You'd have to see Quentin Richardson to believe the change. It's amazing.
The fact that the formerly pudgy Richardson, the Miami HEAT's starting small forward, has lost 25 pounds and now appears slender would be remarkable enough on its own. But consider with only a training camp and six regular season games under his belt, Richardson is becoming a team leader on a squad with a 5-1 record, second-best in the East.
And even more impressively, Richardson, known mostly for raining three-pointers during his nine-year career, is earning that role by playing good defense.
"He has a defensive maturity and rebounding maturity that I don't remember seeing in his past years," Denver coach George Karl said. Richardson, curiously enough, said he's developed as a defender with the HEAT because he's being schooled in Miami's strict defensive system.
"The defensive schemes at first were a little difficult," Richardson said. "I came from a place (New York) where it was completely opposite. We (the HEAT) force baseline and things like that. We never did that at previous places I was at. We never really had principles and things like that."
Richardson will get one of his biggest tests of the season Tuesday night when he defends Washington's Caron Butler. Butler had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five turnovers in Miami's 93-89 victory at Washington last week. But after that game Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas called out Butler publicly, telling him to be more aggressive offensively.
Since then Butler has scored 24 and 19 points in losses against Indiana and Phoenix, respectively. Expect Butler to come out balling Tuesday night. And expect Richardson to be up for the challenge.
"He's a competitive guy," HEAT coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's tough, he has a great disposition defensively, and I think with the weight he's lost he's showing he can guard multiple positions."
Richardson, of course, was traded four times during the off-season - from New York to Memphis, then Memphis to the Los Angeles Clippers, then from the Clippers to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and finally from the T-Wolves to the HEAT. A $9.3 million expiring contract makes you a popular man. However, Richardson seems to have found a home in Miami alongside good friends Dwyane Wade and forward Dorell Wright.
Go beyond Richardson's season averages of 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and look at what he's done in his last three games. Richardson has scored in double digits in each of those games (Phoenix, Washington and Denver) while grabbing at least nine rebounds in each game. He's still firing up three-pointers, but through six games he's hitting a career-best .433 (13-for-30).
Still, the impressive stuff is Richardson's defense.
"You know every night he's going to bring his toughness and he's going to guard the other team's best player," Wade said. "There are going to be nights where guys are going to score points, but they aren't going to be easy points. He wants that challenge and that's great for this team."
Don't Blame A.I.
Raise your hand if you thought Memphis guard Allen Iverson would be a good citizen with the Grizzlies. Do I see a few hands in the Memphis front office? Shame on you.
Yes, Iverson has been an ass. But in his defense, he made it perfectly clear since last season with Detroit he doesn't consider himself a reserve. Perfectly clear. There was no mistake about how he regarded himself. He considers himself a starter. No debate. Zero.
So what do the Grizzlies do? They make him a reserve.
That's why this debacle with Iverson and his indefinite leave of absence falls 100 percent on the shoulders of the Grizzlies' front office, who apparently considered themselves miracle workers.
One More Thing About the HEAT
If forward Udonis Haslem (11.8 points, 10.0 rebounds per game) keeps playing the way he's been playing off the bench, he could barge his way into Sixth Man of the Year consideration.
Granted, it's highly unlikely Haslem would win the award considering the competition includes Dallas guard Jason Terry, San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom, among others. But Haslem, a starter the previous five seasons, including on Miami's 2006 championship team, could get into, maybe, the top five.
A Quick Word About Steve Nash
The dude is incredible. I'm talking about Phoenix guard Steve Nash. Every time you watch him, he does something unbelievable. It was that way in last week's 30-point performance at Miami. He had an explosive 17-point third quarter and then showed veteran savvy eight points (on 2-for-2 shooting from the field, and 3-for-3 shooting from the line) and three assists in the game-winning fourth quarter.
Now consider this: if Nash, a two-time MVP, continues on his early season path of 18.3 points and a league-leading 12.9 assists per game while shooting .926 from the free throw line, he'll register his second-best scoring season, his best season for assists, and his second-best season from the line.
Consider Nash a candidate for a third MVP.
Quick Hits
- Keep an eye on Toronto (3-4) over the next week or so. The Raptors host Chicago on Wednesday and then head west for games at the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz. Then Toronto returns home for games against Miami and Orlando. Yikes.
I like the Raptors' frontcourt; let's see what the backcourt contingent of Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Antoine Wright and Jarrett Jack can do during this stretch.
- Pistons center Ben Wallace is having a re-birth in his return to Detroit. Big Ben, one of the most personable guys in the league, is averaging 9.6 rebounds per game. He grabbed a season-best 16 rebounds in Sunday's 88-81 victory over Philadelphia.
"I'm just finding the passion for the game again," Wallace said. "I'm healthy for the first time in a long time."
- There are defensive concerns in New Orleans, where the Hornets (3-5) have gone from one of the league's best defensive teams a year ago (94.3 ppg) to one of the worst this year (102.6 ppg). It doesn't help matters that center Emeka Okafor, acquired during the summer, missed training camp with a toe injury. But the problem is bigger than Okafor.
"We have to play better one-on-one defense, and we can't rely on the help defense first," Hornets forward David West said. "It has to be you are guarding your guy for one or two dribbles and then depend on the help to be there."
- Houston (4-2) is proving to be more stubborn than many expected considering it lost forward Ron Artest to the Lakers in free agency, center Yao Ming is out for the season with a foot injury, and guard Tracy McGrady is still sidelined after off-season knee surgery.
But anchored by a seven-man crew that includes guards Aaron Brooks, Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry, forwards Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Carl Landry, and under-sized center Chuck Hayes, Houston, led by Coach Rick Adelman, is hanging tough.
"They play bigger than what they are," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "They are a tough team. They push the ball on you a lot. They take three-point shots. They are capable of scoring a lot of points and put a premium of your ability to change ends."
- Portland (4-3) might be onto something with the three-guard starting lineup that includes Andre Miller, Steve Blake and Brandon Roy. The Trail Blazers are 2-0 using that trio with victories over San Antonio and Minnesota. Small forward Martell Webster now comes off the bench with Miller being inserted as a starter.
