My "All-Miserable" Team

Posted on LG.net on 1/17.

NBADraft.net had an article recently on "The All-Miserable Team". I agreed with one of their picks, strongly disagreed with the two Lakers on the list. Here is my "All-Miserable Team":
PG - Carlos Arroyo (article had Jason Kidd)
Arroyo wants out of Utah bad and if you don't believe me, go to his website carlosarroyo.com. From his website:

Carlos Arroyo says he is not the type of player to demand a trade. But now that he has dropped to third or fourth in the Jazz's point-guard rotation, "I want to play, and I can't succeed on the bench," Arroyo said Wednesday. "If I can't play here, what can I do?" Arroyo emphasized that "my first choice is for things to go back to normal." In other words, reinstating him into the Jazz's starting lineup, where he played 71 games last season and 16 this year before being demoted last month. "But what I'm hearing now is, [it's] probably not [going to happen]. So I need to find a way to change that."Arroyo was careful to avoid saying he wants to leave Utah. He did admit, however, that he doesn't mind the attention from other teams. "If nobody talks about you, then you're not important. If nobody shows interest, that's a problem," Arroyo said. "Very humbly and with my feet on the ground, I say this: People know what I can do. They know I can play, and they understand that I shouldn't be on the bench, playing two minutes."Fans in Arroyo's homeland are angry at Jazz coach Jerry Sloan for benching the star of the island's Olympic team, especially since he signed a four-year, 6 million contract in July. "Basically, a lot of people are worried. A lot of people are upset back home because I'm not playing," said Arroyo, who also held a news conference via phone with Puerto Rican sportswriters Wednesday afternoon. "They see the Jazz gave me a contract [and] they expected me to play. Now I'm not and they want to know why."

Yes, Kidd must be unhappy at the prospect of playing out his career for a rebuilding team, but at least he his playing. Baron Davis is probably miserable from his back pain and the play of his team. Marcus Banks has to be miserable because if Gary Payton hadn't been slow to report, he would probably be starting on a Lakers team where everyone seems to like one another instead of being a back up on a team where the coach is loathed by several of the players. And Sam Cassell is miserable, but self-induced misery doesn't count.

SG - Ricky Pierce (article had Steve Francis)
I agree with the article that Stevie Franchise is major-league pissed that his team traded his best friend and long-time running mate, Catino Mobley. If anything, the article left out reasons why Francis is pissed. GM John Weisbrod's comments about the trade can't make Francis too happy:

"Cuttino has always been there for him through his headaches and his issues and sometimes people misunderstand Steve," Weisbrod said. "Because Steve has a loud game and sometimes a loud mouth, they think he has a stronger personality than he does. He's scared. His security blankets are being taken away a little bit. I try to make him understand it's in his best interest. I want to push him outside his comfort zone. Sometimes I feel I've got bigger plans for some of these guy than they have themselves. You can't mistake comfort for success. Sometimes a little brother doesn't reach his full potential until he's out of big brother's shadow."

Now, the Magic are making Doug Christie their point and moving Francis to SG to minimize Francis' miscues (link). However, I still consider Francis to be a PG, so he is good back up to Carlos Arroyo on the All-Miserable team but doesn't make the starting 5.

Ricky Pierce is definitely a SG and he is getting more and more miserable this season as the Celts continue to lose. Pierce is not getting along with new coach Doc Rivers, who has benched Pierce twice, once for not playing a team game in the offensive end and once for defensive sins. The second benching produced this sulky-kid quote:

"I guess I didn't play no defense, if that's what he said. I guess we have to outscore everybody, or sit me down, I don't know.

As the Boston Globe recently reported:

After a recent loss to Toronto, Pierce threw out the name of the franchise's Voldemort. "Even Rick Pitino wouldn't give up 100 [points]," he said in digust

From what I have read, there doesn't seem to be a single happy veteran on the Celtics and misery is contagious.

SF - Jim Jackson (article had Luke Walton)
Jim Jackson refuses to report to the bottom dwelling Hornets, prefer no pay to nightly humilation. It is hard to imagine a stronger expression of misery. Jim Jackson beat out a long of strong choices. While he was been injured, Andrei Kirilenko had been forced to watch his team go from red hot to lottery bound. Tim Thomas has been dogged all season by trade rumors. Jiri Welsch, the Celt's "starting" SF, is averaging only 23.6 mpg and 6.6 shots and has to watch Paul Pierce hoist up 15.6 shots per game while shooting a worse shooting percentage. Then there is Eduardo Najera, who went from being the super sub for the very good Dallas Mavericks to the tenth man on a very bad Golden State Warriors team.

The choice of Luke Walton by the NBADraft.com author was a curious one. A second round draft pick is unhappy about his playing time dropping from 10 mpg to 8 mpg? A player shooting 33% and with the worst Roland number of anyone on the roster is depressed about his DNP-CD's? I think the author is probably more unhappy about the lack of PT for a player he likes than Walton is.

PF - Kevin Garnett (article had Lamar Odom, with KG the center of the All-Miserable team
I think the NBADraft.com author nailed this one:

He's arguably the top player in basketball, but his Minnesota Timberwolves are easily the most disappointing team in the league. He's still putting up his usual monster stats (24-15-6), but the lack of help from his teammates has been shocking.

The choice of Lamar Odom by the NBADraft.com author was also a curious one. Every quote I have seen from Odom has been about how much he likes the team and playing with Kobe. Here is what Odom said after the results of Kobe's MRI came back:

"I'd rather have Kobe on the court. It's just not going to be on me or Caron. Brian Grant's going to have to get an extra rebound, Brian Cook's going to have to hit an extra three, Chris Mihm, block an extra shot, Jumaine Jones, get an extra loose ball, for us to win games. It's going to take everybody."

Not exactly doing cart wheels at thought of getting all those extra shoots.

C - Shaquille O'Neal (article had KG)
Shaq's quotes remind me of a woman who keeps badmouthing her ex months after they have broken up. My impression is that Shaq told the Lakers, "This team isn't big enough for Kobe and me. One of us has to go", and the most repected pro sports organization said, "Let me get the door for you, Shaq. The taxi is on its way." Based on how often he discusses him, Kobe is never far from Shaq's mind. Shaq has produced a steady string of barbs at his former teammate this season, all of which Kobe has ignored. Shaq has recently told reporters, "No more K questions", but I am sure Shaq will bring Kobe up on his own.

It has to hurt Shaq that now that he and Kobe are separate and Shaq has lead his new team to the top of the Eastern conference, the fans still prefer Kobe. The Lakers are still the top road draw in the NBA. Kobe's jersey isn't selling well, but that is to be expected because he hasn't had a new jersey out this year. Shaq's new jersey isn't in the top 10 sellers, being trounced not only by LeBron James and Carmello Anthony, but also by Tracy McGrady. I don't know if Shaq will get his monster extension out of Miami, but even if he does, it is clear that money can't buy happiness.

Alonzo Mourning had this position nailed down until he got traded from the Nets. Eddy Curry was his number two until the Bulls got the act together. Darko Milicic is unhappier than Shaq, but I think he is PF, not a C. There aren't many unhappy centers in this league, so I am guessing that Shaq is the unhappiest.