Jack’s Blog

If anyone ever wanted to see a weird playoff basketball game, the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets were more than happy to oblige.  During the regular season, there are games in which one team jumps out on another and the team that’s behind comes back to make a game of it, sometimes even win it.  But usually, there’s an underlying reason.  The team that’s ahead might be playing the third game of a back-to-back-to-back and exhaustion finally sets in.  Maybe there’s some other scenario.  Whatever.  Sometimes it happens.

But in the playoffs?  And with a 5′8″ guy who takes over as if the game was invented for short people.  Nate Robinson got into one of those zones where no one could stop him - and, which is not always the case - his teammates recognized it.  Robinson scored 24 points - from the fourth quarter on!  Of course there were three OTs to give him a few more scoring opportunities but he was clearly the X factor.

In terms of physical attributes, while his best one surely isn’t his height, believe it or not, it’s not his quickness either.  Sure, the little fella is definitely quick enough but his true strength is . . . his strength.  Plus he’s low enough to the floor that he’s impossible knock off balance.  Yet none of Nate would have been necessary had C.J. Watson not missed a wide open transition layup/dunk with 3:16 left in the game and his team up 14 points.  Here’s a coaching point for C.J.  Either jump higher or just lay the damn ball in the basket.  You can never be ahead by too much.

Another coaching point for the Nets is, especially in one possession games, it’s mandatory to block out on missed free throws because Nazr Mohammed’s rebound of Carlos Boozer’s free throw pretty much iced the game that should have been yours.

To say that Bulls’ coach Tom Thibodeau is a basketball purist is like saying Euclid understood geometry.  So, Nate Robinson (whose line happened to be 34 points, 4 assists, 2 steals and a huge forced five-second call on a Nets’ side OB play), if Dr. Tibbs gets pissed when you take bad shots - which you are prone to do (and, for the record, did last night on several occasions) - how do you handle him in the huddle?  Nate’s answer last night was classic:

“Just keep shootin’ and hope to make ‘em.”

P.S. The OKC-Houston game could have easily been the subject of this blog.  39-19 OKC at the end of the first quarter.  Thunder up 26 with 8:00 minutes to go in the half, Rockets go ahead with 3:45 to go in the game and are up two under a minute.  Kevin Durant took a three-pointer that hit the back rim, then hit the side of the rim, then hit the back rim again, then fell through.

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?”

The last two games of both conference final were mirror images with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls each snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  In games 4 & 5 the eventual losers held commanding leads, only to have their offenses desert them and see their opponents score on nearly every possession.

Although the heartbreaking losses were due to team breakdowns, as well as defeats to superior squads (the youth of the Thunder & the Bulls were magnified in late game situations), there are two individuals who have a difficult time escaping a great deal of blame.

This space has criticized OKC’s Russell Westbrook for lack of a point guard mentality (which is tough because he was thrown into the position without the requisite seasoning).  The culprit on the Bulls’ side has to be the $80 million man, Carlos Boozer.  A defensive liability, he played far below par on the offensive end.

Players, coaches, executives (especially those who made the deal) and fans all witnessed live what TNT’s Steve Kerr said during last night’s telecast:

“Everything’s exposed in the playoffs.”