tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71203962024-03-13T11:39:44.170-07:00Celtic CasseroleA historical repository where the general issues of the NBA, especially those pertaining to the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls will be hashed out.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-59209482201032944502010-11-27T20:51:00.001-08:002010-11-27T20:51:28.940-08:00Fwd: NBA 2010-2011 PreviewThese days I don't have much time to pay attention to anything but my kids, work, and my drinking. So I'm keeping this years NBA preview short, after the incomplete job last year. I'm not sure why I'm sending you this either as it seems that you are probably dead.<br> <div class="gmail_quote"> <br>Eastern Conference<br><br>1. Miami Heat - They are going to cruise through the regular season and kill all the low hanging fruit in the NBA. People think they'll get more tough games because they are a target, but I disagree. Most of the contending teams are older and saving some gas for the playoffs. <br> <br>2. Orlando Magic - They still have a lot to prove. Howard needs more offense and the Magic need more toughness from somebody besides Dwight. A nice regular season cruise results.<br><br>3. Atlanta Hawks - They have a lot to prove too after another disappointing playoff run. Many of their young players now have more seasoning and the roles are well defined except for how much Bibbies minutes will drop off. But playoff disappointment looms again.<br> <br>4. Chicago Bulls - We know the defense will be even better because of Thibadou as the head coach, and the offense will be somewhat improved with Boozer on board. The big question to me is how much better does Derek Rose get. I think a lot.<br> <br>5. Boston Celtics - Old, but showed in the playoffs last year that it doesn't matter. The regular season is about staying healthy, and that's it. They would probably like one home series in the playoffs, and then don't care. This team is built to beat the Heat and Lakers.<br> <br>6. Milwaukee - Fear the Deer indeed. It remains to be seen if Bogut can recover, and that's the key to everything. He still hasn't' regained full motion in his elbow, and since he is clearly their best player it makes sense that they make no noise without him. The Maggette trade is puzzling at best, he's never been a part of anything good.<br> <br>7. New York - Looks like the Knicks had a big whiff on the Lebron sweeps. Amare is a nice consolation prize and will probably result in a high flying, playoff bound team, that will do nothing when it counts because there are no defenders on this team. <br> <br>8. Charolette - Larry Brown is out by the All-Star break. He is not going to like coaching this bunch since they seem due for regression after the questionable player moves they made. But it was nice to make the playoffs last year and this year.<br> <br>Also rans:<br><br>New Jersey - Actually has some good players, but not enough.<br>Philly - What a fucking mess. Igudola has been miscast as a star for years now.<br>Toronto - There is nothing left here post Bosh. Probably killed NBA ball in Canada.<br> Cleveland - Speaking of nothing left. Lebron's teammates were not good and we'll see why.<br>Detroit - Joe Dumars really fucked up this team with the Villanueva and Gordon signings. Bad, bad, bad.<br>Indiana - I get that Larry Bird likes corn fed white boys, but this is not how to make a team.<br> Washington - John Wall is going to be on the highlight reel at least once a week, but things with Gilbert will get ugly. Fast.<br><br>Playoffs:<br><br>Round 1. <br><br>Miami over Charolette - Most lopsided sweep since I don't know when.<br> Orlando over New York - Dwight Howard looks good offensively because Amare and Garngnari can't play defense.<br>Atlanta over Milwaukee - I think Bogut is not coming back 100% this year. If he does and Jennings continues to improve I would pick MWKE.<br> Boston over Chicago - And we get to see why Boozer does not make a good power forward. He won't score on Boston's lineup, just like the problems he had with the Lakers.<br><br>Rnd 2. <br><br>Boston over Miami - I think the crunch time offense for Miami will lead to strife with these guys. Also, Chris Bosh is an overpaid punk. He is not a good defensive force and not a banger at all. <br> <br>Orlando over Atlanta - Dwight Howard gets to destroy another team with no big men.<br><br>Conf. Finals<br><br>Boston over Orlando - Howard gets challenged by Boston's size and once again responds poorly. Rondo eats the magic alive yet again, and Pierce abuses Lewis at SF. Basically last years thing with Shaq being extra angry and breaking Howards nose with an elbow at some point.<br> <br>West. <br><br>1. Lakers - It's the best team top to bottom with the only question being how does Bynum hold up. <br><br>2. Utah - I think the trade for Big Al was the best possible move for these guys. He can go against Gasol and Bynum on the block where Boozer could not. But can he stay healthy?<br> <br>3. OKC - Durant is clearly a top five player and showed it in the playoffs and world championships. His teammates are okay, not enough to beat the Lakers.<br><br>4. Houston - A team of nice parts, but no real alpha dog hampers their ability to jump to the next level. Ming is pretty much in the Sabonis phase of his career and needs better teammates to be very effective.<br> <br>5. Dallas - Dirk is very consistent and keeps things solidly in the 50 win area. Is Kidd done this year? Who knows, but their championship window shut a while ago.<br><br>6. San Antonio - Low player movements after last years flops, this team is all about arriving at the playoffs as healthy as possible. <br> <br>7. Portland - Greg Oden, Branden Roy, the brittle PacNW! <br><br>8. LA Clippers - predicated on Blake Griffen remaining healthy all year, a big iff.<br><br>Also rans - <br><br>Denver Nuggets - Should be better, but Carmelo trade demands weigh down whole franchise.<br> New Orleans - Should be better, but Paul trade demands weight down whole franchsie. <br>Memphis - Overpaid Gay. Gritty team, but not good enough in this conference, though I could see them in the 8th playoff spot.<br>Phoenix - I figure Nash has to break, and a team of Small Forwards can't possibly keep winning.<br> Sacramento - They really have a few nice young pieces, but Cousins won't transform them overnight in his rookie year. <br>Golden State - New owner, new coach, same old Warriors.<br>Minnesotat - This is the NBAs worst team. The GM should be fired for trading away Jefferson for nothing and taking in the talented, but underperforming Beasley in exchange. And for not sending the Celtics anteing to win the title, that's the MN GM's job after all.<br> <br>Playoffs - <br><br>Round 1. <br><br>Lakers over Clips. Fun intracity rivalry is only fun for Lakers fans.<br>Utah over Porltand. Jefferson and Williams set to make a run.<br>Spurs over OKC - tough draw in my imagined world for Durant. Duncan is the kind of post player they have no answer for.<br> Houston over Dallas - And the Dallas blow up plan begins.<br><br>Round 2. <br><br>Lakers vs Spurs - A battle royal of epic proportions is one the Lakers are easily equipped to win with a healthy Bynum. He is the key to everything for them. <br> <br>Utah vs Houston - This is an easy win for Utah with their new low post stud and array of big ment to toss at Houston's undersized lineup.<br><br>Conf. finals - Lakers over Utah - Same old same old for the Jazz. Can't beat the Lakers.<br> <br>Finals - Boston over Lakers. Two things. Apparently Allen was injured in the finals and that's why all his shots were off. And the Celtics just needed some more rebounds to win the ttitle last yea.r ONce Perk went down they were doomed. HOpefully the new O'Neal brothers can insure that at least one seven footer is out there at PF/C and we don't have Baby guarding Bynum. Hopefully. Because though Shaq is slow, he still fucks with Bynums shit because of his size alone. And though he can't play pick and roll, since when are the Lakers a pick and roll team? Triangle and Bryant is what they run. Boston in six games and exacting revenge for last year.<br> </div><br> Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-7131695886302138842009-12-16T15:59:00.001-08:002009-12-16T15:59:27.976-08:00NBA preview 2009-2010 (Playoff teams only)Well this is unfinished, but it's getting later and later in the year so eventually these will look just dumb.<br><br>Eastern Conference.<br><br>1. Boston - I thank the crappy economy and Aingegenious for resinging Rondo at a reasonable cost. $11 mil/year is solid. Bringing on Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels is solid. And to top if off he signed Ken Griffey Jr. after drinking too much nerve tonic. Big moves. Big team. The only question is KGs knee, but God is a Celtics fan, so this won't be a problem. The C's are going to the finals. Unless God isn't a Celtics fan that is.<br> <br>2. Cleveland - Lebron on five is a good, not great offense. Shaq brings the muscle to mess with Howard, but he's very, very specific for that match up. If Cleveland's road goes through Boston (which it will) they are going to be out. Another year of dissapointment from Lebron, who is pretty fantastic given the poorly constructed teams he's lead to, and close to the NBA finals.<br> <br>3. Magic - If Vince Carter steps up, I like the offseason moves a lot. Hedo was getting old, even though he lead the team to the finals. That was the best Hedo performance everyone is ever going to get and it's all down hill from here. The Magic have an outstanding young nucleus, and I will be very curious to see what moves Howard has added in the offseason. If it's none, these guys have a conference finals ceiling. IF he has jumpers and semi-reasonable post moves, they could upset the C's. <br> <br>4. Heat - The Lebron theory applies. Dwayne Wade is exceptionally skilled and can lead a bad team to the playoffs and out of the first round. If Beasley is ready to play (questionable given his offseason of substance abuse treatment) then this could be a pretty good team. Somehow though I see them underachieving like last year.<br> <br>5. Atlanta - It seemed like this team was only going out after pushing the Championship winning C's to the brink in the first round two years ago. But instead it was a plateau. Josh Smith is proving to be freaky, but he's not getting any better, and frankly he's not good enough to eat up that much playing time and cap space. Joe Johnson is a good shooting guard, a perfect third banana, but here he is hte best option. I see them being frisky, but not much of a threat.<br> <br>6. Washington - Gilbert Arenas is supposedly back in full, and if that's true they are talented enough to make an ultimately dissapointing playoff run. Good for them.<br><br>7. Chicago - This team has a lot of nice, and not necessairily complementary pieces. Tyrus Thomas and Joachim Noah for instance cannot share floor time. But the backcourt is solid with a stellar young PG in Derrick Rose who lets the young team run all day while he plays very good defense and offense himself. He's an exciting young player and a reason the Bulls are back on the rise.<br> <br>8. Toronto - Chris Bosh, Hedo, and that pesky PG whose name escapes me at the moment. The Euro guy who is kind of good. Phoenix Suns East is perfect for uptempo hoops, but with lesser talents (Bosh instead of Amare; Euro guy instead of Nash; Hedo instead of Grant Hill). They will be entertaining and present a few matchup problems. But a versatile team like the C's can bang the hell out of them and run them out of the gym too, ala what happene dto Phoenix against the Spurs a few years ago.<br> <br>Western Conference:<br><br>1. San Antonio Spurs - The got a little more athletic with Richard Jefferson coming on board and I'm wagering Duncan has one more hall of fame title run in him. He's not retiring, but this might be the last year he is a game changer throughout. Manu is supposed to be healthy and if that's the case, these guys have the coach, the hunger, the pieces, and the experience to hoist another trophy.<br> <br>2. Lakers - I guess it will take a while for Ron Artest to fit into the mix, but he shouldn't downgrade the Lakers regular season success from last year. I'm not convinced that Artest is what the Lakers need in the playoffs as he's not as athletic as he used to be and I don't believe he can guard quicker threes like Trevor Ariza is capable of doing.<br> <br>3. Denver - Melo. Melo. Melo. Melo. Melo. Melo. Melo. And Chauncey. Maybe Karl reestablishes a faux-Seattle defense. Nice. I see Western Conference finals as the ceiling.<br><br>4. Utah. Jerry Sloan utilizes another hall-of-fame point guard to pick and roll opponets to death. There is a weird subtext to this season with Paul Milsap getting paid and Carlos Boozer probably looking for a new team in a shitty NBA economy. I don't believe those two conditions can co-exist on a succesfful team.<br> <br>5. Portland - The youngins are starting to get old and that means it's time to tap that potential that makes you exciting before you realize your just a shitty midlevel team. I think Portland will tap this seaosn as Roy has proven to be a capable leader and all around scorer who can alpha-dog other pieces of this team to success. I'm not sure about Greg Oden anymore, but he's apparently learning more about the center post and not acting like a complete and total spaz on defense. Just most of the time.<br> <br>6. Dallas - It's one last run with a rapidly aging team. I personally think that it's time to blow it up and restart without Nowitzki, but Cuban loves him too much. Does adding Marion to a mix of aging veterans really do much but remake a 2001 Phoenix Suns team? Nah. They'll be okay, but I see an early exit from teh playoffs for these guys.<br> <br>7. Houston - Scrappy players make for a nice 45 win season and a spirited bouncing from the playoffs. You just do not win in the NBA without at least all-star level talent and without McGrady and Yao they dont' have it. God, just think how it must suck to flush all the money down the drain on their salaries. Moreover, it seems like Yao is destined to be the cheap-Chinese import of Sabonis. Big head. Check. Injury riddled body check. All world passing? Non.<br> <br>8. OKC - This team has some talented young players, first-and-foremost among them is Kevin Durant. Why can't a young guy at least get his scarppy team into the playoffs to be decimated by a more experienced team? I say it happens this year, though another year in lottery land wouldn't be bad for them.<br> <br>Playoffs:<br><br>East. Round 1.<br><br>Boston vs. Toronto - This is a joke. Ray Allen/Paul Pierce make mince-meat out of Hedu and KG/Sheed demolish WAllace. Rondo matches up well in this duel of PGs. Boston in 6.<br> <br>Cleveland vs. Chicago - This is a good match up for Cleveland. Shaq overpowers Chicago's lithe front line and Lebron can neutralize Derrick Rose defensively. Cleveland in 5.<br><br>Magi vs. Washington - Too much Howard, though also too much Vince Carter results in a longer than should be opening round series. Magic in 6.<br> <br>Heat vs Atlanta - Atlanta is a mystery team to me. They took the C's to the brink in '08, but I don't know anything about them as a team. They have talented players but they remain a total mystery. The Heat have potential with a capital P. Wade's healthy is the first big question adn Beasley's mental health/drug tests will determine how far this team can go. In last years match up each team only won at home. I see ATL winning in 6 games.<br> <br>East. Round 2.<br><br>Boston vs. ATL - a rematch of the '08 heart attack inducer. Boston is calmer and better adjusted. Plus they have size and better perimter defending with Marquis Daniels. Mike Bibby must have lost SOMETHING by now, so how much can he bring. Bosont in 6.<br> <br><br> Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-16974559494115905842007-12-30T14:24:00.000-08:002007-12-31T05:15:40.399-08:00Like Sands through an hour glassThe Celtics early season run has been quite nice. Only three losses, a good start to their road trip, what's not to love? For me, it's Doc Rivers insistence on continued shitty coaching. What we know about the newest incarnation of the Celtics is that they are built for the postseason. They could get 50 wins in their sleep. And that's how it should be. The Boston Three-Party is all 30+. This means that their MPG shouldn't go much above 35. Right now though Doc is relying on his superstars far too much to win meaningless games in December. For instance, let's look at Paul Pierece's last 6 games:<br /><br />12/30 vs. L.A.: 37 Minutes<br />12/29 vs. Utah: 43 Minutes<br />12/27 vs. Seattle: 43 Minutes<br />12/26 vs. Sacto: 41 Minutes<br />12/23 vs. Orlando: 41 Minutes<br />12/21 vs. Chicago: 27 Minutes<br /><br />Other than the Chicago game, Doc is maxing out Pierce's minutes. This is unacceptable for a player who is over 30, has logged a boat load of minutes already, and is coming off of an injury plagued season. The Lakers game is probably the ideal amount of minutes for Pierce and his running mates to play.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-36102078339763052172007-06-04T13:08:00.000-07:002007-06-04T14:20:00.161-07:00Let the new Superstar Era Begin<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/cp/nba/070603/v060319A.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://www.cbc.ca/cp/nba/070603/v060319A.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />It goes without saying that the League offices have to be overwhelmingly satisfied with the results of the Eastern Conference Finals. Lebron James, Boobie, and some other guys are representing the Eastern Conference. Better yet, they're doing so with the blessing of the Basketball Moses himself, Bill Russell (he presented the trophy that James holds aloft). Most amazing of all perhaps is that James changed the way he is portrayed and probably the way he will play in a single game. In game 5 Lebron certainly put on a great performance. I'm not among the chorus that would consider it one of the best performances in NBA history. Nonetheless, this performance showed that Lebron is capable of taking over a game and winning it single handledly. Given the sorid state of affairs in the Eastern Conference, it almost guarantees that we can expect to see Lebron in this position for the next 8 years at least. And thus he's starting to realize the massive promise that has been pushed in our faces since he first came into the league.<br /><br />Can Lebron continue his ascent to the heights of the league by conquering the Spurs in this series? The reaction of Kenny, Charles, and Reggie on Inside the NBA after Lebron and Boobie vanquished the Pistons when asked this question by Ernie was telling. They all laughed and said no way. And this is not an indictment of Lebron at all. It's an indictment of his team, which is poorly constructed. If not for the very compelling emergence of Daniel Gibson, a second round draft pick this year, the Cavaliers would likely be at home right now. The Spurs are simply the better team and it shows in every facet of their game. Their passing, their defensive rotations, and their unselfish play. Lebron is too physical to be stopped by Bruce Bowen alone, but the Spurs will play disciplined team defense against Lebron and the Cavs. They will not take their opponent for granted, like the Pistons did and have frustratingly done for the last four seasons.<br /><br />What do I predict for this series? I'm compelled to think that San Antonio will sweep the Cavs. I'm reminded of Shaquille O'Neals first appearance in the finals where he met the veteran Hakeem and his well rounded Rockets. These Cavs are less talented than those Magic as O'Neals team was not as entirely dependent on one player as the Cavs are. It's nice to have a fresh face in the finals to be sure, but the Cavs are not ready to threaten the Spurs for basketball dominance. Spurs 4-0.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-5900864949158700552007-05-31T09:28:00.000-07:002007-05-31T09:39:56.185-07:00The Warm and Fuzzy side of the NBA Playoffs<a href="http://www.nba.com/media/act_daniel_gibson.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.nba.com/media/act_daniel_gibson.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />There has been much to like and dislike from this current NBA playoffs. But watching Cleveland win the other night, I was reminded of one of my favorite things about the NBA playoffs. The emergence of a young player. Cleveland has that young player right now. Daniel Gibson. A second round pick out of Texas who is playing at a very high level right now. Gibson was averaging about 4 points and 10 minutes of burn in the previous two rounds. Larry Hughes goes down (surprise) and Gibson has emerged as the additional outside shooting threat and point guard that Cleveland has been hurting for. His game 4 performance was simply amazing for a rookie. On 7 shots (4/7) he scored 21 points! He was 12/12 from the free thow line as well. And he played a very steady role as the point guard. Kenny Smith noted that Gibson was showing point guard like instincts (the way he spaced the floor on a break where he threw an alley-oop to Lebron) and play (maintaining his dribble while getting bumped). He even changed his game from the third game where he was mostly a spot up shooter. In game four he was aggresive in driving to the hoop, as evidenced by his free throw numbers. As much as I don't really like Cleveland as a cohesive team, I've enjoyed watching Daniel Gibsons play. If Cleveland is able to upset Detroit, he's going to be one of the biggest reasons why. Kenny and Chuck said he's a veteran now with this performance, but that he has the chance to be a star if he does this on the road. I wouldn't go that far, but it's fun to watch.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1163151120599171052006-11-10T01:32:00.000-08:002006-11-10T01:32:00.690-08:00Stop the Presses! Celtics beat Bobcats!<p class="mobile-post">I have to say, I am not feeling this Celtic team at all. The only<br />reason the C's even made it to overtime was Paul Pierce deciding to<br />take over down the stretch and make 4 straight hoops to build a lead<br />with 1:30 remaining. That cushion was quickly eclipsed and then the<br />C's played for overtime, winning on a last second shot.</p><p class="mobile-post">Also too, for someone as highly touted as Rajon Rondo has been in the<br />local media, how the hell does he get a DNP-CD last night? Somebody<br />explain this to me. Unless Rondo did something that warranted a<br />benching (late for shoot around, grabbed a dancer's ass, etc.). This<br />just says to me that the C's have a lot of young, decent players.<br />Great role players, but no legit NBA starters to make you better.</p><p class="mobile-post">It's going to be a long season.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1163017327151629862006-11-08T12:22:00.000-08:002006-11-08T12:22:07.240-08:00Other Reviews are in on Hakim Warrick<p class="mobile-post">From the Sportsguy's latest list-o-rama on the first week of the NBA:</p><p class="mobile-post">4. Hakim Warrick<br />Wait, so an excellent college player with big-game experience went a<br />few spots too low in the NBA draft and turned out to be a good pro?<br />You're kidding!!! This never happens!!!! I can't believe it!!!!!</p><p class="mobile-post">I was so high on this guy, and he's starting to show why he's a legit<br />NBA player. Maybe when he's a free agent Boston can sign him, and<br />then Gerald Green can carry his bags. If Green is still in the league<br />by then.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1162651118007359082006-11-04T06:38:00.000-08:002006-11-04T06:38:38.093-08:00The end of the one finger era<p class="mobile-post">Remind me again why Danny Ainge took Gerald Green over Hakim Warick, a<br />blue chipper with championship credentials? Was it because Green had<br />one finger? WAs it because the Celtics needed somebody who could dunk<br />in warmups like Kedrick Brown could? I can understand that, but<br />really, Green played 2 minutes last night. It's his second year. He<br />should be earning more court time if he's any good. Especially on a<br />team like the Celtics who don't have much talent beyond Paul Pierce.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1162040042268944082006-10-28T05:54:00.000-07:002006-10-28T05:59:02.366-07:002006-2007: Eastern Conference Preview<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5702926"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5702926" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><p class="mobile-post">Once again the East gained the NBA title. It can't be said that the<br />East is the top conference from top to bottom, but it has to be said<br />that the best teams in the East are easily as good as the top teams in<br />the West. And the East keeps getting great draft picks, so the<br />conference should continue it's rise back to balancing out the East.</p><p class="mobile-post">1. Shaq-fu delivered on his promise to bring a title to Miami. But<br />really it was the continued development of the new-Jordan, Dwayne<br />Wade, that brought the title to Miami. Wade continued to amaze in the<br />playoffs. He started hitting threes. He developed a bank shot<br />seemingly out of nowhere. Only Kirck Hinrich was ablet to contain him<br />at all as Wade could just will a basket whenever Miami needed. Unlike<br />the year before, Reilley didn't tweak this roster at all. I like<br />that. The only troubles are that Shaq probably packed on a few pounds<br />in the offseason, and Wade recently admitted to being tired after<br />going through the Finals and playing in the FIBA world championships.<br />He's bascially had no time off. If he or Shaq are worn down at<br />playoff time, all bets are off with this top dog status.</p><p class="mobile-post">2. Detroit Pistons - This is still a team to be reckoned with, but<br />they lost their heart and soul in Ben Wallace. Hopefully this means<br />that Rasheed Wallace will take the time to reaquaint himself with the<br />area below the foul line. He should because he's an unbelievable post<br />player with so many moves he can't be stopped if he doesn't want to.<br />They still remain one of the best perimeter teams in the NBA with Rip<br />and Chauncey holding down the back court as well. I like their<br />chances of being in the Eastern Conference finals this year.</p><p class="mobile-post">3. Chicago Bulls - They had a big offseason in getting Tyrus Thomas,<br />an animal with hops and defensive ability but little offensive game,<br />and Big Ben. Ben is slipping a bit, but he fits in with the team<br />oriented hard-nosed brand of basketball that these Bulls play. There<br />are no outsized egos. Kirck Hinrich is as unselfish as they come at<br />the point and he can score when needed and proved against the Miami<br />Heat that he's one of the leagues best perimeter defenders (the only<br />person to even remotely contain Wade). Now, add to all this that the<br />Bulls also own the Knicks pick this year, which will likely be a<br />lottery pick and you can see why the future is bright in Chi-town for<br />years. I still think they're a little too unseasoned to make a<br />serious run at the Finals as some have predicted, but that will depend<br />on how stellar Ben still is and what Thomas can give them.</p><p class="mobile-post">4. Cleveland Cavaliers - The King James era is now in full effect.<br />James willed his team to a nice defeat of the Wizards and nearly of<br />the Pistons, giving them all they could handle. Still this team is<br />quite a bit flawed as James doens't have a lot of help on the<br />perimeter. They're still lacking the elusive floor spacing shooter<br />(The Butler isn't it) and the low post game could use some work. Big<br />Z clogs the lane and doesn't bring enough post D. Sideshow Bob brings<br />great energy and proved in the playoffs that he's not affraid to step<br />up. But really, this is not a team that's ready to compete with the<br />big dogs. But look for James to have another great season and maybe<br />even an MVP season if Cleveland wins 50+ games and he can reprise his<br />incredible 30-6-6 season, or dare I say, improve on it.</p><p class="mobile-post">5. New Jersey Nets - I think New Jersey had a great offseason. They<br />got lucky in the draft with Marcus Williams falling to them at 21.<br />Now they have a respectible back up to Jason Kidd who can likely<br />handle a Princeton-type offense. Kidd should be able to save<br />something for the playoffs. Richard Jefferson should be healthier.<br />And of course, the biggest thing is that this is a contract year for<br />Vince Carter. Look for him to have monster production and do a lot of<br />stupid fake motorcycle revving.</p><p class="mobile-post">6. Indiana Pacers- Okay. This probably shouldn't happen. This team<br />is a mess. Stephen Jackson is blazing guns at strip joints not long<br />after taking part in the NBA melee at the Palace. But they brought Al<br />Harrington back into the fold to play a complimentary role to J.<br />O'Neal. I like that front court combo a lot. Carlisle remains a<br />great coach so I see them getting to the playoffs and then not making<br />much noise there.</p><p class="mobile-post">7. Washington Wizards - Gilbert Arenas is the craziest player in the<br />league. He's very talented, but his team will never be great because<br />he dominates the ball. He single-handedly shuts down the beautiful<br />Princeton-style offense because he's not talented enough to run it.<br />And it's a shame because they have the kind of wing players you need<br />to run it. Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler can both shoot it, score<br />down low, and move without the ball. They can also handle the rock a<br />bit too, so there's no excuse for this team to not be running a motion<br />offense. But hey, Gilbert's got to get his and continue to prove that<br />everybody underrates him, from the NBA, to team USA. The problem is,<br />we all know exactly what he is.</p><p class="mobile-post">8. Milwaukee - Michael Redd proved more than worthy of his contract.<br />Andrew Bogut showed that he's going to be a commodity in this league<br />and because he can run the floor, the Bucks should be able to continue<br />their transformation into an uptempo team. There's a lot to like<br />about this team. So get some fried cheese, a $1 PBR, and tuck in<br />Milwaukee. This is the team to follow until the Packers can resurrect<br />themselves.</p><p class="mobile-post">_______________________________<br />Welcome to the Lottery (order not important)</p><p class="mobile-post">Boston Celtics - Let's see. They brought in a point guard with an ego<br />and posse bigger than most in the NBA. Oh, he likes guns too. Did I<br />mention he may be implicated in ordering a shooting? And hey,<br />remember Tony Allen? He's implicated in a shooting too. What are<br />the other problems with this team? Well the biggest one is that they<br />have one legitimate NBA starter (any guesses who that is?). The<br />problem is that everybody else is either over the hill (Wally World,<br />Theo Ratliff) or entirely promise with no chance of becoming much<br />better (West, Jefferson, Green, Rondo, Telfair, Allen, Powe, Dickau).<br />Danny has built a great team for March Madness, but the problem is<br />that this is the NBA. Paul will continue to put up MVP type numbers,<br />work hard, fight off nagging injuries, and the result will still be<br />the same. Welcome to the lottery. Oh did I mention that the Celtics<br />raised ticket prices for a non-playoff team and have committed the<br />ultimate sin of getting a dance squad. Needless to say you won't find<br />me at any Celtics games anytime soon. Larry Bird is rolling over in<br />his grave.</p><p class="mobile-post">Atlanta Hawks - What's that? Marvin Williams totally sucks? You mean<br />a guy who couldn't get off the bench in college shouldn't have been<br />the overall number one pick? Oh, he's got a broken hand right now?<br />Chris Paul is a future halll of famer? Nice job Atlanta. At least<br />Josh Smith is turning into a Kirelenko of the East. Joe Johnson<br />worked out okay, but he didn't translate into more wins. This team is<br />a total mess. Oh, they also drafted too much nerve tonic Griffey (aka<br />Shelden Willams), and he looks like a total bust. What a total mess.<br />Well, maybe they can land Ogden in the next draft.<br /></p><p class="mobile-post">New York Knicks - This should end Isiah Thomas' run as doing anything<br />in the NBA. He ruined the CBA, he ruined some pretty good Indiana<br />teams with some horrible coaching, and he help drive the Knicks into<br />what will be at least another ten years of nothingness. The biggest<br />NBA market will have no team for ten years. That hurts. Oh yeah,<br />Thomas shipped multiple lottery picks to the Bulls for Curry, who has<br />heart problems, and immeadiately rediscovered the buffet line after<br />getting his big money contract. Great.</p><p class="mobile-post">Orlando Magic - Grant is the past. Dwight Howard is the current and<br />future. He is a total monster on the boards and keeps getting more<br />tricks in his offensive bag of tricks. Jameer Nelson proved to be a<br />great improvement over Francis. The only thing I question is using a<br />lottery pick on JJ Redick. They could have picked him up three years<br />from now for bargain basement prices. Well, unless DAnny Ainge is<br />still a GM. He would have given Reddick a 10 year max money contract<br />for being white.</p><p class="mobile-post">Charlotte Bobcats - I wanted to put them in the playoffs, but it's not<br />time yet. They are testing my firmly held belief that drafting<br />college blue chippers and proven Madness commoditites is the way to<br />go. They've got 4 NCAA champs on the roster and added to that Adam<br />Morrison. This reminds me of the route the Bulls started taking a few<br />years ago. If they get a good coach, I think they're going to be in a<br />very good place soon. Plus, Gerald Wallace averaged 2+ spg and 2+ bpg<br />last year. That's simply amazing from your two guard. But they're<br />still too young, and Morrison is going to take a year or two to adjust<br />to the NBA, much like Dirk did.</p><p class="mobile-post">Toronto Raptors - The good: Chris Bosh is a great power forward and<br />is young. He wants to be in Toronto. TJ ford could be Nash-lite.<br />Brian Collangelo has a proven track record as an NBA GM. The bad:<br />Well, Ford hasn't really lasted a whole season yet, and after Bosh,<br />the pickings are little bit thin as far as talent goes. Sam Mitchell<br />doesn't seem to be a totally stable coach. And that Italian player<br />they drafted is a ways off. But there's hope on the horizon.</p><p class="mobile-post">Philadelphia 76ers - They couldn't unload Iverson this offseason.<br />Their attempt to make one more good run at it with Webber and Iverson<br />backfired miserably. Their stuck with surly and overpaid players and<br />aren't going to do anything this year. I think it will be a miracle<br />if they make the playoffs. I've also got the over/under at 3 bust for<br />pot this year for C.Webb. But his posse will take the blame. God,<br />it's great to be in the NBA.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1161472554325627702006-10-21T16:15:00.000-07:002006-10-29T06:42:15.286-08:002006-2007: Western Conference Preivew<p class="mobile-post">The East took the title again for the the second time in three years.<br />While overall it's not the stronger conference, it does have some of<br />the stronger teams. That has to do with a few things. One. The Big<br />Aristotle came home to the East where he belongs. That helps. Two.<br />D Wade apparently went down to the crossroads and sold his soul to get<br />every call in the NBA finals. Worked for Robert Johnson and Eric<br />Clapton, so I guess I'm okay with it. Thirdly, Eastern teams have<br />been drafting okay because of high slots. But don't get me started on<br />Danny Ainge. Anyway, on with the Western Conference Preview.</p><p class="mobile-post">1. San Antonio - My old rule was that as long as Shaq is breathing,<br />his team is the number one threat for the title. My new rule is that<br />as long as Timmy, Now! is anchoring the 4 spot, his team is a<br />legitimate threat for the title every year. His game is so sound and<br />so unselfish. It's a joy to watch and a reason that everybody who<br />hates on the NBA should just shut up. Even Larry Bird admitted to<br />hating bank shots. Tim Duncan lives by the bank shot. That's the<br />most purist move in the game. Plus he boxes out, hustles on defense,<br />and rubs guys head. Big. Manu should be healthier, Le Petit Point<br />gets better every year (though you can knock him around to intimidate<br />him), and Pop finds a way to work in veterans and Euro picks. Last<br />year almost worked wiht the Finley experiment (it was close versuses<br />Dallas) so I think this year shakes out okay.</p><p class="mobile-post">2. Dallas. I think what dissappointed me most about these guys was<br />that Jason Terry dissappeared in the finals. He had been bigger than<br />Dirk. More than made up for an absent Nash. Come finals time though,<br />he looked a little scared. Dirk raised his game consistently, but the<br />referees and Cubans coxswain routine wore thin. Dalls choked and<br />combined with a seriously atrocious officating performance, they lost<br />the finals after going up 2-0. Almost unthinkable. So why aren't<br />they number one? Timmy is healthy. Last year his ankle was hurting.<br />Should be good this year. And Timmy is better than Dirk. That's how<br />it works.</p><p class="mobile-post">3. Phoenix. How's your microfracture treating you Amare? Really?<br />You could Tomhawk on Megatron if needed? Okay. Even with Nash's back<br />spasms I'll give you the three spot. Thanks. [This prediction is null<br />and void if Amare cannot raise his game again. I heard Diaw got fat<br />off his contract this offseason, literally and figuratively. I will<br />concede that it may take Amare a while to come back so regular season<br />struggles may be present, but I think good things will happen in the<br />playoffs if Amare is right by then]</p><p class="mobile-post">4. L.A. Lakers. The Zen Master worked his magic again and somehow<br />the surly and undertalented Lakers blew a big lead in their series<br />against Phoenix. I put that squarely on Kobe. But Phil's coaching<br />helped get them this far. And though he's only a rookie, I like the<br />addition of Famar. Odom should be more familiar with the triangle,<br />and perhaps they can get some Jordan-Pippen style action going with<br />Lamar initiating much of the triangle. Also too, maybe Kwame is<br />getting better.</p><p class="mobile-post">5. Houston Rockets - Welcome to clutch city Bonzi. No player had a<br />bigger playoffs than Bonzi, as he decided to wake up and earn a new<br />contract with a few weeks of work. It didn't pay off. Too many teams<br />have been burned by Bonzi at this point. Sacto let him go and Houston<br />got him for $2.1 million with a player option for next year. This<br />means Bonzi has one year to earn himself basically his last big fat<br />contract. He's going to play, and he's going to play hard all year.<br />I like that for Houston. They have a potent trio of players, and if<br />they stay healthy, they should be in the mix for some good things this<br />year.</p><p class="mobile-post">6. Utah Jazz - These guys have been fooling me for a while. But I<br />love the all around game of AK47. Deron Williams started to step up<br />at the PG position towards the end of last year too. And Deron spent<br />the offseason working out with John Stockon and learning from him.<br />That's a great sign about the young fella, he's willing to work and<br />learn, and learning from maybe the greatest pure point of all time is<br />a nice opportunity. And Boozer, well, maybe he's ready to start<br />playing up to that contract that at one point he earned. And finally,<br />I find it hard to believe that a Jerry Sloan coached team could miss<br />the playoffs again. I won't accept it.</p><p class="mobile-post">7. Los Angeles Clippers - This was a very nice offseason for the<br />Clippers. They brought in Tim Thomas. They didn't ship out Corey<br />Maggette (yet). They weren't in the lottery for the first time since,<br />umm, I don't remember. Why am I not putting this team higher then?<br />They did go to the conference semi-finals after all. I think that stems<br />from the fact that they have two extremely fragile point guards. Sam<br />Cassell is a leader par excellence and an outstanding point guard.<br />Wherever he goes, winning happens. But he's getting up there in years<br />and it seems unlikely he'll be able to hold together for the whole<br />year. So I think the playoffs will happen, but the Clips will need to<br />rest Sam for a significant stretch during the regular season. And who<br />backs him up? Well that crazy kid that everyone keeps comparing to<br />Magic Johnson, Shaun Livingston. Let's forget for a minute that this<br />kid has thrown 12 sick passes in his lifetime to garner this mention.<br />He has yet to play an NBA season. And he's not even the sole point<br />guard. He's lithe and that means injury. I seriously doubt his<br />toughness as well. So without a reliable point, I think the Clips<br />will struggle during the regular season. Come playoff time, things<br />may be different.</p><p class="mobile-post">8. Sacramento - Okay, so their new coach just got a DUI. Will there<br />be extreme moral outrage over the DUI of a middle-aged white guy?<br />Just wondering how WEEI will treat that one. Maybe it hits a little<br />too close to the bone. So here's the thing about this team. The<br />coach is an unproven commodity, but the talent is here to be a very<br />good team. Bibby, Honky, Artest, Abdur-Rahim, and most importantly<br />Vitaly Potapenko. The thing is, the Kings contending days are well in<br />the rear view mirror. They'll be competitive and give good show, but<br />they're not causing major damage in the playoffs. Just scaring a team<br />or two. Especially with Artest on the floor.</p><p class="mobile-post">----------------------------------------</p><p class="mobile-post">Sub playoff teams -</p><p class="mobile-post">NO/Okc Hornets - Chris Paul led this resurgent team. He's a brilliant<br />young point guard, and worth seeing play. They brought in Peja to<br />shore up the offensive attack, but Byron Scott likes defense, and I<br />don't see Peja playing much of that. Plus, when clutch time arrives,<br />Peja can be found clutching his man-purse. Not much worth saying<br />after that.</p><p class="mobile-post">Memphis Grizzlies - I'm not totally sure what the logo was up to this<br />offseason. He brought in Stoudemire (a bad test away from a<br />suspension), he brought back Stromile Swift in the process of getting<br />rid of the franchises blue collar guy, Shane Battier. I like the<br />drafting of Rudy Gay who is supremely talented, but his attitude and<br />will to win have to be questioned. These guys always make the first<br />round and get wiped out. Gasol is the new Garnett in that respect.</p><p class="mobile-post">Minnesota T'wolves - The Big Ticket wasn't shipped out of town, and<br />I'm not sure why. He's a great player, but he's got a lackluster<br />supporting cast. I think Randy Foye was a nice draft pick, but he's<br />not really going to contribute a whole lot. Mike James is an erratic<br />point guard. IF you like score first PGs with a propensity for TOs,<br />well he's your man. There's a reason James hasn't stuck with a team<br />in this league yet. And he doesn't exactly boost your winning like<br />Sammy Cassell does. So it's another season of frustration for Garnett<br />and another season of speculating when he'll get traded and when<br />McHale will finally be shown the door on his horrible GM career.</p><p class="mobile-post">Portland - I'm not sure what's going on here. They've drafted some<br />character guys, but have Randolph and Darius Miles locked up, so what<br />does it matter? The team is a wreck, and some of their draft picks<br />aren't panning out. This is going to get ugly before it gets any<br />better.</p><p class="mobile-post">Seattle - Hey, do you want a 7' prospect? How about the last few<br />Seattle drafts: Johan Petro, Robert Swift, Mouhamed Sene. I think I<br />could do a better job. And now one of the more rabid sports markets<br />in the country is going to lose the team to an OKC conglomurate<br />because the Starbucks owner is a big pussy, expecting the citizens of<br />Seattle to pay for his desired new stadium. Wisely, they passed up<br />the chance to give millions to a billionaire.</p><p class="mobile-post">Golden State - New coach. New players. Old players. Whatever.<br />They're going to suck. They always suck. Can Nellie re-instate<br />RunTMC? Is it too late?</p><p class="mobile-post">Denver Nuggets - I really like George Karl. I really like Carmello<br />Anthony. But something seems foul in the Rockies. Karl is already<br />wearing out his welcome and some of the players on this team just<br />don't seem to gel all that well. I think they might be the 8th<br />playoff team if Melo has a great season, but I'm not expecting a lot<br />out of this bunch because the whole team just doesn't strike me as<br />that great. Boykins, Andre Miller, Mr. Glass, Nene ($60 million,<br />enjoy that Denver), a fat Veshon Lenard. Whatever, not really buying<br />it.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1160799308244403432006-10-13T21:15:00.000-07:002006-10-13T21:15:08.313-07:00Danny Ainge loves him some white boys<p class="mobile-post">Welcome to the club Luke. Grab some pine down there by Veal, Raef,<br />and Wally World. How long before Danny trades Rondo and Tony Allen<br />for Swift and Nick Collison? Not long I'd say.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1160418568683526142006-10-09T11:29:00.000-07:002006-10-09T11:29:32.966-07:00Doc Rivers one of Big Ben's Favorite Coaches<p class="mobile-post">Well, we know the players certainly love Doc, but here's the quote<br />from an ESPN.com piece:</p><p class="mobile-post">Wallace mentioned Jim Lynam, Doc Rivers, Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown<br />as the favorite coaches he has played for, going on to say Skiles<br />reminds him of Brown because he does not play favorites and sees<br />himself as a teacher at both ends of the floor.</p><p class="mobile-post">The gist of the piece is that Ben Wallace does not like Flip Saunders<br />one bit. Hard to see how a coach could piss off a guy whose entire<br />game is based on hustle and heart, but he did it. I've always viewed<br />Flip as a decent coach (and the Pistons hot start last year certainly<br />boosted that opinion) and his many playoff failures in Minnesota as<br />being a product of not having enough talent beside KG (Kevin McHale's<br />fault naturally), but to hear Big Ben complain about Flip certainly<br />changes my opinion a little bit. Hard to say what went wrong between<br />these guys and maybe more will come out as camps and preaseason<br />begins, but how does Joe Dumars go with Flip given what Wallace has<br />said and the fact that he left the team? Maybe Flip and Joe save a<br />little face because Wallace left for more money in Chicago, but I<br />suspect that Flip has to be on the hot seat from the moment the first<br />ball is tipped.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1157118853983224512006-09-01T06:53:00.000-07:002006-09-01T06:54:14.020-07:00Who wants Baklava<img src="http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0901/oly_basketball5_275.jpg"><br /><br />Great, now we're losing to totally gay European guys who do ring around the rosey after the game. Charles Barkley is rolling over in his grave.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1153939885636252532006-07-26T11:48:00.000-07:002006-07-26T11:51:25.653-07:00Danny Ainge, World's Greatest G.M.<img src="http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e196/slobinson2/pittsnogle.jpg">Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1152285462337750852006-07-07T08:17:00.000-07:002006-07-07T08:17:42.403-07:00The Running of Da Bulls: Offseason Edition<p class="mobile-post">The Bullls are clearly the biggest movers and shakers of this early<br />offseason. They grabbed arguably the best player in the NBA draft<br />(using the Knicks pick no less, thank you Isiah) in Tyrus Thomas and<br />then secured another young athletic swingman in Thabo Sefolosha in a<br />trade with Philadelphia. Supposedly this draft went exactly as John<br />Paxson wanted it to, which is always a good indication. However,<br />Thomas was a freshman, and not necessairily the leader of the breakout<br />LSU team he was on, that was Big Baby. So Thomas isn't quite like<br />Carmelo Anthony was, a sure shot can't miss draft pick.</p><p class="mobile-post">Then came the somewhat shocking move of Ben Wallace coming over to the<br />Bulls from Detroit as a free agent. Wallace was kind of the archetype<br />of what those Detroit teams were about. All grit, hard work, and<br />defense. I guess the money was the big thing, and Wallace seemed to<br />have some issues with Flip last summer. I'm sure the Pistons felt<br />that $15 million a year is a little too much for a banger who is<br />turning 32 this offseason. Basically this move equates to trading<br />away a young and injury prone defensively minded center for an older<br />and dependable defensive minded center. And this is what is a little<br />confusing about the move. Chandler is a huge shot blocker and<br />rebounder when he's on the floor (granted, not as much as he should<br />be) due to his length and athleticism. Chandler had no offensive game<br />to speak of, but neither does Ben Wallace. What the Bulls have lacked<br />is a low post scoring threat akin to Curry. As horrible as Curry was<br />defensively, he knew how to handle himself in the half court on the<br />offensive end. Curry was adept at rolling to the hoop and his great<br />hands combined with his ability to finish strong and with other<br />offensive moves made him a great pick and roll partner for Heinrich to<br />work off of. Perhaps Thomas can fill this roll, but Ben Wallace<br />certainly cannot.</p><p class="mobile-post">The next rumored move (rumored only because it cannot become official<br />until after July 12th) is a trade of Chandler for P.J. Brown and J.R.<br />Smith. Brown I can understand because he brings another veteran<br />presence to a team of young players, and is somebody who can help<br />mentor Tyrus Thomas. Additionally, his salary comes off the books at<br />the end of the year. J.R. Smith is more puzzling because he does not<br />seem to be a mentally strong player. If he couldn't handle playing<br />for Byron Scott, it's very unlikely he'll see the light of day under<br />Scott Skiles. So perhaps they'll move him in another trade.</p><p class="mobile-post">And that is the latest rumor. Supposedly the Bulls are working to<br />acquire Chris Wilcox from Seattle. Wilcox is a restricted free agent,<br />so the Bulls can tender him an offer but Seattle can then match it and<br />keep him. From all appearances Seattle wants to keep Wilcox, but is<br />balking at his asking price of 6 years and $60 million dollars. And<br />the Sonics are right to balk at that. I think Wilcox is a very good<br />player who can still get better (I was very high on him coming out of<br />Maryland a few years ago, and had hoped that the Bulls or Celts would<br />get him back then), but that kind of money would be too much for a<br />player has shown decent play for only one year. I'm not totally<br />conviced they need Wilcox though. With Nocionni, Thomas, Brown,<br />Wallace, and at least Allen (perhaps Songalia and Harrington as well)<br />the frontcourt is awfully crowded to start with. I'm not totally<br />sure how Wilcox would fit into that mix. He's a great rebounder and<br />has decent offensive talent, but if the Bullls are committed to<br />playing the young Thomas, then Wilcox would seem to be uneeded.</p><p class="mobile-post">The Bulls offseason has certainly kicked off in an exciting fashion.<br />I'm not totally convinced this is going to yield big dividends in the<br />in column though. The Bulls lead the league in field goal % allowed<br />last year, and it netted them a 41-41 record. They certainly gave<br />Miami their biggest test in the eastern conference playoffs, but what<br />was glaringly missing from their game at times was offense. None of<br />the offseason moves so far seem to address that particular weakness.<br />The Bulls will certainly be one of the better, if not the best,<br />defensive teams in the league again. And Wallace should be enough of<br />an imporvement in the middle to lead the Bulls to around 50 wins. But<br />what after that? I think a lot of teams feel that the NBA title is up<br />for grabs, so some aggresive moves are all that may be required to get<br />a title here and now. And seeing Miami win a title this year with the<br />likes of Antoine Walker et al. certainly gives credence to that line<br />of thinking. But without a Dwayne Wade or a Shaq, that road is<br />awfully tough. And the way the game is called now, you need guys who<br />can really press the defense at the offensive end. That's not<br />exactly the way the Bulls are built right now. At the very least<br />though, the Bulls have to be considered legitimate threats to<br />challenge for a title.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1151348633661830482006-06-26T12:03:00.000-07:002006-06-26T12:03:53.900-07:00Celtics Draft Scenarios: 2006<p class="mobile-post">So what were the 2005-2006 Boston Celtics? A weird collection of<br />talent that came and went on the trade conveyer belt. Some of the<br />young players started to live up to their promise (Perk and West come<br />to mind) and some didn't (Big Al). Ricky Davis was sent packing along<br />with Blount (yipee!) which brought us Wally World. Wally proved<br />likeable, but not much else in my opinion. The trade was all about<br />getting rid of Blount and making frontline room for Perk and Big Al.<br />Room that Ryan Gomes clawed his way into, which was great. Pierce<br />delivered a stellar all around performance, again leading the team in<br />almost every statistical category. The Celtics then sport a lineup<br />with one superstar, a fading high quality player, and lots of up and<br />comers? What will the Celtics do on draft night? Nobody knows. But<br />I'm going to think about the players that I wouldn't mind seeing the<br />Celtics draft, assuming there is no trade in the works for Jermaine<br />O'Neal or Kevin Garnett (or the preposterous Iverson rumor). Last<br />year I did this and the player I really wanted the Celtics to get,<br />Hakim Warick, was available. The C's took a pass and got old 4 finger<br />Green. The Logo took Warick. This year there aren't as many obvious<br />prospects to me and the draft order seems highly to change. But this<br />is who I would love to see fall to the Celtics at #7:</p><p class="mobile-post">1. Marcus Williams - This guy is the best pure point guard available.<br />And while Connecticutt proved to be a bunch of too-cool-for-school<br />slackers in the tournament, Williams was busy raising his game. They<br />wouldn't have made it to the elite eight without Williams all around<br />game of penetration, scoring, and dishing. This guy could easily hold<br />down the position for years. Rondo is the other player I hear bandied<br />about, but he's a scorer that people would try to make into a PG. And<br />that always works. Williams I think is the best player in this draft,<br />and could very well fall to the C's at #7.</p><p class="mobile-post">2. Kyle Lowry - Again, another point guard. He may be a bit of a<br />reach at #7 because he's a little smaller and doesn't score all that<br />great, but he is a very good playmaker. He's less attractive because<br />when paired with Delonte it would make for a very small backcourt.<br />But still, I think the C's need a point guard as Delonte isn't it,<br />Dickau most definitely isn't it, and Orien? Well, you get the<br />picture.</p><p class="mobile-post">3. Tyrus Thomas - He's going higer than this, but what kills me about<br />this is that Hakim Warick was this guy last year, but with more<br />polish. A freak athlete with long arms, he could become a Shawn<br />Marion type player, and we could all use a guy like that.</p><p class="mobile-post">4. Pittsnogle - Don't laugh. He's a center with deep shooting range<br />who is not afraid to get on the boards. Some of his biggest plays<br />have come in the clutch during the tourney, something that has to be<br />respected. With Raef getting older we could use another center to<br />pair with Perk. Snoggle woudl give the C's a different look as he's<br />more offensive than defense minded. Plus he has some totally boss<br />tatoos. I will not accept it if Ainge has Snoggle Available in either<br />late first round or the second round and doesn't pull the trigger.</p><p class="mobile-post">5. Adam Morrison - Sure he cried when UCLA turned the tables on them<br />in the tourney before the game was over. Sure he's got Diabetes and<br />wears an insulin pump. But he has a nice offensive game. He can move<br />without the ball and get his shot do to his size and craftiness. He's<br />no Larry bird, but he does rock a sweet mustache. But I severly doubt<br />he'll fall to the Celtics at #7. Larry Bird is eyeing Morrison, and I<br />think this is a good sign.</p><p class="mobile-post">6. Ruddy Gay - There's definitely a chance he'll be here. Gay would<br />be a future pick becuase right now the backcourt is too crowded for<br />him to contribute. The biggest problem though is that he looks<br />disinterested on the court a lot during college. Connecticutt should<br />have won the tourney this year, and Gay should have been their king.<br />But he settled for jumpers and slacked on defense. The upside on Gay<br />is huge, but the downside is a sulker who doesn't work. Would the C's<br />be the right environment to get more out of him? Maybe so with the<br />scrappers they have on this team currently. And of course, if Wally<br />gets injured (we won't even consider Pierce getting hurt. It just<br />doesn't happen) Gay could step up in the second scorer mold and<br />provide decent minutes at the 3, where the Celtics have nobody.</p><p class="mobile-post">7. David Noel - a second round pick on him would be great. He was<br />the team leader of a UNC team that greatly over achieved last year<br />considering the number of rooks they had on board. He would look<br />great at the three spot as a solid defender and a player to fill lanes<br />and get hustle points off the offensive glass. He could be a real<br />asset and a player whom I think shows signs of getting better as he<br />goes along. I'm thinking of him as a Josh Howard type player. He may<br />surprise the right team that gets him.</p><p class="mobile-post">8. Mike Gansey - Another WVU Mountaineer who is tough as nails and a<br />great shooter. He more than anyone reminds me of DAnny Ainge. And I<br />think he's better than Danny Ainge ever was, without being as much of<br />a pest. He could easily play the two or the three. Another player he<br />is reminicent of is Jeff Hornaceck, and maybe a slightly bigger<br />Michael Redd. The kidd can stroke it and shows no fear when the game<br />is on the line. I think that's a pretty good quality. Plus he's<br />white, which would make Danny happy.</p><p class="mobile-post">That's just a minor shopping list. There aren't a lot of stand out<br />players in this draft, but I felt that way about last years draft a<br />little bit too. Hopefully Danny will do right. He has a decent track<br />record with the draft. It's the other half of the GM position that<br />could use some polish.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1150836987187633812006-06-20T13:56:00.000-07:002006-06-20T13:56:27.316-07:00Keep Michael out of the front office<p class="mobile-post">So if we know anything about MJ, it's that he doesn't necessairly have<br />the best eye, or the patience for talent development. He drafted<br />Kwame Brown. He traded Richard Hamilton. He got fired from the<br />Washington Wizards, thank you very much.</p><p class="mobile-post">Now that His Airness is once again part and parcel of an NBA team,<br />joining up with the Charlotte Bobcats, we have to wonder what his<br />influence on the draft and the management of the team will be. The<br />rumor is that he's all about Brandon Roy. I think Roy is a good<br />player too. But the MJ endorsement is sometimes the kiss of death.</p><p class="mobile-post">For instance, he has tabbed such notables as Darius Miles and Quentin<br />Richardson for his Jordan Brand (Nike) apparel line. I'm just not<br />sure I would trust MJ with important decisions like these, that's all.</p>Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1150693993187224292006-06-18T21:49:00.001-07:002006-06-18T22:13:13.213-07:00Avery Johnson's CherryHere's the things that puzzled me a little about Avery's calls down the stretch:<br /><br />1. Hack-a-Shaq used once. Shaq 1-2 (with a lane violation, so actually 1-3). Then dissappeared after and let Wade hit shots.<br /><br />2. No defense thought up for the Wade iso at the top of the key. I realize Wade is a good player, but you've got to force him to give up the ball. The play where he went behind the back and Payton hit the three was awfully casual, and I think the Heat were fortunate. More of that should have been done. I would much rather have Walker or Payton with the ball in their hands than Wade. But that's just me. Maybe bring Haslem's man up. Leave the center in the pivot and just hack if either Shaq or Haslem get it. Neither are good foul shooters.<br /><br />3. The last play was a little too conservative. But I can blame Terry too. Should have given the ball back to Howard, and I'm sure that was talked about in the huddle.<br /><br />4. The timeout.<br /><br />Now what did Dallas need to do better?<br /><br />1. Nowitzki missed the second free throw. Second time in the finals he's missed cluctch. <br /><br />2. Umm. Keep finding Howard on screens. The iso on terry was good for a while, and bought a dunk for Dampier at the end that could have won the game.<br /><br />3. Pay the referees more than Miami does. Wade got to the line a little bit too much. Every ticky-tack on Wade was called. Not many ticky's were c alled on the other end. <br /><br />What was good?<br /><br />1. Avery's last play to get Dampier a dunk was sweet.<br /><br />2. Wade was totally sweet, despite getting a very favorable deal from the refs. It was so beneficial it was amazing when the Refs didn't blow a whistle in his benefit.<br /><br />3. Payton hitting clutch shots? This is unreal. A big three in regulation. A big lay-in in OT (high, high off the glass).<br /><br />4. Diggler's HUGE shot in OT over Shaq after Terry and Howard look scared. I'd say he's looking for freedom.<br /><br />5. The refs not letting the Miami shot clock operators get away with any funny business this game.<br /><br />6. Wade hitting his free throws, even if undeserved.<br /><br />What was sour?<br /><br />1. Howard blowing two free throws in OT. Ouch. Hadn't missed all game. Kid's not quite ready.<br /><br />2. Refs. Not sure what the FT tally is, but I think it's at least 2-1. Granted there were a few hack-a-Shaq's, but those were a minor component.<br /><br />3. Players trying to twist Dirk's ankles on FT attempts. It's subtle. But it's still dirty. Posey in particular is a champion of this. Bruce Bowen may have pioneered the move (and is a major reason why he has drawn the ire of several premier swing players in the league).<br /><br />4. Showing Shaqs wife. She's not even that hot anymore. It's south beach ABC. If you must point the cameras at the crowd, more bimbo action.<br /><br />5. Wade bailed out with 1.9 left, after putting on a sweet dribbling show.<br /><br />6. DAllas for not clobbering wade if they're going to get a foul called.<br /><br />7. Avery Johnson signalling like an idiot to call a timeout and then getting angry when Howard did. This is strictly Avery's fault. He was arguing for two timeouts after he called it. I don't think so. I can't emphasize how dumb this was by Avery. He was jumping around like a chicken with his head cut off asking for a timeout and not knowing he had one timeout, not two.<br /><br />8. And in closing, Mark Cuban wearing a Suckhouse jersey. Nice job kid billionare.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1150126175035904742006-06-12T08:22:00.000-07:002006-06-12T08:31:24.270-07:00The artist formerly known as Shaq<img src="http://www.espn.go.com/photo/2006/0611/nba_g_ddime_268.jpg"><br /><br />This is the look Shaq saw most of the night. Two seven footers preventing him from even thinking about offense, and chumps like Antoine Walker standing out beyond the three point arc waiting to brick a three, or turn it over on a drive. This lead to Shaqs lowest output in the finals of his career of only 5 points. The new story of this is going to be, "yeesh, when did Shaq get old on us?". He put up some solid performances before this, including the throw back 26-16 in the Detroit series. He also protected the paint a lot better in the Eastern playoffs. But now he's got to deal with more height and more quickness and the creakiness is showing badly. He can't do anything about Dirk when he drives to the tin, and Mavericks have multiple players who can all finish around the basket better than most players the Heat faced in the East. In addition, O'Neal is shooting free throws worse than at any time in his career. And when he was frustrated by the Dallas defense last night, it was sad to watch him forcing up shots with no hope of going in. <br /><br />The standard comeback rules apply here. After a blowout the humiliated team usually comes back strong. But this Dallas team is more talented, and troubling for Miami, has the confidence and the know-how to get the job done. Miami needs to win the next three games at home to have any hope in this series, and I just don't see that happening. Especially with Udonis Haslem getting injured. <br /><br />So with this series we will bid Shaq adieu. He'll play for a few more years to be sure. And the Heat will go deep into the playoffs with Wade carrying much of the load. But the days of Diesel dominance are definitely over.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1147744309038002632006-05-15T18:39:00.000-07:002006-05-15T18:51:49.050-07:00Cleveland's chutzpahI am impressed that Cleveland was able to hang in there with the Pistons tonight. Rasheed made the full out ass whooping guarantee and it kind of blew up in his face. A nice victory, but LBJ needs to hit some free throws. He also missed a lot of shots. This was more about decent team defense on Cleveland's part and bad offense on the Pistons part.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1146888292598810592006-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:002006-05-05T21:04:52.610-07:00The First Round?<img src="http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0505/nba_a_lebron_412.jpg"><br /><br />Humping over a first round victory is just not cool. LeBron has so much to learn about winning.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1145634683441968032006-04-21T08:24:00.000-07:002006-04-21T08:51:23.723-07:00The Least, with one Beast: The Eastern Conference Playoffs 2006I thought the East was going to improve substantially this year. I pegged Milwaukee as a better than .500 team because it seemed that with TJ Ford back, Bogut and Magloire added to the front line, and Bobby Simmons brought in as a jack of all trades to replace the Master of the dunk, Dr. Desmond, they had the makings of a good team. Plus I thought for a little while Artest was going to fly straight and help make Indy into the contender everyone keeps predicting before the season. And I thought Larry Brown might make something positive happen in New York. Wrong, wrong, wrong. That's neither here nor there, and at least I predicted that every Central Division team would be in the playoffs. I just didn't see them being this bad.<br /><br /><br />Round 1:<br /><br />Detroit vs. Milwaukee - Good experience for Milwaukee, but really a waste of Detroits time. The only way any of these games are even close is if Detroit plays flat and not full out. I think Ben Wallace was making sure that didn't happen when he sat out of a game a few weeks ago. Detroit 4-0.<br /><br />Cleveland vs. Washington - I think the Wiz made due nicely considering they lost Larry Hughes. They replaced him well with Caron Butler. Arenas and Jamison continue to score but a strong post presence is missing from this team, both defensively and offensively. And for my money Arenas is just too selfish with the ball to get his team very far. On the flip side, Lebron is coming into his own rapidly. And the addition of Flip Murray has been a good one. He's not afraid to take tough shots, and he's hitting them. Something that wasn't happening before. But Cleveland lacks a perimeter defender who can handle arenas, and that's a problem. And granted, Cleveland has no playoff experience, but then Washington barely has any. I think Cleveland takes this in a sloppy and not entertaining series (I expect to see lots of iso and missed shots, not 100+point games). Cavs, 4-1.<br /><br />New Jersey vs. Indianna - The Nets have quitely become one of the better teams in the East. And it's all because of Jason Kidd. Sure, Vince has decided to play for pay again, but it's because he's in the mix with a great playmaker and totally unselfish superstar who takes the heat and doesn't get a ton of the limelight or credit. Now Vince gets to pose and preen after acrobatic dunks that are superbly set up by Kidd. Jefferson is back strong after his injury too. And Kristic is proving to be a passable center, with Collins providing adequate relief. Indiana has been a mess all year. Artest. Then O'Neal's injury. And the foreign guard they signed Jaskuaoulkj;lkj, hasn't exactly panned out. Peja has played well since coming over, but we all know how he responds in the playoffs. I don't feel like Indy has the confidence to get it done, and New Jersey is just playing so well right now. Nets, 4-0.<br /><br />Miami vs. Chicago - Chi-town limped into the playoffs with a sub .500 record and Philly sinking like a lead balloon. The loss of Eddy Curry proved to be very large for this team. Granted, he wasn't the main man, but he provided interior scoring that is completely absent now. And they also lost Antonio Davis. Sure he was aging, but he set a solid example on the court and played hard nosed basketball that Skiles loves. Now the Bulls have Chandler and Luke Schenshur (rookie out of wake) for a front line. The Diesel is going to pick his teeth with these two. And Wade is just going to be too much. This series could be a good tune up for Miami and boost their confidence for the showdown with New Jersey. Heat 4-0.<br /><br />Round 2 - <br /><br />Cleveland vs. Detroit - You know what Cleveland can't do? They cannot beat Detroit. The Pistons are a team, the Cavs are a sembelance of a team. The Pistons rotate and switch on defense better than any other team and force you into sets and shots you don't want to take. The Cavs have had difficulty running offense against teams that aren't that talented defensively. This is where Lebron learns a hard lesson about winning in the NBA. Pistons 4-0.<br /><br />New Jersey vs. Miami - This has all the makings of a great series. We know Shaq can absolutely kill Jersey inside. The question is, will Miami get him the ball, and will he tire of taking all the shots? It's hard to say if Jefferson or Vince can stay with Wade. Vince is definitely not known for defense, but RJ has some skill and maybe his size could bother wade a little bit. But what I like about New Jersey is their break. Shaq is slow, and some of the other guys on the team like Antoine, Jason Williams, and James Posey don't transition well. This is where New Jersey is going to have to get their scores. But unlike those other Jersey teams that made the finals, this team can do somethings in the half court. Vince and Jefferson can create, and they won't have Martin clanging shots off the back of the iron anymore. And Kidd always seems to find a way to score when it counts. That said, Shaq and Wade are the two best players in this series. Riles is the best coach. I like Miami's chances here. Heat 4-2.<br /><br />Conference Finals -<br /><br />Miami vs. Detroit - This is what we've been expecting since last year. The Heat were minutes away from beating Detroit at home in game 7, but Wade's bruised ribs and Shaqs injuries were just too much. Shaq is leaner this year which bodes well for him staying healthy for this series. And Wade is healthy too, but he's so gung-ho when he plays, he's a risk to get injured on a constant basis. While many people have criticized Reilly for breaking up last years team, I think people overlook that an important core is still intact. Wade, Shaq, and Haslem form a nice nucleus. And Jason Williams is an upgrade over Damon Jones at the point, plus Jones routine was getting old fast. I'm not sure Antoine has worked out well for them, and everytime I see them, he can't even hit a three pointer when he's wide open. He must be shooting around 20% from three. But that core is still there. The big question is Alonzo Mourning. When Shaq was out, he was a beast. Blocking around 5 shots a game, ripping rebounds, and all that. If they get that Mourning, I think Miami can prevail. But that's a big if. This Detroit team plays freerer on the offensive end, and I think that's made them better. Not many defending conference champs come out and improve their W-L record substantially. Larry was suffocating these guys a little bit, and distracting them too. With that gone, Detroit seems focused on the prize. Detroit 4-3 (in what should be a great series. Close games, tight finishes).Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1145580474186571122006-04-20T17:01:00.000-07:002006-04-20T17:47:54.250-07:00Playoffs 2006: Western ConferenceThe West has shown once again that it is the superior conference. I thought the East took a step up last year and was poised to do so again this year, but it was not so. Look at how many sub .500 teams are in the Eastern conference playoffs vs. in the West. That said, the best team is probably in the East, and the West may be up for grabs in a big way.<br /><br />Round 1:<br /><br />San Antonio vs. Sacto - Sacramento is back in and the addition of Artest has proven to be very big for them. I would have automatically put the Spurs over these guys easy, but Tim Duncan has been hurt all year. He's proven himself a warrior though. Lesser men would have taken a month or two off to heal, but Timmy just put his head down and balled tough. And while his offense was a bit off, his defense has been tight and he's just finding ways to win even when hurt, the mark of a truly great player. His team has home advantage throughout. In the end nobody matches up very good with Timmy and I think Bruce Bowen can quickly throw Artest off his game. And I'm not sure Artest is quick enough to neurtalize Ginobli. All signs point to a Spurs Victory here. I'm thinking 4-1 Spurs. And who knows maybe<br /><br />Dallas vs. Memphis - An injustice that the Mavs are a four seed here. Pau Gasol has been stepping up this year in a big way, and the Logo did good by brining in seasoned vets like Eddy Jones, Bobby Jackson, and yes Damon Stoudemire. Mike Miller coming off the bench has been a nice addition too. On the Dallas side, Dirk is once again Dirk. And his running mates have gotten better. Josh Howard has raised his game, Diop is playing good minutes at center, and Terry is more than making up for the dissapearance of Van Exel's big shots down the stretch. I think in the end it's going to come down to the coaching. And I just don't trust the Czar. Dallas 4-2.<br /><br />Clippers vs. Denver - It's a friggin' miracle. The Clips are back in the playoffs. So how come Dunleavy isn't getting any praise? Well because mostly it can be attributed to Sam Cassell. He's a winner everywhere he goes. Granted, he eventually is too tough to put up with, but the guy can ball and he hits back breaker shots. Elton Brand is a load on the block and Mobley provides ample offense in a hurry. Magette is a good slasher, but has been hobbled by injury. For Denver Melo is playing the best ball of his young career. He's lethal in crunch time now too. Right now, he's the absolute best at dagger shots (granted the record is short). Ruben Patterson brings good wing defense and Denver will need it considering that Maggette is such a good slasher. Kenyon Martin should be able to handle Brand pretty well. His offense is atrocious, but his D is still pretty firece. And of course, Mr. Glass is ready to put up a few 20 rebound 6 block efforts at Center. He should score a bit too seeing as he's facing the human spazz, Kaman. In the end, I think this is going to come down to two things. Coaching (advantage Denver) and playoff experience. Mobley and Cassell have it, but the young Clips have never been. I'm not sure they're ready for primetime yet. Denver 4-1.<br /><br />Phoenix vs. La Lakers - The Lakers are becoming a hot pick to upset Phoenix in the first round. Kobe is unstoppable, clearly, and he's got the better coach, but Phoenix has a floor coach. And the horses to run all day on LA. If this were the old days of best of five I would give LA a chance. But best of seven is a long series for an undermanned and less talented squad. Phoenix, 4-1 (Well, unless Odom decides to play his heart out. Not a given).<br /><br />Round 2. <br /><br />San Antonio vs. Dallas - This could be the Western Conference finals. The best thing for Dallas is that Timmy is hurt leaving Dirk to run hog wild. Dallas has more players at every position and finally has some guys playing some defense too (credit to Avery for changing the mindset of this team). But this is the Spurs right? And even hurt, Timmy finds a way to get it done. Ginobli brings another level in the playoffs. And Pops is a great coach. Plus I see Robert Horry is still rocking a Spurs uniform. He's done nothing all year, meaning he's ready to tear opponents hearts out now. Plus, I don't think anybody on Dallas can contain Tony Parker. Spurs 4-2.<br /><br />Denver vs. Phoenix - This is tougher for me to call. I think Phoenix lacks depth, but they have two bona fide All stars in Marion and Nash. And Diaw has emerged as a good foil to most big men. In the end they look like very similar teams. Except, I can't shake the feeling that without Amare, the playoffs are going to be a lot tougher for the Suns. Karl is going to have a scheme ready to contain Nash, and Patterson will be able to check Marion a little bit. I'm surprised I'm saying this, but I like Denver here. 4-3 in a hard fought series.<br /><br />Round 3, conference finals - San Antonio vs. Denver. This isn't even close. San Antonio in a walk, 4-1. Denver needs more personel before they're ready to unseat the champs.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1141834609710242222006-03-08T07:53:00.000-08:002006-03-22T08:19:42.970-08:00Why Most NBA Coaches are WimpsLast night I took in most of the Celtics game versus the Washington Wizards. It was a pretty well played game with a lot to like from both sides. For the Celtics Ryan Gomes put up a monster first half and a game overall and continues to impress as a second round rookie. Wally World abused Washington's small lineup by continually posting up and scoring over Antonio Daniels, and Big Al looked great going against Jamison on the low block (until he began wincing after a dunk that is). For the Wizards they had to be pleased to see their new big three of Arenas, Jamison, and Butler clicking very well and to see Antonio Daniels attacking the rim. The game went to overtime where the two superstars Arenas and Pierce took over.<br /><br />With under a minute remaining the Celtics drew up a nice play that had Oriene Green taking the inbounds pass while both Wally and Pierce came off screens from down on the block for what would be open jump shots. Pierce got wide open had a great look at a three which he shot perfectly. The Celtics now lead by one. <br /><br />Washington attempts to inbound the ball at half-court and is clearly only going to Areanas. They can't get it in within five seconds and are forced to use their last timeout. Notable on the play is that Pierce jumped out and overplayed Arenas, denying him the ball, but the subsequent rotations left Jamison open by the hoop for what would be an open score. But clearly the play was only to go to Arenas. No other option on the play. Washington then puts the ball into Arenas' hands and he dribbles his way to a short jumper that he cashes to give the Wizards a one point lead with 14 seconds remaining. The Wizards fans go crazy and things seem good for their chances to win. Just play solid defense and they'll escape with another close win over the Celtics. <br /><br />Doc Rivers decides during the timeout to just give the ball to his superstar, much like Washington did on their previous possesion. Pierce gets the ball at the top of the three point arc, holds it and then prepares to dribble his way to a last second shot. Washington wisely doubles Pierce and forces him to dribble furiously to get off his shot. Pierce finds a sliver of daylight and as he's fading back and listing to his left, he releases an incredibly difficult shot just before time expires. It hits nothing but net. The Cetlics win. Pierce begins the typical chest pounding and at Tony Allen's insistance pops his Jersey. Nevermind that these are two of the lesser teams in the Eastern Conference and that the Celtics aren't even in playoff contention. Everyone on the Boston side of things is happy. Rivers is out on the court beaming at his superstar and pumping his fist. Just like Doc planned it, right? (See the play here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUF5lIxtflg&search=pippen)<br /><br />Not exactly. I don't think Doc imagined the shot Pierce took would be that difficult, but he should have. And Eddie Jordan probably should have envisioned that the Celtics would do everything they could to deny Arenas the ball on their last possesion. And this drives me crazy. Coaches tense up and draw in the reins in the closing seconds of close games. I think this gives them an automatic excuse if their team loses the game. For example, if Pierces shot misses Doc can say they got the ball into their best player and hoped that he could create by either drawing a double team or hitting a tough shot and what more can you ask for? The coach is blameless. On the play where Pierce took an open shot off a screen there's a lot that can go wrong. First your giving the ball to a rookie point guard. Second, what if Pierce doesn't get a proper screen? What if the passer gives Pierce a bad pass? That's a risky play in the NBA coaches world. He could take the fall for the loss if something goes wrong with the play. The same thing for Eddie Jordan. Had he drawn up other options besides Arenas in their last possession perhaps Jamison would have been spoted underneath for the much easier wide open shot. Eddie Jordan runs a fairly nice variant of the Princeton offense and to see his team reduced to standing and watching Arenas pound the ball at the end of games is shame. The same for the Celtics. Pierce is almost a perfect jump shooter when open. And after coming off a screen, the defender is at a disadvantage. He's running at Pierce and is susceptible to a quick up fake. Pierce can then either take the open shot, fake his man and drive towards the hoop for a closer shot, or fake drive and kick to another open defender after the defense overcompensates. Instead after a timeout you give the defense the advantage by just giving Pierce the ball. They can send their double, set things up and know how they're going to rotate. Only a tremendous play is going to beat them. And guys like Pierce can deliver those plays. Just not all the time. <br /><br />Watch almost any NBA play and you'll see the same thing. Isolation play for the superstar at the end of the game. Only Detroit and San Antonio come to mind as teams that don't follow this strategy. And it's a shame. Excellent players are almost unstoppable when open. If only the coaches weren't afraid to take a little heat, the average NBA fan would be treated to exciting ends to games on a regular basis. Instead we're left with the false drama of isolation plays that don't often work.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7120396.post-1139427036642921572006-02-08T11:19:00.000-08:002006-02-08T11:30:36.686-08:00Paul Pierce's Outstanding SeasonIt's been a while since I've posted anything here and a lot of that has to do with the fact that the Celtics really stink this year (the Bulls too). The NBA has been interesting overall for sure, but the local malaise is tough.<br /><br />But I was thinking a lot about Paul Pierce lately because he's been having monster games, and mostly in losing efforts. The consensus at home and at large is that Pierce is having his best season as a pro, and I don't disagree. Which makes it all the more frustrating to see the Celtics lose inspite of those efforts. As an example, I went to the Phoenix game last week and naturally the Celtics were getting dusted handily by the Suns at the half. Pierce exploded for 20 points in the third quarter and single handedly got the C's back into the game. And it was just that. His enthusiasm and emotion were infectious on the court. The things you don't see on TV that you can see at a game make a difference. On one play when Delonte crashed to the hoop and drew a foul, Pierce was loving it and trying to psyche up the crowd. In the huddle during timeouts he was vocal and talking to the young guys (though Scalabrine was all over the white board. I guess that's where his basketball IQ comes through. Thanks Danny.). I was thoroughly impressed. And I was one who was advocating for trading Pierce this offseason to truly get the team going young. But now I'm glad they didn't trade him.<br /><br />And this all got me to thinking about my favorite Celtics players. The legends were all a little before my time. They were great, but I only watched the tale end of the dynasty. Only saw Bird gritting through back injuries and producing minor heroics and still lighting up the Garden. My real first favorite player with the C's was with Reggie. Reggie's cool manner on the court and his old school scoring style won me over instantly. He was great. I bought his jersey at the first Celtics game I ever went to (at the Garden against O'Neal and the Magic). It was great. And Reggie died early leaving us asking what if? Well I think I can say that Pierce has supplanted Reggie in every single way and yet may never be as beloved by the C's fans. Maybe that's because Reggie played so closely with and was directly connected to The Team or maybe that's because Reggie wasn't the man long enough for his flaws to be dissected endlessly by the fans and media. It's hard to say. But I feel lucky getting a guy like Pierce on the C's. He's a pleasure to watch play and he's only gotten better over time. I'm glad the Celtics didn't trade him because it almost seems impossible that they could get value for him. And without Pierce, the Celtics would be truly unwatchable.Larshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05775901119510984033noreply@blogger.com0