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TABLE OF CONTENTS
October 24, 2005 | Volume 103, Issue 16
For the team to improve, a forgotten man must have a year to remember
Despite recent bad reviews, a new coach and center bring star power
Can a goal-oriented wunderkind inspire a return to the playoffs?
They're counting on their forward of the future to deliver right away
A big man finally arrives, but a winning record is still too tall an order
It's nice to finally get a top free agent--even if he isn't a good fit
The top pick could be a pleasant surprise. The season will not be
Less money, fewer minutes? Sounds perfect, says a Mavericks castoff
The key to George Karl's up-tempo offense is no small wonder
A star is hurt, but the dynamic offense isn't slowing down for anyone
With a new point guard to launch the attack, this team is ready to run
Read the writing on the wall: The coach is demanding better D in Big D
It's early on a September morning, and the Kings' practice facility is nearly empty. The only steady sound comes from the squeak of sneakers on the court, where Mike Bibby is bobbing and weaving...
A rugged forward needs to catch, shoot and worry about misses later
The overhauled roster is older and wiser, but will it be any better?
A flop in his debut, a leading man is better prepared for Year Two
Elementary geometry: Can the new big man pick up the triangle?
Dwane Casey hopes what happened in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. In August, Casey, the Timberwolves' new coach, held a voluntary camp in Sin City, and most of the team showed up. (Like most Vegas...
October 24, 2005 They finally have some real selling points, but a playoff berth? Not yet
Too much of a good thing? That could be the case at point guard
A turnaround is tied to how quickly all the young players develop
They've already suffered their worst loss, but many more are to follow
October 24, 2005 Curse Words
October 24, 2005 The NFL
The Daredevil
HOT READ
I guess you'd have to say that the Chargers are approaching the status of what you could call a public team, a club that gets an unnatural amount of exposure and usually doesn't disappoint either...
Air Raiders
HOT TOPIC
Matt Leinart, USC's all-everything quarterback, is having a very bad day.
October 24, 2005 After 20 years of writing about basketball Hall of Famers for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Jack McCallum has joined their company. In September the SI senior writer received the Curt Gowdy Award, given...
Just so you know, the Twin Cities are Minneapolis and St. Paul, not Sodom and Gomorrah, despite the presence of the Minnesota Vikings, some of whom are accused of participating in a floating orgy...
How and why an SI writer reported a rules infraction that got Michelle Wie disqualified from her first pro tournament
USA Basketball moves away from the NBA by picking Coach K for the 2008 Olympics
Died
450
With the NHL finally playing his kind of fast and loose hockey, a superior scorer retires
The 23-year-old U.S national soccer team star is currently playing in Holland for PSV Eindhoven
Do you want to watch a ball game--or the Zapruder film?
HIT
A blown tire relegated Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a 42nd place finish in last Saturday's UAW-GM Quality 500, but the weekend wasn't a complete loss. The driver (below) filmed a scene with Will Ferrell...
A Maryland high school band stopped playing The Devil Went Down to Georgia at football games after local residents complained the song "violated the separation of church and state."
It's the perfect storm for a high school's laundry staff: A big win, excitable players and a very rainy day. After a victory over Stissing Mountain High of Pine Plains, N.Y., lineman Andy Krantz...
TIGER WOODS,
What to watch and watch for
Danesha Adams
October 24, 2005 SI.COM GO TO SI.COM DAILY FOR SCORES, STATS AND BREAKING NEWS
BILLS RUNNING BACK
WHO'S HOT
RAY LEWIS Ravens LB The Deal Homestyle BBQ joint in Baltimore; Lewis opened it last February in partnership with an Alabama chain.
WITH Steve Foley, Chargers Linebacker
Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks, 23, hit .239 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs in 360 at bats after being called up on June 10. The Brewers' top pick in the 2003 draft reflects on his...
The White Sox reached their first World Series in 46 years thanks to a staff that threw four straight complete games and a catcher who seemed to be in the middle of every key play
The Astros were on the brink of a pennant before Brad Lidge, the dominant reliever of the postseason, fell victim to Albert Pujols
A night of debauchery aboard two yachts is the latest scandal for the Minnesota Vikings, a once proud franchise that has become a rudderless ship
A timeline of Vikings turmoil
A year after the plane crash that took his son and nine others, all family members or close friends, NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick has his drivers behind him and another title in his sights
There were nail-biters galore last Saturday when No. 1 USC stunned Notre Dame with :03 left and five other games with BCS implications were decided in the last 30 seconds or in overtime
USC beat the clock for the most dramatic ending in college football last Saturday, but the five teams who scrambled to win these down-to-the-wire intraconference showdowns weren't far behind
Infamously flammable Ron Artest would seem to have little in common with Larry Bird, yet the most iconic Hoosier of them all says he sees plenty of himself in his most intense young star
In Antoine Walker, Miami acquired a flashy forward with a penchant for jacking three-pointers and gambling on defense--not exactly what Shaquille O'Neal would have ordered
Here's why these pairings could strike magical sparks--or send their teams down in flames
Those stat guys are at it again, and now the Moneyball math of baseball has come to the NBA. Armed with dazzling equations, NBA front offices are finding entirely new ways to quantify a player's...
For extensive Roland ratings, plus the top players in other unconventional categories, go to SI.com/basketball.
October 24, 2005 Going for the Goal
THE CLOSEST thing nowadays to the perfect NBA team? Easy, the defending champion Spurs, whose mix of selfless stars and steady role players, youthful exuberance and veteran savvy--and a wisely...
Gilbert Arenas, anyone? Raja Bell? NBA Insider Chris Mannix picks his perfect team at SI.com/basketball.
What contenders need to have happen, what will happen and whom you'd want on your team (real or fantasy)
How They'll Finish
NBA Insider Ian Thomsen provides expanded scouts' takes for all 30 teams at SI.com/basketball.
They still have a tough trio despite a changing of the (shooting) guard
Healed and remodeled, a shooting star will hit the court running
To keep up on the boards, they need their center to grow up fast
Life after Larry Brown won't be bad, especially for an underused bench
The full-service superstar gets an assist by recruiting scoring help
They finally won a playoff series. Can a new guard take them further?
October 24, 2005 THE WHITE SOX ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES Astros and Cardinals Fight It Out
Six years after he quit managing--for good, he thought--Jim Leyland is back with the woeful Tigers
Not content to represent other Olympians, Patrick Quinn is trying to become one, at age 39, in luge
After a rude welcome, a still-dangerous forward just looks to fit in
Lots of championship experience--just none at the pro level
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