Welcome To The 2006-07 NBA Season
It's a humble experience for every sports fan recuperating from the the greatly depressing World Series between the Cardinals and the Tigers, but your misery is officially over. You can now sit back, relax, and enjoy LeBron, Kobe, and Dwyane.
By the way, if you are voting tomorrow, leave a note that you want David Stern in 2008. Trust me, I have my reasons.
Well, we are now a week (a week!) into the 2006-2007 NBA season, and if you are not watching the games, then shame on you. You have already squandered the opportunity to witness what could be the highlight of the regular season — the defending champions Miami Heat losing their opener to the Chicago Bulls by (put your guess here and then look below).
Not just lost. Beat. By 42 points! That's four times ten plus two, folks. That's an achievement which is insured against all odds, even the acts of terrorism (and by the way I was going through my new home insurance policy and I noticed something that I didn't notice before; which is, my apartment is not insured against terrorism or anything related or remotely related to it and the insurer gave a damn fine definition of terrorism too — but that's a different post altogether).
Kudos to Pat Riley and his boys, because not always you can end your previous season and begin your new one poles apart from one another.
At this point you can almost start feeling sorry for those hapless (and whining) Dallas Mavericks fans who took the pain to watch the Heat-Bulls game and felt the pinch one more time. It's one thing to watch the Bulls dismantling the Heat — and it's another thing to watch the Bulls dismantling the Heat and realize that the Bulls' game is clearly where the Mavs' are ostensibly better.
Yes, the Mavs came close to winning it all, but the truth be told, (if you missed it last year), the Heat were clearly the better team (for the record I picked Heat in six) in the 2006 finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers — the glamor boys of the NBA — currently hold a 3-1 record. Which is good at first glance, but once you break it up it's even better.
The Lakers won their first two games back to back — without Kobe. The first one was at home against the Phoenix Suns (the same Suns who dispatched them after falling behind 1-3 in the first round of Western Conference playoffs), the next one on the road against the Golden State, — yes, they did somehow show up without Kobe.
Makes you wonder why they didn't show up when Kobe didn't show up during the Game 7 at Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs last year.
In their next two games, with Kobe, they are a mediocre .500 team at 1-1. I know, I know, two games and a 1-1 record doesn't make for a strong case about a team being statistically mediocre on the road, but don't blame me because I am only using the available data!
So, trade Kobe. Send him to Minnesota (a lot less attention will do him a lot more good) in exchange for Kevin Garnett (he deserves the attention he never got in land of forgotten prairies). This is probably not going to happen — but if it does, just remember you heard me say it first.
New arguing rulesLike every new year, there's a new Stern rule in place. Briefly, the rule is this: if you whine at Bob Delaney, you are T'd up. If you cough at Joey Crawford, you are T'd. If you bitch at Dick Bavetta, you are T'd, and I suspect if you cringe from Violet Palmer, you get a T as well.
The conspiracy theorists say the rule is aimed at Rasheed Wallace and hopes to slow, rather calm, him down. But Rasheed is simply the sideshow. In effect, and without fail, the new rule is going to cut the crap down almost universally and that's where the game will start looking more and more different.
And here I beg to differ with everyone who thinks the rule is welcome. Once you start taking the human elements away from the game, it also takes away the fun elements. I know bitching is a universal problem but handing out T's like sweet candies is a bit too much.
My suggestion: fine them heavily. If money talks, then money can spank too. Since they can't feed their family with their millions as Sprewell once famously said, making their wallets a bit lighter wouldn't be so bad.
On a similar disciplinary note, Mark Cuban promises to be in his best behavior. Really — this is not a joke. There's a new rule for the owners which allows Stern to suspend any owner who behaves and handles himself like Mark Cuban of yesteryear. Needless to say, we will miss Mark Cuban when he used to be Mark Cuban.
That's why I think David Stern is simply not fit for the NBA. I mean, he's just too good to stick around in the NBA 'til someone starts building a pyramid for him. He should be more ambitious — daring, if you will — and instead of schooling Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, and the Mark Cubans for the rest of his life he should set the bar high. Yes, he should run for higher offices and he can forge partnership with Stu Jackson (senior VP of Basketball operations). This looks very promising. Believe me.
What about the Knicks?Only one more thing remains to be said, which brings me to the Mecca of basketball (Madison Square Garden) currently the haunted home of the laughingstock of the league.
In the off-season the New York Knicks fired Larry Brown after a 23-59 season and refused to pay him a dime on what was left in his contract (about $50 million).
My question is, why all the divorces, especially when one party is Larry Brown is always messy (remember his fall out with the Pistons was equally bad)? Clearly Larry and his "playing the right way" approach works on the court (didn't work with the Knicks, although you can make solid arguments why he should have been retained) but it's a no-brainer that he's still searching the right way to play off the court.
Stern stepped in and the next thing you know, both sides are riding back home smiling pretty. Again, how can you not root for Stern in 2008?
To make matters worse — or fun, depending on how you look at it — Isiah is back as the coach of the Knicks after screwing up immensely in the front office.
The good news is Isiah now has the opportunity to find out first hand how badly he actually screwed up. The bad news is Knicks will remain as bad as before. (I always thought the billionaire businessmen are smart people — they value money and all that and they make smart business decisions, so it's inexplicable how and why Isiah continues to feature within the Knicks in some way or the other).
Finally, Nellieball is back. Don Nelson is again coaching the Golden State Warriors. Does he have the right ingredients? No. But will the Warriors be more fun to watch? You bet.
With all that said, here are my predictions for the season. Just remember I actually predicted once upon a time that Miami would win in six (for that matter I also predicted Lakers to win over the Suns, but little did I know Kobe had other plans).
The NBA Finals Champion: San Antonio Spurs
Eastern Conference Champion: Miami Heat (I trust D-Wade but can his teammates earn his trust?)
The MVP: LeBron James. (Enough sin had been committed by giving the award twice, and back to back to that guy Steve Nash from Canada).
Labels: Basketball, Sports
NCAA Has No Moral Authority To Penalize Reggie Bush And USC
Reggie Bush is in the news again, this time for all the wrong reasons. A Yahoo Sports
investigation going on for eight months uncovered evidence that Bush and his family "appear to have accepted financial benefits more than $100,000 from prospective agents while at USC."
Please help yourself with the details from the above link, but the evidence is enough to convince me that Reggie violated the NCAA rules beyond reasonable doubt.
I'm interested because Reggie Bush is an ex-Trojan, and since I was once a UCLA Bruin, I can't keep quiet on the topic of the crosstown rival's Heisman running back.
Reggie Bush is a now a Saint — not a Saint defined by the Pope, who, unfortunately, is also facing the flak these days for spelling out the truth from some obscure book written during the hay days of Christian brutality.
Before Reggie became a New Orleans Saint, he helped the Trojans to a national championship in 2004. Then he won the Heisman in 2005.
Now we are retroactively dealing with a situation. Had he taken the favors then, should the NCAA make him and USC suffer now?
Take away his Heisman? As if the financial benefits made him the most amazing running back in the recent memory.
Take away the national championship from the Trojans? Please — I beg you. (But that was just the Bruin in me talking.)
I say, don't touch the championship. It doesn't make sense. There are tons of gift showers happening in college sports. We all know that. The coaches know that. The colleges know that. Every damn two-legged football junkie knows that.
This inquest shouldn't be just about Reggie Bush. All the college superstars, in all sports, have a skeleton or two in their closets.
According to the NCAA rules you cannot accept favors — not even from Don "make him an offer he can't refuse" Corleone. To make matters worse, the celebrity studs of the college get as much press as the pros and yet we expect them to live like ordinary freshmen and sophomores and remind them and their family of their responsibilities. How unfair is that?
I am not saying NCAA doesn't have the right to hypocrisy. By all means, they should feel free to be one, but they should stay away from crucifying their bread and butters for not being Jesus.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Hoops Don't Lie
A wise man once said, "To those who can dream there is no such place as faraway." To USA basketball, such faraway places include Indianapolis, Athens, and Saitama.
The onus was on Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his chosen band of hoopies (if hip is to ... you get the point) and the hoopla that went along with it. It made a strong cocktail — rich in taste, but poor for health. Few, if any, question the dream of recapturing the throne the U.S. hoops team lost four years ago, at the world basketball championship in Indianapolis.
The dream, once again, was squashed away on the sweaty floors of Saitama as Team USA finished third at the world basketball championship.
Somewhere in Los Angeles Bill Simmons is grinning with his trademark I-told-you-so face. He was spot on unlike other experts who dreamed along with Dream Team 7.2. For the record, that includes me (but the catch is I'm not an expert, unless you are making the comparison with my
editor at
Blogcritics).
Indianapolis in 2002 was ugly. The Athens Olympics in 2004 weren't pretty either. In fact, Athens 2004 marked the beginning of the downward spiral for coach Pound (Larry Brown). He made the mistake of not playing stars like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Now we know it wouldn't have made a difference.
This time, however, was ear-marked to be different. The kickass attitude was back. Coach K was at the helm although I was furious (there's no tangible evidence) when he cut Uncle Bruce Bowen, but I convinced myself that it was a small sacrifice to be made for the bigger goal.
This time we had a bagful of chosen ones, LeBron James--the original chosen one, Carmelo Anthony--the chosen one chosen after Darko Milicic, and Dwyane Wade--the chosen one who was chosen 2 spots after Darko, all destined to prove a point and not warm the bench. But the chosen ones, our bad, choked.
The good news is we lost to Greece - name the starting five - my salary's on the table. Thanks to Hoops God it wasn't Ginobili led Argentina, or Gasol led Spain, or Darko led Serbia and Montenegro (coughs again), or else David Stern would be calling "Houston we have a problem".
The bottom line is: you can take the chosen ones to Saitama, but you cannot take the pajamas out of the chosen ones. And that's how they played, in pajamas.
But, it's not their fault — yes, you heard me right. It wasn't their fault. It was, if any, the fault of the NBA bubble where accolades rain in every 30 seconds, where the cushy cushions and hypo-hypes make the mortals feel immortal. Do we must send them to face the pins?
There's nothing wrong with our hoop. If you say it's international game, you are simply fooling yourself. NBA games and international games are not basketball in Earth and Mars (seriously if you look at the gravity you will see what difference it makes).
The wrong is in the culture of overselling. As long as everyone makes money from the hype, everyone is happy because in the end, it's not so much about the fans as we are made to believe.
So, every two years when you put them in the same cage with people who value their game, their country and make one thousandth of the dollars that you pay the people here for the same or lesser skills, you get, what you got. A bronze for the show.
Since basketball is never played one-on-one (unless it's in your backyard) the 10,000 synonyms for putting that damn ball in the hoop from point blank range actually carries zero substance. Call it AC 360 or Tomahawk or Kid Rock. The net points you get is two, minus the Tarzan cries and chest thumps.
It's good for advertising and selling shoes and power drinks and making tons of money. As it turns out, not good enough to carry the dreams of 300 million on the spoiled shoulders.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
T. J. Simers Talks to The Big Lead
He's a funny man. And he's always rubbing it on the BIG FAT sports egos. Love him, or hate him, he's right there with the wits of Woody Allen albeit in the world of sports.
The guy, officially known as
T. J. Simers, is a sports columnist of the
Los Angeles Times.
The Big Lead did a terrific job
interviewing him, although I'd have probed more on Simers' daughter who doesn't get dates. But I guess that's a small matter of taste.
I don't know how the
interview was done--whether it was a face to face with a tape+video-recorder or just an exchange of emails, but if there's a video recording, I'd love to see Simers' face when asked "Is
Scoop Jackson a hack or just an assclown?" Infact I'd even pay to see it.
Of course, like any other reasonable (do you think by using reasonable and Simers in the same sentence I just committed a felony?) journalist, Simers simply noted that he doesn't read or listen to Scoop to comment on him.
I'm sure there's a good deal of athletes and managers out there who'd love Simers to apply the same standard when it comes to sports.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
NY Knicks fire Larry Brown
ESPN reports that NY Knicks fired Larry Brown, and Isiah Thomas, the president and general manager has taken over as the new head coach.
Larry's dream job lasted only one season.
According to the report, no financial settlement has been reached with Brown -- in other words the break up gonna be nasty in the coming weeks.
If you remember Larry's messy divorce with the Detroit Pistons and now with the Knicks, you must be wondering why Larry always ends up in a muddle -- must have something to do with his right way of playing ball.
More on this later.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Parting Thoughts on the 2006 NBA Finals
I will keep this short because when it's over, it's over. We're left with plenty of empty beer cans and not many words. And yet we start getting incoherent as if Mr. and Mrs. Profound are waiting to show up.
Slowly, the queer feeling of a sense of emptiness continues to engulf our passion, our rooting for the team we thought we care so much about.
Then we are sipping coffee with our friend(s) in one corner of Starbucks, our eyes searching, and just like that the flash is on.
That was one heck of a post-season.
We scream inside. And that's it — done and over with. See you next year.
So, what else to say? Well, just few more bits from here and there.
Before any series when I turn on my crystal ball, I don't stay objective. There is hardly any point to stay neutral and making an objective assessment. It takes away all the energy for a sports fan.
In principle it is possible. Then again Ann Coulter behaving with an acceptable degree of civility is a possibility too.
The teams playing for the holy grail of basketball may or may not be your teams, and most likely they are not. The probability that a randomly picked NBA or basketball fan is a legit one (to qualify as a legit fan he/she must be in some way genuinely connected to a team in the finals) is somewhere around one in 10 million or so (okay, that's an educated guess). It's a lot easier to find a bar date on a Friday night.
The funny part is our loyalty is not entirely to a team, whether or not they are in the finals. It is, for a conceivable portion, to the game we love. As the series progresses, the orphan fans, without a team to cheer for, soon find themselves coming out of the zone of indifference and swearing one way or the other.
That's the truth in the game. It brings out the Mark Cuban in you.
Since not everyday I get a chance to gloat, I might as well remind you that I picked Heat in six. And this was my reason:
Make no mistake, Wade is not going to let this slip away and there's just enough Diesel left in Shaq's tank to win 4 games.
I was wrong, in part. Without Udonis Haslem, Gary Payton, James Posey, and Antoine Walker (the unsung quartet), there wouldn't be any champagne flowing in Miami. No accolades please. Their contributions are beyond that.
The Dallas fans didn't see this coming. They believed they had a better team. Now the suffering. Hard to reconcile. Harder to make it through.
Now pause for a moment. In every season, there is a best team and a championship team. Sometimes the best team wins the championship and sometimes it does not.
The best team is only better than the rest.
The championship team sweats that extra drop to get it done. A talented group who refuse to die till they are dead.
Congratulations to the Miami Heat, the 2006 NBA Champions (sorry I cannot bring myself to say world champions - the memories are still fresh)
Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks, for being there. Sorry, Mark. You tried.
And did I say I will keep this short?
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Reality Bites the Dallas Mavericks
After another disappointing loss to the Miami Heat in the NBA finals, the Dallas Mavericks have metamorphosed into the Dallas Crybabies; the official announcement is awaiting David Stern's approval.
The perennial whiners of the NBA are boiling with anger and ferocity, knocking off anything and everything that's within their kicking length, doling out curses for anyone willing to listen. Not a useful form of chivalry but in the kingdom of Mark Cuban you don't abide by rationale or common sense.
The Miami Herald reports:
The night ended after midnight with the angry Mavs kicking and knocking things over on the way to the locker room, and raging, rabid Dallas owner Mark Cuban, security keeping him back, screaming an endless string of obscenities at officials. Mavs guard Darrell Armstrong picked up the loud, angry cursing in the locker room after the obligatory cooling-off period, and he didn't even play.
All hail Mark Cuban — he shows the way — the rest of the flock follows. Not quite sheepishly though.
They are angry because Dwyane Wade was 21-25 from the freebies matching the output of the entire Mavericks clan. The blame, if any, must lie with the referees because Wade was taking it to the hole all night long while Dirk and company were hiding under the blanket.
Not Gatoraded enough — Mark?
The theatrics are all too familiar. For the Mavericks, winning is somehow considered to be a birth right protected by the Cuban Constitution — anything else is a sinister conspiracy to degrade the organization.
To this I say, grow up. Get real.
They were grounded from cloud nine once their trip to South Beach was over for this season. The fall was hard and painful. Reality bites.
Scoop Jackson of ESPN heard some angry notes:
"We were already mad after Game 4," Dirk said after Game 5. "They suspended one of our players … "
As if Jerry Stackhouse was suspended for distributing cookies.
Josh Howard, who's sealed his place in history next to Chris Webber for his infamous time out call responded to ESPN's Chris Sheridan's question on the dumb act of the day:
"What am I saying to you right now, dog? Please, don't come off on me right now because I'm going to come off on you, and I'm not in a great mood right now. Get out of my face, man. Get out of my face."
Only if anger wins the game are the Mavericks on the right track. Too bad it doesn't. It never has and never will.
Now they seem to have crossed the line of civility too. That's not surprising, though - when the collective thought process is in infancy, the individuals usually follow suit.
As an owner, Mark Cuban is always the biggest fan of the Dallas Mavericks. He's every bit a die-hard fan, only with a lot more money. He's a straight talker, sometimes with sense, sometimes without, but you have to appreciate his approach — there's no hiding, all out in the open.
Cursing is not an unchartered territory for him. He cursed Bruce Bowen for which he later apologized. He did it again which he candidly describes in his own blog:
then someone asked “Is this your worst loss ever” ... ..So I told the reporter to “Ask me a real fucking question”
Mark, what were you thinking?
Reporters have a job to do. They ask questions that you may or may not like. If you don't, then politely refuse. It is not so complicated.
He has his justifications though:
Apparently some folks have taken exception to me cursing in my response. Well in this case, the reporter was using my time, we were in a locker room and I was trying to provide a response that had no value to me, but could only help him. If he doesnt think enough of either of our time to invest the brainpower and minutes it takes to come up with something different than has been asked a thousand times.
Fuck em.
Attitude aside, the Mavericks have a bigger problem at hand. Burned by the Heat in Miami, they are now a bunch of dwindling confidence and slumping shoulders.
Now they have to gut it out.
Here's my suggestion: Have fire? Bring it on — that's how the game is played. Last time I checked, Kleenex was not a recommended option in the NBA..
Or else keep turning the whining wheel.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Dwyane Jordan
How good is Dwyane Wade?
Pretty darn good.
He's playing at a level right there with MJ. Don't get me wrong. He's not there yet in terms of a total player. But if His Airness is watching, he should also be feeling nostalgic.
Wade is that close.
He's got that killer instinct going — willing his way out through the defenders and lighting up hopeless situations — like MJ.
He can bring a dead game alive, seal nerve racking games with clutch plays. He makes tightrope walking look easy. For what it is worth, greatness cannot be measured only by numbers or by championship rings but by the moments of living it up when the dead has long left the arena.
MJ had both rings and moments. Rings surrounding the moments, moments surrounding the rings, the two intertwined and inseparable.
Wade is living in the moments. The rings will come.
Sunday night Wade was struggling. But he found his way to get involved, going to the foul line umpteenth times. It was a staggeringly slow rise but when his shot started falling Avery Johnson could only yell at his defenders and Mark Cuban started drafting his protest letter to David Stern.
Now that the sweeping theories have been swept altogether, we are going to Game 6 and a highly probable Game 7, both at Dallas. Fireworks are welcome.
I don't know who's going to win it all. I predicted Heat in six. Now I don't care. Really. I am just glad to watch him play, regardless. If the Heat win, cool, because I always wanted them to. If they don't, no big deal, you cannot take away Games 3 and 5.
You can take the ring, I will take the moments. I won't complain.
When Mavericks literally tore apart the Heat in the first two games, it left me dizzy. I will admit, I was shaken and even started to believe Heat might not be able to get back into the series.
In Game 3, with six minutes left and the Heat down by 13, I felt like switching off the television. It was too painful to watch them disintegrate before my eyes.
And there was Mark Cuban's elated face. Nothing personal but he's one damn smart guy who has got into the heads of the referees.
But I hung in there, glued and quiet. The Heat crawled its way back holding Dwyane's hand to win the game.
Sunday's game, a shamelessly seesawed one, dragged every bit of sweat out of my pores. No, it wasn't about how Heat sneaked out a victory leading the series 3-2. Nor it was about Wade's 43 points and how he came through for the Heat single-handedly carrying them to the victory — again. Because we have seen guys doing that before.
Tonight was about a guy who embodied No. 23 from North Carolina.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
NBA Finals: Preview
I am under the impression that you are already familiar with our own
Blogcritics expert picks for the NBA Finals. If you feel confused, don't take it too hard on yourself, because everyone's feeling that way.
But don't lose hope as yet because I am here to take you out of the misery of confusion as our experts are now pitted against each other.
Matt Sussman pitched whitewash of Dallas Mavericks. In a wishy-washy way I agree with the spirit although I will never know what led him to predict Heat a 4-0 favorite instead of a more conservative 4-2. Though I can think of possibilities, I would rather leave it to the comments section for you to come up with your own. But I like the way he came out aggressive.
If numbers are any indication, our own numerologist
David Barbour has the number of Mark Cuban in his pocket. His
clinically analyzed conclusion points towards Cuban's point of no return to sanity. Stern bless.
Unless you are from Miami or Dallas, in which case you've already made up your mind, the rest of us need to make a decision before we watch the finals with our companion grasshoppers. The call of the moment is to make up our floating minds, unlike the floaters in Florida, and it better be quick because the finals begin today. You don't want to go to a pub with your relevant body parts rooting for different teams, it hurts.
Suss is Hollywood. He's all glitz and glamor. He thinks the cast of Pat Riley's Twelve has enough star-power to take the Heat to the land of glory. David is cut and dry, more numeric and less turmeric, sheer powered by Gatorade-driven numbers.
Suss is eyeing the showtime with wrinkles,
Pat Riley, whose last ring is now an antique commodity. David is all over
Avery Johnson, the new generation coach, the coach who fits better in the value added world than the world of tabloids. Think of a quick tabloid heading for Avery if you can, I dare you.
While Johnson enjoys the reputation of turning a bunch of crybabies into ruthless executioners, Riley enjoys the reputation of backstabbing his loyal follower Stan Van Gundy, who took Riley's job in day's notice when Riley stepped down three seasons ago. After SVG went through last year's heartbreak, Riley asked him to spend more time with his family.
Memo to Pat: if Mavericks win, it's good karma.
Talking of Karma, Mark Cuban is finally getting the respect from the referees. If you noticed the insane number of game turning calls that went to the Mavs in the playoffs, you know Cuban has successfully got into the heads of the NBA officials. You'd think Cuban, from his courtside seat when he is not hugging his teammates, averages a solid 8 ppg.
Memo to Mark: if Miami wins, it's good karma.
So, who's going to break open the champagne? Make no mistake,
Wade is not going to let this slip away and there's just enough Diesel left in Shaq's tank to win 4 games.
My prediction? Heat in six.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
LeBron
The NBA Finals are on Thursday. A good three days of wait and I haven't started feeling the heat yet. My editor at Blogcritics, bless his soul, boldly
predicted sweep by the Heat, and if you keep in mind that he's the same guy who advised against watching the NBA conference finals, you know I will be there to watch his prediction getting swept.
Speaking of predictions, I'm done for the season. I think am running a negative balance.
Coming back to the current lack of excitement in the world of sports — well, that's not exactly true because the world of cricket is full of toasts and champagne — with India, the favorites recently lost the one day series 4-1 to the West Indies (don't bother if you are wondering what I'm talking about) and England managed to draw the Test series against Sri Lanka at home for which they are sure to get a stick in their backside. Can't wait to see what headlines the British tabloids come up with.
OK, this post is about LeBron. LeBron James.
Preamble:
Two weeks ago, one Monday evening, the Spurs lost and so did the Clippers. You all know about it and probably don't give a damn. Fair enough.
I headed off to the Rockies soon after the double heartbreaks began to trickle down my senses. And by the way, Canadian Rockies are cool, cooler than the cool places you plan to visit this summer. Where else on earth can you take a stroll on Glaciers and shake hands with grizzly bears? You tell me.
The disappointment came later in the day, when I stumbled on Skip Bayless whose cleverly written column on LeBron James didn't make any sense. He essentially blamed James for the loss to the Pistons, throwing his age out of the equation:
I mean, look at pictures of Jordan and Magic and Bird at the age of 21 and you'll laugh at how skinny and baby faced they look.
LeBron? No, this "kid" is a man now, and he must be treated as such.
Here's something worth recalling: Einstein, in a letter to Dr. M. I. Cohen, dated March 19, 1940 wrote: "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities."
Bang.
The Gospel:
Give the kid a break. He's 21. Granted, he looks 31 but I repeat — he's 21. He's freak of nature. Admit it, appreciate what he offers and move on. Skip, if you are wondering why he doesn't have a baby face like most of us do at 21, then I suggest you consult an expert on genetics. And last time I checked, Jose Canseco wasn't seen lurking around the Cavaliers locker room.
Apparently people are ready to cut him a slack only if he looked like a Tayshaun Prince. That's where the last drop of intelligence evaporated.
He should be treated like a man. Sure. But not because at 21, he looks like a man, but because he plays in the league of men. And like every other man he must accept responsibility, particularly of failures. If he doesn't he's doomed but then again, it's his problem.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I haven't heard LeBron referring to himself in third person like he used to. He's showing maturity.
At 21 he speaks all the right things. On the podium he looks composed, poised and responsible. If it sounds contrived, so be it. He's not an embarrassment.
Just because he looks 31 doesn't empower him the wisdom of 31.
On the court he's led the Cavaliers to the East semifinals. The series was widely speculated to be a whitewash and another learning step for LeBron towards greatness. Five games into the series, the Pistons were facing elimination.
It shouldn't have happened, but it almost did. We witnessed.
Yes, the Cavs wilted when it mattered. The inexperience was too much to overcome. They were simply overwhelmed. The Pistons knew it, felt it and turned the screw. Game over.
LeBron was clueless and he found a friend in Mike Brown, the Cavaliers coach. When guidance was needed for a 21 year old mind, Mike Brown came a cropper. So a 21-year-old did what a 21-year-old would do when aggressively double teamed. He put his trust on his teammates. He got them looks, good, bad and ugly. They bricked all the same.
Yes, LeBron is not a pure shooter. The amount of impurity in his shot could only be found in the tap waters in Iraq. But look at his FG percentage. He has steadily improved from 41.7% in his rookie year to 48% in his third. He knows his weaknesses better than anybody and he works on them. That's sign of greatness.
He's doing amazing stuffs since he came to the league. Think about all the coincidences: that you were born and that you are now grown up enough to watch him play and soak in it all. If Nature's pendulum swung few degrees more (or less), you wouldn't be here.
So, thank yourself for being in the right place at the right time.
Like I do.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Cooled Heat
The
Miami Heat, squandered a golden opportunity. Now they must close out the series at South Beach, or else, go home because they have absolutely zero chance of winning game 7 at the
Palace of Auburn Hills.
Tonight's loss may prove costly for the Heat. The
Detroit Pistons, had their back against the wall showing signs of shaked confidence, and rumors surfacing that the players are in disagreement with their coach
Flip Saunders. The stage was set for the Miami Heat to take over and reach the NBA Finals for the first time in their franchise history.
The road to the Finals remains open. Just keep in mind that the Pistons have come back from a 3-2 deficit to win a series in four previous occasions. I won't be surprised, if the Pistons manage to sneak past the Heat again, although it seems quite unlikely.
Two reasons why the Pistons won (rather than why the Heat lost):
1. Detroit started playing D, something sorely lacking in the previous games and robbed them of the identity they are most comfortable with.
2. The Heat went 6-20 from the free throw line. Even Ben Wallace would have done better by himself.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Why The Phoenix Suns Lost Game 3
Vanessa Casalegno felt that the game 3 between
Phoenix Suns and
Dallas Mavericks was weird. She also thought the Suns were pretty careless with the ball leading to their downfall. Now that's part of the story.
In my response, I explained why the Suns lost (her comment and my original one can be found
here). Below is a reproduction, edited for clarity and details.
I don't think it was just a weird game. In fact it was less weird and more
Avery Johnson. Give credit to Dallas-they contested every shot and their transition defense took away the offensive explosiveness of the Suns.
I thought, the Suns just stopped running and when they tried they didn't have a clue. Shawn Marion was particularly miserable on the offensive end. Right now, with a thinner than the thinnest bench, they have to get balanced performances from everyone who shows up. Anything less, they are looking for another defeat in the next game.
I think it has been pretty much clear that Dallas is a superior team. Admittedly they got favorable breaks in the last minute calls against the San Antonio Spurs, but they showed they are more than capable of holding onto their own which is why they are now going to win the current series. Once you get past the Spurs, you get that confidence, that swagger, to challenge anyone, anytime and anywhere. The Mavericks are happily riding on the gains from the Spurs series.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
The NBA Conference Finals
Our own
Matt Sussman has
spoken his mind. Now Suss is a powerful guy, not in the sense Mike Tyson is, but because he's the sports editor of Blogcritics and everything I write goes through him before it sees the daylight. So when he says something you gotta pay attention. I do.
Suss felt that the rest of the NBA postseason will drive him to death by boredom. After all, it seems somewhat unreasonable to expect the remaining games (the conference and NBA Finals) to match or better the semifinals that have already become a part of the ESPN classics and NBA lore. Therefore his suggestion to save our souls is:
"Cancel the rest of the NBA playoffs."
Ouch, and thank you!
Maybe he has a point. I should have stopped watching the NBA after the 2002 Western Conference Finals between Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings because (arguably) basketball couldn't and wouldn't get any better than that. The Spurs and the Mavericks, in a way, came real close. The point is they came close enough to merit attention. Had we not watched them play their hearts out we wouldn't have known.
Of course I can never argue with the Suss's feelings, as feelings can get hurt. And there is a good chance that what Suss really wants is to put a leash on our lofty expectations, which are, frankly, loose right now. And who knows, maybe he's right.
Nonetheless, I will say this: Don't stop watching the games.
Maybe Suss was under the influence when he wrote his column. Maybe he was losing a curling game when he got the idea. I don't know. I never asked him because he's the editor and there are certain questions you never ask the editor.
Now that I've spoken, I have to start playing curling with him so that he wins every time and thinks I am nobody of consequence. And the next thing you know I'm suggesting not to watch NBA Finals.
On a related note, here are my teams for the finals. I am not trying to jinx anyone. I know I have an embarrassing record in predicting the future but I am not ashamed. (I am a man whose feet are firmly placed in the present and my crystal ball is a fake.)
Keep in mind that as I pick the NBA Finals matchup, both conference series are tied 1-1.
My head picks: Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks. The battle of D's. It's still not a good idea to talk about Defense and Dallas, although they are far better now than those jack-up-threes-as-you-please years.
My heart picks: Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns. No justification. Just a feeling and you really cannot argue with feelings.
Perhaps you noticed I have chosen two out of four possible finals matchups. The other two -- Pistons-Suns and Heat-Mavericks -- are better left as our editor's picks.
He may not be watching but it doesn't mean he's not taking sides.
Enjoy the Conference Finals!
Labels: Basketball, Sports
A Monday with a twist
If you have plans tonight, shelve them.
Why?
The NBA Western Conference Semifinal deciders: Two Game 7s.
The battle of underdogs in the desert: Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers. The battle of Titans in Texas: Defending champion San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks.
Lines are drawn. Strategies are in place. The details have been chalked out. Only the executions wait.
Nature tells us there could only be two winners, and you are invited to witness.
That's why.
Not yet convinced? Consider this:
Cliffhangers
Do you enjoy rides on a roller-coaster -- the ones that go through your mind and emotions? Do you enjoy the moment when your heart pumps blood faster, your mind races through the universe and you stop blinking because it takes less than a blink for wonderful things to happen?
If your answer is yes, continue reading.
Excluding Game 2 of the Spurs-Mavs series, the other five games saw a combined victory margin of 14 points.
That's less than a three-point differential per game. Now look closer: two games were decided by one point, one by two points and one in overtime. In other words none of the games were decided till the last moment, last possession, and the last shot.
Conventional wisdom runs for cover
Example 1: Phoenix wins when they score 100+ points, that is, if you want to win you better keep them below 100.
Counter example 1: In Games 4 and 6, the Suns scored 106 and 107 and lost. Wait. There is more. In Game 3, they scored 94 and still won!!
Example 2: Defense wins in the playoffs.
Counter example 2: The Suns-Clippers series. They don't play D. They simply outscore each other, and both teams are averaging 100+ points. Expect another mythbuster in Game 7 with fresh legs after three days of rest.
Example 3: You have two 7-foot players and so you run plays through them. You keep at least one of them on the floor always. Right? Wrong.
Counter example 3: The Spurs are obviously running their offense through Tim Duncan. But that's about it. The other 7 footer, Rasho Nesterovic, is idling on the bench, barely seeing a minute or two.
Digging out from 3-1 hole, forcing Game 7 and a chance to win
As recently as in the first round, the Phoenix Suns became only the eighth team in the league history to win a series after falling behind 3-1 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Now the San Antonio Spurs have a chance to become the ninth.
Point to prove
For Steve Nash: the reigning MVP. His awards are questioned. His defense carries multiple asterisks. Yet the little Canadian fought through the odds carrying the team on his shoulders. When you realize what he's achieved with his team in the playoffs without Amare and Kurt Thomas, you know he's very very special.
For Sam Cassell: The 36-year-old running the point for L. A. Clippers is the only Clipper who's been there, who's done that. He keeps barking at the officials with the same ease he hits big shots from his days at Houston Rockets. Yet he gets traded all the time.
For Tony Parker: Mr. Eva Longoria was phenomenal during the regular season. In the playoffs, he's streaky and Greg Popovich's most important concern.
****************
The hardest part of being a witness is that I know two teams will be going home. And I don't like it.
Why don't I want any team to lose tonight?
Because if the Suns lose, their style is the loser. They haven't won a championship yet but they have won a lot of hearts. They made a lot of new friends. At best they are a bunch of dream weavers and at worst they are better than the best Rick Carlisle team.
Because if the Clippers lose, that ends a fairy tale. And I love fairy tales and Grimm Brothers. No one expected them to be here. Yet here they are. No guarantees. Just balls.
Because if the Mavericks lose, that makes Mark Cuban upset. That makes his incessant whining on officiating a lost cause and no more fines from David Stern. That means no more money to the charities this season.
Because if the Spurs lose, it becomes personal. I will miss Tim Duncan hitting the sweet bank shots. I will miss Ginobili curling his way to the basket from nowhere. I will miss Robert Horry netting his signature daggers. And I will miss Ms. Eva Longoria because they show her regardless of a Tony Parker clank or swish.
But as always, I know Nature prevails.
My picks: San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers both win and meet in the Western Conference finals.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Playoff pleasures
I woke up in the morning with a serious headache. Almost like a zombie, I slowly made my way to the coffee and after going through the news and first cigarette of the day which is always holy and pious, I gradually started to make sense of what's happening around me.
Then, as if it's my time for enlightment, I realized two things. Today is Friday and two Game Sixes are going to be played; quite coincidentally, the teams that were scheduled to meet at the NBA finals (The Pistons and the Spurs) will be fighting just to stay alive.
And tonight the Edmonton Oilers are opening their Western Conference Finals series against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at Arrowhead Pond, which I believe is somewhere in Anaheim. This is serious business for a lot of people. The pride of a country that only cares about the game of hockey rests squarely on the shoulders of the Oilers who started off as the No. 8 seed. It turns out that it is also my responsibility to cheer for them which I am happy to do as long as my hockey friends are going to buy me the beer. Yes, buying me off is that easy.
(Wait a second -- no, it won't work for curling.)
Every time I watch a hockey game, I feel am in a Roman colosseum watching gladiators sucker punching the lights out of each other. And my friends cheer. This inevitably leads to the following question.
What if David Stern and Stu Jackson are in charge of NHL?
My guess: every team would be suspended for 5 years, with 3 years of extended community service and 2 years of acute anger management therapy and they are going to start a WNHL as a replacement.
And Ron Artest is playing the wrong game. Someone should let him know that there's a game tailor made for him and his spiritual buddies Bonzi Wells, Ruben Patterson and Zach Randolph. If they were playing in NHL, they would be cult figures by now. I think there's still time to get this going.
Coming back to tonight's games, I will let my head go with the Pistons, heart with the Spurs and beer to cheer for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Clippers won last night, and did so quite convincingly. Going by their progress, it gives me hope that someday I could become a celebrity.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Taming of the Pistons
Respect -- or the lack of it. The Detroit Pistons have always made it known about how they feel.
Rewind to 2005 Eastern Conference Finals. "I don't know if we've gotten the same respect that other champions have, but we use that as motivation,"
said Chauncey Billups after winning Game 1 against the Miami Heat.
Fast forward: 2006 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals prior to Game 1: "It's his showcase, pretty much,"
Billups again referring to LeBron James. "We come off playing on NBA TV, now we're on ABC. It isn't because of us."
The innuendos are loud and clear.
Perhaps Chauncey and his band of brothas should start showing some respect to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Because so far, their casual dismissals, and guarantee from Sheed have only turned a 2-0 cushion into a 2-3 deficit.
In Game 5 of the series deadlocked at 2-2, the Pistons came out tentative, without any focus, purpose or urgency demanded by the situation. Playing catch up for most part of the game, they looked clueless and often struggled on their offense. Once Billups, their Mr. Clutch who carried them by scoring 14 second half points, picked up his sixth foul with little more than two minutes to go, they had no one to turn to. The Pistons of old likely would have won this game playing "D" -- their hallmark over the last few years but the new Pistons with their new identity under Flip Saunders appeared confused.
"Our guys have the ability to lock down," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said after Game 2. "As a coach, you hate the term 'Flip the switch,' but there's no question they have the ability to do that."
Turns out that the switch wasn't working last night, at least not in both ways. It was off alright. Drew Gooden, who got into the game after Ilgauskas was fouled out, scored the go ahead basket on a lay up from a nice feed courtesy Lebron James.
A lay up?! You don't allow lay ups in playoffs, not when the score is tied and less than a minute to go. What were you thinking?
I don't know what they were thinking but I know who was watching: Rasheed Wallace from the bench and Kid Rock from the court side.
Now we know the Pistons can lose just fine without a guarantee.
They were talking about a Detroit sweep and how it would make LeBron stronger in the future. Now the Cavaliers are just one game away from making the Eastern Conference finals and if they could, I hope that buries the ghosts of "The Shot" of Michael Jordan over Craig Ehlo forever.
"I ain't worried about these cats, there's no way in hell they beat us in a series", said post-guarantee Rasheed with one foot in his mouth, after a sheed breaking loss in Game 4.
Now facing elimination, Billups reassured the Motown folks that they are not concerned. Funny. Because I know everyone else, who cares for the Pistons enough to want them to win the series is.
I suppose learning doesn't come easy for these cocky Pistons. But if they are listening, I want them to know that there is one guy who always let his game do the talking.
Joe Dumars.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
The future of Larry Brown and the NY Knicks
For everyone associated with the New York Knickerbockers in any form, shape, or, state of matter, I have one word for you:
Patience.
Be patient. You made the right decision last year when you handed out a five year, $60 million contract to Larry Brown. The right decision as to hire him as a coach and not to overpay him. But then again, it's not my money.
And now I hear the
reports of buying him out and letting him go. I wonder what can I suggest to make you,the cellar dwellers of the NBA, feel little better and raise your hope for a respectable future. So here's my best advice if you listen.
Don't let Larry Brown go. Larry should stay and figure out a way to make the Knicks relevant again. Because right now, you're a mess created by your ingenuous president Isiah Thomas and if anyone can pull you out, it has to be Larry -- the man who preaches the right way to play ball.
We know what it takes to be a loser: James Dolan and the inherited dollars, Isiah Thomas and his off the court IQ.
We also know what it takes to be a winner. Just check out the resume of Larry Brown.
Larry is a proven winner, unlike Isiah, who's a proven loser (not counting his playing days).
I hope you understand after a tumultuous losing season that Larry is not an instant fix to your team's problems which run deeper than you thought, and if he is not, then no one else could come closer. But surely he's a long term answer, if there is any. And he's the best out there who puts an honest effort.
After all, this is the dream job that the Brooklyn native can't afford to screw up because everything that he's worked for in his life are at stake: legacy, reputation, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to create winners from losers.
For the record, Larry's first season with a team doesn't automatically make them a winner. The Philadelphia 76ers posted a 31-51 record in 1997-98, and if you recall, the 76ers went on to make the 2001 NBA Finals. Of course they had a certain Allen Iverson. The relevant point is after a disastrous first year, the 76ers always posted a winning record during the rest of Larry years.
Look. Larry Brown never promised a playoff berth to you right away. When he was hired last year, he said," I look forward to coaching this team ... If you play the right way, being in this environment, you help our sport, and I don’t take that lightly. I look forward to the challenge. I know it’s not going to be easy, but nothing worthwhile is supposed to be easy.”
Don't let his public feuding with his egotastic shooting guard Stephon Marbury bother you. He has done it before. Remember his days with Allen Iverson? That's what Larry does and at 65, Larry's not going to change. Bear with him and let him finish the job he's hired to do.
If you are not convinced, here's another fact. Before this year, Larry was the guy who took the Clippers to the playoffs.
Yes, he's a quitter but not before he proves himself to be a winner. He quits only when there's nothing else to prove and he never quits in a losing situation.
This is what Isiah said when Larry was hired by the Knicks.
“He has made every team he has ever coached a winner, with a legendary approach to teaching and motivating his players. His value to us as a franchise at this time is immeasurable.”
That's worth repeating. Let Larry Brown stay if you want to be talked about again in the post-season.
And if you are desperately looking for a scapegoat, Isiah is waiting.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
No sweep for the Pistons
Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers : Pistons lead 2-1.
Ok. No sweep for the Pistons. Frankly I expected one and as usual I was wrong.
One reason, of course is, LeBron James took over down the stretch and that's what great players do. And somewhere I know Kobe is watching.
James was the difference between the two teams in the fourth quarter when he scored 15 of his 21 points. For the record, the Detorit guards Chauncey and Rip combined for 6 points in the fourth. That should tell you the story pretty much.
After going through the stat sheet, I found something more amazing than LeBron and his triple double. Cavaliers shot 50% and Detroit, not so impressive 39.4%.
This season, the Pistons are enjoying more freedom in their offense with Larry no longer barking from the sidelines, but they still win games on defense.
The D wasn't there last night. At least not when it mattered most.
The Pistons are going to win anyway but now they have something to think about.
San Antonio Spurs vs Dallas Mavericks : Mavericks lead 2-1.
Except for game 2, the first and the third were decided by a combined 3 points!!!
However there is something alarming for the Spurs. Tim Duncan answered all questions surrounding his mobility by averaging 31.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in the first three games and yet the Spurs have fallen behind.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Kobe quit and what others are saying
Politely put Kobe's an engima. A true assessment of Kobe Bryant will land him anywhere between a talented dickhead and the one closest to MJ.
Real Kobe. Fake Kobe. And I am not talking about the Kobe behind the closed doors with a woman and a chair. Love him or hate him, you should at least agree with me here--the famously contrived persona makes him slip more often than not--something I consider unfortunate for someone who's still the most talented baller walking on this planet. And his occasional blast of immaturity, as was evident in game 7 against the Phoenix Suns, shows, he could at times become no more reliable than the infamous "airballs for Utah", tossed up years ago in the playoffs.
Going by Kobe--who knows what's next.
Quite a few folks think Kobe did quit. You can find them all over the blogosphere although the mainstream media remained mostly polite and pretended oversight. I personally recommend reading this gem from TJ Simers of Los Angeles Times. For those who are not aware of TJ, the guy got a wacky sense of humor.
Labels: Basketball, Sports
Kobe Bryant's vanishing act
For Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers the season is officially over. And we are left with a big question mark on his ever evolving attitude.
The more I think about it, more I get convinced.
Kobe Bryant sabotaged the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe went 8 for 13 in the first half--hitting four three pointers and managed to keep the Lakers within a striking distance. Trailing by 15 at halftime, the Lakers were expected to come out in the third quarter as if there were no tomorrow.
Instead they came out flat. And the one who bailed them out time and time again wasn't interested.
Funny. When you have known his game for eight years, you know what the guy is capable of and you are perplexed because you haven't seen him quite like this--not when time is running out for him and the Lakers.
Kobe simply switched himself off in the second half--took only three shots--scored only one point on a technical free throw. He continued to watch his fellow Lakers struggling and yet never tried to get himself going.
Explain that Kobe. Labels: Basketball, Sports
