by Brett Edwards
In another story of a veteran player joining a playoff contender, Derek Anderson did not disappoint in his debut with the Heat. He had 14 points, including the game tying field goal and game winning assist in the Heat's comeback win against the Hawks.
The Heat were playing this game without D Wade, who sat out with a wrist injury. Consequently, the Hawks lead by as many as 17 in the 3rd, before the Heat came back strong in the 4th. Even though Shaq fouled out with about 4 minutes left, Udonis Haslem was able to make a few big shots and clutch free throws to keep the Heat in the game. After D.A. made a fall away jumper to tie the game, and after Salim Stoudamire missed a potential go ahead jumper with 19 seconds left (why someone who is 2-9 on the night takes that shot is beyond me), the Heat had one last chance. Haslem had been hot the entire 4th quarter, but badly missed a 15-footer off the right side of the rim. Fortunately for the Heat, D.A. was there to get the rebound under the basket and flip the ball to Mourning for the game winning dunk and medically induced celebration thereafter.
Derek Anderson was great with the Clippers (career high 16.9/game), then injured and not so great with the Spurs, then basically invisible with Portland and then Houston. The guy's got plenty of talent, so let's see if he can stay healthy and provide the Heat with some veteran leadership and offensive help for their run at the Pistons in May.
I don't remember Anderson being injured with the Spurs. In fact, he played all 82 games and was their second leading scorer in '01. What I DO remember, however, is he thought two above-average seasons (16.9 and 15.5 points respectively) had earned him a max contract. The Spurs said, "Uh, no" and shipped Derek off to Portland, where he blew chunks. Well deserved, I thought, for turning his back on a title contending team...which of course won two titles without his sorry butt.
Posted by: basketbawful | March 06, 2006 at 11:18 AM
Actually the DA got injured in the 2001 playoffs against Dallas in the second round. He missed the Spurs-Lakers Western Conference Finals in 2001 as a result. Rather than having an impact, he watched the Spurs (who had the best record in the NBA) get swept by the Lakers.
Posted by: Craig | March 06, 2006 at 12:50 PM
Playoffs? Playoffs?! Don't talk to me about playoffs! (You have to imagine me saying that in Jim Mora's voice.)
I'm not saying that things might not have been different if Anderson played against the Lakers...no, actually, that's exactly what I'm saying. First off, Anderson was overrated. Second, he was only averaging around 8 points in the playoffs BEFORE he got injured. The Spurs did indeed have the best record in the league at 58-24, but the Lakers were only two games worse...and they had a host of injuries that season (Kobe missed 14 games, Shaq missed 8, Derek Fisher missed 62, Isaiah Rider turned out to be a bust, etc.).
The Lakers were a better team and were just on an incredible roll. That one season was the best Shaq and Kobe played together (they both averaged almost 30 points). What's my point? I don't even know. I guess what I'm saying is that despite getting injured in the playoffs, Anderson had at the very least a PERCEIVED impact on the Spurs that year. Portland certainly thought he did something special, since they gave him a max contract. Of course, they probably should have asked themselves why San Antonio didn't feel the need to keep him around.
Posted by: basketbawful | March 06, 2006 at 08:44 PM
Great point! I totally agree about Anderson being overrated. What I find is funny is that two teams (Portland and Houston) are playing the DA to NOT play with them.
My point was that the media practically named the DA a "Kobe Stopper" prior to the WCF in 2001. Many predicted (including Ric Bucher) a Spurs win. Watching the Spurs be on the wrong end of the most lopsided Western Conference Finals in NBA history was awesome!
The best moment was Pockovich commenting on the Lakers roll (in a bitter tone with his psycho-marine haircut), "They've won like a million games in a row!"
As we are both huge NBA historians, I might add that the 2000-01 season was a mixed bag for the Lakers. Remember that the whole Kobe-Shaq feud became a big item in February of that season. The Lakers didn't really turn their season around until April when they closed out the season with 8 straight wins. D. Fisher coming back from injury put a temporary end to the Kobe-Shaq feud that season.
Posted by: Craig | March 06, 2006 at 11:36 PM
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Posted by: Stevie Jones | March 09, 2006 at 05:24 AM