By Sam Amico / The Amico Report

A BASKETBALL AND A SHOVEL

I'd like to tell you that I spent my entire week holed up in the house, watching the NBA and ignoring the snowstorm that blanketed the East coast.

But that's not the truth.

In fact, with the exception of the second half of the Los Angeles Lakers' double overtime win against Houston, I didn't see a single minute of any game.

Instead, I went outside and shoveled ... and shoveled ... and shoveled until the tips of my fingers turned a funny shade of purple. And do you know how frustrating it is to spend two hours shoveling snow, only to look out the window and realize you didn't make any actual progress?

I lived in Wyoming for four years, and I NEVER saw anything like this. Just when you thought it had finally stopped snowing, along came another 7-to-10 inches. It was something else, and by the time the last snowflake fell, my front yard looked like the up-close images I've seen of the moon. Or as my wife Carley said, "Like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man had just exploded on top of the house."

All the shoveling made me realize what it must be like to have a real job. It made me appreciate the people who's job it is to clear the roads so I can get to the office without fearing for my life, the people who help to make this country work. And they do it without holding an All-Star Game or handing out awards, such as Most Improved Shoveling Person.

Mostly, it made me realize how blessed I am to earn a paycheck without ever having to lift anything heavy. My job allows me to sit in a comfortable chair, write about the NBA, and play basketball every day without interruption. I'm not on call, I never need to clock in or out, and no one's life depends on whether or not I have a bad day.

Anyway, this is a newsletter about the pro basketball, and even though I didn't get to watch much, I did manage to read some box scores and enjoy the league in my usual manner -- by flipping through the NBA Encyclopedia, reading the backs of my basketball cards, and spending a couple of hours in front of the TV and taking in the best show in broadcasting history, "NBA Fastbreak." (Actually, Fastbreak is probably second to "Gomer Pyle, USMC," but it's slowly catching up).

As for my point ... well, while I didn't follow the league as closely this week, I still have enough thoughts to jot down as I allow my brain to thaw out. And fortunately, you kept sending e-mails. So we should have enough pro basketball stuff to get by, at least until next week.

Let's get started.

MORE ON KOBE

Last week I wrote about Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, and admitted that I currently hold his game in higher regard than at any time prior to this season. In my eyes, Kobe is a modern day Julius Erving, so I'm not about to write anything bad about him.

But I will print some things I've heard from the experts.

I'll start with a Western Conference scout, who said, "As long as Kobe is scoring 40 points per game and Shaquille O'Neal is scoring 18-25 ... I'm not too worried about the Lakers making the playoffs."

The scout added, "If the Lakers do make the playoffs, they won't do much. Not as long as Kobe keeps shooting them out of any semblance of an offense."

Former NBA players and current TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith also offered some criticism of Bryant following the Lakers' win over the Rockets.

"Kobe has to pass the ball, man," Barkley said. "It can't be fun being one of his teammates and watching him shoot EVERY time he touches it. The key to being a great player is to make your teammates better."

Interestingly, Derek Fisher was the Laker who hit the biggest of shots in the game -- and Bryant does deserve some credit for drawing the double and triple teams, then passing the ball to an open player when it mattered most.

Whether you agree with Barkley or not, you at least have to admit how much the game has changed. I haven't done any research, but the scout told me that Kobe has already taken twice as many shots during his current streak of five straight 40-plus games as Michael Jordan did during his streak of nine straight 40-plus games. And according to the scout, Kobe has gotten to the free-throw line more.

Kenny Smith said, "Greatness isn't measured in shot attempts."

The scout concluded, "Kobe has a good chance to become the NBA's MVP. But he's still the second-best player on his team. And without a healthy Shaq, that team is headed for the lottery."

MORE ON THE LAKERS

-- It amazes me how many e-mails I get from people claiming to be Laker fans. Where were you folks in the 1990s?

-- Last week, I also asked for your thoughts on how a bunch of old guys -- Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, etc. -- would do on the same team. We'll get more into that next week, but first I did want to mention this related e-mail from Charles Caldwell. He wrote, "Had Chicago general manager Jerry Krause not broken up the teams featuring Jordan, Pippen and Phil Jackson, and had Jordan never retired a second time, the Bulls would STILL be winning titles. The Lakers, meanwhile, would be getting swept in the second round, and I bet Kobe would have been traded to Denver or Miami by now."

-- Charles could be right, but the truth is, the Lakers are the three-time defending champions, and they are currently the league's best story. I mean, has there ever been this much drama surrounding an organization that's won three straight titles? It's hard not to compare great teams from different eras, but I say we should just enjoy Kobe and Shaq, and appreciate what they've done in helping the NBA survive what was supposed to be a down period.

IMPROVING THE NBA

Before we get to this week's e-mail, I wanted to say that I've received more than 300 responses since I asked for your thoughts on how to improve the NBA. Almost all have said that the league needs to prohibit players from entering the draft right out of high school. As Robert Truax wrote, "A typical NBA game today looks a lot like a Division II game in 1990. I like Division II basketball, but I sure as heck wouldn't drop a hundred bucks to watch it."

This week's thought comes from Sam Kaylor, who took a different angle. Fire away, Sam.

"The NBA obviously needs to improve its image. My grandpa is 77-years old, and he used to love pro basketball. But it seems like the league is sending a message that he doesn't matter any more. It doesn't seem interested in him -- or for that matter, 25-year olds such as myself who find Mariah Carey and hip-hop to be downright boring.

"But I also think today's emphasis on youth and selfish play isn't entirely the league's fault. The shoe companies seem to be running our society when it comes to basketball. The NBA needs to take a stronger stance and force its players and advertisers to start projecting a more wholesome image, which is pretty much the image put forth by pro football, baseball and hockey. And don't let David Stern fool you. His league has enough money and clout to project whichever image it would like."

That's definitely something to think about, Sam. Best of all, you provided me with yet another opportunity to shamelessly promote my book, "A Basketball Summer," which was released last spring (and can be purchased on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble bookstores).

The book includes an entire chapter in which NBA general managers such as Pete Babcock and Chris Wallace talk about the state of the league.

If you have thoughts on how to improve the NBA, e-mail them to me at amicoreport@hotmail.com. I'll print one each week.

MORE READER FEEDBACK

From Clive Watson

"I have to disagree with you agreeing that, 'Detroit's Wallace won't win league MVP, but he's still one of the top 10 players.' Stop it! Off the top of my head, I can think of 16 players who are better than Wallace -- Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Shaq, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webber, Steve Francis, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Elton Brand, Karl Malone, and Rasheed Wallace.

"Ben Wallace is the classic power forward and a workaholic who could play major minutes, if not start, on most teams. He is not a top 10 player, though."

Dear Clive

You made your point, and then some! Expect to hear from mad Pistons fans. I do just about every week, God love 'em.

From Warren McNeail

"Just a few observations from an NBA fanatic with too much free time:

"The Cleveland Cavaliers' longest winning streak this year is one game. I wonder if anyone has gone an entire season with no more than a one-game winning streak ... The Dallas Mavericks lead the league in free-throw percentage, and free-throw percentage defense. Wonder if that has ever happened before? ... You wrote that Bill Russell shot 60 percent from the foul line for his career. It was actually 56 percent."

Dear Warren

I always love when a fellow NBA junkie has way too much time. Thank you. Also, I'm not sure about this, but I'd be willing to bet the Philadelphia 76ers of 1972-73 didn't have a winning streak of more than one game. They finished the season with a record of 9-73.

FINAL WINTERY WONDERS

-- You asked how I felt about the league expanding the first-round playoff series from a best-of-5 to a best-of-7 format, and in case I didn't make it perfectly clear last week -- I LOVE IT! More games in the same amount of time. What's not to love?

-- As I mentioned before, I am currently reading John Feinstein's book, "The Punch," about the incident that took place between Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich, when both were players in the 1970s. I'm almost finished with the book, and I just wanted to take another minute to highly reccomend it. A lot of people look at Washington as a heartless thug, but the book proves he's always been just the opposite. That's the most important thing I've learned from it.

-- Allow me to be the first to shrug and say that I love watching the Memphis Grizzlies. Most of that has to do with the fact that the Grizzlies have become a team in the truest sense under Hubie Brown. And whoever thought the subject would be team basketball when Jason Williams is playing the point? But it's true, and I especially like how Williams, Paul Gasol and Shane Battier are becoming better individual players as the season goes on. I bet this is exactly what Jerry West had in mind.

-- My favorite to win the East? Well, hate to break it to you, but I'm still picking New Jersey. The Nets still run their offense better than anyone (thanks to Jason Kidd), and they still act like they're a college team playing in the NCAA Tournament -- and not some pro team drudging its way through an 82-game season. The Nets play with PASSION. A big key is whether or not Kerry Kittles can stay healthy. Kittles is no all-star, but his unselfish contributions are very underrated.

-- Also, does anyone remember the reputation Nets forward Kenyon Martin was developing after committing flagrant foul after flagrant foul last season? I barely do. In other words, Martin deserves lots of credit for calming down and playing the right way. In turn, he's become one of the NBA's most exciting, and effective, forwards.

-- Did anyone else notice a pair of Duke-produced rookies going at it in Cleveland on Feb. 18? Chicago's Jay Williams scored 20 points, and the Cavs' Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 12 rebounds. I had my doubts about Williams, but he's starting to remind me of a young John Stockton. Maybe Tyson Chandler can evolve into Williams' version of Karl Malone, sans the biceps, of course.

-- As for Boozer, well, he's become everything Cavs GM Jim Paxson hoped for when the team drafted DeSagana Diop with the No. 8 pick in the 2001 draft. The difference is, Paxson nabbed Boozer in the second round last summer. Not only that, Boozer is way ahead of Diop in terms of fundamentals and toughness. Boozer was a steal.

-- Going back to that Lakers-Rockets game, I was especially impressed with Yao Ming. He played with some confidence and tons of aggressiveness, and almost took over on a few occasions before fouling out in the first overtime. If Yao continues to play like that, the Rockets will make the playoffs. And can you imagine how good Houston is going to be a year from now?

-- Finally, reader Allen Yu-Chen e-mailed to ask what who I thought would make the Eastern Conference playoffs. Allen, here goes: 1. New Jersey; 2. Indiana; 3. Detroit; 4. Philadelphia; 5. Boston; 6. New Orleans; 7. Washington; 8. Orlando. Milwaukee is currently in the sixth spot, but the Bucks are just too inconsistent. Plus, I think any team with Tracy McGrady will see the postseason, as will any team with a healthy Michael Jordan and Jerry Stackhouse.

SIGN UP FOR THE AMICO REPORT

If you or someone you know would like to have the Amico Report delivered directly to your inbox, just send an e-mail address to me at amicoreport@hotmail.com. The newsletter is free, and always will be. Questions and comments can also be sent to that address.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!


InsideHoops.com is the online leader in professional basketball coverage.