Newspaper Page Text
Monday, November 11
THE MAROON TIGER
PAGE 17
A Preview of the 1996-97 NBA Season
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By Kyle J. Martin & Aaron Savoy
Sports Editor & Staff Writer
Welcome to The Maroon
Tiger's 1996-97 NBA Preview.
As always, we give you each
division's top two teams, and
then set the table for the rest
as to how we think they'll
finish. We're gonna break
down all that NBA Action for
you Tigerstyle, so sit back and
watch us work it...
Eastern Confe
Atlantic Din
1. New York Knj
summer's free-agei
allowed the Knick^^^H
retool, jettisoning
D< * ■ ] Harper anc®:adihg’T
slew of new playersBwiiuding-!
forward Larry Johnson (traded
by Charlotte for
Mason and a scijjHHHH
agents Chris Childffiffl^^^m
Houston and rugged vet Buck
Williams. Add in the rookie
class headlined by Syracuse
malcontent John Wallace, and
the team's average age drops
from 31.6 to 29.2.
On paper at least, the
Knicks' are a team to be
reckoned with; reality is
another story: Childs is out
with a broken leg — meaning
the Knicks must rely on the
shaky Charlie Ward to start the
season at the point until he
rpflirng whirb fpuld Spell mad
will
io Magic
cliche, tJ
•ar-old franchise has alrea
seen the Best of Times
(reaching the Finals in 19fo),
the Bulls in the Eastern
Conference Finals was a
"learning experience" that
gpf .m fKii^upar'g
pav
’Sing
- r #4i
to the Lakers via free
go all of the Great Expectations
the team had for this year,
including the belief that last
year's sweep at the hands of
lai
iarictlfSlg chore!
is Scott, is jusj^one-
sional liability. Horace
ts at the other
forward, and must continue to
provide., leadership and
interior aerensejn orderrofjjh
the gaping hole at
pite the presence
^fHJuTfed whiner RonySeikai
They'll win some games, but
it looks like Orlando's Magic
is all used up.
3. Miami Heat — Pat Riley's
schemes on the down-low
exposed the team at power
forward.
4. Washington Bullets —
Howard, Webber, Strickland,
Muresan. Who's the (5th)
iMan?
Boston Celtics — Rookie
ntoine Walker might just be
laying 1 on 5 this year.
Philadelphia 76ers — Let's
tope Iverson runs, not ruins,
team of gunners.
7. New Jersey Nets — About
11 players away from being a
real sc
ml g||jjg
1. Chicago Bulls: After
winning 72 games and tearing
up the playoffs, 'Da Bulls
proved that the smart money
was on them from the start, as
r. Everyone
therapist Jack HaleyJ
should have just enough fori
one more run. One cause for
concern, however, is the age
factor: Jordan, 33, Rodman, 35,
and Pippen, 31, aren't getting
any younger. Pippen had
ankle surgery in the off
season, and played on Dream
Team III; a summer like that
has been known to slow down
a player or two. Then there's
Dennis Rodman who is simply
... Dennis Rodman. Jordan is
coming off of his eighth
consecutive scoring title, but
how long will it be before even
he starts noticeably losing
some skills?
’Da Bench, featuring 6th
man Tony Kukoc, deadeye
shooter Steve Kerr, D-man
Randy Brown, and newly-
acquired graybeard center
IjJRobert Parish, is solid. As long
as stiff center Luc Longley
does his job in the middle,
everything's gravy; if not, and
x they have to go with Parish,
• fterejould be a problem. Still,
things have happened
le way to the Finals.
Continued on page 19
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