Jack’s Blog

Both Nike and Vitamin Water gambled on the favorites and, in a case where they needed to be two-for-two, they came up one short.  After seeing the shaky way the Lakers played in this, and other - series, their winning was no guarantee.  As far as the Cavs pulling it off, things looked bleak after the first game of that series.

Any team with a Kobe Bryant or a LeBron James has a chance, as long as they can keep the game to within 10 points with 4 minutes to go.  We’ve seen each extraordinary player take over and make amazing play after amazing play, only to turn a sure loss into a victory.

Can anyone blame Vitamin Water and Nike for gambling on the number 1 seeds making it all the way to the Finals?  And while the sponsors lost their perfect national stage, the ad writers can tweak the next set of commecials to poke fun at their “rush to judgment” or their overlooking the power of a highly competent team (in this case, the Orlando Magic).  Be on the lookout for some either cute or wise ass spots about the two in between live action.

The overall effect isn’t what the folks at Nike and Vitamin Water had in mind when they decided on this venture, but they should be applauded, for even though they didn’t quite hit the home run they hoped, in the end, I think we’ll see they still came up big winners.  The reason for that is the following quote:

“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who want to get things done, and those who don’t want to make mistakes.” 

As many others who watched the Cavs-Magic game in complete awe of LeBron James and his exploits, especially in the fourth quarter, I felt the need to add my name to the ever-growing witness list.  I went directly to my home computer and, but the warnings the local television station had been giving us for the past half hour or so, actually had materialized.  First, we lost all power, then it came back on for maybe, three or four seconds, until, finally, everyone was left in complete darkness.  Witnessing LeBron was through - his display of immortal basketball skills to be shut down and locked up - until Mother Nature decided it was showtime again. 

Now, should anyone, Stan Van Gundy or Phil Jackson, for instance, want the inside scoop on what it takes to shut down this, as Pepperdine basketball coach Tom Asberry refers to such creatures, “pituitary freak,” I have the definitive answer: a major storm of Biblical proportions - like the one which caused a power outage in Central California Thursday night.

Except LBJ is not just any pituitary freak.  What he did in the fourth quarter of Game 5 (accounting for - either with a field goal, free throw or assist - 32 consecutive points) - was something I’d have said wouldn’t be possible if someone had asked, but because it would be such an absurd question, no one ever asked it. Thirty-two (32) consecutive freaking points!  This guy is to basketball what Eddie Feigner and his three guys (better known as “The King and His Court”) were to softball.

If we want to level the playing field, LeBron’s team should only be able to play with four players (total) when he’s in the game.  The fact that Orlando has held the upper hand in this series shows that basketball truly is a team game.  Even former players like the CNN analysts - Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller - great players all, with egos to match (usually the great ones have a big ego - the key is being able to keep it in check) marveled at the “perfect fourth” LeBron had.  Their theory is that, OK, he’s a great one, but there’s no way he can do that for three straight games.  Just the fact that those three have to talk like that is shocking to me - and shows how much better they think King James is than the rest of the NBA.

Should they get to the Finals - although I would imagine the line for that would be rather prohibitive - basketball fans would be treated to the absolute zenith in match ups: King James vs. The Black Mamba.  Talk about TV ratings.  I’ll go on record now and say that those games, should they materialize, would the most over-hyped, yet most watched, NBA Finals of all-time, maybe the highest rated sporting event show ever.  And worth it! A match up of the two most dominant scorers as well as prolific passers of our time - and two ballers who love to take the challenge and get after it on the defensive end, are you kidding me?  Don’t plan on calling me or asking if I’d like to get together that day.  I’m busy.  

A weaving instructor, Lucy Yepa Lowdon summed up the feeling that describes these larger-than-life figures have:

“(People) who work with their hands are laborers.  (People) who work with their hands and their brains are craftsman.  (People) who work with their hands and their brains and their hearts  are artists - and I am that artist.” 

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The Orlando Magic are poised to become the champions of the NBA East (if and) when they win one more game against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.  As incredible as it sounds, winning the series against the Magic wouldn’t be the most sought after accomplishment for the Cavs’ organization or the city of Cleveland.

Make no mistake about it, winning the East - and then the NBA Championship - would do wonders for the place where the fans take some pride in living through adversity, independent of how long a period of time that misery exists).  I’ve been to Cleveland many times, but have never lived there.  I have lived on “either side”: to the (south)east Pittsburgh (same mentality as Cleveland, but no one from either metropolis will be admitting to any similarity in life style or anything else in its “sister city.”  The good factors are infinitely better in the home town of whichever speaker kicks off the debate, while the negative reasons to grow up or raise a family are so much worse at “the other place.”

To the west, we called Toledo home from May, 1987-August ,1991.  I’m not sure where the term “inferiority complex” was first uttered, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the person who first said it was either from Toledo - or was talking about it.  In the four years we lived there it was fantastic place to start a life together (I’d takent the job as associate head coach at the University of Toledo in April and then, promptly returned to Knoxville to get married in early May).  It was also a wonderful place to raise a family which we felt was of great importance as our first son, Andy, was born in early 1989. 

As far as the relationship went between Toledo and Cleveland, it had always been a contentious one because Clevelanders feel they occupied a much more highly exalted position on the food chain their poor friends from Toledo.  Meanwhile, the Toledoans, felt that they would never have to take a back seat to anybody in state.  If, however, that case ever did rear its ugly head, then, the good folks of the Glass Capitol would allow Columbus or Cincinnati to assume the position just above them.  But Cleveland?  What does Cleveland have that no other city can boast? 

For years, there was no real answer to that question, but now . . . there is.  And it’s a person whom every city in this country would love to have on their census role - a larger-than-life personality, both literally and figuratively.  Of course, you may have guessed that the man to whom I’m referring, is LeBron James.  Talk about a rebirth of a city - and its surrounding area, e.g. Akron, where LBJ is proud to say he’s from.  It’s where he went to elementary, junior high and high school. 

Cleveland itself feels pretty and reborn.  So what’s the doom and gloom everyone’s predicting?  For the answer to that, simply check out this year’s NBA Playoffs.  The Cavs were a dominating team throughout the season and during the first two rounds of the playoffs (each series completed by a four game sweep). 

However, a dark cloud currently hangs over the Cavs.  They find themselves down 1-3 and one game away from elimination.  The biggest problem the average Cleveland native finds, is not that LeBron is depressed because he’s struggling to find his game, but because he’s playing probably as well as he ever has - or maybe to a level that hasn’t been uncovered in years - and yet, his team is staring an elimination game.  Should they survive it, there’s another one right behind it.  And another elimination game after that. 

An unbelieveable stat to shock you into free fall if you’re a Cavs’ booster: in the three games that your Cavs have dropped, James is averaging nearly 45 points!  Throw in the pair of 8’s - standing for assists and rebounds over the same stretch.  The Cavs’ fan’s greatest fear is even LeBron has to be thinking, “What do I have to do in order to WIN?”

There’s no doubt he feels he’s good enough to play on a championship club - especially when he looks around and sees players far inferior to him with his championship rings on their fingers.  He has to be wondering if Cleveland is that team, or if not now, will they ever be?  He does have other choices. His free agency will be on the docket after next year and we will see the GNP’s of mid-sized countries being offered to him.  But I really don’t think the money is what drives LeBron now.  He could easily live on his endorsement income and not even cash his checks.  The money’s big, but there’s something bigger. 

Like the excerpt from the book, High Five! claimed:

“You can’t high five all by yourself.  It takes a team of at least two, and both have to do it to make it happen.  And when it does, it’s a magic moment.  It’s the same as when a team clicks; it’s magic. (Pun certainly not intended).

And he’s continuing to do it.  To think, everyone thought brother Jeff was the family’s coaching whiz.  (Actually, the true coach guru in the Van Gundy family is father, Bill - and I’m sure either of the two boys would attest to that).

Let’s break down this Stan Van Gundy character.  I’ve known his brother, Jeff, a good deal longer.  While we happen to be talking about the Van Gundy’s (in reality, I was the only one who was talking about them, but let’s say it was a team effort), it’s nearly indisputable, and I readily admit to being completely biased, that Jeff is setting the standards for color commentators.  In my mind, Jeff and Hubie Brown (another prejudicial vote on my part because I have a connection with Hubie, albeit it a stretch) are on islands by themselves when it comes to analyzing a game as it happens, all the while entertaining the viewing and listening audience while doing it.  If the island took a census, though, it also might claim Doug Collins as a resident.

Back to Stan, who by no means is the poster boy of what we thought an NBA coach would look like.  It’s relatively apparent he never played in the League and I’m not sure it would register as much of a shock if we were to find out he never played in any league (of course, he played for his father @ SUNY-Brockport).  With all the movements throughout the years, we’ve heard claims from groups such as the NAACP that a black worker has to do the work twice as well as that of a non-minority in order to merely maintain his employment.  Similarly for women, so say organizations such as NOW.

That might be true, probably is.  And in some cases, “twice as good” might be a rather conservative estimate.  Yet, if someone believes those opinions to be valid (and, while no one may really know the exact numbers, I would agree in the concept), trying to crack into such as a glory type club as the NBA, without having gone through the actual wars, . . . that’s going to be some hill to climb.  The numbers are much more skewed for coaches in the NBA, who did not play in the League.

So, his basketball career wasn’t the deciding factor in having him wind up in the professional ranks.  Based on what I’ve encountered, heard (from both coaches and players) and observed, success in the NBA comes from one thing more than any other factor.  And that trait is the ability to gain the players’ trust - and you can’t be phony about it.  That might get you through a year or two, but then somethin’s gotta give.

At one of the annual self-improvement clinics we used to hold for “our mastermind group,” (see my blog on 8/7/09) I remember hearing Stan’s brother, Jeff (when he was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks), telling us, “The best way to gain the players’ trust is to have them see you sweat right along with them.”  That was why when Jeff had a individual improvement session with one of their players, say, Patrick Ewing, he never got some kid to shag the balls for them.  He told me Patrick never said anything to him about it, but Jeff, himself, felt more comfortable by doing it that way, and, wouldn’t you know it, it wound up really gaining the trust of others because that was how he treated every player on the squad.  If specific drills or such were designed for “bigs”, then he might make adjustments, not because of “prima donna-ing,” but because that person needed a modification of some sort.  And it’s the same way for Stan.

Something else you’ll notice about SVG.  Watch how often the Magic score when they have possession of the ball, out of bounds, after a time out - independent of where the ball is inbounded.  Check on the subtle defensive changes, e.g. they were doubling the post after his first dribble, but changed to an immediate trap just to throw off the ballhandler’s sense of rhythm. 

Stan Van Gundy belongs in the NBA - and not just the league.  One more win and he’ll be where he deserves.  I’ve heard that Stan Van Gundy has a lookalike - some porno star.  Not being a charter member in the porn industry, I wouldn’t know.  It’s just that when people are expecting to see someone who looks the part of an NBA coach, but is far from it, he tends to be treated much more critically. 

Although not nearly in the same category, I imagine Stan Van Gundy agrees whole-heartedly with Martin Luther King’s statement:

“It may be true that the law cannot make man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

Prior to yesterday’s Nuggets-Lakers game, I turned on ESPN and a show I’d never seen was on.  I can’t remember its title, but there was a moderator (I can’t remember his name) who had a female journalist to his right (I can’t remember her name, either, but she was extremely articulate and well-versed on the sports topics they were discussing) and to his left was Skip Bayless, who, if memory serves me correctly (and after not remembering the name of the show or the others on it, how can I even think that would be possible), writes, or at one time, wrote for the Dallas Morning News - or some other paper in Dallas (can’t remember). 

I thought I enjoyed Skip when he was on Around the Horn but that was because he was always on it with Jay Mariotti - and most people would enjoy a barracuda in their bath water more than Jay Mariotti).  It was rumored that the citizens of Chicago had a going away party when Jay stopped pontificating writing in their paper - but waited until he left before they threw it).  Then, when I was telling a friend what I was going to blog, he said to me that Skip wasn’t on Around the Horn.  That must mean I confused him with someone else because I am sure I didn’t/don’t/never will like Jay Mariotti.  I’m not a fan of anyone whose ego is larger than his or her skills.

It seems, after his performance yesterday, Skip has become a recent graduate (summa cum laude) from the Mariotti School of I’m Right & Whomever I Deem Wrong Must Be, Even If I’ve Never Met Them.  In everything Skip said during this nameless show, he was not only 100% correct, but he felt the need to thoroughly destroy the character of the poor soul who got in his crosshairs.  He was the clear winner in every debate.  Of course, it might have been more fair had the person in question actually been on the show or even allowed to express his reason for doing whatever Skip was lambasting him for, but why is that necessary when Skip is completely unbiased and totally fair with whomever he had on the spit. 

First, let me make clear that I’m not talking about the segment on Terrell Owens because, as soon as that came up, I had had enough Bayless Wisdom for the rest of my life - even if I outlive Methuselah - and, like most people, I’d outlived my need for anything “Terrell Owens” about three relationship-killing teams ago.

The segment of the show that caught my eye (and rancor) was about the final second of the Magic-Cavs game, the one in which LeBron hit a walk-off three.  Bayless’ description of Stan Van Gundy’s coaching IQ started with Stan’s switching of Hedo Turkoglu in place of Mickael Pietrus to guard LeBron (Pietrus had given James fits all game).  Since media members have been criticized for second guessing - as in, who the hell can’t figure out what should have been done? - Skip claimed that he jumped up at yelled at the TV when this took place.  That certainly is good enough for me to believe it happened, as I’m certain he’d believe others who came up with such a lame story to influence people to believe them.

He criticized Turkoglu for slow feet (but failed to mention that he successfully shut down the first option, which was a lob and only had space created for the game-winning J because James pushed off to make it).  Cavs coach Mike Brown, LeBron and inbound passer, Mo Williams all said the first option was the lob, but Skip the last time Skipp doled out credit was, I believe when Jesus was a sophomore in high school.  Criticism is the new (or not-so-new) mantra for sportswriters attempting to gain fame and fortune.  Hey, it’s what people want to read and hear about (”Gee, my life’s not that bad after all.  Sure, I’ve been out of work for a few years, but at least I can take enjoyment from media members like Skip Bayless cutting down other people).

Bayless also ridiculed Hedo for jumping sideways (”like he was afraid of fouling him!” ranted Skipper).  Let’s see, the Magic were up two with one second to go, what in the world would make Turkoglu fear fouling someone shooting a three?  Bayless also blasted the referees for officiating that made him “sick to my stomach.  The refs kept Cleveland in the game.”  Maybe I shouldn’t quote him, but I’m fairly certain of the gist of his remarks.

After hearing Skip, the All-Knowing, it sounded like the perfect scenario would have been to allow Stan Van Gundy to coach the first 47 minutes and 59 seconds, sound the horn and make the substitution of Bayless for Van Gundy, the thinking being Stan did OK for the “beginning” of the game, but would screw up something that Skip knew so much more about - late game situations.  Naturally, Skip also jumped on the “why wasn’t Rashard Lewis draped all over Mo Williams, a la Lamar Odom in the two games won by the Lakers on Trevor Ariza’s steals?”  This is how most people, probably including Stan VG feel if you watched as he agonized at the post-game press conference intimating as much.

Or, MAYBE, could Skip’s foul mood have come from the fact he calls LeBron, Prince James, because he’s made the case that LeBron can’t make the clutch shot and this made Skip Bayless look bad - and anyone who’s ever dealt with that type of new breed journalist, i.e. the one who, while he may have never strapped one on before in his life, has the uncontrolled ego of a spoiled child who never got to be the somebody others (much less deserving) got to be.

So, if Skip were to admit it (a “journalist’s mistake” is called an oxymoron in that line of work), his main reason he was so upset was because Stan Van Gundy made him look wrong.  If Stan had only had Regis’ “phone a friend,” Skip wouldn’t have to hear about it from LeBron lovers that Skip change his opinion (something you’ll see the majority media member do - on the second Tuesday of each week).

When I checked to see if Skip Bayless was married, I came across nothing definitive.  I did see that his given name was John, but he had changed it to Skip.  Could it be he also refers to himself with another moniker?  The one that scares the hell out of potential matches:

“While every girl is looking to marry Mr. Right, she doesn’t want to find out, after the ceremony, that his first name is ALWAYS.” 

Saturday’s blog was about Reggie Miller claiming the defense played by Hedo Turgolu on LeBron James’ game-winning shot with one second left (Game 2) wasn’t good.  Even after Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and a seemingly countless number of replays - as well as post-game interviews with players and coaches from both sides - should have made it apparent to Reggie that the defense was as good as it could have been - it was more of a matter that the offense by LBJ was just “indefensible” - ol’ Reg stubbornly insisted he was right.

Two days later, the subject came up again (prior to Game 3) and, hoping against hope that he would have realized the error of his idiocy ways - to show that he was able to see what everyone else in the world who saw the play understood - once more, Miller clung to his lone opinion.  As video of his sister, Cheryl, was shown on TNT, he blurted out that everyone could forget the notion that Candace Parker or Lisa Leslie or anyone else was the best female college basketball player of all-time - that Cheryl Miller, with her back-back- national championships was far and away the best female player ever.

This statement is completely understandable.  There are zillions of people who might disagree with him on that opinion - and maybe just as many who might be behind Reggie.  Blood is thicker than stats or anything else known to humankind.  But why someone would continue to . . .  Then, in the discussion in the makeshift studio at the Amway Center started by Barkley, regarding the incompetency, the reversed (upon further review) to inconsistency of the referees, the more-and-more outspoken Miller made the statement that there should be much more use of the replay video by the officials “to get it right.”

First to make an attempt at rebutttal was EJ, who stated the obvious: in such a fast-paced game as basketball is, anything similar to what Reggie proposed would interrupt the rhythm of the game.  This obvious fact alone should have ended the discussion.  The Jet chimed in with his thought - that it should be used much more frequently for foul calls and whether a Flagrant One or a Flagrant Two (meaning automatic ejection) to make sure those were called properly because how much of an impact a mistaken would have on, not only a game, but on a series as well.   

Naturally (at this point, we should expect nothing less), Reggie disagreed, claiming he wanted to make sure the officials got it right!  Smith countered with a few plays from the past they’d been discussing over the last few broadcasts.  One was when Reggie gave Michael Jordan a two-hand shove to ensure himself of getting open, just prior to hitting the game-winning jumper and, just to show it was nothing personal in his feeling on the subject, the fact that Kenny himself (might have) traveled before a game-winner he hit.

Still, Reggie persisted that his opinion was not to be swayed (maybe they should jave told Cheryl to tell him his ideas were way off), maintaining, he just wanted to make sure the refs got it right.

I came up with something that just might shoot holes in Sir Reggie’s theory - on this subject, not the one where his is to always be the last word.  Had the referees gone to the video on LeBron’s last second shot, they would have seen that he pushed Turgolu after the Magic “point forward” had shut down the first option (that of throwing LeBron a lob to tie it).  If the officials had been allowed to go to the video, they would have called a foul on James and wiped off the basket.

While that wouldn’t have shown Reggie to be wrong in either case, i.e. he’d still think Turgolu’s D was less than what was satisfactory and that this would disrupt the flow of the game (there was only one second left anyway), it would simply make a mockery of it, and, in all probability, spark a riot at the Quicken Loans Arena.

AND, take into account what Reggie said “The Michael Jordan of Turkey” (as Chuck and Kenny refer to Hedo) should have done, in order not to let LeBron create enough space to be able to get the look he did, so he could knock down the game-winner: “He should have grabbed his arm,” was the advice that Miller would give Turgolu in that situation.

Consider the ramifications of that strategy, coupled with his latest bit of (il)logical thought. Assuming LeBron would have shaken free from Turgolu’s grasp (a pretty safe bet since James looks as though he could shake free from the grips of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster - even if they each were in possession of one apiece of those late night power tools that has such a grip you can hold a house on the California Coast and keep it from falling into the Pacific during a perfect storm - assuming one of those tools could find a place to hold onto the house … and “The Perfect Storm” happening to be traveling through that part of California shortly after the grip was applied).  Whew! 

Then, the referees would have to make the fans and teams wait while they watched Hedo Turgolu grabbing LeBron James’ arm (a foul), James pushing the Magic defender away (a foul) and still check on whether the shot left the shooter’s hand before the clock went off and whether the shooter was completely behind the three point line.  Sounds like a good time to take a potty break.

I fear Reggie has become too fanatical regarding his opinions and what we know what Winston Churchill said about fanatics:

“A fanatic is someone who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”

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If each game in the NBA Playoffs, from here on out, is to be decided in a similar fashion to the way the first few have been, discipline could be the determining factor in who ultimately wins each of the current series as well as who is crowned the new champion.

First of all, for the games to be so close for so long - and the winning team about one possession better than the loser, it stands to reason that the clubs are pretty evenly matched.  Therefore, as difficult as it is to do, each player (and coach) must discipline himself to play (or coach) as hard as he possibly can on each possession.

This is waaaaay easier said than done because often, the pace of the game moves at such a rapid rate, and NBA basketball is such that a player can get so easily embarrassed, that human nature is bound to kick in.  What about when an official blows a critical (and obvious) call which may go against a certain individual?  He can’t let it bother him, but how many times have we seen a player be on the receiving end of a bad call and, rather than dealing with the official later (memo to the offended player: the ref ain’t changin’ it), he stands and jaws with his whistle-toting nemesis who called (or failed to call) it, instead of sprinting back to keep his team from being at a numerical disadvantage?

What about the case of an injury, which hurts like hell at the time, but there was no stoppage of play?  Will he play the sympathy card because he feels he was fouled, hit with a cheap shot (and maybe he was), or perhaps he was just having a bad game and could use some TLC from the fans or can the guy suck it up until the next dead ball?

Whether it’s a call going against him personally, or he felt humiliated (maybe posterized or stripped out front which wound up as a dunk at the other end, lathering the crowd into a deafening frenzy) or, on the flip side, a player who’s been having a bad series thusfar and finally hits a big shot, but gets T’d up because of taunting, any one of these acts can play a major factor in who wins and who loses.  For an example of the last part of the previous sentence, we flash back the end of the third quarter of Game 3 in Denver and the “up to the second half of yesterday’s game, invisible” J.R. Smith, who makes a momentum swinging three pointer at the buzzer, but, because he can’t discipline himself, feels the need to talk trash, so he immediately gives a point back when he gets T’d up.  Undoubtedly, there are fans out there who feel players of the 21st century need to be treated differently.  I’m sure this straight-out-of-high-school, immature, undisciplined, selfish “teammate” felt what he did was a momentary lapse, due to the enormous pressure he was under and how desperate he was in wanting to provide a positive spark to his team.  Exactly the point - the made three at the third quarter buzzer was just what the doctor ordered.  Rejoice, but don’t let your out-of-control emotions cause a one point gift for the opponent (and we’ve seen how one point here and one point there can add up).

The reader may have noticed that coaching was added to this list and it’s for the following reasons.  One, when it comes to emotions, a coach can’t lose it, either.  There’s too much to be done during the game to waste any amount of time on a coach (or his assistants) being overly demonstrative.  Technical fouls aren’t as strategically used as many announcers will lead an audience to believe.  Mainly what they do is add points to the wrong side of the scoreboard.

The other part of coaching to the max was seen after the Game 2 press conference in Cleveland, when Magic coach Stan VanGundy made the statement about how he’d like to have that last second back - how he did a poor job of putting his five guys in the best spots to maximize the Magic’s chances of winning.  By the way, I’d be willing to make a small wager that (having seen the two Laker wins in which 6′10″ Lamar Odom crowded the Nuggets’ inbound passers - Anthony Carter in Game 1 and Kenyon Martin in Game 3), that Stan would say the adjustment he didn’t make and regretted was not putting 6′10′ Rashard Lewis right on top of Mo Williams as he inbounded the ball, so the inbounds pass would have been more difficult, making LeBron’s attempt even harder.  The way LeBron James is playing now, there’s a good possibility he would have made it anyway.  However, I’m not sure about anyone else, but I saw an extremely meticulous coach beating himself up over failing to make the move that might have prevented a game winner by James.

Let’s not get carried away.  If discipline was the most important factor in winning basketball games, as George Raveling used to say, “Every year, the intercollegiate national championship game would be Army vs. Navy.”  So, make no mistake about it, skill is somewhere in the 95+% range as to the deciding factor of who wins, but for whatever percentage is left, discipline makes up the overwhelming majority of it.

And one of the best definitions of discipline is:

“If you will do what you have to do when you have to do it, you’ll usually be able to do what you want to do when you want to do it.”

It may be overstating the impact LeBron James’ shot to win Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals had, but I’m fairly sure there can’t be too many living people who haven’t at least heard about his near impossible accomplishment.  “Honey, can you go over and see what’s happening at the neighbor’s place - three houses down.  I heard some screaming that must have come from some sort of terrifying experience.  The noise level was so high I had to turn up the volume on our television because I couldn’t hear what the hosts of the Nature Channel were discussing.”

After Hedo Turgolu knocked down a more-than-just-difficult 14′ jumper with only one second left, it looked like the underdog Orlando Magic were going to put the Cleveland Cavaliers down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series (with both losses at home, something no team has ever come back from) and, in the process, deny the nation the Kobe-LeBron matchup everyone is clamoring for.  In a related story, production of the black armbands that the commissioner and all employees of the NBA office were going to wear (it’s been hinted that they wouldn’t have any objections if the NBA Championship came down to the Cavs vs. the Lakers) has been put on at least a temporary hold.

The reason for the majority of basketball fans’ delight, even though we all know the NBA office is completely unbiased - I mean does anyone really think David Stern has given any thought, much less made mention to anyone, that a Kobe-LeBron finals would outdraw one between Denver and Orlando?  Whoa, think of the enormous drop off of freak viewers the league would lose if that segment of society were denied seeing its poster child Chris Anderson - live and in living (hallucinatory) color. 

These two conference finals have been as thrilling a set of four games (although Thursday night’s game between LA and Denver, while close, was not a particularly well-played game) as I can ever remember.  Usually, there’s a game that one team leads from start to finish, with no intrigue - leaving viewers and the media with the comment, “Sure hope the next game will be more like the first one than this blowout.”

Possibly because I have done color commentary on both radio and television, I tend to pay more attention to, and thoroughly enjoy, the announcers and the guys in the studio than the average fan does.  An example is when someone who happened to grab the remote control decides to check on what’s happening on House during halftime and I go off.  Give me EJ, Jet and Chuck anytime over Dr. Gregory House, although I understand all to well how people can become addicted to vicodin (even if it doesn’t do much for me).

Since I tend to analyze every game I watch (some old habits die hard), pre- and post-game comments and, naturally, what half-time adjustments might be forthcoming, are easily as entertaining to me as the game itself is.  One thing that, as Peter Griffin says, “Grinds my gears” is when commentators share outrageous opinions (possibly because they feel they’re not getting enough air time or because they think people may see them as clever).

A perfect example was last night in Cleveland after Game 2 when LeBron hit the miracle shot to, at least temporarily, save the Cavs.  Reggie Miller made a statement, at first, insinuating that, although the shot James hit - with exactly one second left in the game - was a great shot, but one that would have been considerably more difficult had the defense played on him (ironically by Turgolu) been tougher.

This absolutely set off Kenny the Jet and Charles Barkley, who agreed (and it takes a statement as absurd as Miller’s to get those two to agree, since it isn’t exactly a recurring theme on the show) that the shot was defended as well as it could have been.  At first, when I heard Miller say it, I thought he was being facetious, as Turgolu seemed to do everything any coach, or teammate, would expect a defender to do in order to keep that man from scoring.

I don’t know how many people noticed it when the Magic’s coach Stan Van Gundy, at the post-game press conference said that they specifically told Turgolu to watch out for the lob first and foremost because, . . . and then Van Gundy named the three times Cleveland had used the lob play at the end of a game on a side out play (one of his references was as far back as the first half of the regular season).  This was something he or his staff had picked up while scouting the Cavs.  That alone should illustrate how hard these guys work and how well-prepared their teams are.  Sort of makes “Joe,” calling in from the West Side, sound foolish when he quotes some factoid (many times, it’s more like a ficton-oid regarding what the coaches should have done and why).  I often wonder whether Joe’s boss who is usually listening were to ask, “Joe, how come you know that, but their coaching staff, who are paid to know things like that, don’t?  Yet, there was your report that was due last week, you know, the one you haven’t turned in, because you said you  were swamped with work.  Wasn’t prioritizing one of the areas of improvement we discussed during your last evaluation?”

Back to Cheryl’s brother.  After hearing Van Gundy say that the defense played by Turgolu was just as they’d hoped, i.e. he took away the lob (possibly because a lob dunk to tie the game at the buzzer would have sent the crowd into a such a frenzy, it would have made winning in overtime so mentally and physically draining, it might not have been worth it), then he contested the shot, without fouling, Miller would still not back down from his preposterous criticism. 

As player after player mentioned the good defense Hedo played on LeBron, Reggie talked about how he allowed too much separation on LeBron.  Reminded that his first order of business was to take away the lob, Reggie then compounded his “I’m sticking to my guns even after everyone knows, including me, that I’m wrong.”  When Barkley said, looking at the video, that James pushed off Turgolu - and that’s how the separation occurred, Miller countered by saying that Hedo should have grabbed James’ arm!  The Jet chimed in on this one, reminding the NBA’s all-time leader in made three pointers that, in that situation, the number one rule not to be violated was, “Whatever you do, do not foul!”

Keep in mind, there was only one second to go in the game!  I don’t know of any NBA player - or, for that matter, any player who wouldn’t think, “Hey, I can play anybody for one second.  Miller’s reply was, “Come on, Kenny, you know that the referees aren’t going to make that call.  They’re going to swallow their whistles.”  Oh, sure, if they saw Turgolu grabbing his arm, they wouldn’t consider calling a foul on the Magic - in Cleveland?  With all the cameras and angles that are at the game?

Miller tried to win over his former NBA’ers in the studio by saying, “Charles, if you had that same opportunity - and that same look that LeBron had - you wouldn’t knock that shot down?  Sure, you would.  And so would you, Kenny.”

The more Reggie Miller talked, the more ridiculous he sounded.  I do not doubt for one instant that Reggie Miller knows he would make that shot in that same situation.  But it still reminded me of a guy I knew way back - during my high school days - when a youngster had no problem being that stubborn and would refuse to change his mind.  My buddy would say about these individuals:

“The only reason he opens his mouth is to change feet.”      Â

After all the woe-is-you talk, mostly from the media, following their Game 1 loss to the Lakers, somehow, the coaching staff got the Nuggets ready (or they got themselves - or each other - ready) for Game 2.  Questions coach George Karl had to face (mere minutes after losing a game they had control of - against the odds-on favorite to win the West and one of two favorites to win it all): “After such an absolutely gut wrenching loss, how can you possibly get your team ready for game 2?” and “Every game you’ve lost in the playoffs so far has been by two points.  Is there a reason for that?”

Regarding the latter question, it was easy to see in Karl’s body language that he wanted to unload on this asinine scribe what he truly felt about that question, but he contained himself and made mention of the fact that in one game, they were way behind and caught up, only to lose at the end; in another game, they lost on a last second shot, etc.  In other words, the only things those games had in common were that all were decided by two points and the Nuggets lost each.  Sometimes, pure coincidence is the answer.  It’s impossible to say, that because a few games were decided by a couple points and the same club lost each one, that there’s anything more to analyze but coincidence.  It’s not baseball, hockey or soccer where there may be a similar thread that will explain this string of events, but in basketball, in which a total of 200+ points are usually scored, finding the common link among two-point games isn’t nearly as simple.

So, last night they won by three.  If Derek Fisher’s last shot had gone in, the game would have gone to overtime and, possibly LA might have won by two.  What would be the parallel between that and the first game?  None that I can tell.

The NBA Playoffs are usually highly competitive games - because you have the better teams playing (this year, it’s the two #1 seeds, a #2 and a #3).  Everyone is playing the hearts out (with the exceptions being that occasionally Bynum and Odom are seemingly excluded - from the looks of it, by personal choice).  The regular season might seem like a drag, but when the playoffs start, an infusion of adrenaline takes place.  In addition, some guys just start acting differently, e.g. some joke around a little more than usual (distracts them from thinking about the pressure), some may become more withdrawn (realizing there’s so much more on the line now), others become ridiculously superstitious.  Each player has his own way to deal with the added stress of the situation.

The Lakers may have Kobe to thank for losing this one (and possibly others in the future). It is so apparent what a different player Carmelo Anthony is this season (just as the past few blogs have mentioned the same regarding LeBron James and the overall improvement in his game).  When each of them played this past summer for the U.S. Olympic Team (Redeem Team), they needed to make amends for the last group that “represented” our country in 2004.  Anthony and James have admitted on more than one occasion, they were in awe of the workout regimen of Kobe Bryant (and how Jason Kidd conducted himself).  It was the older guys, (Kobe and J Kidd) taking the youngsters under their wings and showing them, not how to be a player, but how to be a professional.  Melo learned well at the foot of the Master.  In the opening game, he was outscore by his mentor, 39 to 40.  But he got the best of Kobe last night by posting 34 to Kobe’s 32.  More importantly, his team won this one.

There’s no more goading those guys into technicals; they’ve grown up (consider it, Rasheed, it’s not in vogue to get the most tech’s) - Melo in his overall attacking the hoop, instead of just settling for threes or long twos.  LeBron looks as if he got a shooter’s touch transplant.  I hope LeBron’s old touch went to someone who wants to works with pottery, because sculpting and molding bricks is an interesting occupation.  With his new found shooting prowess, LeBron found he would be infinitely harder to guard if he could knock down shots, including three’s.  It worked and he is now so much more difficult to hold down to mortal numbers.

Both of these young superstars are vastly improved - and one of the main reasons can be condensed in a line from Warren Buffett:

“I talk with smart people and listen to what they have to say.”Â

LeBron James must have a somewhat similar feeling to how Wilt Chamberlain used to feel.  After all, Bron-Bron went off last night against an underdog Orlando Magic club at Quicken Loans Arena.  Wonder what the Big Dipper (and others of his era) would have felt playing in a joint named after that company?

One year, Wilt averaged 50 points every night he strapped it on.  Nobody comes close to doing that in today’s NBA.  Scoring 50 ppg or strapping it on, now that the compression shorts (with pads to protect against falling on the tail bone or the occasional knee-to-thigh shot delivered going through a screen) are on the market.  Imagine how it felt for a guy to think, “I only had 45 tonight.  I let my fellow teammates down.”

Well, LBJ hasn’t done all that yet, but he did about as much as a team could expect one of their players to do when, in the first game of the finals of the Eastern Conference last night, he scored 49 points, had six rebounds (hey, there’s an area of criticism), eight assists, was diving on the floor with one second to go and played so hard and cramped up so bad, he couldn’t even walk off the court after the game ended.     

Prior to Mo Williams’ moon ball that caught the bottom of the net from about 70′ just before the halftime buzzer sounded, James had scored 16 of the previous 18 points for the Cavs.  The Magic started out doubling him when he got the ball at the beginning of the game, but he kept finding the open men and gave his teammates terrific looks, just what perimeter shooters dream about.  When the Magic brain trust (and there’s a good bit of it on the Orlando bench) decided doubling him wasn’t going to cut it, they switched their coverage and he immediately recognized and adjusted to it.  He makes big shots and makes big plays.

Near the end of the game, with the Cavs down one, I said to our 15-year old basketball playing son, Alex, “How do you think you’d feel if you were in this situation - under a minute to go and you find yourself, one on one, guarding LeBron at the top of the circle?”

He looked at me and kind of laughed, saying, “What’s the difference?  It’s not like anything you do will matter.  If you move up on him and make him drive, he can pull up from pretty much anywhere and stick a (two-point) J on you.  And if you back off - only slightly - if he feels like it, he’ll just rise up and knock down a three.  But the worst is, if he decides he’s going to the hole.  Nobody can stop him, so you’re hoping”  (more like, I thought, “praying”), “you get some help - or else you get banged on.  Otherwise, you do get your help, . . . and he dishes it to someone else so one of your teammates gets banged on.”  Pretty precocious kid.

It’s really not fair.

They’ve got another game in a couple days and you can bet, the unlimited supply of whichever water he’s now pedaling (Vitamin Water?) may not be enough for him to consume between now and then. 

His teammates will gladly be fetching it for him because they know why they’re in the finals and who got them there.  It might be a team game, and the points go up on the scoreboard independent of which player it is who scores them.  But these guys consider LeBron big - better make that B-I-G, according to Woodrow Wilson’s quote:

“A man is not as big as his belief in himself; he is as big as the number of people who believe in him.”�