THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : There’s No Sophomore Slump in Draft Prediction

In honor of the NCAA tournament, here’s our annual mock draft, prepared with the help of two NBA general managers, regardless of players’ year, or, indeed, if they’re in college (see No. 17).

1. Joe Smith, 6 feet 9, 218 pounds, sophomore, Maryland. Like all the sophomores, he needs another year in college. He’s so skinny, he’ll have to start as a small forward but he’s a big-time prospect. Says he’s thinking about going pro, which usually means, “Count me in.”

2. Tim Duncan, 6-10, 238, sophomore, Wake Forest. Only 18, he has gained almost 25 pounds since he arrived. Says one general manager, “He reminds me of David Robinson when he was at Navy and nobody knew who he was.”

3. Jerry Stackhouse, 6-6, 218, sophomore, North Carolina. No, he’s not Michael Jordan, to whom he has been compared since high school. Yes, he is the shooting guard of the ‘90s. Could use another year, a la Mike, who stayed for three.

4. Rasheed Wallace, 6-10, 225, sophomore, North Carolina--Our general managers are split. One rated him No. 1. The other says, “His immaturity scares me.” Wallace is often out of control, disappointing in a program that has always produced businesslike players. There are reports that Dean Smith will encourage him to leave, a tipoff if true. The last player to get the Tar Heel nudge was lottery bust J.R. Reid.

5. Shawn Respert, 6-3, 218, senior, Michigan State. Says one general manager, “J.R. Rider with his head on straight.”

6. Marcus Camby, 6-11, 215, sophomore, Massachusetts. Another blade who’ll have to grow into his pro position but a big-time shot blocker.

7. Antonio McDyess, 6-10, 225, sophomore, Alabama. Great body, coming fast. High lottery pick if he stays another year.

8. Corliss Williamson, 6-7, 245, junior, Arkansas. Looked like the No. 1 pick after a great ’94 tournament. Has to become one of those Larry Johnson-style short power forwards but has size, good hands and works hard. However, there’s always a swoon when a top-rated front-court player actually measures 6-6 or 6-5.

9. Ed O’Bannon, 6-8, 217, senior, UCLA. To project who’ll make it at the next level, you ask: Is he improving? Does he work at his game? O’Bannon, an inside player, made himself a 45% three-point shooter.

10. Ray Allen, 6-5, 195, sophomore, Connecticut. Younger version of Respert.

11. Kerry Kittles, 6-5, 190, junior, Villanova. MVP of the Big East and the conference tournament. In Philadelphia, they think he’s as good as Eddie Jones.

12. Bryant Reeves, 7-0, 290, senior, Oklahoma State. Big Country moves around nicely for a farm boy. Good post game. Rated higher than Eric Montross, who turned out fine.

13. Cherokee Parks, 6-11, 240, senior, Duke. A year ago, pros winced at his name, but he has come a long way.

14. Damon Stoudamire, 5-11, 162, senior, Arizona. A dud in his last game but he’s an OK playmaker and proven scorer. With the NBA’s rule against hand checks, the waterbugs are impossible to stop.

15. Randolph Childress, 6-2, 188, senior, Wake Forest. Some pros were leery of this “shooting one” but are scrambling after he torched the ACC tournament.

16. Alan Iverson, 6-0, 180, freshman, Georgetown. Impact player from Day 1. Lightning quick, penetrates at will.

17. Kevin Garnett, 6-10, 215, senior, Farragut High School, Chicago. Multitalented player who sent word he was interested. Pros have scouted him.

18. Bobby Sura, 6-5, 200, senior, Florida State. Scrappy shooting guard with ballhandling ability. Reminds pros of Danny Ainge or “ Rex Chapman with a conscience.”

19. Ryan Minor, 6-7, 215, junior, Oklahoma. Made a big jump. Good shooter, passer and rebounder.

20. Travis Best, 5-11, 186, senior, Georgia Tech. Another waterbug, not as good a shooter as Stoudamire.

21. Gary Trent, 6-7, 248, junior, Ohio U. “The Shaq of the MAC,” he faded after a spectacular preseason NIT. Hasn’t shown he can play away from the basket in the Mid-American Conference.

22. Lawrence Moten, 6-5, 210, senior, Syracuse. Hard-nosed big guard.

23. David Vaughn, 6-9, 236, junior, Memphis State. One-time, big-time prospect, now coming back from knee surgery.

24. Alan Henderson, 6-9, 219, senior, Indiana. Good, hard-working player who has to move to small forward. Bob Knight usually gets more from his players than anyone else will.

25. Rashard Griffith, 6-11, 265, sophomore, Wisconsin. Big body, question-mark head. Will probably come out, so someone had better hold Willis Reed back.

26. Mario Bennett, 6-9, 220, junior, Arizona. Shot blocker who will have to be a small forward.

27. Rodrick Rhodes, 6-7, 216, junior, Kentucky. Poised, athletic jump shooter.

28. Greg Ostertag, 7-2, 270, senior, Kansas. Backup center material.

29. James Forrest, 6-8, 240, senior, Georgia Tech. Imposing looking, but, as the scouts say, nothing about his game jumps out at you. A Tom Hammonds but not as good.

Two others of note:

Felipe Lopez, 6-5, 180, freshman, St. John’s. No prep is hyped like a New York prep and none of them were ever hyped like the effervescent Felipe. But he plays out of control and has to learn to shoot.

Tyus Edney, 5-10, 152, senior, UCLA. He and Oregon State’s Brent Barry are considered the next-best point guards.

THEY HAD TO GET IT RIGHT EVENTUALLY

While Jordan was making up his mind and deciding when to cut the world in on his secret, Chicago was going crazy.

A band of reporters, anchors and minicam crews gathered at the Bulls’ suburban practice facility, awaiting the latest day of no news, interviewing each other and producing one “scoop” after another.

If you didn’t know that journalism is in trouble, here’s proof.

This just in: Mike will play March 10 against the Cavaliers! David Stern is in town to meet with him first!

WSCR (the Score), a local talk radio station, aired that one, which was wrong in both of its “facts.”

Eager to join in the hunt, everyone else breathlessly assaulted viewers/listeners with bogus “sources” (usually each other).

A local TV station airs exclusive tape of Michael Jordan . . . going to the movies! (He saw “Outbreak.”) NBC, the network, reports Jordan will hold a news conference March 13 to make an announcement. (Doesn’t happen.) WBBM, the CBS affiliate in Chicago, reports Mike will have his news conference March 15 and play March 17. The anchor, actually trembling as he speaks, says Bull players were told about it in a team meeting. This moves on the Associated Press wire and is reported on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“We had a team meeting?” Ron Harper said before that night’s game at Washington. “Hey, Pip, we have a team meeting?”

Harper hasn’t really been part of things and could have missed it, but Scottie Pippen assures him there wasn’t one.

Tired of seeing Jordan speed past into the gated parking lot where he can enter the building through a rear door, some TV techies taped over the slot in which he sticks his security card. Mike had to stop and use the front door. Chevy Blazer dealers, whose product Jordan endorses, gagged when footage of the event showed Mike driving a Range Rover.

Anyone who has seen “The Front Page,” the movie about the 1930s newspaper wars in Chicago, knows this story.

“It’s the end of civilization as we know it, if not the NBA,” deadpanned the Chicago Tribune’s Sam Smith.

MASE ON WARPATH; PATRICK ON FENCE

And Riles on a tightrope.

Even for Pat Riley, who has had more and more of them, it was a rough week. He took Anthony Mason out of a romp. Mason blew up. Riley went to the end of the bench to confront him. Mason wouldn’t look at him and, according to nearby fans, snarled: “See my agent, I’m out of here!”

Mason stomped out but returned after Charles Smith went to the dressing room to talk to him. Mason passed Riley on the sideline. Riley, resplendent in his Giorgio Armani suit, hands on his hips, made Mason walk around his elbow.

“THE END?” asked a New York Daily News headline.

“KNICKS ON EDGE OF DESTRUCTION,” said the New York Post.

Riley called for team leaders, such as Patrick Ewing, to restore order, but Ewing wasn’t having any. He made one statement--and seemed to side with Mason.

“I don’t have nothing to say,” Ewing said. “Just, you’ve got to treat people with respect. Treat them the way you want to be treated.”

Other Knicks were aghast.

“Really?” Derek Harper said. “He had no comment? That’s wrong, man. . . . Patrick knows what’s going on. As the leader it’s his job to stand up. Who’s not going to listen to Patrick? I can’t take the place of Patrick. I just got here, man.”

Riley, once bulletproof, admitted it’s getting to him.

“How many soap operas do you want?” he said. “I love coaching. I love to compete. So does it make me nuts? Yeah, probably. I could understand why, after a while when you have to deal with these issues on a regular basis, it can cause you to lose your desire.”

FACES AND FIGURES

Mr. Journalism: NBC sports boss Dick Ebersol called the Wall Street Journal’s story on doctors’ suspecting that Reggie Lewis had used cocaine “wholly lacking in substantiation.” Actually, it was based on interviews with 12 doctors, some of whom treated or were consulted by Lewis. Two years ago, when David Stern publicly questioned Bob Costas’ tough interview of Michael Jordan, Ebersol didn’t rush to his announcer’s defense.

Two weeks ago, the Bulls’ chartered plane hit an air pocket and dropped 20,000 feet on the way home from Philadelphia. Last week, there was a harrowing flight to Baltimore. In the ultimate protest, Pippen paid his own money and returned home on a commercial flight. . . . San Antonio’s Doc Rivers on Jordan: “If I play him again, it’ll be in the championship so I’m probably the only player in the league who wants to see him again.”