Pro Basketball Scoop

Blog Post

2010-01-08T08:09:00Z

GORTAT ON A FAST TRACK TO BE A MAVERICK

2009-07-03T01:46:00Z

Marcin Gortat, a.k.a. The Polish Hammer, is one of this writer's favorite players since I'm a (dumb) Polack.

The Dallas Mavericks appear to be in a very strong position to obtain his services, and by all accounts are close to offering him a mid-level offer. Gortat is a restricted free agent, and the Magic will have seven days to match the offer if he signs an offer sheet with the Mavs.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Magic will not match this offer if that is the case. Even though the Magic are going to be fairly thin in their frontcourt with the departures of Hedo Turkoglu and Tony Battie, finding themselves paying the luxury tax because of their backup center is a move they appear unwilling to make.

The only team that appears to stand in the Mavs' way of landing Gortat are the Rockets, who have a huge question mark in Yao Ming. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rockets step up their pursuit of the Hammer, now that Artest has gone and fans are still reeling from the Chuck Hayes at center experiment taking place in the last game of the Western Confernce Semifinals.

If the Mavs can secure Gortat's services, they will likely be on the hook for just over $30 million over five years, or $25 million over four years. That will be a bargain compared to the $63 million they paid Erick Dampier.

TURKOGLU WILL BE A BLAZER BEFORE JOINING POKER TOUR

2009-07-03T00:53:00Z

Hedo Turkoglu will be a Portland Trailblazer next season, even if the story won't be broken for another couple of days or so.

Today, he met with general manager Kevin Pritchard at the Portland International Airport, and gave his best (or worst) poker face when explaining his interest in joining the Blazers.

The Blazers started rookie Nicolas Batum at small forward for just under 20 minutes per game last season, and generally struggled to find a rhythm at the position, even if second-unit gunner Travis Outlaw did enjoy some success there. Adding Turkoglu to the mix at small forward would put an already dangerous Blazers' squad on the short list of teams that can compete in the West with the Lakers, especially after the Lakers signed Ron Artest.

While our report is pure speculation, it is difficult for us to believe that Pritchard would make Turkoglu's visit so public if he felt at all threatened that Turkoglu wouldn't sign. Turkoglu, who may be offered more money by the Toronto Raptors, goes on to explain that he is considering more than the finances in his decision. With Chris Bosh all but gone during the 2010 Summer of LeBron, and Jerry Colangelo staring down the barrel of a decimated roster, Turkoglu would be crazy to land in Canada and watch his next contract be his last (good one).

ARTEST TO SIGN WITH LAKERS

2009-07-03T00:30:00Z

Get your popcorn ready!

As if tinsel town didn't have enough story lines, the Lakers might have punched the hottest ticket in town by landing Kobe's arch nemesis.

Ron Artest is expected to agree to terms with the Lakers this afternoon, making the team's pursuit of Trevor Ariza all but over.

The idea of Ron Artest landing in Cleveland had the rest of the league looking towards 2011 for their title hopes, but now that focus will likely shift decidedly back to the reigning NBA champions.

Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza is reportedly meeting with the Houston Rockets, and it's entirely possible he will go to whomever will pay him best. If he's smart, he will realize that winning championships is the best leverage in contract negotiations, and he'll join the Witness Protection Program (a.k.a. Shaq) in Cleveland.

BRYANT DECIDES NOT TO OPT OUT

2009-07-02T23:58:00Z

Fresh off his first championship without big man Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant has chosen not to terminate the final two years of his contract and will remain with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Next the Lakers will have to keep up with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics of the world by attempting to sign free agents Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza.

Ariza's agent has been running his mouth trying to drum up interest to as many teams that will listen, but it is unlikely that any team is going to pay more than a mid-level exception. With Cleveland trying to acquire both Ariza and Ron Artest, the Lakers would be wise to start making Ariza feel more at home. Ariza's decision to stay will likely come down to his personal tastes, and the Cavs might face too hard of a time convincing Ariza that he's the guy they really want when Ron Artest is that guy. But if the Lakers balk, they might give their biggest competitor a huge break for what would amount to peanuts if he sticks a dagger in them in the Finals.

And while many analysts have taken the easy route by assuming the Lakers would dispence of the older Odom, in favor of the younger, more athletic Ariza, we don't see it that way. While we like Ariza, finding an athletic defender who can shoot the three is easier than finding a 6'10" big man that could conceivably run the point.

If the Cavs acquire Ron Artest, we think the Lakers will need to keep both Odom and Ariza, to avoid being swept in a Finals matchup.

WELCOME BACK, MR. BRUSKI

2009-06-27T00:43:00Z

What? Nearly a year went by? Now before you go assuming that I landed with the Hawaiian Tropic girls somewhere between Aspen and Lloyd Christmas' house, I was just writing for another site. It was awesome. I haven't run it by them to see if I can mention it on my tin-can and string blog-o-rama that is Pro Basketball Scoop, but I'll probably wait to mention it until I have the OK. My guess is that they're not worried about little ol' me.

They may or may not bring me back, but in any event watching the draft got me jones'n to feed the info to the masses.

So it will be done. There's a lot going on with Stephen Curry and Amar'e Stoudemire, Ricky Rubio, and a plethera of big name trades--and we're just on day one after the draft.

My initial thoughts are that the NBA will be a wide open race next year. L.A. was far from unbeatable, Boston is aging, Cleveland's addition of Shaq hasn't grown on me yet, Orlando showed why they're not ready in the finals, Denver is on the way up, the Spurs added a nice piece in Jefferson, Houston is a question mark, and the bottom halves of both conferences' playoff qualifiers have some dark horses to make some noise. There's good reason for up to a third of the league's G.M.'s to believe that they are a piece or two away from the Finals. And with the economy being a wild card, it's safe to assume that the have's and have not's (on and off the court) will be courting one another in a way we haven't seen in some time.

So strap on your seat belt, or snap into a Slim Jim, or whatever it is you do, it should be a wild ride.

WELCOME PROFOOTBALLTALK!

2008-09-18T00:04:00Z

PBS, meet Mike Florio. Mike Florio, PBS.

Well Mike now that you've met all 2 of our subscribers feel free to browse around. I started PBS as something to do with my spare time but with an eye towards the distant future of being a mega-blog like PFT. The whole endeavor has cost me $50 to date.

You'll find PFT-inspired live blogs (during which it was incredibly hard to keep up with the action). Mostly there are writeups of topics I found to be relevant as the NBA season progressed. Because I was writing once per night (if lucky) I spent more time per article than I would if following the PFT format. To be honest, sometimes the writing is bad but sometimes it hits it right on the head. If I was running it for enterprise yet it would not be so choppy, bad, vulgar, etc.

Enjoy yourself and remember to sign up.

--PBS

USA VERSUS SPAIN!

2008-08-16T15:21:00Z

Welcome to the best game of the round robin!

These teams don't like each other. Kobe Bryant just floored his teammate Pau Gasol. Lebron just bitched his defender who's trying to man him up and get under his skin. The USA "D" is strong but Spain knows how to get to the rim. Now that we've got Jason Kidd out of the game we can start to make some headway. Either way, you've got 2 teams that want to murder each other (as I write Lebron just got his offensive foul, shortly after drawing one from Spain).

Spain just dropped in Rubio and we just dropped in D-Wade, our MVP so far, and Wade steals the ball and goes in for the slam.

In fact, I'm just going to go Brett Favre style stream of thought from here on out....that's the only way I can keep up with this.

--Chris Paul and Deron Williams are on the court now at the same time. That's friggin awesome.

--2:44 and we've got a 20-13 lead.

--Rubio is going to have to be the X-factor if Spain is going to win. He's got the defense and imagination to inspire his teammates. Him and Calderon in the backcourt can match us on their best day.

--Carmelo is the only USA player who is money from the 3 point line.

--USA is trying to knock Rubio around to intimidate him. I like it.

--It's good to see that Marc Gasol might actually have some value in the NBA, somewhat (but not nearly) justifying the Memphis/L.A. trade sending his brother to the dark side.

--Paul just split 2 defenders on the break showing why everybody else sucks except for him.

--The USA defense is the star of the show. They get a steal every 2-3 times on defense. Whether or not they can hit a 3 seems to be irrelevant if they can just make you piss your pants.

--Rubio is going to have to learn something other than the back-tap form of defense if he's going to make it in the NBA. Heck, he's going to have to learn it this game if they want to keep it within 20.

--Spain is not intimated taking it to the rim. It's actually getting the ball from their dribble to the shooting position on non-drives where they lose their focus.

--10 turnovers for Spain in the first quarter. USA leads 31 to 22 in a 10 minute quarter. Imagine what would happen if somebody other than Carmelo could hit a shot (P.S. Jason Kidd still sucks).

--Reyes is playing well. Spain's front line is actually playing bigger than ours at times (not that this is a surprise with Prince and Boozer as our backup centers.)

--JAMES ALLEY OOP (that's odd).

--Rubio just picked James pretty embarrassingly. That was after James punked the guy who's defending him (still trying to figure out his name, I'm an hour behind the game so I can't go online for fear of seeing the results). Don't worry, I'll figure it out.

--Howard just used his forearm to the head of a Spain player. Spain is doing a great job of baiting him.

--Kobe is a "little flying warrior" and Lebron is "The Little Emperor".

--Rudy Fernandez is NBA ready, it's scary to think that he's unaccounted for in terms of the Portland Trailblazers success last year (along with Oden).

--Kobe shoots the USA technicals.

--USA looks bad against the first look at zone coverage from Spain. Gasol goes "and one" on the next possession over Chris Bosh (who missed the awkward shot against the zone).

--Bosh and Howard have 2 fouls each at the 6:30 mark in the 2nd quarter.

--Lebron just hit his second 3 and has 14 points on 5 of 6 from the field.

--Fernandez just got an offensive foul against Bosh for what looked to be spooning.

--Kobe finally hits a 3, the US has a 14 point lead.

--Marc Gasol just got to the line drawing Kobe's 3rd foul (he's now out for the half). Hey Spain, your center is getting covered by our shooting guard. Go to hell.

--This zone looks to be bothering us, but how can you blame us, the court is so small. They need to get Michael Redd into the game and Deron Williams too. (Carmelo just buried a shot). Those 3 could knock them out of the zone real quick. Marc Gasol draws a foul on Anthony.

--Anthony just fouled the Spain's Rodriguez, the same guy that was getting under LeBron's skin. The foul occurred on a made free throw by Spain. Spain is definitely trying to play a dirty game, the US needs to keep their cool.

--James to Wade for the dunk. Screw you Spain.

--Rubio is back in. Chris Paul gets the assignment . Paul to D Williams, 3 point bucket.

--Williams is playing like he's in Utah.

--Lebron threw it away, then so did Spain. Lebron is getting chippy, and he looks like he's about to fight.

--Garbajosa nails a contested 3. Coach K calls time. USA up by 17.

--Next time the USA needs to add some inside presence other than Howard. Nothing against Howard but there's not enough offense in him to keep him on the court all the time.

--Rubio connects with Fernandez on the alley oop. Spain pressures and gets Paul to travel (it's not the NBA friend).

--Boozer just checked in with a minute to go. Let's see how he fares.

--Rubio is not intimidated at all against the greatest team in the world (and he's 17). He's going to be a fine NBA player.

--Boozer update, just missed a close one.

--Spain is intent on pressing, which given the USA ballhandlers is interesting (and I don't know if I disagree with it). The only way the win is if they turn this into a game of streetball. Boozer missed another close one, but got the tip in a second later.

--USA leads by 16 at the half. Normally that statement would be followed with something like "and USA isn't playing up to potential". Well, they aren't'. But neither is Spain. This game is exactly 16 points apart until the US can show that they can take care of the ball (10 turnovers in the first half) and stop Spain defensively (I don't know what the points in the paint are but Spain is in there).

--Meatball Sandwich Break

--I guess the Chinese really like the super-fast version of C & C Music Factory's "Everybody Dance Now".

---Holy moly Batman, I'm too tired to write anymore, time to just sit back and enjoy....

GO USA!

--

I'M ROOTING FOR CHINA (AT LEAST FOR 1 GAME)

2008-08-16T14:25:00Z

I scrambled to watch the China/USA game but slept through it since that's what I do (in all fairness I couldn't find the gametime anywhere, thanks NBC). Pictures didn't do the game any justice as I heard afterwords that China played valiantly.

I have to admit given the US team's past problems and being on China's turf I was a teeny bit nervous, but more amped up to kick some China ass. Heck, after that opening ceremony I think I could have been fired up enough to be an effective Chinese guard (certainly more effective than they were versus Spain in the second half).

But I digress....

I have to admit that despite all of the reasons not to like China (human rights, communism, and potential rivalry with the U.S.) that I've been rooting for them ever since that game.

Why you ask? (I knew you would). The reason is simple. Yao Ming. And while there are many storylines for this basketball tournament that are compelling and friggin' awesome, his is the most compelling. Starting with the $300 Million Dollar opening ceremony where he stood front and center with the flag (and an entire country on his back), Yao has been the ultimate competitor and shown all of us a thing or two about loyalty to his homeland. You see, he's just come off a knee injury that would have left so-called superstars from the USA that I'll leave nameless on the shelf. But for Yao, this moment, and his country's moment, is bigger than himself. This entire Olympics has been a coming-out party for the Chinese, and I it seems like the world is truly impressed. At the center of it are China's gold medals and spectacular showcasing of this Olympiad, but literally and figuratively at the center of it is all 7'6" of Yao Ming, his hurt knee, his on the court rehab, and the emotion he is playing with that is literally "willing" his team to be competitive, when frankly they should not be.

Point in case, China's guards. I'm pretty certain that in my prime I could have covered them. That's not bad for the 24,534th ranked guard in the United States (remember, in my prime). They're small, slow, bad shooters, bad decision makers, and bad defenders. China has some talent at the 3 spot being shared by (don't want to see any updated scores online so rather than looking up the correct spelling I'll go with...) Ziu Ziu and some other guy who's played most of their games (how's that for analysis). Then you have Yao and Yi rounding out the 5 and the 4, respectively.

It's Yi though that brought me to my feet for this most recent victory over Germany and Dirk (The Loser) Nowitzki. Yi, frankly, has played like crap throughout the whole tournament. This guy reminds me of one of my buddies (whattup Danny) in terms of body type, length, athleticism, skill-set, etc. However, my buddy wouldn't stand around the court like it's his first time there. So am I saying that my buddy should play for China, no, well, maybe, but more importantly I am saying that Yi single-handedly lost them their matchup against Spain because he couldn't guard Pao Gasol, who is neither quicker or stronger than him, just more crafty. Yi looked like a deer in headlights on D, and even worse on offense as he picked up his dribble every time somebody looked in his general direction, which was a disaster since the guards couldn't shake the pressure from Spain to save their lives. You see, Yi needed to step up both offensively and defensively, and while having the skills to do it, he either didn't have the focus or the courage to do it. China lost in a heartbreaker which for most teams would have crushed their spirit.

Enter Yao Ming, and the China home court advantage. In their game against Angola they bounced back, with Yao asserting himself as the team's physical and emotional leader. Against Germany in a must win game, he picked up Yi Jianlian who performed like the top pick everyone expected him to be. Yao was diving for loose balls, sprinting on the fast break, tugging his shorts from being distant from his ideal playing condition, and chest-bumping teammates after hustle plays. Yi was all over the court on offense and defense, which had he done that against Spain we would be talking about the upset for years.

In short, I became a Yao Ming fan for life. He embodies everything that is great about basketball, the love for the game mixed with the edge that one gets when playing in the NBA. It's almost as if you can hear the sweet sound of basketball ebonics coming out of his mouth but also tempered with 5,000 years of culture and self-respect. He put his career on the line by coming back too fast, for his country, and if you're a Houston Rockets fan you might find that disconcerting, but outside of a career ending injury you can bet that your franchise center just grew exponentially overnight, as have the rest of the NBA players playing on this stage. I haven't seen anything like this in my life, that is a competitive International tournament showcasing players playing for more than money, for national pride, and that is something we've not seen from the top of our basketball food chain, ever.

Tonight, I became a China fan, and for an American whose rooting against China in these games, it showed me how much the Olympics have transcended life this time around, and truly gives me hope that China's hospitality doesn't stop at the Olympic gates, and that a potential threat is truly a potential ally.

GO USA!

SOME THINGS ARE PRICELESS

2008-06-24T01:20:00Z

I once knew this center by the name of Shaquille
Body of a giant, hilariously real.

Alright, so I'm a white guy that can't rap but loves to get drunk and try anyway. I once held a flow for a minute and honestly it ranks right up there with hitting the game-winning shot in an 8th grade CYO basketball game and striking out 16 in 7 innings of work in high school.

So Shaquille O'Neal has now entered the national spotlight once more with this ridiculously hilarious freestyle bit about Kobe Bryant. I've known a few people who can carry the flow better than Shaq, which means that Shaq isn't that good. But funny, yes. Frickin' hilarious, yes. His diss on Kobe not winning and getting the entire crowd to chant "Kobe tell me how my ass tastes", repeatedly, must go on a short list in today's poliitically correct climate as being one of the single-most outrageous moments in recent years. You have two former (unofficial) co-MVP teammates from a three-peat dynasty, both embroiled in huge controversy, involved in a soap opera spat sending Shaq packing, only to watch Kobe go to Denver assumedly (as Shaq puts it) smellin' some ass in one of the trials of the century. You couldn't write this script in your wildest dreams.

The beef was supposedly settled, and when asked for comment after tape of this show surfaced on on TMZ.com (the story is here) Shaq asked them to post a similar "song" he made about Vlade Divac during their playoff series with the Sacramento Kings, presumably to cushion the blow of this hitting the blogosphere (Vlade when reached for comment had this to say). He has also said that he's cool with Kobe.

Somehow I don't think the feeling will be mutual.

GAME 6 LIVE BLOG!!!!

2008-06-18T01:17:00Z

Game 6 is here. Grab your popcorn and stock the fridge with beer. This is not the greatest series ever, but these teams are about as closely contested as they come. You've read my analysis of Phil Jackson's lineup decisions and as you might imagine he has decided to ignore all of them. That's OK. That's why I write and he coaches. We'll see how it goes for him and the Lakers.

The first 6 minutes of the game have been a roller coaster. Kobe has gone for 11 points hitting 3 "3's". Rondo has started hot on the defensive end, sparking his offense. Bodies are flying everywhere. I guess it's a Boston tempo, but you can't be sure. Gasol has hit the ground no less than 5 times already and can't post up Paul Pierce. If that is the case then it's over for the Lakes (think Bruce Bowen on Dirk Novitski). Ray Allen just went to the locker room, we'll see what that's all about. The game has far from settled.

3:30, Qtr 1: There are so many unspectacular players in this series. Rondo just took it to the hole without a plan in mind. Walton just took it baseline without a plan in mind. Odom took that pass and passed on a wide open 3. Garnett just hit a jumper, looks like he won't be going inside any time soon. Check that, he got the ball in the middle of the key and faded away to just inside the 3 point line and buried it. I guess if you're capable of doing that then who needs a drop-step anyway.

2:00, Qtr 1: Allen is still in the training room. Farmar just dribbled off his foot out of bounds. Alley oop to Garnett. Kobe missed a driving layup. They need to silence this crowd and make them nervous like San Antonio did to the Hornets. This is a sloppy game. The Celts just threw away an inbounds pass to KG. You can tell that both teams haven't played on this stage before (sans Kobe).

1:00, Qtr 1: It's 19-22 Boston after Farmar hits the first of 2 throws (made 2nd). The longer the Lakes hang around the more pressure will accumulate on Boston (Pierce hits jumper). 2 for 1 possibility, Bryant with the ball, he doesn't go for it until too late (missed 3). Celts hold for final shot, Pierce in a 4x1 set. Lakers had a foul to give and got them with 1.8, smart move. Powe missed the final shot after taking too long to get it off. 10 points for KG, 11 points for KB, 24-20 Boston. I'm calling an even game so far, however, here's the things that I've noticed:

Gasol is not ready to play.
Odom is not ready to play.
Rajon Rondo is active on defense and offense, but still out of control.
Garnett's shot is on.
Paul Pierce is making shots but not the focal point of the game.
Kobe looks ready to take the game into his own hands.
Radmonovich hasn't been called except for the PA announcer before the game.
The moment looks too big for Farmar.
Sasha has been kept off of the court (same goes for Turiaf).

Advantage: Boston

Start of Qtr 2: Gasol starts on the bench. Farmar starts the second. Turiaf is FINALLY in the game. Pierce throws it away. Sasha is in as well with Bryant and Odom. Boston has House, Posey (wait, Turiaf drew a loose ball foul on Boston), P.J. Brown, Big Baby just came in for P.J. (to match Turiaf), Powe, and Perkins. So it's the battle of the scrubs but the Lakers have Odom and Kobe in (who probably will play the whole game). Evenly fought so far, but watch for the Lakers to make a push. If you see Turiaf spark an L.A. rally I'll probably throw something at the T.V.

10:00, Qtr 2: Doc Rivers just grabbed a tech. That could be huge down the stretch for Doc's ability to put pressure on the refs. It certainly can't be good for Boston's psyche in terms of stability. Pierce silences that thought with a rattle-me-home 3 and Sasha misses on the other end (who shot him with confidence-juice during these playoffs?). L.A. missed a great opportunity to capitalize on momentum. Powe misses a 16 foot set shot. Odom takes it aggressively to the basket and draws a foul. This bodes well for Lakers fans. I'm surprised KG is still out of the game. Look at this part of the film if L.A. makes a push here and ultimately wins the game. The Boston team on the floor couldn't win a rec league game in some cities. As I write this Powe makes a transition layup. Boston by 5. House is fouled by Farmar going into a T.V. break. I imagine the first team's come back out. I wonder if Turiaf will be with them or if Radmonovich gets another chance.

8:08, Qtr 2: Ray-Ray is still in the Sick-Bay (OK, I will NEVER do that again). Boston has a healthy 6 point lead without having played their best. L.A. starts with Kobe, Fisher, Sasha, Gasol, and TURIAF (haha). Boston works with Powe, Posey, Pierce, House, and Big Baby. KG is checking in for Pierce. Now it's on (minus Ray Ray). Bad rebounding by the Lakers leads to a 3rd chance opportunity for Boston which House ultimately cans for a 3. Sasha screws the pooch by turning it over, and House makes them pay on the other end for 3 again. Sasha is mixed up defensively. Him and Farmar better do a ro-sham-bo to see who shows up this game because one of them needs to OR Fisher needs to play the whole game (not a good option). T.V. time out, Boston by 9. It's now or never for the Lake Show, they need to put the fear of doubt into both the Celtics or the crowd, or the game will be in Boston's favor come the last 2 minutes.

6:30, Qtr 2: Starting five for the Lakers back in. Pierce drives into the lane and passes up an open layup...so goes the NBA finals. Just after the recently hot Michele Tafoya reports trouble for Ray Ray he runs out of the tunnel to a raucous ovation. I doubt the Lakers or the Boston fans will be fazed either way about that given the Paul Pierce episode. Although it would be cool to hear a chant of "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus". Kobe just lost the ball off the dribble and in transition Posey just nailed a 3. Welcome to nail #1 of 3 in the coffin. Time out Phil Jackson.

3:30, Qtr 2: Boston has pushed a 13 point lead. They are outclassing L.A. in every phase of the game. If this keeps up I'm going to stop writing.

End of Half: Boston finishes on a 26-6 run. The Lakers go into the locker room down by 23. It's safe to say that if the Laker win this game that they will win game 7. So that's the challenge that's been laid down by fate, circumstance, and the Boston Celtics dominating first half. I'm not going to write until this becomes a game, because I'm sure ya'll don't care one way or another until it does.

Halftime Observations:

This is going to go down as a gimme in championship competition. Why? I don't think the Celtics could have beaten the Hornets, Spurs, Pistons, Cavs, or Rockets right now.
Kobe is by himself. Any comparison to him and Michael is completely unfair. Michael had Scottie and Kobe has a bunch of Eurotrash that would get their asses kicked at the local cinema 6 unless they had Rony with them.
The Celtics have the defense necessary to win a championship. Offense? No. But their defense (led by Rondo) is particularly beguiling (yeah, I said beguiling, it's a big word and I like to sound classy...shutup).
If any team is primed for a 20 point meltdown on their home floor it is the Celtics. Likely no, surprising no.
Jackson is reportedly angry with his team. If I were on his team I'd ask him if nailing the Lakers Jeannie Buss had anything to do with his lack of a game plan. It's amazing how coaches get a free ride for mailing it in when players who work out everyday to stay in shape get nailed for it when it's not true.

Onto the 2nd Half:

12:00, 3rd Qtr: Rondo nails a jump shot confident when up by 23....that's going to be "not good" for the Lakers. The Lakers need to put their "toughs" into the game to claw back into this. The Lakers were down by 24 in Game 2 and the Celtics obviously came back in Game 5. It's wishful thinking on my part but at least there's precedent. Allen just nailed a 3 after Rondo misses what should be an open take. Radmonovich nails the coffin in my assessment that he sucks, and so does Jackson's decision making by bricking another 3. Rondo travels though and leaves the small door open.

10:24, 3rd Qtr: Fisher can't connect. Celtics continue to push the tempo. Rondo can't make anything consistently, hence his downfall as an NBA point guard. Fisher goes "and 1" with the foul shot upcoming. Van Gundy calls out a potential Laker defense and temporarily I believe that he is a good color guy (my brain expunges the alcohol required to watch this game and I resume taking part in reality.) Pierce just took a prayer drive and made it (somebody stop that guy for the sake of television rankings). Gasol passes a 10 footer on the other end while Sasha took a swing pass and drained the three. Rondo took all of his confidence with him to the rim for an and-one and makes the throw (this is the penalty you pay for letting him get his rocks off on D).

8:05, 3rd Qtr: Van Gundy just highlighted that L.A. has a very good defensive team, outside of Radmonovich. Rondo steals and in transition finds Ray Allen with announcer whateverhisname is saying "Celtics embarrassing the Lakers!" Where is Marv Albert when you need him. This is what happens when a weak Kobe Bryant collides with a smug Phil Jackson. I think all of the aforementioned teams could have competed better than the Lakers....so much for Western Conference dominance. For all the Rondo fans out there, you are validated. His on-ball defense (see earlier post) has proven to be a difference maker. Bryant just shot a fadeaway 20 footer and bricked, desperacy is in the air.

6:25, 3rd Qtr: I'm going to begin to write on tangents. The game is no longer important now until the Lakers can get it under 10 (which I think they have a shot at). For all the Laker love given by the media, they look like a J.V. basketball team. Gasol just got given an entry pass in the sweet spot in the middle of the key and couldn't come to the ball. It looks like the defensive coaching of Tiberot is showing itself. He's clearly instructed his guys to attack the entry pass at the expense of position and Gasol won't make them pay. He's used to getting the ball in Memphis where nobody cares. For all the pundits that have given the Lakes multiple championships in the next few years they may want to re-evaluate Gasol's toughness and willingness to learn. He clearly can't establish himself in the post when the defense is at a "finals" level. T.V. timeout.

After an entire year I just realized that the NBA "cares". I wonder if they care about point shaving.

5:57, 3rd Qtr: A 30 point game. This thing is done. Does anybody wonder if this is poetic justice for Kobe Bryant? As I write he misses a fadeaway 18 footer. After getting a rare stop Gasol gets tied up by Garnett when he has position for a jump ball. I wonder who will win this one. Radmonovich makes his 2nd "3" of the third quarter, maybe Phil will start him for another 5 years. Rondo tips in a KG miss, amazing. Does he have flaws in his game yes, but on this team, no.

4:30, 3rd Qtr: Kobe tips in a miss. If this lead remains at 30 after the 3rd and the Lakers win I will officially give up basketball writing. Odom with timeliness drives and jumps into the air only to throw the ball to the Celtics. This game is getting difficult to watch. The only thing that drives me to write is that I can't get it through my thick skull why Boston is destroying them. I'll say defense is the answer but for me it comes down to the Lakers inability to compete. Gasol just actually "manned up" and grabbed a defensive rebound when challenged by players inches shorter than him, good for him.

3:25, 3rd Qtr: I think every team in the Western Conference is punching walls in their homes right now knowing that they could have beat this Celtics team. Radmonovich takes a transition 3 with nobody under the hoop and gets bailed out by Ray Ray touching the ball before it goes out of bounds. T.V. timeout.

2:45, 3rd Qtr: Gasol gets the inbounds pass, loses his footing, and passes it to a white jersey. Pierce misses a step back 3 and Kobe grabs the rebound and promptly gets it stolen by....who....Rondo (6th steal of the game). Kobe takes the rock strong to knock it down to 29. L.A. gets a stop and Kobe takes the ball to the rack to get to the foul line. I'm guessing that L.A. is going to make a move in the offseason to get another player with toughness regardless of the price and/or smartness of the deal. The Celtics have gone into time-wasting mode. The sad part is that the could do this for the rest of the game and probably win no matter how bad they play. Rondo just made a driving layup. The Celtics need to score no less than 20 points from hereon out to win this game. P.J. Brown just got a great steal and now it's almost over. He scores on the other end to put it back to 29. Final seconds of the 3rd, Kobe shoots a fadeaway from 18 feet that falls short. You have to wonder if he's been injured at all for these last 2 series. He just doesn't seem to have the first step that we're all accustomed to. End of quarter.

Observations after 3 quarters:

The Lakers have been outclassed on defense and loose balls.
Like the NCAA tournament, guard-play seems to determine who wins and who loses. Farmer, Sasha, and Fisher have been completely outplayed by Rondo and Ray Allen.
Kobe doesn't trust his team. Give him credit for taking an entire season and training them to succeed. But when the rubber meets the road they can't get it done, no matter how much artificial confidence Kobe and Phil have put into them.
Gasol is soft and might be the best single-reason this game is as lopsided as it is.
Jackson should have played Turiaf through the whole game. His toughness is what the Lakers lack on the defensive end. On the offensive end, Odom's number should have been called out but I understand why it wasn't.

Start of 4th: Turiaf lands on the court. I wonder if Jeannie text-messaged Phil and demanded that with threat of no fun-time. Kobe and Gasol are on the bench. The Celts are certainly going to be play slow, we'll see what happens. Ariza enters the game and is quickly in the right spot at the right time getting to the foul line on a pass from Turiaf. One has to wonder if the second squad can scrap them into a position to put SOME pressure on the Celts. Sasha throws the ball away and Rondo took the ball to the hoop on the other end drawing a flagrant foul. As if it was in question, put this one into the books. That flagrant was a bad call, he was barely touched.

10:44, Qtr 4: Rondo is on the line having scored 20 points. If you told me that before the game I would have bet the entire house on the Celtics. Despite all of the Celtics shortcomings they play like a team and that fact is evident in their victory. Phil sits on the bench looking like he just got fooled in a 3-card monty game. They should just institute the 10 run rule and give the Celtics the game as the rest of the Boston-hating universe has to watch this crap (I don't hate Boston...just their fans). Farmar hits a 3, but too bad Ray Ray hits one on the other side (as Sasha screws up on defense AGAIN). So much for Allen's decline. This performance in the finals solidifies a spot in the Hall of Fame even though there will be detractors from that comment...a championship does wonders unless you're "Big Shot Bob". As I write Allen hits another 3. Jackson takes a timeout and I wonder if he'll take the time to appropriately apologize to his team for the psychological restructuring of their mental psyches he's undertaken when he didn't evaluate himself in quid pro cro.

7:42, Qtr 4: I got distracted by a girl with huge knockers so my apologies. This game sucks. So do the Lakers. Maybe the NBA should institute a rule where if the losing team goes 4 on 5 their points are worth more. Then again, maybe the Lakers should actually bring their balls to the Finals. The worst thing about this is knowing that Boston fans have more to crow about. I usually hate the Lakers, but this seems to be worse. I might actually punch the next Boston fan I see without giving a reason. It's party mode in the TD Banknorth whatever the hell the stadium name is. I hate this outcome.

5:24, Qtr 4: Ray Ray just hit his 7th 3 pointer of the game tying an NBA record. Odom got fouled and things are getting chippy. It's about time the Lakers showed some life. It's just a matter of the clock winding down at this point. Is there some rich guy in Boston who won a bet with all the other rich guys and paid the NBA to have Boston win? I don't want to take anyway from Boston, but I just did. They deserve the championship and I like their players. BUT, and this is a big BUT, they could barely handle Cleveland, who was manhandled by most of the league all year long. I know the playoffs are a different story and matchups usually determine what team beats whom, but I don't see Boston beating San Antonio or even Phoenix. I think New Orleans would have a chance. I even think that Golden State could have matched them position for position. That's just the way it goes I suppose but I think that L.A. lost this series as much as Boston has won it. Nevertheless, you have to give Boston their props for winning the games that matter, and for that they are the champions.

5:00, Qtr 4: "Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey-Heeey-Hey, Good-Bye" The Celtics crowd throws extra sauce on the drubbing. That will be remembered for years.

4:30, Qtr 4: 116-81. Ugly. The "na-na" chant is something that I haven't heard in my lifetime and is something that should be cherished for years. When a team loses this bad under this much rivalry pressure they deserve to be embarrassed like that. The Boston starters just got pulled out and a cameraman just got thrown by Joey Crawford, it's the most defense that's been played on behalf of the Lakers all night long.

3:29, Qtr 4: The celebration has begun on the sidelines. Rivers is emotional hugging his guys. The Celtics can't help but celebrate. It's not as professional as our P.C. society has begun but how can you hate on these guys? They deserve it. They won the Finals. They played like a team. They are waiting in desperation for the final ticks to go down. Anybody who has played any competitive sports knows what this is. The lead is at 35 and Kobe just missed a 3. The refs are concentrating on keeping the game civil. Posey just drained a 3. This is painful for the Lakers, but nobody in America cares.

2:21, Qtr 4: There is a full-fledged celebration on the sidelines and I can't remember when I've seen this so early in the 4th. This won't be taken lightly by Kobe or the Lakers organization. Of course, you can't blame them. This is what all of us dream of, winning the NBA championship. If the Lakers didn't want to be shown up on the sidelines then maybe they would have come within 20 points of victory. 30+ points means that no matter what the Celtics do they are GOING TO WIN THE GAME. Therefore they get to enjoy their hard-earned championship before the end of regulation, and you can bet there's going to be one helluva hard-earned celebration.

Predictions:

Paul Pierce is the MVP.
Rajon Rondo is the player of the game.
Kobe Bryant gets blamed for everything.

Again 2:21 in the 4th: Garbage-time. Paul Pierce is being talked about being "in the rafters" and I have to say that he will get in, but he's lucky. He's been a cancer on the ball-court his whole career and now he gets lucky with a Lakers choke. But good for him, in the grand-scheme of things he out-accomplished millions of basketball players in the entire world to get there. We sometimes lose perspective when players can't "get it done" against other world-class athletes. He is lucky, but he is good, and it is better to be lucky, and also good.

1:52, 4th Qtr: Big Baby just threw down a dunk. Why not hand each Celtics fan a bottle of Dom Perignon? Eddie House just dunked, the city WILL BE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. I wonder if Doc will clear the bench. He should. The Lakers should be ashamed of themselves turning in this effort. They've given up, and that is a reflection of their coach and their star player. Kobe, Michael Jordan you are not, you have his skill but not his heart. I do think that the celebration on the side of the court is going to hurt these Celtics in later games. It is a bit uncalled for, understandable, but uncalled for. You wouldn't see a Phil Jackson team do that, if it is any consolation for how bad he has coached and how bad the Lakers have played.

You can tell how much Doc Rivers is loved on the sidelines. He has made some bone-headed moves but winning cures everything. The big 3 are in a place that only champions know. The clock is about to run out and I'm getting goose bumps. If only all of us could experience this.

I want to thank all of you for your support during this NBA season. It is a pleasure to write for you all and I can't wait until we do it again (starting tomorrow). Good luck in everything that you do and take care!

--Bruski

IS PHIL JACKSON A FRAUD?

2008-06-17T06:02:00Z

Phil Jackson, the mentor.

Phil Jackson, the guru.

Phil Jackson, the fraud?

These are the thoughts traveling through my mind as I try to write about this series (yes and I do apologize for the time off, my day job came in and took me offline for a bit).

Anyway, my writing job could be easily compared to Jackson’s coaching job: absent and non-existent (two words to say the same thing is obviously a better way to explain it…lol).

Nobody is going to deny that Phil Jackson is a hall of fame coach. He’s a first ballot guy, and anybody with a plus-Gump basketball I.Q. knows that he is part of the proverbial cream found at the top. But I can’t shake this thought that he may have been the beneficiary of players, more so than the collective “us” has attributed to his success.

Case in point #1: Phil Jackson cannot coach X’s and O’s basketball. Question: when Phil does something completely retarded is he being given a pass because us basketball writers believe he is “testing his team”? I watched a game last year when the Lakers are down by 3 with under 3 seconds to go. Kwame Brown and his 50% free throw percentage are left in the ballgame. That doesn’t catch your eye immediately (other than the fact that Kwame Brown shouldn’t be in the NBA let alone on the court at the end of a game) but when you see the Lakers peel off out of their out-of-bounds play to clearly inbound the ball specifically to Kwame who is designed to throw immediately to Kobe for a 3 point shot…..you stop and ask yourself: If Jackson is the great coach then why would he draw up a play to pass the ball into somebody that the defense is surely going to foul? The reason is simple. Jackson undervalues the impact that matchups have on the outcome of a season, at the expense a single play (or playoff series). When I say "undervalues" I mean that when he makes errors they come as a result of his deficiency in seeing that regardless of his goals, whether they be to create an atmosphere where players can both mentally and physically compete at a winning level or to individually impact a player’s psyche by either benching him or keeping him on the floor, he will maximize his team’s output on some (or most) occasions, but when he miscalculates he will have undervalued the impact that placing players in the correct matchups will have despite the impact those decisions may have on a player’s or team’s psyche.

Whoa. I feel like I just hung out with Philly-Phil on the Freedom-Train at the Rolling Stones concert in 1969. Kwame should not have been on the court. He was fouled correctly and went on to miss both free throws. Kobe took the brick rebound at the sidelines and hit a falling into the bench 3 to tie the game and send it into overtime where they won. Anyone want to bet that the writers in the press-pit after the game didn't grill him that hard?

Enter the 2008 NBA Finals. The Lakers have more matchup problems than the Celtics do. However, with correct coaching and matchup decisions they can shut the Celtics down enough to let their offense do the talking.

Starting with Kevin Garnett, the Lakers do not have a player that can match him, period. Luckily, neither Boston nor Garnett wants to exploit that so the Lake Show has a chance in this series despite being down 3-1 (and now 3-2). But rather than throw the team’s best cover onto Garnett (Turiaf) Phil wants to maintain the team’s identity by starting Radmonivich. This leaves Gasol (or Odom) on Garnett which poses a multitude of problems. Starting with the fact that Gasol can’t cover him, box him out, or even bother him you have a player on the court in KG who can essentially do all “positive” things with whether that be run the offense, initiate the offense, (gulp) shoot, or rebound. Surprisingly, the mental guru doesn’t recognize the impact that getting beat on most plays is going to have on Gasol, or at a minimum the foul trouble. Odom is also serviceable on KG but he doesn’t have the quickness nor the height to do anything, that is if KG used his quickness or height to get to the rim. (Note: This is a very strange phenomenon, KG having the athleticism to get to the rim but not ever taking the ball there, so the D has to respect the quickness although it never does become a factor. I wonder if teams just stopped defending the drive if KG would be able to adjust or if he would look like Derek Fisher trying to shoot a layup….anyway, I digress).

So then you might expect me to mention Paul Pierce as the next worst matchup problem for the Lakers but it’s simply not true. Kendrick Perkins is the next most difficult cover. Reason being, the Lakers have these “bigs” to play down low: Gasol, Turiaf, Odom, Radmonivich, and Walton. None of them can cover him on the block, period. Now Perkins is unproven and may be out of the series due to injury, however, he could (and should) be covered by Gasol who can at least dominate him with his height while foot-speed won’t be as much of an issue.

So you throw Turiaf on KG and Gasol on Perkins. So far so good, right? Apparently not.

Then you have Paul Pierce, the broke and homeless Kobe Bryant. This guy is slow and unskilled. Obviously there’s a bit of hyperbole there, however, the question that I’d pose to GM’s is how much would you pay for this guy even if the Celtics win the title this year? How many forwards would you grab in front of him? The list would be long and distinguished and absent a title this year Pierce will likely find himself on the bottom of it sometime soon. Now that’s not to say that he isn’t a good talent. I’m just having a difficult time seeing how he can “quote” “dominate” (in air quotes) when there’s a Kobe Bryant on the other side. Surely it would be nicer to have Kobe remain fresh and foul-free while putting the clamps down on the fearsome (gulp) Rajon Rondo. But if you can keep Garnett shooting jumpers over Turiaf, keep Perkins from dominating inside, and keep Pierce struggling with Kobe you’ve got to be going in the right direction.

Ray Allen, meet Derek Fisher. Fish isn’t going to be beat off the dribble consistently and he’s good enough to bother the outside shots. We've seen what Ray-Ray does when he's not in transition these playoffs (i.e. nothing). Rondo can be covered by either of the Sasha/Farmar combo (who can be switched out for freshness and to monitor who is actually playing well). If you can't bury a jumper then you can't be effective in the NBA, sorry Rajon, keep working on it.

So I guess you can say that Radmonivich is the problem here. But Phil wants to keep his 3-point threat on the court, in theory, to stretch the defense. But it goes deeper than this. Phil is trying to convey a message to his team that all of them belong on the court. He uses a player like Sasha to convey to the team that confidence and swagger are all that you need to succeed. The problem is that the team’s key players like Odom and Gasol aren’t getting the message, and now it’s too late. Sasha and Farmar are not going to be the Steve Kerr’s and John Paxson’s of the Lakers if Odom and Gasol aren’t getting 40 points and 20 rebounds together. But maybe the problem is that the Lakers can't get into the offense as effectively when they're pulling the ball out of the net. Or maybe Odom and Gasol can't play well when the pressure's on (I bet more of you subscribe to that theory). Maybe when they're getting manhandled defensively they lose their cool. That's why the defensive matchups can sometimes be more important than the offensive ones.

Jackson has the right philosophy, just the wrong thinking. Maybe he thinks Radmonovich can be that guy who brings points in bunches. But for all the 3 pointers he shoots, he brings the team down with his mental mistakes and lack of defensive toughness. Worse off, the Celtics (who don’t have a legit offense), now can be given an offensive identity because their deficiencies aren’t being exposed the way they would if Gasol played Perkins, Turiaf played KG, Kobe played Pierce, Fisher played Ray-Ray, and Sasha/Farmar played Rondo. The Celtics are playing their typical strong defense, but it's their offensive success that is propelling them on both sides of the court. I could write a ton about the Lakers' offensive struggles, but this defensive matchup problem is the main reason that the Lakers are down and out in this series, and it's controllable by Phil (the guru) Jackson.

My guess is that when they tip-off in Boston for Game 6 you will see the lineup that I’ve projected as the best fit. Phil now knows that he doesn’t have any time for the mental gymnastics to catch up with the score on the ground. The question is whether or not he has the hubris to do it or if he’s really as bad at X’s and O’s as he is good at handling personalities. I don't think that he's incompetent, just that his measurements are off, and that some of his players have let him down. There's a ton of pressure on Kobe and Phil to preserve their own legacies. They are proven champions. Boston has zero championship experience outside of Posey (and imagine that....he's had a huge impact). If there was ever a scenario allowing a 3-1 comeback this would be it. But Phil's got to play Turiaf and Kobe has to "not press". Odom and Gasol need to play effective, not "step up" as analysts will harp on. The Lakers need to get the ball inside to both Gasol and Odom and get them involved, try to get to the line, and not complain if they don't. It's a lot to ask, but at the same time it is not. We'll see what they do.

DON'T TELL ME THAT DETROIT ISN'T LICKING THEIR CHOPS

2008-05-20T10:00:00Z

I have to tell you that I'm just about as sick of watching Kevin Garnett getting the Eli Manning/Sidney Crosby treatment after watching the Celtics in their past two series. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy. He's the epitome of unselfish. He's everything that you have to like about a basketball player. The problem is that there are at least 10 pro basketball players who deserve the attention more than he does. He's getting a pass (or making a pass in the 4th quarter) because he played on a crappy team for years and arrived in basketball-rich Boston, whose expectation levels for sports teams are at an all-time high.

But rather than beat that horse dead let's take a look at a series where Boston is actually the favorite and I have them losing in 6, when my gut tells me that they'll lose in 5.

Let's start with the Boston offense. First let's assume the point runs through Rajon Rondo. Rondo has the heart of a champion and has performed well above expectations. However, expecting him to turn the corner on either Chauncey or Rip is a big task. I don't think it's going to happen. Add the championship experience to the equation and I'll go on record as saying that Boston is outclassed at the position. Not that this is ground-breaking material, but when your point guard is going to be shutdown then you're going to have to turn to somebody else to run the offense.

So let's then assume that Boston decides to run the point through Paul Pierce. First off, that's a bad idea. Pierce was 1/2 of the single-most frustrating basketball watching experience when him and Antoine "Dough-Boy" Walker battled to see who could take the worst shots in a game. Ironically, the same thing that sunk the Celtics before the arrival of the other "big 2" is exactly what Doc Rivers asked him to do in Game 7. And for all of his shortcomings, Pierce made a name for himself in that game. Even more impressive was that Pierce got his points many times against Lebron, who in theory should be able to shut Pierce down. What will get lost in the hype is that Pierce was given an overwhelming green light, not necessarily because he was "the man", but because he was the only one who could get his own shot.  He ended up making a lot of tough shots and while Lebron drew the assignment, he won't get that favorable treatment against the Pistons. Remember, even though Lebron was covering him much of the time Lebron had to expend too much energy on the offensive end of the court dribbling around triple-teams and the like. And when Lebron wasn't covering him he had guys like Wally and Pavlovic covering him, neither of which pose the challenge he will face against Detroit.

Enter the Prince.

He will shut down Paul Pierce in every game during the series. Pierce doesn't have the first step, the lift, the shot, or the post-game to get good shots off. And you can get your popcorn out because it is nearly a foregone conclusion that Boston will be forced to run the offense through Pierce until it is clear he can't score on Prince. You can pretty much take the under on Pierce's point totals all series long and make a major profit, which is what I'll be doing. So when Rondo can't turn a corner and Pierce can't so much as put the ball down, what then?

What about Garnett? What's he going to do? In the post he can elevate above most, but not against Rasheed. He'll have his hands full whether it's Rasheed, McDyess, and heck even Maxiell could cover him. The reason is simple, he doesn't have an "attack" move going to the basket. Since all you have to do is let the guy fade away it really doesn't matter who covers the guy as long as they don't let him get to the rim, which he won't. And while KG can hit a jumper, and a fadeaway for that matter, it's a lot different when you have a 7 footer in Rasheed putting a hand up in your face. With Pierce and Rondo destined to be shutdown, Boston's best chance to win, and ironically what will be the defining moment in KG's career, will be KG's ability to take the ball in either the block or high post and drive to the hoop. If he can put the ball on the ground for more than 2 dribbles and get an angle on Rasheed, and get him into foul trouble, he can break the interior defense down. From the inside out he can create tentative strategies from the Pistons, which will open the game up for spot up shooters like Ray "the invisible man" Allen and James Posey (who will play an important defensive role on Teyshaun). And if Detroit chooses to defend KG with Prince (who can cover KG) or a guy like Maxiell then KG will be forced to elevate, which plays into Detroit's game plan. That is, not letting him get to the rim. And if Detroit puts Prince on him KG won't be able to simply elevate over him, he'll get his shot blocked. In other words, if Detroit finds that they can cover Pierce with Maxiell or even a guy like Stuckey (or heck, even a guy like McDyess, and all of these are possibilities), then Boston is going to have their 2 leading scorers neutralized.

As for the other part of the "Big 3", Ray Allen is officially done as a driving threat. He has no lift and I wouldn't be surprised if he weren't injured. He didn't look this slow last year in Seattle.

So in summary, we haven't even discussed Detroit's offense versus Boston's defense and I'll be laying heavy on Detroit.

Boston's best bet is to use players like Leon Powe to get to the rim against whoever the defensive weakness on the floor will be. And as bad as Sam Cassell has played he might just be able to body up Billups better than Rondo, as scary as that sounds for Boston fans. Realistically, Boston's best (and only) bet is to take all of their offensive low-post players and run the offense nearly entirely through them. That means Garnett, Powe, Perkins, (gulp) Big Baby, and (unfortunately) Cassell need to be fed the ball on the block. The entry pass needs to come from Pierce as much as possible, with other dribble-drive threats like Rondo, and um...Rondo spaced on that the same side of the court. The spot up shooters in Posey, House, Cassell, and Rondo need to flank the weakside of the play. The ball gets entered and the first priority needs to be to draw contact and fouls. If they get to the line and can put some of the key defenders into foul trouble like Prince (who won't easily get into foul trouble), Sheed (who will), and the other core guys like Billups and Rip....they will have a chance to make things happen. Once the ball gets entered the first kickout pass goes to somebody who can take it to the rim and now because of the help defense they will be able to get the corner that they couldn't get in a one-on-one or triple-threat position. If there is too much help the ball can be swung to players whose primary strength is to spot up. If those shots aren't open they can hit the weakside block where a player like KG or Perkins will have been able to establish deep position and have a great opportunity for a successful play.

If they don't take this approach, and say use a high pick and roll or try to isolate people with dribble-drive penetration they will be beaten to spots on the court. More times than not the defense will not have to shift and help. Worst for Boston, the defense will likely have the advantage because of the superior skills and foot-speed at all positions on the court. If they can successfully enter the ball into the post it will do a couple of things. First, it will loosen the defense for the spot up shooters. Second, if they are successful the low-block help will open opportunities for offensive rebounds. But most importantly, they will neutralize the fact that they don't have the foot-speed with Pierce to beat Prince, and with Garnett the low-post game to beat Sheed. The cherry on top will be the aggressive mindset that the team gets into by attacking the basket. If they have any success at all inside and their spotup shooters like Allen can get on a roll they have a shot.

Offensively, Detroit has too many weapons for Boston to keep up with. Chauncey, Rip, Prince, and Sheed are enough for any team to handle.   Normally, Boston's defense can handle just about anybody in the league. The turning point in this discussion though is that when Boston stalls out offensively Detroit will have the momentum go for the jugular. And unlike Boston just about everybody on the roster for Detroit can get their own shot. I'll give Rondo credit for being able to stop the ball, but Billups will just post him up drawing double teams. Rondo will be better suited on Rip but that leaves Chauncy free to roam. Boston will be best served to cover Billups with Posey, but Posey would also be better suited to cover the Prince. Pierce will get the assignment on Prince though and will get frustrated when Prince elevates over him with runners in the lane. Powe would also be a good cover on Prince because of his strength and athleticism. Garnett will obviously do as good a job on Rasheed as anybody in the league. However, you can see that Boston is going to be a player or two short at any given position.

Boston is good defensively but Doc Rivers couldn't even devise a way to handle a 1-man team in Cleveland, what are they going to do against a team with multiple options on the floor?

What the hell, I'm going to go for the jugular too.  I'm licking my chops. I'm going Detroit in 5, put it in the books.

BYRON CAN'T PUT THE BALL IN THE HOLE, BUT SHOW ME SOMETHING DAWG!

2008-05-20T02:36:00Z

First off, allow me to apologize for the time I took off from PBS. My day job took me away from the more important things in life, that is, the NBA Playoffs.

So as I sit here watching this joke of a game 7 in the Spurs/Hornets series I'm hoping that somehow this turns into a game.

I have a number of problems with this game and all of them land square in the lap of Byron Scott, AKA "the stoic nothing". Editor's note: These type of people really bother me. They think that the key to victory is letting no emotion out. It's like everything in life, or like table salt, a little bit enhances the flavor of the food but too much will ruin, as will too little leave things bland. These type of people simply won't put things on the line when it comes to following their gut instincts.

First, from an X and O's perspective Scott is simply getting outcoached. He's allowing San Antonio to dictate the pace of the game (which leads to me second problem) that the Hornets are not energized and neither is their crowd. Barkley said it that the crowd seems scared. When the Warriors went up against the (supposedly) better Mavericks last year those fans could taste the blood. These fans have read too many press clippings where all of the experts picked against them.

So no energy, no easy buckets in transition, let San Antonio plod the ball up and down while entering into Duncan in one-on-one coverage (Chandler is doing a great job btw), and miss baskets....AND....

What does that leave you with? A team and an arena that's dimed up so bad that their entire season will likely be wasted.

The game is within 8 now and I'll be back to update this article with more detailed thoughts, but this sucks. I was hoping for a barnburner.

***UPDATE***

OK, I knew that they needed somebody to step up and give them energy. But Pargo? How many pundits thought that he would be the guy to make the Hornets tick for all of the fourth quarter? It was all a desperate looking situation as Pargo took (and made) ill-advised shots at times.

I'm not going to sit here and let all of the Hornets off the hook. Paul, either by order or not, took the air out of the ball every trip down the floor. Also, as the team's leader he could have done more to emotionally to bring the crowd to life. For instance, what would it have cost him to flap his hands up and down to prompt the (non-existence) crowd to bring life into the arena? Nothing, yet he didn't do it. Chandler played a great game, particularly defensively on Duncan. All of West's shots were questionable as he constantly picked up his dribble too early and relied on fadeaways and jump-hooks (shots he normally makes at a decent clip). When his shots wouldn't fall it affected his spot up shooting and with every brick the arena took an ever-more exasperating gasp. Stojokovic left his game in Sacramento shooting 3/11 with questionable shot selection himself. He also refuses to go to the rack and has been exposed for what he is. Pargo showed up when everybody else left their game next the lump in their throats.

But this game comes down to Byron Scott's lack of being able to motivate his team and recognize how to attack San Antonio. He needs to know that his young team is going to have to rely on the home crowd to push them along against the dynasty that is the Spurs. He needed to implement a game plan that pushed tempo but he mistakenly believed that a slow, deliberate pace (matching his coaching style) would keep his team from getting out of control. But you don't do that when you have the league's best playmaker running the show. And tell me that a few dunks and easy buckets wouldn't have had a positive impact on the cold shooting that the Hornets fell into.

Also questionable was his decision to let Tim Duncan go one-on-one with Chandler. Don't get me wrong, Chandler handled the assignment. But it all goes back to the issue of pace and energy. Duncan practically dribbled out the shot clock every time and there's nothing more deflating to a team than defending for 24 seconds only to have a foul called or have a shot made. Maybe Scott thought that an up-tempo pace would hurt his shallow squad in the fourth quarter, but you only have one game to play, they should be able to dig it out. Besides, getting locked into a half-court set with arguably the best defense in the league is bound to be a bad idea.

All in all, this seems to me to be about Byron Scott's arrogance. He's done a whole lot of nothing in the playoffs as a coach and his inability to draw up a game plan will be exposed the next time he loses (when the Hornets aren't playing without expectations, rather with expectations).

It all leaves me with sort of an empty feeling. I bet on the Spurs, but I wanted the Hornets to win. The normally raucous New Orleans crowd let their team down. The coach let their team down. And the players played not to lose instead of playing to win. It's a sad ending for a team that lifted the hearts and spirits of a town that needs it so badly. Once they realize what they had in their grasp, they will be disappointed, but they showed a lot of people a lot of things this year.

For that they should be proud.

DALLAS IS DONE (LIVE BLOG AT UTAH JAZZ).

2008-03-04T02:34:00Z

I hate the term "must-win games" because they should all be must-win games, but I get it. Sometimes a particular game can be bigger than another. Like game 4 of a 2-1 best of seven series. Or like when you're the Dallas Mavericks and you've just traded your franchise for an aging savior in Jason Kidd, lost every meaningful game you've played, had coach Avery Johnson called the carpet by every analyst in the nation, and now you're on the road to play the Utah Jazz. Must win doesn't even begin to describe what is going on in Dallas but it's pretty clear what the climate will be both record-wise, public relations-wise, and confidence-wise if they don't win this game.

This is a must-win game for Dallas.

And at the end of one quarter the score was 37-24 Utah with the Jazz up by as many as 20+ points within 6 minutes. The second quarter has seen the Mavericks keep pace (we'll update the score at the conclusion).

One thing is clear though watching this game, and I would like to direct this at all of the idiot talking heads who predicted Dallas early on in the year, who really need to actually watch the games and not rely on cliff notes from NBA.com. The D in Dallas stands for Done.

Breaking down game film is the only way you can gain an edge as an analyst. And even with Devin Harris we simply couldn't see who was going to get penetration and exploit matchups against the elite teams. Sure, Dirk's numbers are consistent from last year (and see how far that got them against the superior in nearly every respect Golden State Warriors...yes...it was not a fluke....I actually had them favored and won a significant sum of money in that respect). Dirk shoots the ball alot and makes a lot of difficult shots. But he doesn't make anybody around him better. Defenders don't double on Dirk because he's going to get what coaches like to prep players to give, that is a 20 foot jumpshot with a hand in the face nearly blocking the ball. Dirk makes a good amount of those, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it was a good possession. Devin Harris was the only player that teams needed to be overly concerned with, and now he's gone.

Enter Jason Kidd, and we'll say it first, a significant reason that the Nets could not go to the next level. Against the point guards in the East we couldn't see how he's slowed over the years. Tonight, against Deron Williams, he can't do anything. Repeat, he can't even start the offense. He wants to go right, Deron Williams is in his way. He wants to go left, Deron Williams is in his way. Kidd can't go through him like he does to other smaller guards. He can't shoot over him. He's a non-factor.

Do you think he's going to do anything better against Chris Paul? Kobe...please. I could go down the list of quicker, stronger players but the only one I think he'll be effective against will be Steve Nash, who may just join Dirk on the fishing boat with Kenny and Chuck if they're not careful.

If you want to blame anybody for this disaster I would point the finger straight at Mark Cuban for giving Avery Johnson too much rope for an unproven NBA coach. Avery's dominance in the NBA locker room seems like the high-school class president yelling at everybody to fall in line in a coaching landscape with guys like Phil Jackson, Byron Scott, Don Nelson, Mike D'Antoni, Jerry Sloan, and Doc Rivers calmly making the calls (well except for D'Antoni). They've refused to utilize Dirk as a number 2 option, where he thrived when Steve Nash ran the show. Running the show through Dirk has created a stand-still offense (with the lowest assist numbers in the league). They can beat up on the lessor teams but can't create matchup problems with the elite ones.

Losing a playmaker in Harris just took one of those guys off the court and Jason Kidd cannot thrive in a stand-still offense. They need to throw out the playbook and let Jason run up and down the floor. They have the athletes to do it and the shooters to make a go of it. In a half-court set they need to get the ball to Josh Howard perhaps using the pick and roll with Kidd. Dirk needs to be a spot up shooter, period. Dampier needs to get off the court. Brandon Bass is able to play the 4 and in a small lineup, the 5. In fact, Brandon Bass might be their best playmaker in the half-court with his low-post strength and decent touch.

If they run they have a chance, if they stand they do not. But you can tell that they haven't been told specifically to run. They've been told to take it if it's there, but this team needs to run. But Avery wants his team to be a defensive, grind-it-out team and his lack of hubris will be the reason he can't find a job anywhere but on San Antonio's bench next year alongside Pop.

***UPDATE****

The half-time score is 50-64, Utah.

***UPDATE****

Halfway into the 3rd quarter Utah seems content to let Dallas back into this game having dropped to a 10 point lead. Dallas' first possesion showed them trying to enter the ball into Dirk in the high-post, and Utah running the other way with the steal. Dallas has gone to Howard in the half-court set and has scored when they run, so I think they'll come around on my suggestion, the question is when (and when will the analysts figure it out too....you heard it here first).

Utah has a lot of firepower. Okur just took Dampier to the rack. That's there all night if they want.

Dirk, high-post. Kick back out for no offensive gain. When will they learn.

Somebody took a piss in Dallas' wheaties and they've responded. They're getting steals and transition opportunities. They have the lead down to 6 (make that 4....75-79). I think Utah is having a lot to do with this by not scoring on the offensive end. Their cuts away from the ball are lacking the right angles and execution. They seem to be standing around a lot, and getting bailed out at the end of possessions. But by not scoring they've given Dallas confidence when they were previously about to get sent away embarrassed. The momentum has certainly swung to Dallas.

I was just thinking that if Dallas wins I might have to change the name of this blog to Dallas WAS Done, or Dallas is sort of done, or Dallas does Debbie or some variation.

Dirk is still getting booed for his cheap shot to AK-47 in the first quarter (Dirk left his feet and instead of just landing on AK he had to pull him down by the neck).

Dampier gets the rebound has 3 outlets for a 4 on 2 break and decides it would be wiser to pivot in a circle 3 times and hand it to Kidd, who then wisely starts a (late) transition break.

Deron Williams can get any shot he wants against the supposedly strong defense of Jason Kidd. Any shot he wants.

Dirk has to turn his back to keep the ball away from defenders, it's a good thing he can probably play a pretty mean game of horse.

Boozer could play tight end for any NFL team that he wanted to. Check that guy for steroids.

Dirk just tried to take Milsap off the dribble and got embarrassed (and of course complained that it was a foul). He is the only guy in the league allowed to take that bad of a shot. And Dirk kind of looks like a poor man's Tom Chambers.

Kidd just threw the ball into the stands. I'm going to guess that it wasn't his fault. Either way, I'm bracing for the Dallas choke with 9 minutes left, 85-89 Utah.

As I write this Kidd hits a 3 (his first bucket). We've got a game.

Brandon Bass just skied for a rebound over Boozer and Milsap, impressive.

Howard in the half-court was unable to convert against Boozer.

Novitski hits the 18 foot jumper coming off a screen and takes a 1 point lead after being 21 down. Must win must apparently mean something to them.

Dampier in for Bass, hmmm.....

Utah's Harpring went for an alley-oop to Okur and threw it out of bounds. That's what happens when you go for the all-white alley oop.

The Jazz have moved to a half-court offense and Boozer misses the jumpshot. Kidd the other way out of control and misses. Utah decides to run and throws it out of bounds. Jason Kidd comes back and hits another 3 (DAL up by 3).

Williams breaks Kidd down and feeds Boozer inside. Nowitzki loses the ball after a questionable pass to him in the post. Dampier fouls Boozer down low and he shoots 2 (makes the first, makes the second, UTAH by 1)

Dallas gives to Howard in the post, he settles for a fadeaway, misses. Utah decides to go half-court, feeds it to Okur who draws the foul against Kidd, makes the first, makes the second, UTAH by 3, 5 minutes left).

Terry drives to the hoop but can't finish, Korver the other way with a 3 point shot, the MO has shifted back to Utah (UP BY 6). Deron Williams gets his 20th assist...amazing.

Dirk in the high-post has it stipped, this is embarrassing for him. Kidd needs to work the screen and roll with Howard or Bass. Deron Williams gets into the lane with a foul on Dirk (makes the first, makes the second, UTAH by 8).

Dirk in the high post, turns it over on the drive, Utah the other way, Kidd fouls Harpring who should have made the and-one (makes the first, Avery looks shocked, makes the second, UTAH by 10).

Kidd to Terry, holds the ball, fallaway jumper (ill-advised) blocked, Utah the other way, Okur misses the coffin-nailing 3, Boozer outrebounds Dampier without position, ball goes to Harpring, fouled, Harpring makes the first, Dallas timeout, Novitzki technical foul, Korver makes the T, Harpring makes the second, UTAH by 13.

Terry misses the 3 but Boozer bails them out with a foul against Nowitzki. Kidd enters to Dirk who almost turns it over 5 times, misses, gets his own miss, misses, gets his own miss and makes the and-one, makes the foul shot, talk about dedication. It's getting chippy out there.

Utah turns it over on a foul by Boozer. Utah looks pissed off.

Kidd misses a wide open 3, rebound to Devean George, misses, Utah misses on the other side and runs it up in transition to a wide open Kidd who buries the 3 (UTA by 7, 1:30 to go).

Okur hits a questionable and-one continuation call against Dirk in a horrible reach in (try moving your feet buddy). Okur makes the throw (UTA by 10).

Dirk comes down on the other end and buries the 3. Full court pressure (almost worked) by Dallas leads to a Boozer bucket and Kidd comes back with the and-one on the other end. Kidd makes the throw (UTA by 6)

Utah breaks the pressure, taking time off the clock, Williams almost makes a spectacular spinning drive and Boozer fouls on the rebound, he's out of the game now, Devean George on the line now in crunch time, misses the first (choker), makes the second, UTA by 5.

Terry pushes Korver for no reason on the back-court pressure (good idea idiot), he goes to the line, makes the first, makes the second, UTA by 7.

Deron Williams fouls Kidd (trip). Kidd to the line. Kidd makes the first, makes the second (UTA by 5). Korver on the other side holds while Howard eventually fouls. Makes the first, 23 seconds left, rattles in the second, UTA by 7, Dallas timeout, I wonder if Avery asks Dirk to draw up the play.

Kidd comes out and nails the 3 (UTA by 4. Hey Avery, you sure you feel good about leaving him off the court the other night? Korver fouled the other way. Makes the first. Makes the second. Dallas misses the other way and the game is done.

The bottom line with this game is if Dallas and Avery don't know that Dirk isn't the guy, this should be it. They needed this game and they couldn't come through. If they play their cards right, run the ball, and let their trade actually work for them they might have a shot at making the playoffs. If not, Denver, Golden State, and possibly Portland might all make it in with Dallas and Phoenix, pundit favorites, sitting the sidelines.

12 GAMES IN A CHASE FOR THE WEST

2008-03-01T14:17:00Z

Leave it to the leap year to provide a head-scratching night of NBA action. Here's a quick rundown of how each game went down and all of the important stuff.

Indiana 122 @ Toronto 111:

After a handful of disappointing games (and disappointing calls against the Pacers) they came back with a vengence in Toronto where teams have not had much success. Playing short-handed without Granger, Tinsley, and O'Neal Indiana took advantage of the injury to Bosh. Those who have been observing Indiana (all 3 of us) have seen that they have offensive talent. Warriors fans would even be quick to point out Mike Dunleavy's prominence the past few games, and now they have a win to show for it. If Bosh is out for extended time put a fork in Toronto when they lose home-court advantage.

Charlotte 100 @ Boston 108:

This one was as close to a fill-in-the-blanks victory as you can get. Playing without Gerald Wallace and already being a laughingstock of the league it didn't take a rocket scientist to pick the Celtics. Not alot to see here but the impending acquisition of Sam Cassell's effect on Rajon Rondo. Rondo has done a great job this year and in many ways has been a catalyst for this team on both ends of the floor. Watch out for a Phoenix-type over-thinking move to acquire E.T. that might adversely affect team chemistry.

New York 93 @ Atlanta 99

The Mike Bibby acquisition is apparently paying off for Atlanta, and they could make some noise in the East with their young talent. Ultimately, they will not win because half of their team still hasn't played more than a year or two. However, they're doing what young teams do. That is, play up and down basketball and compete night in and night out. Bibby is showing why Sacramento was a dominant team this decade even if he has lost a step or two. Tonight there were 24 lead changes and it was an ugly game. Notice, however, that Atlanta was able to pick up a win in this ugly game, a sign that this team is ready to win.

Minnesota 84 @ Cleveland 92

Tomorrow night will be the big night for Cleveland as they face Chicago in a battle of swapped teammates. However, tonight the Cavs showed why Danny Ferry made a good call in bringing in the litanny of players that he did. Minnesota played well throughout the game and kept it close but Delonte West and Joe Smith started to show the chemistry that ought to be making the Celtics and Pistons uncomfortable. The fact that they have Smith, Z, Wallace, and Sideshow Bob on the inside is great news for Lebron, who is playing through an ankle injury ala Kobe Bryant to help the team gel. When Boobie comes back it will be interesting to see if King James will be the X factor that upsets one of the favorites.

Utah 98 @ New Orleans 110

This game was won in the first quarter and half as the Hornets went on a 23-0 run that the Jazz could never come back from. Chris Paul and Deron Williams played magnificently although CP3 had the upper hand in this tilt. With the Hornets winning all these games they could challenge the Lakers for the #1 seed which brings up an interesting point. If they do get the #1 seed they would face incredible pressure from whomever the #8 seed is. A young team like the Hornets would be hard pressed to handle that type of pressure, even if they are at home.

UTAH PULL ONE OUT IN THRILLER AGAINST DETROIT

2008-02-28T05:45:00Z

After looking like the walking-dead and going down by 15 in the first quarter the Utah Jazz showed why they have the league's best home record. This game had the feel of a playoff game going down the stretch as Utah prevailed 103-95.

The most interesting thing about this game was the way team's deployed their offenses. While Utah feels like they can play both half-court and full-court basketball they chose to walk the ball up initially. You had to guess that Utah wanted to play under control against the veteran Detroit squad. The result was Deron Williams having one of the worst quarters I've seen him play in a while. He couldn't penetrate and constantly put the Jazz in bad positions with the ball.

On the other side of the ball Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton couldn't be stopped. They pushed tempo when they could and it looked like a route.

In the second half the Utah Jazz clamped down on defense allowing only 18 points in the 3rd quarter.

Then both teams started to resemble themselves. Utah picked up their transition game finding Boozer in the high-post, Brewer on the baselines, and Mehmet Okur on the 3 point wing. Detroit entered the ball into the post to Rasheed Wallace 5 consecutive times who refused to be double-teamed. Ultimately it was Okur's 3 point shots that put the game away.

Chalk one up for Utah who needed this win after a disappointing road trip and chalk one up for the NBA with its parity.

IS STEVE NASH AN MVP FRAUD? (P.S. SHAQ STILL SUCKS)

2008-02-28T04:59:00Z

After another loss to a contender (and being swept for the season series against the Hornets) the Phoenix faithful have to be holding their heads in dismay. On the other side of the desert Kobe Bryant fans everywhere have to be enthralled by the recent performance of Steve Nash since the acquisition of Shaq (and more importantly the loss of The Matrix). Why? Because for all of his greatness Kobe Bryant has never won an MVP award. Personally, it makes me sick to think that MVP voters are so dumb as to ignore how important Kobe has been to his team, carrying it literally on his back ever since Shaq left. Instead, voters chose to reward Steve Nash, the closest thing to John Stockton we'll ever see, for leading Phoenix to strong regular season showings and orchestrating the high-flying Suns attack.

Note the words "high-flying". Now that Shawn Marion was discarded to Miami there seems to be less flying in Phoenix and more....well....whatever you call point-blank airballs from Shaquille O'Neal. In tonight's statement game against the Hornets Steve Nash looked overmatched on both ends of the court. He finished with 8 points and his usual 13 assists. Now we're not going to be so bold as to say Steve Nash isn't a great player, even a Hall of Fame player. But when you have the likes of Marion, Stoudamire, Joe Johnson, Barbosa, and a litanny of athletic shooters spreading the floor it's a bit easier to run stats up like a pinball game.

The question we always asked when comparing Kobe to players like Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki was a) which one would you pick first to be on your team and b) which one if missing would have the biggest impact on their team and c) what net effect did their teammates have on their performance. In regards to "C", was their performance unusually enhanced by the strength of those teammates?

Now that Steve Nash got rid of their most complete player it seems like the luster has been knocked off the mantle. Most notably on defense he can't stop anyone. If Woody Harrelson and Will Ferrell joined the NBA he might have a hard time keeping them in front of him. Chris Paul torched him for 25 points and 15 assists tonight. Against the lowly Grizzlies Mike Conley went for 15 pts and 11 rbs and when Conley wasn't torching him Juan Carlos Navarro was going for 25 points. How bout 14 & 11 for Chauncey Billups the game before. And all of that comes at the expense of having to shade defenders towards him and use double-teams when he gets posted up.

So how about the offensive side of the ball? Aside from tonight's debacle he's had 11 pts and 6 rbs versus Detroit against Chauncey and Rip and prior to that 18 pts and 5 assists against Rajon Rondo, a quicker player.

With Shaq a non-factor on offense and without Marion we might see Phoenix fishin' with Chuck, Kenny, and Ernie if they can't turn it around. But if Steve Nash can't shake defenders or keep opposing players in front of him there's going to be a lot of talk about Nash's MVP's being tainted.

PORTLAND IN BIG TROUBLE WITHOUT ROY

2008-02-27T08:59:00Z

Tonight the stuggling Portland Trailblazers came out and made a statement to Los Angeles Lakers and the rest of the league...for one half.

Portland carried a 51-44 lead going into halftime having accumulated a 14 point lead in the first quarter. Forward LeMarcus Aldrige was having his way inside against Pau Gasol and Steve Blake orchestrated the offense aptly. But a Laker charge at the end of the first half highlighted by a Rony Turiaf 3 point play carried over into the second half as the Laker defense picked up.

What did they do? Not a whole lot if you ask this (for recreation only) analyst. When looking at the Blazer offense it was clear that their identity sat on the bench resting his ankle. Steve Blake was left mostly in charge of the offense and seemed to find his way around defenders whether via the dribble or by screen but didn't have anywhere to go with the ball. Certainly the Laker defense had something to do with that but you couldn't help but notice that the entire Portland team seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, a clear sign that without Roy they are going to struggle.

This seems to be the time that Jarrett Jack could make his name but Nate McMillan doesn't seem to comfortable giving him the reigns. We're not sure that Jack carries the respect of the players and the coaching staff but it feels like he should be given the chance. He's a good compliment to the game Blake plays and has more one-on-one capabilities than Martell Webster, who has been given the nod of approval.

Any way you slice it the Blazers are a young team that is going to go through their highs and lows. If they don't find a solution at point guard soon they are going to find themselves too far out of the chase to come back.

WARRIORS DEFEND LIKE A BUNCH OF GIRLS

2008-02-27T04:07:00Z

The Golden State Warriors are known for their ability to push tempo and outrun their opponents. Their undoing will be their inability to play defense on a night-in night-out basis.

Aside from not getting back on defense one of their main liabilities will be Monte Ellis. He just got shook by Kevin Durant at the perimeter and while the rook is better than most Monte has to be able to keep a taller player in front of him.

We thought that Golden State would have trouble with Wilcox, Collison, and Durant inside as they normally have trouble with quicker, physical big men. This underscores how important Andres Beidrins is to their interior defense (Beidrins is sidelined indefinitely after having his appendix removed).

Utah dismantled the Warriors because of players like Boozer, Harpring, AK-47, and Paul Milsap. And like every Western Conference team with their specific matchup deficiencies, this will be their achilles heal. If they don't address it they will be either watching the Chuck and Kenny early, or be bounced in the first round.