Jamal Crawford deserved the Sixth Man of the Year Award. If, for no other reason, than it’s hard to believe that a guy like JR Smith ought to be honored for anything.
George Raveling told me his grandmother used to say:
“There are more horses asses in the world than there are horses.”
And I’ll still feel that way if the Knicks win the next one. Or the next one.
Yesterday, both Boston and the Lakers were down 0-3. It was apparent that neither was going to win its series. Yet the Celtics won Game 4 in Boston, knowing that all they have to look forward to is the Knicks’ inevitable series-clincher in New York. Meanwhile, the Lakers lost to San Antonio in LA. Can we conclude anything from these two performances? Even though, without Rondo, the Celtics had almost no chance of advancing, they were well aware they didn’t dare let their long-time, ticket-buying fans down in an elimination game. Apparently, the Lakers’ relationship with their fans isn’t quite as intimate as that of the Celts.
On TNT’s pregame show, Kenny Smith even exclaimed that he’d heard Jack Nicholson gave his tickets to his cousin. Which, of course, was absurd. Because Jack has a relationship with the Lakers that’s stronger than a series sweep (against - he’s witnessed the flip side), even if it’s his favorite team getting blown out twice in a row. He remembers the past - and looks forward to the future. Whatever (and whomever) it brings.
For the record: how many people who were criticizing the way Mike D’Antoni coached yesterday’s game would have wanted to switch places with him? And for those foolish enough to say yes, do you really think the outcome would have been any different because of your brilliant bench manuevering? If you do, there are talk show hosts and hundreds of callers waiting to abuse you on the Subway fresh take hot lines, #1-25.
Truthfully, Boston had a shot at winning yesterday and the Lakers didn’t. For that game, they’d lost their their starting small forward and top four guards - one of whom happens to be one the top three players in the game. They were so decimated with injuries, nothing could have been done against the Spurs. Nothing.
Whether or not that is true for the entire season will remain a mystery. The saddest part of the entire year is the truth behind Charles Barkley’s statement regarding the Lakers’ pitiful performance in Game 3:
“It’s not too many times you can take the Lakers +30 - and lose.”
Heading to Monterey for the Cal State Monterey Bay men’s basketball awards banquet. Will most likely spend a couple days on the coast. This blog will return on Wednesday.
The Knicks beat the Celtics. The Celts are going to have a tough go of it. Don’t even try to say, as some have, Boston is better without Rajon Rondo. In every game he plays, he’s extremely likely to have a triple-double and unless that productivity can be replaced by a player or players in some other area(s), it’s just too much offense to give up. And he disrupts the opponent’s offense because of his quickness, anticipation and long arms.
In the Denver-Golden State game, Andre Miller showed old guys can still play - that an incredibly high basketball IQ can make up for what Father Time has taken away. As the father of a son whose game is highly dependent on basketball intelligence, it’s refreshing to see winning is not all about the “wow factor.”
Bill Simmons showed why he is on the studio show. He represents “Joe Fan” which he proved during the halftime segment of the Nets-Bulls game. With the score 60-35 in favor of Brooklyn, Simmons incredibly said “Well, it looks like a sweep?” Sweep? He sounds just like a guy sitting at the end of a bar who is pissed off because he has $20 on the Bulls plus the points. Knowledgeable sports people understand that a 25-point halftime lead in Game One only guarantees you one game in the series. Maybe. Sure the Nets might sweep, but it’s a tad premature to give up on Chicago at least winning a game just yet.
Simmons again displayed his less-than-brilliant insight when he claimed at halftime that, while Chauncey Billups was having a great game (10 points), it wasn’t wise for LA to play him because in the next round they’ll need the quickness of Eric Bledsoe. It was subsequently mentioned by one of his colleagues - and probably 90% of the viewing audience - that playing Billups this series would be fine because Bledsoe could replace him in the next series. Duh.
As extra added bonus analysis, Simmons oh-so-cleverly brought to the viewers’ attention that, “Kobe Bryant’s twitter feed is going to be a very interesting subplot,” inferring Mike D’Antoni ought to be worried about what his injured star tweets. As if trying to beat the Spurs, without Kobe and possibly, Steve Nash, isn’t enough to keep him up at night. Simmons has a huge following because there are so many fans out there like him, i.e. guys who never played and who love to criticize guys who do. Or idolize them. His sport has always dealt with a pen and paper. He’s taken his game to the next level by mastering the computer and social media.
For ESPN’s halftime studio show, he serves as comic relief. He has had run-ins with the station (according to his Wikipedia page) over censorship matters, among other issues. Maybe the best advice he could receive is:
“Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does.”
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!”
Robert Parish was selected as one of the 50 greatest players of all-time. Does that make him qualified to be an NBA coach? To my knowledge there’s never been a definitive study done comparing skill as a player to that of a coach. However, history tells us that while being a great player doesn’t preclude someone from having a similar career on the bench, it’s a rare superstar who becomes a successful coach.
Parish is upset at his former teammates, claiming they didn’t reach out to him the past few years. Independent of former players shunning him or teams turning their backs on him (mainly his club, the Celtics), his story boils down to the fact that a) he’s broke, b) he’s not broke but doesn’t have as much money as he needs or c) he simply just doesn’t have as much money as he wants.
The story of his plight always returns to his money woes. He’s auctioned off his championship rings, his Hall-of-Fame ring and his 50 greatest player ring, items most people would never part with. Although he was employed by the team he played for, Parish claimed the $80,000 a year job the Celtics were paying him wasn’t enough. He said he was in the market for an NBA assistant or head coaching position - one that paid six or seven figures. Right there, he lost sympathy from most of us common folk. Personally, prior to my retirement, I had seven figure jobs from as far back as 1977. Of course, two of those figures were after the decimal point.
The reason Parish says he ought to be hired is because he was such a highly skilled player himself; that he could really help a team. Parish is experiencing the same cold shoulder as a couple other former superstars - Kareem Adbul Jabbar and Rick Barry. Each of these guys shared a characteristic other than being one of, if not the best, at their position. All were standoffish. And that’s being extremely kind.
What Robert Parish, as well as others like him, needs to learn is summed up in a line I heard many years ago from Hubie Brown:
“You’ve got to learn how to say hello before it’s time to say goodbye.”
Sure, the NBA has a great rivalry in the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers but that only occurs when they meet in the NBA Finals. OK, a regular season game between the two is exciting but everyone knows it’s nothing more than a preliminary to the real games, i.e. if they play in the finals.
If other good teams play each other, there is a modicum of interest, e.g. Miami vs. any of the top clubs but that’s due more to the players than the teams. Well, the NBA has a true rivalry now and it doesn’t matter who’s playing for which squad. The New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets. For those people who aren’t from that area, New York City is composed of five boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Ask residents of each and they’ll tell you they’re from New York (as in New York City). All except the guys from Brooklyn. They’ll say they’re from Brooklyn. Kenny “The Jet” Smith (a native of Queens) acknowledged as much last night on TNT’s studio show.
Another former Tarheel point guard, Raymond Felton said he felt the Knicks-Nets rivalry could become like UNC-Duke. He said the Nets talk “a lot of blather.” This type of comment is not heard from anybody about any other team until the playoffs - and when it’s said then, it just seems to be a rallying cry to somehow squeeze out a victory. The Nets and the Knicks make it personal because living in NYC (Brooklyn or elsewhere) hardens guys. Or crushes them.
There are other states in which there are multiple teams but while Houston, San Antonio and Dallas all have winning franchises, Texas will always be a football state. Florida has a clubs in Orlando and Miami, both with very good teams for years (save last year’s debacle in DisneyWorld), but Florida is a place you visit. Although people are now from Florida, their parents (definitely grandparents) are from somewhere else. That’s a similar situation to California, the only state that is home for four pro basketball franchises (only because Kevin Johnson governs with the same never-say-die attitude that he played with). The Kings, and for that matter, the Warriors, haven’t been good enough to warrant a rivalry with anyone. Those guys are struggling for survival, hoping to snatch a playoff spot (and exit after round one).
LA has two very good teams but the overall atmosphere is too laid back. Besides, the Lakers have been king for so long and Clips have been bad for so long that the Clippers resurgence is just now being recognized. As a matter of fact, the Lakers had better recognize it real quick or they’ll lose the tie breaker (which may or may not be significant) since they already dropped one to the Clips earlier in the season. Right there is the difference between NY and LA. In New York, if one team beat the other, fans of both would know it.
In New York, things are different. People from New York are . . . from New York. Their parents and grandparents too. Maybe their great- or great-great-grandparents weren’t from New York. If not, they were from Europe. NY fans show before the tipoff, not LA style, are loud knowledgeable, intense, sarcastic and obnoxious. Basketball is not just a game - it’s something that’s taken much more seriously. It’s one of the items discussed at every bar, restaurant, barber shop (not hair styling salon) and dinner tables. Depending on the time of year, maybe the only one.
What about college ball, you ask? That is supposed to be a religion in New York. It is. So is high school. The basketball is what’s worshiped.
Someone very close to me said there would only be one other NBA rivalry fans would love to see as much as the Knicks and the Nets:
“It would be the Washington Wizards . . . but only if the Harlem Globetrotters had a franchise.”
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.”
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.”
During every NBA finals there are usually a couple camps interested in the outcome: one pulling for the Eastern Conference champion; the other rooting for the winners from the West. This year produced another group: those who watched the Miami Heat, hoping they lost. The reasons are numerous.
First and foremost, was The Decision. LeBron James is simply a product of this generation. A huge ego, an overblown self-importance, a necessary feeling to publicize and promote himself. Of course it was a long time ago but I don’t recall anything other than press release when Wilt Chamberlain joined Jerry West and Elgin Baylor with the Lakers. Maybe it’s because of when I was born but in a 3-on-3 game, my money would be on the Lakers, each team being in their prime. More recently, Karl Malone and Gary Payton took their respective talents to Hollywood to combine forces with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. No pyrotechnic celebration. And when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen chose the Celtics as their next home, there were no guarantees of championships by those three guys - just an intense work ethic - which got them a championship (and nearly another).
Another reason stoking the fires of, in today’s vernacular, the “haters,” was the constant “everybody is against” sentiment repeated by the Heat throughout the year. Unless my memory is even worse than I think, I don’t recall any other of the power groups above constantly feeling so unloved. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, the information superhighway has magnified any statement anybody ever utters. Then again, the Internet isn’t something Miami’s Big Three isn’t aware of.
The Heat’s super three did themselves no favors with some of their actions, the latest one being Wade and James joking about Dirk Nowitzki’s illness in Game 4. Nowitzki called it “childish” and “ignorant,” showing Dirk not only has talent but can evaluate tomfoolery too.
In addition to childish, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon labeled the Heat as frontrunners. After watching them in the playoffs, he certainly has a point. The three guys from Miami would be better served living by the code:
“Don’t tell me how good you are, let me find out.”
Boston is down 0-2 to Miami, the Lakers are in a similar situation to the Mavs - except their two L’s have been at home, the Bulls and the Hawks are deadlocked at one win a piece, as are Oklahoma City and Memphis.
Anybody care to guess (wager) who’s going to win the NBA championship? The regular season was a rocky ride for the men from South Beach but it sure looks like they control their destiny. They’ve been in command against the Celtics, winning fairly comfortably in each of the first two games. Granted, both were on their home court but, looking at each of the other series, it’s hard to believe anybody can beat them.
Which of the other series could produce the champ? Dallas is the team that is more in the driver’s seat than any of the others. It looks bleak for LA, mainly because no one can come close to stopping Dirk Nowitzki. For the Lakers to win the series, they have to beat the Mavs twice on their home court. It can be done. Especially by the Lakers. It’s just that they had 16 point lead in the first game and lost. The consensus was that Los Angeles would come out, jump on the Mavericks and extend the lead. The problem was that they couldn’t get a lead.
So can the Mavs win it all? Any of the others? The problem is what many in the know have said: the Heat might be the all-time front runners - and they have a head of steam. Should they win a game in Beantown, look out. It’s hard to fathom anybody being able to guard the Heat’s tandem of James and Wade and when they’re winning, the other guys have less pressure on them, not more. With all the attention D-Wade and LeBron will command, Chris Bosh will be a force. Role players become stars in that situation. Think Steve Kerr when MJ told him he was going to drive, kick it to him and that he’d better knock it down. A good shooter, taking an open shot? It’s what they live for.
Memphis has their own Nowitzki in Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol will give whichever center they put on him fits. Just can’t see them being able to handle Miami’s perimeter.
Many have been shouting the praises of OKC but their time might just be a year or two away. Guarding the Big Three will pose a serious challenge.
The Bulls might have the MVP and play excellent defense but don’t have enough else to overcome all the talent on the Heat.
The Hawks? Come on.
What’s wrong with the Heat winning it all? Sports is a copy cat industry. Everybody will be trying to prepare the same game plan. Look for Dwight Howard going to the Lakers; Chris Paul to New York; Chicago locking up a superstar free agent, even a club paying big money to grab DeAndre Jordan just to block shots and offensive rebound. Which makes the NBA even more of a have-have not ordeal. To the tune of about five or six great teams and a bunch of weak sisters. Is it time to say:
“The sky is falling!”
It might just be.