Jack’s Blog

So LeBron James is going to be the MVP of the NBA.  A probability nearly as certain is that he will lead the Miami Heat to their second consecutive championship.  A year of debilitating injuries to guys who could influence games’ outcomes, e.g. Rose, Rondo, Westbrook, Nash, Bryant, Griffin, Gallinari and Lee seemed to align the stars perfectly for a Miami repeat.  Not that they weren’t poised for a repeat anyway, but if ever was there a year they could get by without Dwyane Wade at 100%, this one’s it.

Tomorrow’s MVP award will be his fourth, as many as Wilt, one shy of MJ and Bill Russell, two fewer than Kareem.  It will also be his fourth in five years, the string split by Derrick Rose, who, after taking the entire year off in order to be 100% when he returns, could pose a threat to both accomplishments (MVP and NBA champion) in the future.

Michael and Russ accomplished the duel feat a record 4 times, Larry and Kareem twice, and eight others once.  So, assuming the Heat live up to expectations, the championship would be theirs and LBJ would move into the company of Bird and Jabbar.  Certainly elite company but, as anyone who knows LeBron, or has talked to him, or has read about him, or has heard about him, . . . understands is that elite company is not his goal.  Unique is the level to which he aspires.

He turned 28 a little more than four months ago.  He’s in better shape than 98% of the guys he plays against and has enough resources to keep up with any new advances in science and technology, be they in nutrition, strength training, flexibility, cardiovascular or psychological.  How much longer can he play barring serious injury, at a championship/ MVP level?  Eight more years puts him at 36.  That’s a lot of hardware he could haul.

The obvious question then is: Is he the best player of all-time?  Maybe it’s my age or when I was involved with basketball at a level just below the NBA but my answer could lie in an old joke:

“George Washington was first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.  First president of the United States.  But he married a widow - which just goes to show, that no matter how hard you try, you can’t be first in everything.”

There are two constants that viewers of NBA playoff games - or is it any game? - can count on.  One of them is players complaining to referees following fouls called on them.  Or fouls not called on guys guarding them.  Dwight Howard, Pau, Russell Westbrook, KD, Melo, Boozer, KG, Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan, Zach Randolph, LeBron, Bosh, and for all intents and purposes, every other player in the league.  Possibly, it’s because they’re embarrassed they missed a shot.  Or maybe they really got fouled and the ref missed the call.  Or it should have been a charge instead of a block - or a block instead of a charge.

Whatever the case, the following scenario is guaranteed.  The offended player gives the referee the stank eye, then mumbles (or louder and clearer) his displeasure.  Something like “It was a clean block”/”Didn’t you see him hit me?”  Occasionally, additional adjectives an adverbs find their way into the conversation.  In some cases, he will soon be donating money to the league.

The second constant is the refs don’t change their minds.  Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks put it best in the 4/15/13 edition of Sports Illustrated when he discussed his new found philosophy toward officials:

“What’s going on here?  I’m arguing with the ref, but he’s not the enemy.  Sometimes he makes good calls, sometimes he makes bad calls, but he never overturns his calls.  So what am I doing?”

Granted, these are the dog days of the NBA.  There are a few teams that might already be, dare I say, “positioning themselves” for the draft?  Others know there is more ball to be played (and bonus money to be made) once the season ends.  Except for a select few, e.g. the Lakers, many are more concerned with keeping their key guys healthy than trying to influence the postseason match ups.

Enter the Harlem Globetrotters Miami Heat.  The Heat won it all last year (one year too late, some say).  One of the concerns last season was whether the team had a reliable three point shooter to kick it out to after penetration.  So they got . . . the greatest three point marksman of all-time, Ray Allen.  He joined LeBron, D-Wade and Chris Bosh and (most of) the remainder of the team that won it all.  Was that fair?  There’s nothing fair about building a team in the NBA - the better the executives, the more understanding the owner is that money must be spent wisely (but, make no mistake about it, it must be spent), the slicker the people running the organization, the more likely the team will plug the gaps that are holding it back from being mentioned as a club that can compete for a championship - on a nightly basis.

The Miami Heat knew they were going to - as coaches are fond of saying - get everyone’s best shot.  Winning as much as they did during the first part of the year wasn’t surprising.  The “Big Three” had shed whatever it was that could have been on their collective backs their initial season (their first together) and they seemed to be playing looser.  A similar feeling for their coaching staff.

As the season progressed, injuries hit team after team and, as the post-All Star game part of the schedule moved on, the Heat kept adding win after win.  Now, the “streak” became the topic of conversation.  With the NCAA’s March Madness fever grabbing nearly every sports fan, college basketball owns this time of the year.  Spring training has begun, football and its trading deadline occupies some space and the Blackhawks gave hockey enthusiasts something to talk about post-lockout.

Meanwhile, Miami (the pro hoops team, not the college one) almost bored people with its dismantling of opponents - the “contendas” as well as those who show up because league rules dictate they must.  OK, so what about their bitter rival, aka the (aging, but) capable Boston Celtics?  The arena will always be rockin’ when the Heat show up regardless of the circumstances.  Except that there would be no Rajon Rondo (even though the W-L results have yet to be affected by the little dynamo’s absence) and no KG.  What Kevin Garnett gives the Celts, beyond points and rebounds, is a nastiness seldom seen in any sport.  Or pretty much in any walk of life.  You’ve heard how people say, “If I were in a war, the guy I’d like to have in my foxhole is Kevin Garnett?”  Even pacifists feel that way about KG.

So when it was announced that Garnett wouldn’t be available, green flags were about to be flown at half staff.  Only this is Boston, damn it!  Beantowners don’t surrender to anybody!  Somebody would come through with a wicked good game.  This time that somebody was Jeff Green who had a personal high (as well as a high for most NBA players) of 43.  The Men in Green were often up double digits and led for the entire game.  Or so it seemed.  Until LeBron hit the game winner after the Heat finally tied it.

Had the Heat been toying with them?  To many it might now seem so after watching that game last night, the Heat’s 23rd victory in a row.  A person I was with suggested Miami actually would like to see the streak end so they could simply worry about just winning the playoffs.  The pressure of back-to-back will be enough of a burden.  A winning streak would only be an albatross for the last season’s champs.

Some may wonder if the late, and fiercely competitive, owner of the Raiders, Al Davis, wouldn’t back off (between now and the end of the regular season) his famous saying:

“Just win, baby!”

Since Michael Jordan turned 50 this past Sunday, talk show hosts (and several other media members) felt it was necessary to raise the unanswerable question of “Who’s the best player of all-time?”  Naturally, because they are the two best current players (with Kevin Durant nipping at their heels), the argument shifted to who’s better between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

All the comments were made - Kobe has five rings, LeBron is at his prime with many years left to play dominate.  The debate is a necessary one - if you’re ten years old.  Maybe fifteen.  Anytime past that age, if you continue to play the “who’s better/who’s the best game,” you need to at least realize that there are no winners (and plenty of losers.

Kobe is sensational - skill set, mind set, defensive ability, personal drive and (which can be a negative, depending on how strong or fragile your teammates are) ability to demand/produce the best in your teammates.  MJ shared the exact same qualities.  Which is why Kobe has them - because, from the day he entered the league, he has modeled everything he does like Jordan.  Not just his play, which is sensational, but his mannerisms, his dealing with the media, his gait … his being.

LeBron can’t match those two because his skills, body, mental aspect - nothing - is like those two.  He’s 6′8″ and willing to admit to 250, with rumors as high as 280, and negligible body fat.  For that reason, people have tried to compare him to Magic.  LeBron is no Magic either, if for no other reason than Magic was a point guard and LeBron is not.  LeBron is the epitome of what Don Nelson used to call a point guard.  Magic ran the show and, when he shot, it was a set shot.  He could drive, but it usually ended with a pass or a layup, seldom a dunk.  LeBron is the show, shoots (real) jumpers, and when he drives, the result is … louder.  It still obtains the same desired results as Magic - Ws.

Sure, you can get into “rings,” what we used to call championships but what now needs to be defined as something you can wear and show off, as opposed to a something you were part of, that only a selected few can actually claim they “be” (as opposed to “have”).  So when the trump card in the Kobe vs. LeBron debate is five rings to one, the line LeBron used (oh so obviously created by one of his publicists), that if rings are the determining factor, then Bill Russell must be the best because he has 11 and Michael has six.”  Then, others had to be brought in besides Russell, e.g. Wilt Chamberlain, Jud Bueschler, Charles Barkley, Robert Horry, Reggie Miller, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing and a cast of characters from NBA past and present.

I’m on record as saying MJ is the G.O.A.T. but as far as Kobe versus LeBron, it’s too tough a call.  They’re waaaaaay different, each with their own strengths.  Kobe couldn’t have won as many without Shaq but Shaq couldn’t win as many without Kobe (even though they each did without each other).  LeBron couldn’t win without selecting his current teammates but, c’mon, he got to the Finals with the Cavs.  Have you ever checked that roster?  Closely checked it?  Had he won the whole thing with that group, the comparisons would be with Bill Walton and the Trailblazers.  Take LeBron off the Cavs and Walton off the Blazers and pit the remaining players against each other.  That finals would probably be the least watched in television history.  Definitely the most boring, lackluster series ever.

It’s been used before but John Harbaugh’s rule should be considered prior to anyone opening their mouth in the Kobe-LBJ discussion:

“I’ve got this rule.  We make no comparisons.  Somebody is going to be devalued.”

Sorry, readers, but no new blogs until Tuesday.  Watching younger son, Alex, play a couple games in the Bay area.  

Kobe Bryant has such passion for the game of basketball in the way he plays (30,000 points is only one aspect of his greatness), speaks (to his teammates) and acts (he’s absolutely obsessed), it’s transparent that he wants to be known as the greatest of all-time (G.O.A.T.) but that moniker belongs to one Michael Jeffery Jordan.  He’d probably be thrilled to be referred to as the best of all-time but, alas, Pat Riley, the master of copyright (remember “Three-peat”?) has taken B.O.A.T. off the market, donning his superstar, LeBron James with that acronym.

So what’s left for Kobe?  First, getting Steve Nash on the floor has got to be his Christmas wishes #1 through 10.  Short of that, he needs to change his motivational speech to Pao Gasol.  Pau has been a part of a championship team so it’s not like he doesn’t know, or can’t handle, the feeling of winning it all.  Kobe’s verbal assaults, “You’ve got to put on your big boy pants,” being the latest, might have a reverse effect on the apparently ultra-sensitive Gasol.  How to reach Gasol in time to turn the season around is something beyond anyone not close to the Lakers and if anyone were to think otherwise, they would be foolish.  It’s just that Kobe wants desperately to win, Pau’s not getting it done and Kobe blitzing Pau with sharp words hasn’t been a solution.  Suggestion?  Try something else.

Next, downplay Dwight Howard’s poor foul shooting.  BUT, get him to make up for it at the defensive end.  Dwight was right when he said their loss to Orlando wasn’t due to his poor foul shooting.  It was the fact they continued to allow the Magic to score following his misses.

Finally, Kobe and Mike D’Antoni need to stay together during the tough times, e.g. until Nash comes back.  The coach can handle hostile fans and media considering where he’s been (and I’m not talking about Phoenix).

If Kobe can do all that, keep on scoring and doing whatever else it takes to win, someone will come up with an anagram for him.

What might work for Kobe is Goethe’s line:

“Treat people as they are and they’ll remain as they are.  Treat them as they can, and should, be and they’ll become that.”

Stan Van Gundy “occasionally” had his differences with the media.  Not surprising since Stan knew his craft well, certainly better than the people who covered him and his team.  Rumors abounded during his tenure as head coach of the Orlando Magic and it definitely rubbed him the wrong way.

Since the invention of the Internet, writing the game story isn’t enough.  Sportswriting has become a sport.  So many people are writing about the same team that writers are looking for the “story within the story,” i.e. the gossip.  I have to admit that my memory is not nearly as good as it was - from what I’m told, the result of reaching 60 plus - but I can’t remember the term “anonymous source” being used in sports stories - or any other stories for that matter - when I was growing up.

Possibly, I shouldn’t have been surprised when I read that Stan, on a radio show in Orlando, made the seemingly outrageous statement that Chicago Bulls’ superstar Derrick Rose might leave Chi-town.  Rose, a Chicago native and former #1 overall pick, signed a $50 million contract extension that keeps him from free agency until the summer of 2017 but Van Gundy said “the league has changed.”  While Stan said Rose is a great player and ambassador for the NBA, in today’s world guys want a chance to win it all and if Rose doesn’t get better players than his current supporting cast, he might be tempted to go to a team with that has a superior roster.

The turning point in the NBA came when the Boston Celtics obtained Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to go along with their all-star Paul Pierce - and proceeded to win the championship.  LeBron James and Chris Bosh hooking up with Dwyane Wade took a couple years but won a title this past season.  Van Gundy cited Chris Paul leaving a bad roster in New Orleans for a better one, that he wants to improve even more, with the Los Angeles Clippers.  Add to that the recent transactions of Steve Nash and Van Gundy’s former stud Dwight Howard by the LA Lakers and you can see Stan’s point.

Basically, it comes down to winning - and winning it all - which ain’t easy.  As the saying goes:

“If winning was easy, losers would do it.”

Our Olympic basketball team should be considered no less dominant after Blake Griffin was replaced by Anthony Davis.  In fact, the team might just have gotten better because although Davis is younger, he is a much better shot blocker than the NBA’s newest version of the “Human Highlight Film.”

While it may not hurt the USA’s chances for gold, the two players involved have had their lives seriously impacted.  Davis is the lucky winner (for now, remember, he sprained his ankle and missed the “tryouts”).  While only one year out of college (which he stayed only one year), the former Wildcat star will receive an accelerated course in professionalism - from the group as a whole, not particular individuals.  The veterans - to Davis, every teammate is a veteran - will hold him accountable for his assignments, especially at the defensive end.  Mike Krzyzewski is blessed with more depth than any team his group will face (that statement could be said if all the other teams combined to make a twelve-man all-star squad) and, judging from last night’s exhibition against the Dominican Republic, Coach K plans to trap - especially in the half court.  This style is a gamble if the opponent can beat that first trap.  That’s why it’s mandatory every guy on the floor understand his rotation assignment.  In general, the players expect every person on the club to work at 100% - physically and mentally.  What a benefit for such a young, potential superstar like Davis.

Griffin, on the other hand, might not publicly say he’d like everybody’s sympathy, but he sure deserves some.  Here’s a guy coming off a sensational year.  Both the basketball and marketing worlds have become his oyster and now this.  Keep in mind, he’s the same guy who lost his entire first season to an injury.  Then, after an all-star season, he got injured in the playoffs.

Also, don’t think the positive influence of the veteran players on the team wouldn’t have helped Griffin’s career.  Lost in the posterizing dunks are the flaws in his game, namely, lack of shot blocking for a guy who can jump so high (as pointed out so expertly by Hubie Brown, a coach was known for criticizing players so they’d reach their potentials) and defense.  Hubie also noted in a broadcast or two that Blake enjoyed leaking out for the breath taking dunk when, truth be told, he should have stayed in and rebounded.  Try that a time or two and don’t think Kobe and LeBron wouldn’t bring it to his attention.  Not to mention his Clips’ teammate, Chris Paul.

So the Dream Team, or Redeem Team, or Redeem Dream Team marches on and Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin need to adopt the same theory:

“Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.”

When the Lakers got Steve Nash, they got older but much wiser - and better.  Fans of the Lakeshow were hopeful the Magic would think Andrew Bynum would be better than nothing for Dwight Howard, giving LA a starting unit of Nash, Howard, Kobe, Pau and, naturally, World Peace.

Sure, the Heat are the defending champs and the Thunder are the current runners-up.  And there are 27 other teams that are going to at least try.  But Nash, with his experience and savvy, gives the Lakers a way to get easy baskets.  No more having to give it to Kobe with a short shot clock.  Defense would be somewhat of a problem but Superman, or in this case, Superman II, would be erasing at least as many mistakes as Bynum and, believe it or not, would raise the maturity level of the team’s center position.  And scoring at such a prolific pace (which Nash would mean to LA’s offense) would compensate for lesser D - although having played that many years in the league makes him crafty enough to be an adequate defender.

All that talk became moot when the Heat inked Ray Allen.  If Nash once said it would be tough putting on a Lakers’ jersey, imagine the emotions playing for Miami ought to evoke in Allen.  Maybe that’s what a perfect fit does for an aging player.  The one area, until the Finals, that the Heat had was they didn’t have a reliable three point shooter.  No need to worry now.  Talk about “spreading the floor.”

With LeBron, DWade - and even Mario Chalmers - being able to get to the basket as effectively as any trio in the NBA, Allen will just have to spot up beyond the arc.  Imagine the pressure on the opponent’s defensive coordinator when he realizes helping off the NBA’s best-ever three point shooter means stopping two only to give up three.

Coaches and players of the other 29 teams must have been sick when they heard about the move.  But NBA assistant coaches make upwards of a quarter of a mil.  The league’s coaches and players are millionaires, except for those who are multi-millionaires.  Which can only mean that even though the Heat just signed Ray Allen:

“Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.”

Dwyane Wade reached out to a couple of his friends and the three talked about hooking up and creating a dynasty.  The first year, they went to the NBA Finals and lost.  This year, well, you know what happened.  The Celtics pulled off the same move, getting Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join forces with Paul Pierce.  That move turned out OK too.

With the new CBA being what it is, teams will be using this philosophy to build an instant winner.  Which, after all, is what the fans want.  I find it amusing that when a team is getting older, one question that’s always thrown out is, “Should the team be blown up and built back up again.”  There are a variety of opinions.  I have never doubted the sincerity of those who say the team should be blown up.  Yet I wonder how many of them will stick by their team through the rebuilding process.

Often, which decision is made is based on the location of the team.  Small market teams usually have a more devoted fan base and can withstand growing pains better.  Not that losing doesn’t hurt.  Whatever the case is with those clubs, the teams found in large markets have a loyal group of fans as long as the team wins.  If there’s a prolonged (a short?) period of losing, many will say, “Good luck.  Get back to me when you start winning again.”

Contending isn’t enough for these clubs.  There’s “blow up” talk regarding the Knicks (at least they’re finally good enough to talk about blowing them up), Celtics, Spurs, Mavs and the Lakers.  It’s hard to believe that anyone who has anything to d0 with the Los Angeles Lakers would ever considering anything for their team but challenging for the championship.  I just turned 64 and can’t remember a season in which LA wasn’t a serious contender.

The latest move the Laker brass pulled off will either give the team a chance to add another title to the rafters or . . . call for the bomb squad.  For years the pundits listed “point guard” as a negative for the Lakers.  Adding Steve Nash to their current group will eliminate that problem - unless the talk turns to defense.  Now, if a deal can be made to trade Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard (don’t ask for the details or why Pau Gasol isn’t the big guy traded), the Lakers become deeply involved in title talk.

After this past season, people became believers in LeBron’s multi-championships boast.  The Oklahoma City Thunder is, for many - especially for small market teams - the prototype organization.  Young and built through the draft, the Thunder made it to the finals this year.  If not favored to win it next year, they’ll certainly be one of the favorites.  The problem is the draft’s so fickle, it might be too hard a road to take.

When the Knicks traded for Amare Stoudamire, Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony after the Celts and Heat made theirs, the boundary lines were set.  After Phoenix acquired so many draft picks for Nash, small market teams were given their game plan.  The problem for the NBA is there are so many more small market franchises that, while ratings for the Finals will be great, the league office might consider condensing the regular season again.

These arguments will be further bolstered if the Lakers get Dwight Howard.  And if that happens, everybody will have to deal with it because at that level, the best advice could be a line from Zig Ziglar:

“Don’t be distracted by criticism.  Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.”

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer play in one semifinal at Wimbledon.  Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga square off in the other.  The term “must win” has been and will be heard innumerable times between now and the end of the matches.  Not so much for Djokovic because he’s won so much it’s tough to call any match he plays a must-win.  Similar for Tsonga because if he won in the semis, the finals would be another must win and how many times can the term be used before its meaning gets diluted?  Although we seem to be testing that theory.

As far as Federer goes, however, the duo of Djokovic and Rafael Nadal seem to have ended Fed’s run at championships.  With his buddy Rafa out of the picture, winning in the semis could give him another Grand Slam opportunity in which he actually would be favored - just like old times.  So Friday will be a must win for Federer.

If ever the term must win had a special meaning, it’s for Andy Murray who’s carrying an entire nation on his shoulders.  Most golf pros, under oath, will admit winning the Masters is the ultimate for a golfer.  Tennis pros, if truthful, will say the same about Wimbledon.  To hail from Britain, as Murray does, turns up the heat.  Since the last British tennis player to win Wimbledon was Fred Perry - in 1936 - the weight can become overwhelming.  Somewhat similar to what Tsonga would feel if he were in the same position in the French Open final.

When Nadal lost (in the second round), it made this year’s Wimbledon even more dramatic for Murray.  Why?  Heard on one sports network: Murray only has to beat either Djokovic or Federer this year to win it all.  Only?  Not to mention he has to beat Tsonga to even get the chance to win it.  Fall in the semis and he’ll be accused of looking ahead.  Which is what all of England seems to be doing.

Murray has even compared himself to LeBron James.  To hear Murray, who’s mentioned he’s “probably extremely stressed right now,”  one wonders if he wouldn’t be better served to look at the situation as the former Buffalo Bills coach, Marv Levy, did.  The Bills continued to make it to the Super Bowl, only to lose each time.  When asked if that particular year’s Super Bowl wa sa mjst win, Levy replied:

“World War II was a must win.”