Don't be surprised if the Los Angeles Clippers actually have former Ute Ma Jian on their opening-day roster.
It's not that Ma is playing spectacularly, but that he's selling tickets - and in ClipperLand, that's a big plus. Of a recent exhibition crowd of 7,020, it's estimated that fully 1,000 were there only because Ma was on the floor."I think it was hard for me, the first time playing in this league," Ma said after his debut against Sacramento. "There's pressure because the Chinese population wants me to play really good."
Clippers coach Bill Fitch said, "He added some excitement to the game tonight. I told the official, after the first foul he called on him, he should plan on eating French cuisine tonight when he leaves because I don't think that there is a Chinese restaurant in town that will serve him after a call like that."
SHOPPING ZO: The Hornets reportedly have put out some feelers on a possible trade for Alonzo Mourning, just in case they can't re-sign him. He has a contract clause making him an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and he's already said he'll exercise that option.
Mourning claims he wants to return to Charlotte, but owner George Shinn is not sure he can pay the $100 million over seven years that his center apparently wants.
Basketball writer Peter Vecsey recently wrote that the Hornets discussed a Mourning for Jerry Stackhouse and Shawn Bradley deal, and another report has Mourning going to Boston for Eric Montross and three No. 1 picks.
Shinn's official response: "Our goal is to sign him. No matter what question you ask, that's the answer."
And from Mourning: "I don't know what they're doing and I don't really care. That's the least of my concerns right now. I've said all along, I don't want this contract thing to be a distraction. If anything's happening, it's them doing it, not me."
CLOSE ENCOUNTER: Before a recent game against the Cavaliers, new Pistons coach Doug Collins bemoaned his players' congeniality. He called them the "quietest, nicest bunch of guys I've ever been around" and said he'd like to see "more of a transformation of character when they get on the floor."
That night, Cleveland's 6-9, 250-pound Tyrone Hill tossed Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter to the floor, and the guy who jumped into Hill's face was none other than Grant Hill. Suddenly, Collins changed his tune, wishing his franchise player had remained nice.
"I was praying Grant wouldn't throw a punch," Collins said.
Not much danger. Here's the way Grant Hill described the experience: "I started at him, but it looked like he was going to bite me. He looked like the Predator. He started sizing me up with his infrareds, looking for my weak spots."
BIG SLEEP: A Vancouver radio station has renamed Bryant "Big Country" Reeves as "Sleep Country" after some weak exhibition-game performances. In the expansion team's first three contests, Reeves averaged four points and 2.7 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. He's been outplayed by chronic underachiever Benoit Benjamin.
So the Jazz aren't the only team with an out-of-shape rookie, although Greg Ostertag apparently is Mr. America by comparison to Reeves.
"He's got to get into better shape," said Vancouver coach Brian Winters.
Eddie Sutton, Reeves' college coach at Oklahoma State, watched the lottery pick play recently in Vancouver, then said, "Some guys can step in immediately, but I don't think he's the kind of guy that can do that. I don't think Bryant, right now, is in tip-top shape. I think the lockout this summer hurt him."
THEO WHO? When Wyoming center Theo Ratliff was drafted on the first round by the Pistons, a lot of people in Detroit wondered who he was. But after the first few exhibition games, he's made a name for himself, averaging 10.3 points and 6 rebounds, hitting 60 percent of his shots.
Collins, who compares Ratliff to a rookie Horace Grant, has put the kid under the wing of veteran Joe Dumars.
"He (Ratliff) plays hard and keeps his mouth shut," Dumars said. "Those are the two most important things that any rookie should do. He just nods and says, `Yes, sir' and 'Thank you.' Yeah, he even says `Sir.' He is a man after my own heart."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Jazz-Knicks - again
The Utah Jazz play an exhibition game against the New York Knicks today at 10:30 a.m. at Madison Square Garden.
The Jazz, 2-2 in the preseason, defeated the Knicks on Thursday in the Delta Center, 89-86. Utah's lineup will be bolstered by the return of forward Karl Malone, who sat out the last game with the flu.