The Association

Thursday TNT Hoops Preview

By Craig Kwasniewski

You know tonight there's actually more than just announcing the All Star Reserves, right? TNT was nice enough to put together a virtual pick-me-up bouquet of a double-header to cheer up the Deron Williams, Chris Kaman and Andrew Bynum fans as their guys failed to make the All Star game (in D-Will's case... yet again).

BTW - While I have your attention, I have a very hard time admitting any New York Knicks to All-Star Weekend, to defend a slam dunk title or as a power forward reserve, after that 50 point embarrassment last Sunday. Yeah they sort of bounced back against the second worst team in the league, but no team should ever lose a home game by 50. Never not any! As punishment, all Knicks should lose their Dallas privileges for that weekend. Sorry to all those David Lee lifers.

Back to Thursday's Hoop Preview (all times Pacific):

Boston at Orlando (5:00 PM):  Nice to open with a rematch of the Eastern Conference Semis.  And really nice of Boston to be nearly in the same health with KG dragging his knee all over the floor as Celtics fans cross their fingers together so hard they bleed hoping and praying he'll be healthy enough for the playoff run.  Sheed is on week 13 of his 26 week play-myself-into-shape workout regimen.  The funny thing is does he really need to be in shape to trail on the break, jack up threes from the top of the arc or occasionally play in the post?  Obviously Sheed agrees while Celtics fans slowly accept that he's signed until 2011-12.... Have fun with that Boston!

Orlando is still looking for an identity while learning that life ain't so easy with championship expectations, learning to play Vince Carter ball (poor shot selection, random injuries, disappearing acts) and with a big target on your back. Last year Orlando stole a few games while the rest of the league was debating between Boston or Cleveland as the beast of the east.  I'm wondering if Magic fans saw Turkoglu break down the Lakers last Sunday and pull out a very veteran savvy W.  How many fans are secretly wanting a do over between Carter and Hedo. 

Boston blew out Orlando on Christmas Day.  *IF* the Magic decide to actually work the ball inside to Dwight Howard, they win easily.  The problem is that much of this season the Magic have gone away from their best player, which totally makes sense?!?  Tonight they attack down low and Orlando wins 96-88.

Dallas at Phoenix (7:30 PM):  Danger, danger, danger!  It's officially panic time in Phoenix!  In November they were talking 50+ wins and a long shot at another MVP award for Steve Nash.  Now... now, they break out with huge leads in the second quarter, blow them late and lose every single time.  Injuries are starting to mount, the coaching staff is making panic line-up adjustments and the feeling is that they'll be lucky to get an 8 seed.  And let's not forget the HUGE pink elephant that is the Amar'e Stoudemire trade rumors.  Early in the season I really liked how this Suns roster was put together.  They had the right finishers and more importantly the best perimeter shooting since the 06-07 team.  But they lack that run stopping low post threat.  Amar'e is more of a pick and roll finisher and nobody else has the low post game... so they become the typical live-by-the-three die-by-the-three team and there's a lot of dying these days.

Dallas seems very content in their role as 2nd or 3rd best team in the west.  They're pulling out every close game (10 one point wins in a row!) and have the right mix of talent to be considered a Western Conference Finalist.  Not bad for a team that looked to pull off the ultimate panic trade for Jason Kidd.  Instead they got a floor leader that took off all the pressure on Dirk, who's playing his best basketball since the MVP season.  Serious props to the Mavs front office for this team!

Quite simply, Phoenix is deep into panic mode and won't be able to protect any lead (if any) as Dallas wins easily 112-101.

Thoughts on the Draft Day Trades

By Craig Kwasniewski

I'm not really up on all the players drafted yesterday since the only NCAA hoops I watched all year was from the Las Vegas Hilton on the first weekend of March Maddness... Basically my knowledge on the college scene falls somewhere between Stu Scott and Rick Kamla (or Vanilla Scott as I like to call him).

So here are my thoughts on the trades from the past 48-hours:

1 - Shaq to Cleveland:  Props to the NBA media for not overreacting and proclaiming the Cavs the 2010 NBA Champs. Props to Danny Ferry for going "all in" and taking a chance on Shaq, hoping to convince LeBron to re-sign in 2010.  And props for Donald T. Sterling 2.0 for completely ruining one of the NBA's greatest franchises and killing Steve Nash's final years as a player.  This trade has way more questions than answers. 

Will Shaq play second fiddle to the league's biggest alpha dog?  He thinks Kobe was bad but LeBron runs EVERYTHING in Cleveland.  His teammates, his gags, his front office... this is LeBron's team.  From Penny to Kobe to Wade... all three All-Stars were young and didn't have the locker room pull that LeBron has.  Kobe was stubborn and always battling Shaq to be THE number one, but Shaq always had the Lakers roster and coaching staff on his side.  Shaq is clearly the outsider in Cleveland, will his ego accept being a number #2?

And don't tell me that he settled in with Phoenix as the #2!  Just one season in, the Suns were slowing things down and dumping to Shaq just like all the previous teams he played for.  Now we're hearing that Nash requested the Suns trade away Shaq.  He's 37 years old and he's never changed his demeanor as a player.  Why would he change now?

Will Shaq have patience for Mike Brown, the guy who was thoroughly out-coached by Mr. Master of Panic Stan Van Gundy?  As the Eastern Conference Finals showed us (and as I've been literally screaming for years!), the Cavs have one play in their offensive playbook.  Just one!  High screen and roll for LeBron where his options are: 1) step back for a three, 2) drive down the lane, 3) pass to the corner for a three, 4) hit the rolling big man to the hoop.  That's it!  But LeBron is so damn talented that he normally overcomes defenses (well expect when playing the Lakers, Orlando or Boston, but NOBODY seemed to remember this during the regular season DESPITE THE LAKERS SWEEPING THEM!!!)  Anyway, Mike Brown is CLEARLY the worst head coach that Shaquille O'Neal has played for (and yes that includes Terry Porter and Del Harris).

The Cavs now have their first low-post option since a pre-lockout Shawn Kemp in 1998.  Will Mike Brown add a second page to his offensive playbook and post up Shaq?  What happens when they face Orlando during a regular season game and start trailing?  Will Shaq DEMAND the ball during timeouts or will Mike Brown freeze up (like in the ECF's) and just ask LeBron to save them?  How soon before Shaq realizes the huge gap in ability between Mike Brown and Stan Van Gundy?

Does this trade make LeBron Tom Hagen?  Or is he Connie?  One of Shaq's best quotes was his comparison of his superstar teammates to the Corleone Family.  Penny Hardaway was Fredo (hilarious), Kobe was Sonny (temperamentally very true) and Dwyane Wade was Michael (maybe).  There's really only two left, Connie and the adopted Tom Hagen.  The way I see it, Steve Nash and LeBron is Tom Hagen who was one of the smarter and more appearance-savvy members of the Corleone Family... much like LeBron.  Nash as Connie totally makes sense considering Connie was the least valuable sibling in the Corleone family (BTW - Nash and Shaq combined for ONE playoff victory)... HOWEVER her actions did lead to Sonny’s death. And Nash did eliminate Kobe twice in the playoffs.

2 - Vince Carter to Orlando:  The Magic gave up virtually nothing and got a former All-Star to add depth to the defending Eastern Conference Champ AND/OR a quality back-up plan in case Hedo leaves.  A brilliant deal!  If Orlando gets 80% of Vince Carter from his All-Star days AND they re-sign Hedo you're looking at the favorites in the Eastern Conference.  They added scoring and athletic depth and another player that will force defenses to spread out and give Howard even more space to score from down low.  If Howard expands his low-post game (which he will), the look out, this might be the next NBA Champs.

If Hedo leaves, they are still one of the top contenders.  With Carter they'll get a player like Hedo who can clear out defenses and iso during crunch time.  But I think Hedo will stay in Orlando.  Now all of this depends on Carter's motivation... which should be high now that he's closer to a NBA title than ever before.

Here's my question... With Cleveland and Orlando making major moves, will Boston try to counter?

3 - Richard Jefferson to San Antonio:  Spurs get Richard Jefferson for left-over garbage (Bowen, Oberto and Thomas).  I guess Popovich is no longer complaining that the league needs a trade czar because this is almost as one-sided as the Gasol trade last year. In fact, one could argue that the Grizzlies got more because of Marc Gasol... a promising big.  The Spurs trade old size and defense and get a proven athletic scorer in Jefferson.  This trade gets the Spurs back in the second round of the playoffs but it doesn't counter the Lakers size.

Now if the Spurs can somehow find a way to sign Rasheed Wallace, then they become the odds on favorite in the West. 

4 - Jamal Crawford to Atlanta:  Wow another high-scoring player with ZERO basketball IQ!  Just when you though the Hawks were the dumbest team in the NBA, they just found a new level of supid-itude (a way of saying suckitude except with stupid).  I really can't find a proper word for how dumb this team is... but what do you expect from a team whose head coach's game face is the "who farted??" look!  Such a MEH trade!

5 - Amare to Golden State:  This isn't official until July 8th (or until EVERY Phoenix Suns season ticket holder skips town) but it looks like a done deal.  So in two seasons the Suns go from the SSOL, high-scoring, high-impact, fun to watch and with several All-Stars and a major contender to NOTHING.  What a shame!  Robert Sarver IS Donald T. Sterling 2.0 make no mistake about it.  

Initial trade rumors have the Warrior sending Curry over with Biedrins, but now I hear they're keeping Curry.  So why give up a relatively young annual All-Star with a very exciting game for absolutely nothing? 

Knock on the Clippers all you want but since they moved into Staples Center they've at least tried to assemble a team with talent.  Mis-guided efforts aside, every season Clippers fans at least have a small glint of hope when they look at their roster (Barron Davis, Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin... these are players with talent!).  But teams like Phoenix, Memphis, Sacramento and Charlotte don't even try... they're a lottery team BEFORE October!  Why plunk down hard earned $$ to even watch this crap.

Watching Phoenix dissolve into this garbage is sad.... Screw you Sarver!

Five Adjustments the Magic Need to Win Game 3

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Leaving Staples Center last night Lakers fans all around me had the feeling that this was the last Lakers game they would see in the 2008-09 season. All that was left is the trophy, the parade and the ring ceremony. Put this series in the fridge as there's no way the Orlando Magic rally from those two games and makes this a series.... or do they??? 

Stan Van Gundy pulled out all the stops, made the right adjustments and came within a missed layup from putting a real scare in the Lakers. So who's to say he won't push the right buttons in Game 3 and direct the Magic toward their first W of the series? Well Stan, I'm gonna give you five tips/adjustments for the Magic to virtually guarantee a win tonight: 

1 - Continue to go big: The rule of thumb for most NBA teams today is to go smaller and smaller, stretch the defense, create seams and space the floor for the drive and kick game... that is unless you face the Lakers. LA is long, tall and long (did I mention that they're long?). Going small works if you have a quality point guard that can consistently break through the Lakers defense... and really even then teams like Utah, New Orleans and Houston had those guards and STILL they came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard. 

The Magic needs to go big! Play Gortat at the 4, move Lewis to the 3, Turkoglu to the 2 and rotate Alston, Nelson, Lee and Pietrus at the 1 depending on the situation. Gortat and Howard are too strong down low and their mere presence have held the Lakers low post game in check. SVG played Gortat more in Game 2 and the Lakers lost their low post rhythm. Gasol and Odom had trouble posting up Gortat and eventually gave up and stayed on the perimeter. Sure Orlando loses an outside shooter and clogs the lane a little on offense, but they'll still find points as long as Turk, 'Shard and Howard are on the floor. 

2 - Defend Kobe with Turkoglu (especially in the 4th quarter): Kobe's biggest weakness is long and strong defenders. James Posey last year and Tayshaun Prince in 2004 were both long and strong defenders that held Kobe in check, basically shutting him down in the Finals. Turkoglu's size will counter Kobe's very effective post game and he's quick enough to stick with Kobe in the perimeter. Plus Kobe's competitiveness will cause him to scrap the Lakers offensive game plan just to prove to Turkoglu he can score on him all day. This especially happened in 2004 and we all know what happened. The risk is that the Magic's best 4th quarter option will be run ragged chasing Kobe but at this point it's worth the risk. And TRUST ME Turkoglu will get enough under Kobe's skin. 

3 - Don't worry about NOT playing your PG's down the stretch: For some reason SVG caught flak for benching BOTH Alston and Nelson late in the 4th quarter in game 2. Why? They weren't doing a damn thing offensively and Turkoglu's very capable of bringing the ball up court like Scottie Pippen or Odom. Plus it's not like Fisher's an offensive threat to force Orlando to adjust defensively. In essence SVG went Phil Jackson by playing a small forward at the point and size at the two with Lee/Pietrus... and it almost worked.  At home it WILL work.

4 - Bench J.J. Redick: This is not brain surgery, you got past Boston and Cleveland with Redick stuck in DNP-CD mode so why mess with success? Sure he hit a HUGE three late to tie Game 2, but the Lakers also doubled off him most of the time he was on the floor. Remember those key steals late by LA... all by guys leaving Redick wide open. Duke guys should do what they're best at doing, getting all the calls in the college game and having overrated NBA careers. 

5 - What the hell am I doing?  I'm a 10-year season ticket holder and I want another damn NBA title. No more free advice for Stan Van Gundy!  

Game 2 really put a scare in all Lakers fans.  Game 1 made us all think this was an easy sweep and the parade is just a week away.  But give all the credit in the word to SVG, he made the right adjustments and all the Magic needed was just a tiny bit of production from the PG spot and this series is tied.  Playing at the O-Rena (we will not use pyramid schemes here) will definately help the Magic's slumping outside shooting.  But fare thee be warned, the Lakers are the best road team in the NBA and in each of the three previous series they were able to lock down mentally, play with extreme focus and resolve and get a clutch win.  Hopefully the mere sent of a NBA title will draw out the same efforts that we saw in Game 4 against Utah, Game 3 against Houston and Game 3 against Denver... we shall see.

Will the Lakers pattern of huge road wins continue for Game 3?

Finals Prediction

By Craig Kwasniewski

Just a very brief prediction on the NBA Finals... Lakers in 6.

But here are some other things I hope to see:

-The real hedgehog sitting courtside for the game. Just how cool would it be when the Lakers do that "Hollywood Nights" celeb montage and we see a split screen of Stan Van Gundy and Ron Jeremy!

-Kobe winning the first "Bill Russell Memorial" Finals MVP award and temporarily silencing his critics with an NBA title. I say temporarily because, let's be honest, media members outside of LA can't wait to start the LeBron era and will continue to belittle Kobe's efforts (6 NBA Finals appearance, 4 NBA Titles, 3 All Star MVP's, one league MVP.... etc, etc, etc). Yet somehow despite all those accolades, we kept hearing how LeBron has bypassed Kobe like somehow Kobe has turned into Washington Wizards Jordan. Kobe's gonna be around for awhile folks. He's too smart and too much in tune with his body to see the type of production drop-off as we've seen with Duncan and Garnett.

And by the way, can we stop naming NBA awards after dead Boston Celtics players? Not for nothing but I believe there are 29 other teams in the league.

-Phil Jackson passing angry Red Auerbach in NBA titles.  Red has said that Phil never built a team from the ground up, but Red never had to compete for NBA titles with 29 other teams.  Red never had to deal with the NBA draft.  Red never had to deal with salary caps, player entourages, media scrutiny.... basically the modern NBA.  Can a Red Auerbach deal with the likes of Dennis Rodman or the Kobe/Shaq feud and get a combined 6 NBA titles out of them?  Phil getting his 10th NBA title ends all of that discussion.

-The beginning of the Dwight Howard era!  I know he's been around for awhile but I'm giddy about him taking his game to the next level for the next 10 years.  People gasp as the prospect of LeBron's peak years, well Dwight hasn't even started his near peak years.  This guy will DOMINATE the east for a long time, and we'll start to see teams adjust their rosters to counter him much like the NBA did when Shaq was at his peak. 

Does Anyone Really Think Cleveland Will Lose Game 5?

By Craig Kwasniewski

Game 5, LeBron's last chance to save his MVP season... will he do it?  Will Cleveland save their season?  Will Mike Brown over annunciate every word during timeouts and show us that he's worth of coach of the year?  Will LeBron prove what everyone at ESPN is praying for... that he's better than Kobe?  Man, the drama is really intense!

Ummmm, not really. 

Cleveland wins this game easily.  So here's a quick message to all media members and fans begging to anoint LeBron "the greatest ever... ever... ever... (echo.... echo... echo)"... please spare us the 10,000 word love poems.  The Cavs are the top seeded team in the NBA, playing at home, with the 2008-09 NBA coach of the year and the 2008-09 MVP... they're supposed to win! 

Save all the "gritty effort, heart of a champion, Jordan-esque" and any other cliches you can think of... they're supposed to win!

The Cavs start two All-Stars and allegedly the greatest player in the next 25 years.... they're supposed to win!

Nike and especially ABC/ESPN have a lot writing on Cleveland advancing to the NBA Finals... they're supposed to win! 

So spare us all!!!!  Because Cleveland easily wins Game 5!

A Look Back at the Playoff Preseason (First Round) - Eastern Conference

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Three weekends later and the first round is finally over.... finally! 

Remember the times when the first round was 5 games and was over by April 25th? Remember when the second round started as soon as the opponents were set?  Remember the excitement of 2 or 3 games a day no matter what with practically every game having some sort of meaning? Take away the ultra competitive Bulls - Celtics series and we were left with a bunch of yawners in the first round. I know the NBA will never reduce playoff games, but the first round looks more like a playoff preseason, even finishing behind the NHL in excitement. And the NBA should NEVER take a back seat to playoff hockey!!! 

Anyway, let's take a quick look back at all eight series in the newly christened Playoff Preseason: 

Cleveland beats Detroit 4-0: YAWN! (And that was from Piston fans who didn't sell their seats to Cavs fans.) If we're claiming the Bulls-Celtics series one of the greatest ever... ever...ever (echo-echo-echo) and making lists proclaiming it as such then let's to a list of the worst ever call this what it was: an abortion! Basically this was the worst playoff series since the Celtics-Pacers in 2004.  

The Pistons gave up on the season way back in November when Joe Dumars hired Michael "I'm afraid to stand up to my veterans" Curry and shipped their leader, their heart and their soul in Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson's expiring contract. You gotta hand it to Joe Dumars, he not only killed one of the most successful teams in professional sports but he also ripped the heart out of Iverson and offered it to Kali Ma like that dude in Temple of Doom. The end result is collision of a team on a mission against a team mailing it in. I'm guessing Stern didn't consider this when expanding the Playoff Preseason to 7 games.  

Orlando beats Philadelphia 4-2: If these teams actually had fans this might have been a little more exciting. Instead the only entertainment factor was watching the TNT crew rip the Magic apart for their offense, their coach, their star players, their role players, their fans, their city... everything. When did the Orlando Magic become the Terrell Owens of the NBA? I get that their offense is bland and uninspiring and that Dwight Howard is not yet at the level of playoff superhero but take it easy fellas. The Magic CLEARLY aren't in the same category of the Lakers, Cavs or Celtics but just a level below with Denver (thanks to their GM Joe Dumars).  I feel they're headed in the right direction. I just think Orlando like NOLA last year benefited playing the role of upstart team and stole a few W's here and there (hello Lakers!). We'll see what happens next year when they play all season with a HUGE target on their back. 

Atlanta beats Miami 4-3: Again since we're now all about absolutes, is this the worst 7-game series ever? The closest game was 10 points! Even worse, those loud 4-letter bombs you hear are coming from the ABC and TNT offices after missing out on the ratings winfall of LeBron vs. Wade. How did David Stern let this pass? The 2006 Stern would give Wade 30 to 40 freethows, the 2006 Stern would have fouled out Mike Bibby AND Joe Johnson, the 2006 Stern would have had Joe Crawford give the Hawks three tech's... oh he did?... well it least he got that right.  The 2006 Stern would have found a way to make LeBron vs. Wade happen.    

Anyway, the only other thing I got from this series is Mike Woodson's "who just farted?" face. Call me crazy but if your coach looks confused, panicked and annoyed AT THE SAME TIME... well I'm not feeling too confident unless I have a ghost writer coach like Tom Thibodeau.

Boston beats Chicago 4-3:  The greatest series ever!  The greatest clutch-ness ever!  The greatest fans ever!  The greatest coaching ever!  (SCREEECH-CRASH!!!)

Okay stop right there!  This definitely was one of the most competitive series ever.  Five of the seven games went down to the last possession with each team showing extreme cantaloupe-sized balls.  But let's take a pause before rating this as the greatest ever.  As the TNT crew said, this series was close because of parity.  If Boston had KG this goes maybe 5 and we're all talking about how boring the 2009 Playoff Preseason was.   If Chicago had a head coach they win in 5 (seriously, how many times will Ray Allen be single-guarded with the C's down three?  And how many games did Del Negro lose because he ran out of TO's?).  If Derrick Rose actually knew how to play defense the Bulls win in 6.  If Paul Pierce wasn't so run down from carrying the Celtics to 60 wins, the Celtics win in 5.  But none of that happened and instead we witnessed easily the most competitive in the Playoff Preseason since the league expanded to 7 games.  But to call it the best playoff series ever is absolutely insane. 

The best ever are filled with drama, with stars, with destiny and a feeling of importance.  Take the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals between Celtics-76ers, you have the drama (five games decided by 2 or less), the stars (Dr. J near the end of his prime and Bird coming into his own) and you have the importance (playing for a Finals appearance).  Remember last year's Suns-Spurs Game 1?  At the time people were calling it the greatest playoff game ever, basically erasing 60 plus years of NBA history along the way.  But in the end the series fizzled in 5 with neither team having any relevance in the NBA title hunt last year.  Now Game 1 is just a 30 second commercial and nothing else. 

Let's see how Boston does for the rest of the playoffs before we rank this series in history.  If they somehow find a way to compete with Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals then we're talking a heroic effort along the likes of the 1987 Celtics, who fought tooth, nail and broken ankles through to the NBA Finals.  BTW - one of my favorite teams in NBA history and a true lesson on how to properly defend a title (2006 Miami Heat I'm talking to you!).  However, if they get bounced easily by Orlando, then the Bull-Celtics series will be easily replaced by whatever close 7-game series happens next year.  

One final note about this series:  Rondo was great, but not THAT great.  What I'm sayin' is that he's put together some very impressive numbers against ZERO defense.  The Bulls focused on shutting down Paul Pierce and sagged far away from Rondo, giving him a slew of WIDE OPEN jumpers.  Also, early in the series Derrick Rose played matador defense and leaked out for fastbreak opportunities.  We heard Doc Rivers pointing that out during a timeout and Rondo took advantage to the tune of a near triple-double average.  Before we start comparing Rondo to Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson or even Chris Paul let's see what he does with defenses actually focused on him.  But WIDE OPEN is still WIDE OPEN and Rondo made the Bulls pay for not defending him one iota... so I guess he's got that going for him. 

One more final note:  Will Boston drop a banner and throw a parade for eliminating a 7-seed at home?

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski 

March Madness eat your heart out! One weekend down and there were several upsets, a few stinkers and a couple expected results. As much as I love the whole one and done March Madness thing, you don't get the physical play, the adjustments and strategy that a 7-game series offers. Here are a few thoughts with one game down in each series: 

Boston vs. Chicago - Is there room on the Derrick Rose bandwagon? The Bulls were the one team I regret not seeing in person this year. Anyone with an eye for hoops can appreciate the full range this rookie brings to the Bulls but what I didn't notice until Saturday is Rose's quick and explosive LAST step. Most players have that quick first step to blow by defenders but Rose explodes right at the rim at his last step. Also, his extremely calm nature works well with the youthful Bulls. Game 1 against the defending champs and he has the heart rate of a librarian and it's contagious as the Bulls weren't phased at all. I still think Boston wins, but the Bulls should make Rose the GM, coach and owner and build around him for the next 12 years. 

Cleveland vs. Detroit - Are we done yet? Are we done yet? Are we done yet? SWEEP! 

San Antonio vs. Dallas - One quarter in, Duncan had springy legs and looked very 2007, I was on the brink of writing a "Mavs should have kept Maquis Daniels instead of Josh Howard" piece and Nowitzki was in foul trouble... basically it didn't look good for Dallas. I left home, went out thinking the Spurs would win easily and I caught the last few seconds at a bar as Dallas... PULLED AWAY FOR A W??? What the hell happened? Suddenly Dallas looks like a very legit Western Conference finalist and San Antonio looks old.    

Portland vs. Houston - This really looks like a match-up problem for Portland more than anything else. Maybe their inexperience cost them a W as they didn't have that fifth gear or maybe they're just happy to be there.  All I know is Yao played the best playoff game of his life and showed EVERYONE that the problem was always T-MAC. 

Los Angeles vs. Utah - No Okur, no chance for Utah... it's just that simple. But the real story is the referees killing the entire second half of the game. It's no surprise that Joey Crawford was the lead ref in the worst called game of the weekend. Does the NBA pay him by the fouls? Does he really think the fans pay to see him ref? Is he out to single-handedly ruin professional hoops?  There were SIXTEEN fouls in the 3rd quarter alone and a free-flowing game became a possession-by-possession freethrow festival. Terrible! 

Orlando vs. Philadelphia - I've said this all year, Orlando doesn't have the go to guy necessary to make a deep run in the playoffs. C-Webb pretty much blew a gasket ripping on the Magic not riding Dwight Howard all game. But does Superman really want to be "that guy" with the Magic or is he content with monster numbers, monster dunks and showmanship? NBA Champions all have the definitive alpha dog and an understood chain of command. The Celtics heart lies with KG but crunchtime went Pierce first and Sugar Ray second. The early 00's Lakers had Shaq for 3 1/2 quarters with Kobe as the closer... what about Orlando? 

Atlanta vs. Miami - The Hawks put together a Special Edition Double-DVD set of highlights on the Heat on Sunday. Instead of 2006 Kobe and the Lakers with their near upset of the #2 seeded Phoenix Suns, the Heat resembled the 2007 edition and the very one-sided 4-1 loss to Phoenix. But we'll see what kind of road playoff team Atlanta is in games 3 & 4. 

Denver vs. New Orleans - Denver put together a sick 21-0 run late in the 3rd early in the 4th to put away what was a close and very physical game. Chauncey Billups went retro looking like a 2005 version going 8 of 9 from three on his way to 36 points. NOLA basically gave up at the end of the 3rd quarter so this blowout doesn't really mean the Nuggets will sweep. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if NOLA steals game 2. This really feels like a very bitter and very physical seven game series.

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski

Time to dust off another edition of MMPG. It's been awhile since the last time I did one of these, basically it's a brief look at the past weekend's action in the NBA.

The Celtics blowout in Game 7 was no surprise: Did anyone really think the Celtics would get knocked out of the playoffs by the Atlanta Hawks? Turns out, neither did the Hawks... jeezus! Talk about a major case of sphincter-itis! Actually this series totally reminded me of the Lakers-Sacto Kings in 2000. The Kings were young and hungry and rode the wave of their home court to push the league-best Lakers to a deciding Game 5. And just like Sunday, the Lakers rolled to a 113-86 win. Bring on LBJ, this will be fun!

Utah owned the glass and still loses to LA: The Jazz DOMINATED the offensive glass 25 to 8 which helped them shoot 22 more field goals than the Lakers. Mix in that Pau Gasol played like a rookie and I'm stunned the Jazz didn't win. If fact, except for a late rally, the Lakers held the Jazz in check all game. This series really comes down to the fact that the Jazz simply can't stop Kobe Bryant. And I don't want to hear anything about the refs "helping" Kobe! A lot of those fouls were because the Jazz were too late to rotate over to defend. It's weird... but a team that does such an exceptional job of containing CP3 simply can't stop Kobe.

One last thing, this might be a stretch but Derek Fisher played Deron Williams so well yesterday that I'm wondering if there's like a whole mentor-student thing there. There's no way in hell that D-Fish could hang with Williams, but he had many key steals and did a decent job of containing him. The 18, 9 and 9 were deceptive numbers, Williams wasn't much of a factor.

Rick Carlisle to the Mavs... really? Hey didn't Dallas just fire a defensive oriented coach that calls all the offensive plays? Can Mavericks fans really put up with the s-l-o-w, predictable and boring style of ball that Carlisle likes to play? And was Carlisle that much better of a coach than Avery Johnson? How many NBA Finals appearances? Exactly!

Spurs need to slow it down! Okay, I only watched portions of the Hornets-Spurs game from a distance in a bar (date night with the wife... believe me I tried!), so I won't pretend to be an expert on Game 1. But what I did see was the Spurs trying to match the NO in an up-tempo game... and they got crushed! The Spurs don't have the athletes to match Chandler, CP3 and West in an up-tempo game. Slow it up and slug it out or this will end real fast.

Pistons - Magic: Not too many thoughts here... But if anything, the Magic should try to use Hedo Turkoglu more. There were moments in the 3rd quarter where his offensive game reminded me of Scottie Pippen, but with a better outside shot. His length and ability to draw fouls while driving to the left of the cup need to be exploited more.

BTW - I used to give all the ex-2002 Sacramento Kings a bunch of crap over the years, but Turkoglu, Stojakovic, Bibby and even C-Webb (with quality in studio analysis) have done a good job to shake their choking reputations this postseason.

Magic at Clippers: Courtside Report

By Craig Kwasniewski

Got the mad hook-up again and sat in the front row for last night's Clippers-Magic game. The Clippers rallied twice from huge deficits to make it an interesting game, but eventually the Magic won 113-106. Here's some brief takes on the game (one day later as the Heinekens and whiskey sours killed me when I got home):

What a difference a year makes: The past two years, Clipper Nation came out early and often to support their playoff contending team. Well we're officially back to the "Hip to Clip" era as the stadium was 80% empty 15 minutes before the opening tip. There was no real energy at the game and with Staples Center half-empty you can definitely notice the piped-in crowd noise during the opening intros. Maybe the Clippers Spirit really do need to perform naked, because a 60% full arena against one of the top Eastern Conference teams just doesn't cut it.

Well at least the Clippers Spirit tried to "lend a hand." Here's a photo of three of them greeting fans as they enter Staples Center and posing for photos. Check out the guy at the right with the cane... nice view my man!

Dunleavy going out gangsta style: Halfway through the 2nd quarter, Coach Mike Dunleavy drew two very quick technicals (the second for yelling, "awww that's bullshit!!!") for a an immediate ejection. He turned and walked right to the tunnel and out... no argument, no restraint by the assistants and no escort by the security guards. At the time, the Clippers were trying to rally back from a huge early deficit and maybe Dunleavy felt the team needed that extra punch. Whatever it was that was a total straight-up gangsta way of getting ejected.

Sam Cassell with a a rare 4th quarter appearance: One of the knocks of Mike Dunleavy is his decision making down the stretch of games (2000 Western Conference Finals anyone?). Recently he's been keeping the franchise heart and soul, Sam Cassell, on the bench for much of the 4th quarters. THAT makes a lot of sense... bench your veteran leader for the likes of Frodo Baggins (Dan Dickau) and Brevin Knight and their "quality" play.... yikes! Anyway, with Dunleavy out, Cassell played most of the fourth quarter and was a couple of missed shots from rallying the Clippers back. Sure he missed some bunnies, but it's his leadership and poise that got them to the backk. Every time he had the ball he was looking to draw a foul or post up Jameer Nelson. Frodo flat out sucks and Brevin Knight is just a journeyman player.

The Rise of Hedo Turkoglu: No longer is he the weakass three point shooter who'd run and hide in the 4th quarter (like the 2002 Sacramento Kings). He's a got a good feel for the game now. When things bogged down, he drove the lane trying to draw a foul. And his body control after contact is excellent. The Clippers were hitting him hard, but he was still able to get off a well-balance shot for a few And-1's. Plus, the guy had a HUGE contingency of Turkish fans there rooting for him (not a good night to be Armenian). With a frontcourt of Lewis, Turkoglu and Howard, the Magic have size and the ability to stretch the defense and they’re the reason why Orlando is a top Eastern Conference Team.

The best job ever: This guy's (below) got the best job in the arena: cord boy for the camera man. So all he does is make sure the camera cord doesn't get tangled up and he gets front row baseline seats. Evidently, the only job requirement is a mullet.

The end of an era: And finally, last night marked the 10th and last time that Brett will be able to hook me up for front row seats. For a huge basketball fan like myself, it's been awesome to see the action so close up. Great memories range from the size of Yao Ming's HUGE calves, seeing Amare Stoudemire throw down on and over Elton Brand, high-fiving Gilbert Arenas, having a drink at the private celebrity lounge in the tunnel, and walking out of the tunnel next to the Washington Wizards. But my favorite was having Sam Cassell almost take my head off with an errant frustration pass that was originally intended for the basketball support. It's been great and I want to say thanks to my man, Brett for all the good times.

Are you sure I can't talk your way out of quitting your job? Oh well... on that note, I leave with a final shot of some the Clippers Spirit.

316 Report: Lakers vs. Magic

By Craig Kwasniewski

The 2007-08 Kobe reared his ugly head tonight, continuing to be a nonfactor down the stretch as the Lakers 104 lose at home to Orlando 104-97. I'm not at the point of saying that Kobe's tanking games, but in crunch-time he's not the unstoppable offensive force that he was during the 05-06 and 06-07 seasons. The 07-08 version plays the role of facilitator and the Lakers suffer in close games. Seriously, when's the last time that Kobe took over in the 4th quarter and led the Lakers to victory? Anyone? Bueller?

Anyway, here's a few more takes of what I saw from my seats high up in Section 316:

Stan Van Gundy is a very good coach: I'm not adding "great" to that statement because he hasn't taken a team to the NBA Finals yet (though I'm pretty sure he'd lead the 2005-06 Miami Heat there if Pat Riley wasn't such a glamour/attention whore). The Orlando Magic are clearly one of the top teams in the NBA. So is it because of Rashard Lewis and his asinine contract? Is it Adonal Foyle? (BTW - I had no idea he left Golden State. I thought they signed him to a lifetime contract. Wasn't he the only player there without a record? Didn't they need someone to make charity appearances?)

Anyway, a combination of Van Gundy's coaching (he's a hell of a defensive coach) and the Magic front office have made them legitimate contenders. Quite simply, the Magic surrounded Dwight Howard with jump shooters with excellent range and slashing ability to spread out the defense. Howard's low post game is good enough to merit constant double teams enabling the Magic to get crazy wide open jumpers (especially Lewis and Turkoglu whose length, range and handles fit well in Orlando). I see them being legit NBA title contenders in 2 years when Howard nears his potential. Their only weakness right now is lack of quality depth at the bigs (sorry Adonal) and their point guards are a little shaky. I'd really like to see how they stand up to an experienced and well-balanced team like Detroit. (BTW - They lost to them back on November 2nd.)

Andrew Bynum does not know how to play help defense: When guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Keyon Dooling are running layup drills, you have a serious problem. Until Bynum learns how to play proper help-side defense, opposing teams will continue to attack the rim with reckless abandon. Dooling's a friggin' Clipper reject for crissake and he threw down a monster dunk in the fourth quarter with no defensive resistance. The Lakers perimeter defense deserves 30% of the blame (feel free to drop off a little on your man if he's quicker), but Bynum needs to use peripheral vision move his damn feet.

The return of Brian Cook: "Booooooo!!!!" Here's a conversation I had with the guy sitting behind me:
'Why are you booing Cook?"
"Because he sucks ass!!!"
"Well yeah but..."
And that was it, the guy behind me was sold. Maybe it was the conviction in my voice, maybe it was how loud I booed, who knows? But seeing Cook in a Magic uniform... good times.

Dwight Howard can dominate without making a splash in the box score: 17 points and 8 rebounds aren't that impressive for a talent like Howard, but his presence still dominated the game. The Lakers focused defensively on shutting down Howard's post game, leaving wide open shots for the likes of Bogans, Redick, Turkoglu and Lewis, who hit just enough jumpers to pull out the win. The difference between good players and great players is their ability to pull out W's on off nights. Tonight, Howard's size and strength drew fouls and wore down the Lakers.

Audible F-Bomb moment: The one time I forget to bring my binoculars (very necessary for the 316, especially for Laker Girls) and America's favorite young actress/coked-up party-girl/recovering substance abuser/coked-up party-girl/recovering substance abuser (again) makes an appearance at Staples Center. Yep, Lindsey Lohan was spotted on the jumbo-tron sitting courtside. Without the nocs, I wasn't able to see if she was either: a) the hot, voluptuous red head version or b) the coked up, wafer-thin blonde version. She seemed like "A" with blonde hair, but I really needed the binoculars just to check for things like "residue" or if she's packing that water bottle or other thongs... I mean things.