Continuing the classics

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Turn on ESPN Classic

Tonight and tomorrow on ESPN Classic, they’re showing a marathon of classic games from NBA finals series of years past. Game five of Bulls/Lakers from 1991 just finished and got me thinking about how different the basketball landscape in the early 1990’s would have been had Magic not retired (or gotten sick). The Lakers, still rebuilding from the loss of Jabbar, were fortunate to have a young Elden Campbell (who exploded for 20+ in the game I just watched), the talented Vlade Divac, and Sam Perkens. Those were three quality centers. Combine that with A.C. Green and you have the making of a great front line. Magic, of course, was still in his prime, and you have to think the Lakers would have contended for years to come. Some other points about 1990’s basketball as I watch these games:

-People complain about bad calls these days, well I hate to break it to everyone but refs have been screwing up for years. One sequence in the fourth quarter of this game really blew my mind. Jordan and Campbell get tangled up fighting for a loose ball and a jump is called. Jordan gets up and starts screaming that he had called time out, and immediately, without even consulting the rest of the officiating team, the ref changes the call. If that had happened to Dwayne Wade in the finals last year there would have been riots on the streets of Dallas. EDIT: Lightning struck again in the fourth quarter of game six in 1992. Drexler fumbles the ball, Scottie Pippen looks at the refs and indicates a travel, and after a slight hesitation the call is made. Unbelievable.

-Scottie Pippen was a terrific rebounder. Watching him in these past two games (I’m now checking out the 1992 finals) brings Sean Marion to mind. He gets his rebounds less by taking his man out of position and more by using his length and athleticism creatively to snatch rebounds from opponents boxing him out. In the mid 90’s there was a camp of people who argued that Pippen was the second best player in the league behind Jordan. Back then I thought it was a crazy thought, but watching him today makes me not so sure, he was truly a complete player in every sense of the word. Was he better than Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Grant Hill, Olajuwon, or some of the decade’s other greats? I don’t think so, but you have to put him at least in the same category.

-Terry Porter really ran an exciting offence. This Portland team pushed the ball so effectively, and with Drexler’s athleticism, they were really a joy to watch. (Its funny to watch Drexler skying all over with youth-like athleticism, only to see him turn around and witness the huge bald spot. Its like watching a grandfather suddenly realize he can jump.) Not only did Portland run the floor effectively (99 possessions per game), they did it with the league’s second best defense (per 100 possession). Watching this team makes me more excited for my upcoming ‘best of the rest’ list because it’s a squad I never really appreciated. In the three seasons from 1990-1992, the Blazers lost in the Finals twice and in the Conference Finals once, one of the best squads in those early years of the Jordan era. Its amazing what wining a championship can do to a team’s legacy.

-Knicks/Rockets game seven is on now (2am). I skipped the second half of the '93 Game six in order to be fresh for this one. I haven't watched this game since I was eight years old when it was first played, and after watching the pre-game intros, I can tell you that the magic is still there. I felt a tug at my heart when my Knicks came out, and the moment Hakeem showed his face, I seethed with jealousy for just a moment.

-The game is over and, emotionally drained, I head for bed. But not before making this comparison. In 1994, Pat Riley had a player in John Starks who played through injury to help New York make the championship. Game 7 rolls around and Starks has one of the worst shooting performances of his career. As each 3-poiner grazes off the rim, New York fans world wide (including announcer Marv Albert) look down the Knicks bench to young Hubert Davis. Davis, a young man who has proven himself to be a great shooter, barely plays, sitting along side fellow guard Rolando Blackman. Riley hesitates to make the switch because of loyalty to his veteran, who deserves admiration for playing through injury. Starks ends up shooting 2/18, possibly costing the Knicks the championship. It is now 13 years later and a veteran point guard (Larry Hughes) on the overmatched Cavs team is starting and playing at the expense of exciting young Boobie. Loyal to his pg, Brown has said he will not make the lineup change because Hughes has battled through injuries so valiantly. Yet perhaps Brown should heed the words of Riley, who now calls playing Starks so much in games 6 and 7 the biggest mistake in his coaching career. Loyalty is a wonderful thing to see, but I bet if you asked Starks today, he would have rather won the championship on the bench than been faced with the disgrace of losing on the floor.

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.

Utah D's up Huh?

-Yesterday’s Detroit/Chicago game was painful. Time and again, the Bulls’ post defense, held by me to among the league’s best, got burned by whoever got them down low. In 15 minutes of play, Jason Maxiell had 8 rebounds (lets keep watching this young man), and the Pistons’ starting front line had seven boards each (Rasheed Wallace did it in 18 minutes), all told, the Bulls got out rebounded 51-30, giving up 15 offensive boards. Meanwhile, the Bull’s started in some pathetic half court trap, in an effort to keep the ball out of Billup’s hands in transition. They accomplished that mission, but Tayshaun Prince did an admirable job bring the ball up court, giving it to Billups once the point guard was good and set. All in all, the Pistons were never taken out of their game, and the Bulls never looked like they were ever into it. I wonder if the Bulls are just content, I certainly hope not as I still believe that this team can take it to the finals if they get it together (and if the Pistons start slipping).

-Meanwhile, in Utah, we saw a game of contrasting styles indeed. Don’t let the triple digit score fool you, this game saw a back and forth where some stretches were played up tempo, and during others Utah was able to slow things down a bit. I was really surprised how well Golden State was able to bother Boozer, holding him to 6-15. Though, his 10 offensive rebounds, 20 overall, speak for themselves. I also immediately regret not putting Al Harrington in the scout, I didn’t think he could bounce back from the last series and I was clearly wrong. We are in for another good one involving the Jazz.

Detroit vs. Chicago

As I’ve said twice now already in this space, I’m really, really looking forward to this series. I picked Detroit in seven before the playoffs began and I’m sticking with that, though a lot of evidence points in the opposite direction. What’s going to be great about this series is that it showcases two great defensive teams with very different styles. Chicago’s defense is designed to lead to fast break opportunities. The Bulls pack the defense inside, forcing the opposing team to take outside shots, and then the quick Bulls guards grab the rebound and run with it. Detroit is quite the opposite. When they play man, they practically dare opposing guards to try to take them off the dribble or make an entry pass. Their perimeter defense is so tight its hard for either of those to happen, but its really the only way to beat them because it is so tough to get open looks from outside. While the Bulls like to push the tempo off missed shots, the Pistons like to set up their deadly, patient offence. As I pick a winner, I’m throwing all the stats out the window for this one. The fact of the matter is, this is a professional Detroit team, able to turn it on at the right time, which they have done. Before the playoffs began I questioned their ability to do just that, I worried that they might be coasting, but their domination of the Magic has shown me that my worries had no foundation. Like I said in my initial prediction, this series can go either way. I pick Detroit for their depth, and because Chicago, as a perimeter oriented team, fits right into their hands. But man will this be a good one.

Detroit in 7

60 Point Halves, Parity, and More

Didn't get to watch the Bulls or the Nets roll tonite (my housemates outvoted me in favor of watching Redsox/Yankees), and its a shame. I am now officially in awe of Jason Kidd, despite multiple knee surgeries and despite me losing faith in his durability, he is showing that he deserves to be mentioned as one of the best clutch players of all time (in addition to being among the top 10 point guards of all time and the top 2 transition point guards of all time). The Nets are playing out of their minds right now, and if they can close out the Raptors, I think they stand a good chance of 'upsetting' the overrated (and overseeded) Cavs.

I now regret claiming that the Heat would take the Bulls to seven games, its as if I bought into the Heat hype as much as everyone else. Still, I reiterate, this Heat team is just not very good.

Meanwhile, we are about to enter the fourth quarter of a Golden State route. A few observations:
-Rarely have I seen a good, right handed, seven footer look as lost in low post as Dirk does right now. He's not doing too badly (7/15 shooting right now), but Stephen Jackson and the rest of the Warriors have done a terrific job keeping out of the middle of the floor where he is most deadly, forcing him to either low post where it is more difficult to get off a shot. I wonder why more teams haven't utilized such a tactic over the course of the season.

-After every made basket in the first half (where they scored 60) the Warriors, if undetered by full court pressure, throw a long pass to around midcourt. They break on plays were they don't even have numbers. For every moment of every game, all five players on the court are thinking three things: 'run, run, and run some more.'

-The Warriors are not a good defensive team personell wise, but they are a smart team defensivly, defending Nowitzki effectivly and taking the Mavs out of their desired offensive schemes.

-I, like the good folks at ESPN, am starting to think upset, and what that would mean for this Mavs team. I'm pretty sure the only thing more dissapointing than losing a 2-0 finals lead is to be the best team in the regular season, only to have it all unravel in the first round. Furthermore, think about what would happen if both the Heat and Mavs lose in the first round. I can't remember the last time both confrences were without their champions in round two (the last champion to keep its team intact and lose in round one were the 99-00 Spurs who were without Tim Duncan). This speaks volumes about the level of parity attained by the NBA in the past decade. Between 1989 and 2002, only five teams won titles, with the Bulls taking six, the Lakers taking three, the Pistons and Rockets taking two each, and the Spurs taking one. Yet, in the years from 2003 to today, we have already seen three teams win titles, with only the Spurs taking more than one. I think that this is great. If the Mavs get eliminated, that leaves, I think, five teams with realistic shots at winning the title (Spurs, Pistons, Bulls, Suns, Rockets). I love it, I love that you can't pick a champion for sure, you really get the sense that anyone can win.

-Finally, Jason Richardson does more than jump high, his shot is deadly, keeping defenses honest. And with his athleticism and explosivness, he is capable of getting to the rim on drives. Baron Davis is the best player on this Warriors team, but Richardson has gone from being a mindless scorers to a perfect fit for a well oiled Warriors machine.

First Round Dominance

Did you catch a look at Kobe Bryant's face at all last night? Did you see the frustration in his eyes every time he turned the ball over or missed one of his forced up fade aways? Didn't he resemble that guy in pickup games who knows he can do better but consistantly gets flustered into making a mistake? Kobe's face was one that I, and all amature ballers like me know all too well, it was the face of a guy who is overmatched, a guy unable to do what he knows he needs to do in order to win. Forget their offense last night (well, forget it for a minute), the Phoenix Suns, as a team, played some of the best defense I've seen from them, and they used it to control the game, almost from begining to end. Early in the broadcast, Craig Sager reported that Dantoni was going to use a different set of schemes on Bryant. The ever impressive Raja Bell remained Kobe's primary defender, but his perimeter and weak side help defenders played off their men enough for a consistant barrage of double teams. No matter where he recieved the ball, whether he brought it up the court or whether the Lakers ran him off screens, Kobe was hounded by two or more Suns' defenders. I give the Suns a raw deal sometimes, partially because I don't believe they are as good a playoff team as the Spurs and Mavs are. Still, when they play well, the Suns are among the NBA's elite, and they showed that last night. I'm not sure the Lakers can take a game off them the way they're playing, and sweaping the Lakers would leave them fresh for San-Antonio (assuming that they make it past Denver).

Many people expceted Phoenix to dominate in the first round, few expected that result from Chicago. Because they are matched up with the defending champs, pundits (including myself) and experts everywhere imagined that this 4/5 matchup (which is really a 3/5 matchup) would be a dogfight. The fact is, we were all fooled by the myth that superstars can turn bad teams into good teams overnight. Miami never played up to the level they demonstrated during the '05-'06 season. A large part of that was due to injuries, but part of it stems from the fact that Miami's pieces are getting old, and its young guns' growth (Kopono, Haslem, and Posey) have been marginalized by a system that revolves around two players. Miami is not in Chicago's league, that was evident in game 1, where Chicago pulled out a victory despite playing their worst game in months, and it became painfully clear by the buzzer of game 2. When Chicago buckled down, they prevented the Heat from getting the looks they wanted, and then ran the ball down their throats. Chicago is an elite team in the East, part of a tier that I think includes only them and Detroit. Miami is a playoff team, but the stars are no longer aligned for them, a championship is too much to hope for, especially when they had the luck of being matched up with the beast of the east in round 1. I'm not going to predict a sweap now, though I wouldn't be surprised, I will say,however, that these two games have demonstrated how overrated Miami really is.

Finally, I wish the NBA would throw me a bone and let me watch some of the Toronto/NJN series, because that looks like its the best (only?) series in the east right now.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare myself for a night of terrific bball.

Watching Bulls/Heat

-Thabo Sefolosha is doing such a good job on Wade. That length is giving Dwayne trouble, but I'm legitiamtly surprised to see his speed keeping up with #3... as I type, Sefolosha forces Wayne right into Nocioni- charging foul. Wade isn't exaclty having his way with Hienrich, but he's having a much easier time getting shots off. I think the 6-7 Sefolosha is just too lanky and long for the 6-4 Wade.

-Shaq got off to such a good start, I jumped on the 'Ben Wallace has lost it' bandwagon halfway into the second. Seriously though, Ben Wallace has some gift to defend Shaq the way he does. How do you push an object that big off the low block? I'm sure that someone, somwhere has written this, but forcing Shaq to a right hand hookshot is the only way to stop from scoring on the left side, even at his age he has suck a quick spin going baseline, one of the best in the L right now.

-Tyrus Thomas jumps high. Seriously, he's comming over so quickly with such good timing that he's effecting every shot taken in the lane. Payton just lost a pass out of bounds, try to make that pass with Thomas' wingspan blocking your vision like that. If I were the heat, I'd throw it to Morning and take it to Thomas that way. Let's see how the Heat adjust in the fourth quarter, they are getting no offence from anyone besides Antoine Walker's shooting. I'm starting to think that thats the best way to beat the champs, make Toine jack it from outside.

-Teams shooting a combined 8-31 from 3... ugly, ugly fourth quarter so far.

-I can't say im surprised at this outcome (a closly fought Bulls win), but I don't understand why people view this as an upset. Every season is new, and if you look at both these teams and how they played this past season, you would see that the Bulls are just a suprior squad. People say that their lack of inside scoring will hurt them, but I've waited all season and haven't seen it.

Eastern Confrence Playoff Predictions

First round:

1. Detroit vs. 8. Orlando
Pistons in 5
Orlando wins my award for most disappointing team in the NBA. Now they find themselves in a no win situation against the Pistons. Detroit won the season series 4-0, and I see very little reason for them not to sweep. The only thing that might hurt the Pistons is their tendency to play down to the competition. Hopefully this will subside come playoff time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out flat and allow the Magic to steal a game. Look for Howard to have a big series no matter the outcome; he averaged 21 and 14 against Detroit during the regular season


2. Cleveland vs. 7. Washington
Cleveland in 4
This was the rematch everyone wanted, but unfortunately for fans world wide, the Wizards just don’t have the weapons to get it done. This was the only match up that I didn’t look at the numbers for. That said, I expect some of the games to be close. Washington has been playing some good ball since Arenas went down, losing five of their games in April by less than 10 points. Antonio Daniels and Deshawn Stevenson have been playing good ball and will do their best to keep it close. In the end, Washington just doesn’t have the weapons to get the job done.

3. Toronto vs. 6. New Jersey
Toronto in 6
Home court means everything in this match up. During the regular season, the home team won every game, with Carter being fairly terrible in both games in Toronto. He shot a combined 9-32 in the two games in Toronto, though he was good for ten assists in the second one. New Jersey has been playing some very good ball lately, but I think Toronto makes for some match up problems. While Chris Bosh has struggled a bit against the Nets’ front line (17 and 7), I don’t think Jason Kidd has the speed to keep up with Ford in a 7 game series. Toronto has the ability to push the tempo, and while New Jersey is a good running team in general, Carter’s game is better suited for the half court.
EDIT: I'm very surprised that most of the online sports world disagrees with me here.

4. Miami vs. 5. Chicago (Chicago has home court)
Chicago in 7
The biggest loser tonight, other than Chicago (who dropped from 2 to 5), was Miami. I think Miami matches up much better against Cleveland, they would have won that series. Chicago has the best low post defense in the East, and they will do a very good job on Shaq. The only game the Bulls lost this season was an utter blow out (103-70) in which they had 20 turnovers and shot 35%. This will not happen night in and night out. Wade is Wade, and will be good for a few wins, but I still think Chicago is the hottest team in the East and will be too tough for this very good Miami team.
EDIT: I am not surprised that the majority of the online sports world disagrees with me here.

Second Round:
1. Detroit vs. 5. Chicago: Detroit in 7
(I should say that I still believe that this series could go either way. I give it to Detroit simply because Chicago will be comming off a much more difficult series and Detroit is better equiped to go a full 7 games.)

2. Cleveland vs. 3. Toronto: Cleveland in 6

Finals: 1. Detroit vs. 2. Cleveland: Detroit in 7


These are my predictions as I see them. When the first round ends, I'll revaluate these and provide full analysis for the second round.

Why I'm psyched for the eastern confrence playoffs

We're not talking about the Knicks game tonite beyond saying this, in the last two games I've seen them play, against the Nets and then tonite, Chicago is playing like a team on a mission. I cannot say the same thing, right now, about the Pistons.

The way things are in the East today, the Pistons would play Miami in round two, with Miami at the four seed and Chicago at the two seed. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket would be Chicago and Toronto. If these are indeed the two second round series, I think NBA fans are in for a treat. Right now, I would have to say that Chicago is playing the best ball in the conference. That said, however, I think the conference is the Pistons' to lose. Still, would anyone be surprised if Miami made it right back to the finals? I doubt it. But what about Toronto? I picked this team to win the Atlantic in the pre-season, but I had no clue that Chris Bosh and his European teammates would come along so quickly. So fans would be flipping between a rematch of last year's semi-finals, in which the Heat would face their biggest test of the season (was the Shaq-inspired run a fluke? Is Wade going to rejoin the team in good enough shape to run with the stones?), and seeing big man Bosh taking on the best low post defense in the league.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen, we are positioned right now for the best East second round since 2001 (remember that Bucks/Hornets series? That was a great seven game match, surpassed only by Iverson and Carter's personal game of 'can you top this' in that 76ers/Raptors match).

As good as last year's tourney was, I'm starting to get really excited for the next couple of months.


By the way, if I had to pick, it would be Detroit and Chicago battling in a series that might be the best of them all...