Friday, May 25, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Pistons/Cavs Notes
-Is it possible that I have been completely mistaken about Cleveland? After two closely fought Cleveland losses, it appears as though Lebron James and his ragtag band of role players absolutely belongs on the NBA’s elite stage. Cleveland’s near success begins and ends with the play of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who is averaging seven offensive rebounds a game this series. He has been an absolute monster on offense as well, averaging 22 points, just under double his season average. His presence in the post opens up the floor for the Cavalier guards. While the Pistons limited him to three points on 1-6 shooting, he remained an impact player during his limited playing time.
-Lebron James did a much better job getting to the basket, playing another strong all around game. Still, he continues to struggle against longer defenders, showing a relative inability to create his own shot. Maybe the expectations are too high on this guy. The league slept on him last year and he exploded, now everyone has been able to adapt their defense to make his life harder. Is it just me, or is Bron Bron playing offense like a super talented version of Eddie Jones? Frankly, he has not shown the ability and the range to make the types of shots that define the careers of guys like Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas.
-As a Tayshaun Prince fanatic, I am really disturbed by his 1-19 shooting performance (0-8 tonight). Clearly, Lebron’s size is bothering him. Prince is so skinny he is being bumped off cuts and really feeling the effects of the contact. If the Pistons can get out a series victory with their glue guy playing like this, they should consider themselves lucky.
-I love Jason Maxiell, and have for a while (http://basketball-insight.blogspot.com/2007/05/utah-ds-up-huh.html). He single handedly kept Detroit early on in their atrocious first half. I don’t care what scouts have to say, the NBA does have a place for undersized, athletic power forwards (see: Barkley, Charles).
-How talented is Rasheed Wallace? Really, how many off balance mid-range jumpers off the wrong foot does he have to hit before people realize that he is one of the best five big men of the past decade? He is a brilliant player, and I love the way that he and Chris Webber work together. My only issue? While he is a great defender off the ball, he needs to regain his strong post defense. Anderson Varejao is scoring seemingly at will. Let me repeat that, Anderson Varejao, the man with the footwork of a DIII center is scoring at will.
-On behalf of the staff here at Ballintellectual, I send my condolences to the city of Boston.
-Looking over the stats from the past two games, I see that Drew Gooden has been an absolute non factor. Shooting only six shots and netting 5 boards, he is a far cry from the 14/10 guy we saw in the Washington series. With Varejao carrying some of the load, it is easy to overlook Gooden's absense, but he gives them a presence in the high post with his mid-range jumper that Varejao doesn't. His lack of production is a major reason that Cleveland is having troubles with its offense.
-EDIT: This is what passes for analysis these days? After two games, all the media is talking about are two end of game plays involving Lebron. Should he have passed (game 1)? Was he fouled (game 2)? What about Rasheed Wallace’s pair of great games? The sudden offence coming from Varejao? Lebron’s defense on Tayshaun Prince? Rather than helping fans understand the forces dictating these games, we are given half assed discussion of two plays among many. Maybe fans wouldn’t be so turned off be defense if media outlets took the time to help them understand what’s involved. Just a thought.
-Lebron James did a much better job getting to the basket, playing another strong all around game. Still, he continues to struggle against longer defenders, showing a relative inability to create his own shot. Maybe the expectations are too high on this guy. The league slept on him last year and he exploded, now everyone has been able to adapt their defense to make his life harder. Is it just me, or is Bron Bron playing offense like a super talented version of Eddie Jones? Frankly, he has not shown the ability and the range to make the types of shots that define the careers of guys like Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas.
-As a Tayshaun Prince fanatic, I am really disturbed by his 1-19 shooting performance (0-8 tonight). Clearly, Lebron’s size is bothering him. Prince is so skinny he is being bumped off cuts and really feeling the effects of the contact. If the Pistons can get out a series victory with their glue guy playing like this, they should consider themselves lucky.
-I love Jason Maxiell, and have for a while (http://basketball-insight.blogspot.com/2007/05/utah-ds-up-huh.html). He single handedly kept Detroit early on in their atrocious first half. I don’t care what scouts have to say, the NBA does have a place for undersized, athletic power forwards (see: Barkley, Charles).
-How talented is Rasheed Wallace? Really, how many off balance mid-range jumpers off the wrong foot does he have to hit before people realize that he is one of the best five big men of the past decade? He is a brilliant player, and I love the way that he and Chris Webber work together. My only issue? While he is a great defender off the ball, he needs to regain his strong post defense. Anderson Varejao is scoring seemingly at will. Let me repeat that, Anderson Varejao, the man with the footwork of a DIII center is scoring at will.
-On behalf of the staff here at Ballintellectual, I send my condolences to the city of Boston.
-Looking over the stats from the past two games, I see that Drew Gooden has been an absolute non factor. Shooting only six shots and netting 5 boards, he is a far cry from the 14/10 guy we saw in the Washington series. With Varejao carrying some of the load, it is easy to overlook Gooden's absense, but he gives them a presence in the high post with his mid-range jumper that Varejao doesn't. His lack of production is a major reason that Cleveland is having troubles with its offense.
-EDIT: This is what passes for analysis these days? After two games, all the media is talking about are two end of game plays involving Lebron. Should he have passed (game 1)? Was he fouled (game 2)? What about Rasheed Wallace’s pair of great games? The sudden offence coming from Varejao? Lebron’s defense on Tayshaun Prince? Rather than helping fans understand the forces dictating these games, we are given half assed discussion of two plays among many. Maybe fans wouldn’t be so turned off be defense if media outlets took the time to help them understand what’s involved. Just a thought.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Big Question? Really?
-ESPN’s Chris Sheridan questions whether Lebron should have passed up his drive with less than ten seconds left in Cleveland’s 2 point loss last night (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070522). Would it be impossible for Lebron to get and1 against three players? No, its happened before. But lets face it, Prince was forcing him left, right into the waiting arms of Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton. You HAVE to pass that ball, Detroit’s entire zone was on the left side of the court. Zone-busting 101 tells you that the pass to the right corner or wing is the BEST pass to make. Lebron made exactly the right decision, but on a night when the Pistons took the king off his game, his teammates often let him down.
-Another Lebron-related observation. Bron Bron started on Prince. The Pistons immediately isolated Prince on the wing, utilizing Davis and Wallace to set hard down screens on the week side to open up Billups and Hamilton. Unable to use his size to disrupt Prince, the Detroit Forward was able to either make the right pass or take it strong to the basket (9 asts, 6-6 from the line). Kobe would have stopped that, Jordan would have stopped that, hell, Sasha Pavlovic even helped stop that, the Cavs moved him onto Prince by the second quarter. Lebron is not a good defender, on or off the ball. This makes Mike Brown even more of a defensive genius, he is playing 1st class defense and his best player is a 3rd class defender.
-Who has been the best player in these playoffs? Baron Davis, Tim Duncan, and Steve Nash all make good cases. Davis and Duncan have elevated their games (Duncan does this EVERY YEAR and NOBODY talks about him like he’s a big time player. When they need to be, his shots are better and his passes are crisper.) Lebron? Mediocre for much of the playoffs. Bryant didn’t last long enough. Detroit survives because each of its five starters is an MVP in his own right. The best player, however, was Jason Kidd, who ended his playoff run averaging a triple double for two series. New Jersey, playing with out center Nenad Krstic is NOT a great team. Since his injuries, Richard Jefferson got scared and became a jump shooter. Vince Carter has stretches (seemingly at the worst time) where he suddenly loses motivation and composure (been an issue his whole career). Jason Kidd RUNS that team. Not only in the way that Nash does. Nash runs everything by virtue of having the ball in his hands. What Kidd does as a pg is similar to Nash, but he does even more on defense, when the ball isn’t in his hand. His size and defensive craftiness are what make the Nets a GREAT defensive team. Lawrence Frank is due credit for imbuing most of the roster with a defensive-minded toughness, but Kidd is the only one of Jersey’s guards who has not only the mentality but the skill to be a wonderful defender. Carter is working harder on defense than he ever has before, and Jefferson does his best with limited mobility, but neither is known as an absolute great defender. Outside of Mikki Moore, can you cite anyone on that roster who lives to play defense? Only Jason Kidd. Lebron James is a player blessed with Kidd-esque court vision, great handle, and an even better size-quickness combo. Still, he often comes up short when he’s not scoring (not last night though, see above), fails to defend consistently, and cannot run the break in the way that his skills allow (though this is mostly the fault of his coach and the Cavs’ system). After watching Lebron last night, my mind couldn’t help but return to the fact that Kidd’s performance this spring has been among the best of all time. Factor in that he is single handedly denying critics who call him too slow and old, and you have what could have been a GREAT story in rounds one and two. The NBA, ESPN, and other media outlets really dropped the ball in not covering Kidd more closely. I’m praying that New Jersey surrounds Kidd some more consistent shooters, a big man finisher (Krstic can fill this roll in a year or two), and some better perimeter defense, because Kidd deserves a legitimate shot at a title, and his time is running out.
-Another Lebron-related observation. Bron Bron started on Prince. The Pistons immediately isolated Prince on the wing, utilizing Davis and Wallace to set hard down screens on the week side to open up Billups and Hamilton. Unable to use his size to disrupt Prince, the Detroit Forward was able to either make the right pass or take it strong to the basket (9 asts, 6-6 from the line). Kobe would have stopped that, Jordan would have stopped that, hell, Sasha Pavlovic even helped stop that, the Cavs moved him onto Prince by the second quarter. Lebron is not a good defender, on or off the ball. This makes Mike Brown even more of a defensive genius, he is playing 1st class defense and his best player is a 3rd class defender.
-Who has been the best player in these playoffs? Baron Davis, Tim Duncan, and Steve Nash all make good cases. Davis and Duncan have elevated their games (Duncan does this EVERY YEAR and NOBODY talks about him like he’s a big time player. When they need to be, his shots are better and his passes are crisper.) Lebron? Mediocre for much of the playoffs. Bryant didn’t last long enough. Detroit survives because each of its five starters is an MVP in his own right. The best player, however, was Jason Kidd, who ended his playoff run averaging a triple double for two series. New Jersey, playing with out center Nenad Krstic is NOT a great team. Since his injuries, Richard Jefferson got scared and became a jump shooter. Vince Carter has stretches (seemingly at the worst time) where he suddenly loses motivation and composure (been an issue his whole career). Jason Kidd RUNS that team. Not only in the way that Nash does. Nash runs everything by virtue of having the ball in his hands. What Kidd does as a pg is similar to Nash, but he does even more on defense, when the ball isn’t in his hand. His size and defensive craftiness are what make the Nets a GREAT defensive team. Lawrence Frank is due credit for imbuing most of the roster with a defensive-minded toughness, but Kidd is the only one of Jersey’s guards who has not only the mentality but the skill to be a wonderful defender. Carter is working harder on defense than he ever has before, and Jefferson does his best with limited mobility, but neither is known as an absolute great defender. Outside of Mikki Moore, can you cite anyone on that roster who lives to play defense? Only Jason Kidd. Lebron James is a player blessed with Kidd-esque court vision, great handle, and an even better size-quickness combo. Still, he often comes up short when he’s not scoring (not last night though, see above), fails to defend consistently, and cannot run the break in the way that his skills allow (though this is mostly the fault of his coach and the Cavs’ system). After watching Lebron last night, my mind couldn’t help but return to the fact that Kidd’s performance this spring has been among the best of all time. Factor in that he is single handedly denying critics who call him too slow and old, and you have what could have been a GREAT story in rounds one and two. The NBA, ESPN, and other media outlets really dropped the ball in not covering Kidd more closely. I’m praying that New Jersey surrounds Kidd some more consistent shooters, a big man finisher (Krstic can fill this roll in a year or two), and some better perimeter defense, because Kidd deserves a legitimate shot at a title, and his time is running out.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Why doesn't anyone care about the Jazz?
If a playoff team fells a giant and no one pays attention, will it make a sound?
Everyone is complaining about the NBA’s post season, but everyone is looking for fun in the wrong places. America hates the Spurs and dislikes the Pistons, we get that. Cleveland, a defensive powerhouse with one exciting offensive player only gets positive press when Lebron is involved. But there’s a four seed in the conference finals, and no one wants to pay them any attention. I was looking at ESPN’s picks for some their earlier series, and I realized that the vast majority of the ‘experts’ picked Houston in the first round and Golden State in the second. Utah is exciting, young, they play with passion, they’re an underdog, and most importantly, they are GOOD. The media made a huge mistake giving all of its attention to Golden State, a decent team that got lucky match up wise in round one. Golden State wasn’t going anywhere, and no amount of Hollinger stats will change that. Utah, while not an underdog seed wise, has never gotten any attention, and thus people have been betting against them from day one.
Now, I happen to be a defense nerd, and so Detroit and San Antonio happen to be my two favorite teams to watch outside of NYC, but most fans don’t find them entertaining and they are complaining to anyone in earshot about the possibility of a San-Antonio/Detroit final. Stop bitching America, your team is right here! Sure, Utah is hurt because it is a small market, but playing in a big market is no longer a pre-requisite for exposure (see San Antonio, Indiana, Portland in the early 2000’s) . In the age of the internet, any team that plays well can get a degree of exposure. There is no excuse for the league and the media’s neglect of the Jazz. This is a great team, a team that came out of no where to be included in the top four teams in the league. This team has no where to go but up. As long as they stay healthy, Utah is going to become a mainstay in the conference elite as San Antonio ages. I don’t think they are going to take this series (my preview should be up later, if its not up before game one know that I’m picking the Spurs in 6), but the team has so much upside its scary. And yet, no one seems to care. If the impossible happens and the Spurs fall before this team, maybe America will finally turn its head and pay attention, but they should have done this already. The Jazz won a game seven on the road in their first playoff series as a team. You almost never see that. I expect great things from this squad and I hope that people start recognizing the same thing.
Everyone is complaining about the NBA’s post season, but everyone is looking for fun in the wrong places. America hates the Spurs and dislikes the Pistons, we get that. Cleveland, a defensive powerhouse with one exciting offensive player only gets positive press when Lebron is involved. But there’s a four seed in the conference finals, and no one wants to pay them any attention. I was looking at ESPN’s picks for some their earlier series, and I realized that the vast majority of the ‘experts’ picked Houston in the first round and Golden State in the second. Utah is exciting, young, they play with passion, they’re an underdog, and most importantly, they are GOOD. The media made a huge mistake giving all of its attention to Golden State, a decent team that got lucky match up wise in round one. Golden State wasn’t going anywhere, and no amount of Hollinger stats will change that. Utah, while not an underdog seed wise, has never gotten any attention, and thus people have been betting against them from day one.
Now, I happen to be a defense nerd, and so Detroit and San Antonio happen to be my two favorite teams to watch outside of NYC, but most fans don’t find them entertaining and they are complaining to anyone in earshot about the possibility of a San-Antonio/Detroit final. Stop bitching America, your team is right here! Sure, Utah is hurt because it is a small market, but playing in a big market is no longer a pre-requisite for exposure (see San Antonio, Indiana, Portland in the early 2000’s) . In the age of the internet, any team that plays well can get a degree of exposure. There is no excuse for the league and the media’s neglect of the Jazz. This is a great team, a team that came out of no where to be included in the top four teams in the league. This team has no where to go but up. As long as they stay healthy, Utah is going to become a mainstay in the conference elite as San Antonio ages. I don’t think they are going to take this series (my preview should be up later, if its not up before game one know that I’m picking the Spurs in 6), but the team has so much upside its scary. And yet, no one seems to care. If the impossible happens and the Spurs fall before this team, maybe America will finally turn its head and pay attention, but they should have done this already. The Jazz won a game seven on the road in their first playoff series as a team. You almost never see that. I expect great things from this squad and I hope that people start recognizing the same thing.
Detroit vs. Cleveland
Much has happened in the NBA world since my last post, and it certainly appears as though most of America has written off the rest of the playoffs as a farce… which seems to happen every time the Spurs win the title. In the East, the conference finals feature a Detroit team that appears neigh unbeatable (aside from 5 halves in which they forgot how to play basketball). The ‘Stones face off against a coasting Cavs team. During their widely unappreciated series with New Jersey, the Cavs showed stretches where they played some of the best man-to-man defense I’ve seen all year. They remind me of the ’04 Pistons in their great ability to absolutely smother the pick and roll (the similarities stop there). During the regular season, the Pistons walked away with the series, winning three to the Cavs one. The Cavaliers only victory was a closely fought overtime contest in Detroit. It is going to be interesting how the Pistons play James, especially considering that he is the only player on that team who can hurt them. If they go to man, I don’t think any of the Pistons match up well with Bron Bron. Prince might hurt him with his length and quickness, but if Lebron mixes up his game and takes Prince into the post he might create havoc. I fully expect the Pistons to go zone, utilizing Prince in the middle to force James to stay on one side of the floor. On the other end, the Pistons are better equipped to match up with Cleveland’s man-to-man than anyone. Detroit has players able to score at all five positions and they move the ball well enough that each of those five can get looks. Detroit’s strength on offense is that it starts three of the best playmakers in the game (Billups of course, Webber, and the underrated passer, Rasheed Wallace). Last year, Cleveland (and Miami) was able to play off Ben Wallace, but they can’t do that with Webber. If any of Detroit’s players get doubled, they not only have plenty of options of where to pass, they have the ability and desire to make that good pass.
I’d like to call this a sweep in the Pistons’ favor, but time and again, Detroit has displayed a propensity to let down after a amassing a lead in a series. Though they are better than I expected, I still see remnants of the ‘flip-the-switch’ mentality that killed the Pistons last year, and often did them in the regular season this year. Still, if they drop more than one against Cleveland, I will be very surprised. Thus, I pick…
Detroit in 5
I’d like to call this a sweep in the Pistons’ favor, but time and again, Detroit has displayed a propensity to let down after a amassing a lead in a series. Though they are better than I expected, I still see remnants of the ‘flip-the-switch’ mentality that killed the Pistons last year, and often did them in the regular season this year. Still, if they drop more than one against Cleveland, I will be very surprised. Thus, I pick…
Detroit in 5
Friday, May 11, 2007
Rolling 'stones
The Detroit Pistons are playing like a team on a mission. ESPN’s new morning show reported that they were unhappy about not being included among the league’s elite, and my question is, when did this team stop being one of the NBA’s elites? This is a team that has made the Eastern Conference finals (the NBA’s final four) the last four years in a row. Furthermore, five out of the past six years, Detroit has won the Central Division (the year they missed was 2004, when they won the title) The Spurs might have more championships, but other than them, Detroit is the closest thing to a dynasty the NBA has had in the past five years. Unlike last year’s playoffs, when they made it as far as they did purely on the weakness of the rest of the East, Detroit this year is playing like a champion. The Bulls were hot at the regular season’s end and in the first round, this is a good Chicago team. Apparently they are not good enough. Detroit is defending out of its mind, the Bulls guards are completely unable to figure out Detroit’s vice like zone. On offense, the Pistons starting line up, featuring five legitimate offensive threats, is coming together at just the right time, especially Tayshaun Prince, the best 3 (who plays like a 3) in this round (taking over for Deng last round). Most importantly is the focus Detroit is bringing every single night. According to reports, the Pistons’ players and opponents are citing a new level of intensity as the reason behind the Pistons’ improved play. No kidding. Entering the playoffs I wondered aloud about the Pistons’ ability to turn it on. As the regular season came to a close, they were not playing a high quality of basketball. The Bulls were by far playing like the better team. Seems as though the Pistons have gotten their game together at just the right time. They could win a championship at this clip.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
#32, Tri-Captain, Herb Williams
According to the NY Post Herb Williams is interviewing with the Bobcats for a head coaching job. They talk about how Williams has been garnering respect around the league. I am thrilled. Williams, always known as a class act, has been only a gentleman while providing hard work on the coaching staff of a fairly atrocious Knicks franchise. One of the only stable names in the Isiah era, Williams has been a great asset to this chaotic team. I hope Williams gets the head coaching job that he deserves, especially with guys like Doc Rivers out there getting contract extensions.
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