the field and 19 percent from 3 during Saturday's loss.

Still, head coach Nate McMillan doesn't seem concerned that the rest of the league will start playing them the same way the Celtics do.

"I don't think so," McMillan said. "All teams can't do this. All teams can't put those types of players out there."

Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies are 4-2 since head coach Mike Fratello took over. While the team's offense has slipped a bit, the defense has been dramatically better. In the Grizzlies first 16 games, the team allowed 95.4 points on 44 percent shooting. Since Fratello took over, opponents are averaging 86.5 ppg on 41 percent shooting.

Earl Watson
Guard
Memphis Grizzlies
Profile


2004-2005 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
22 9.2 1.8 5.5 .432 .710


But don't give Fratello all the credit just yet. It has helped tremendously that Fratello has had two of the team's top defenders, James Posey and Stromile Swift, healthy for that stretch. Both were injured for significant periods during the team's 5-11 start.

The team also is getting a boost from point guard Earl Watson, who's seen heavy minutes at the point since Jason Williams went down with an injury. Though not as offensively gifted as Williams, Watson is a much better perimeter defender and more heady offensive player. His numbers – 14.8 ppg, 8 apg, 2.2 spg on 48 percent shooting – dwarf what Williams had been doing.

Look for Watson to keep starting even after Williams returns. His defensive upside combined with his pass-first mindset are a better fit in Fratello's system. It could be just a matter of time now before Williams is sent packing.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.