Thoughts on the first weekend of NBA Playoffs!

So the first weekend of NBA Playoffs went down, and there is much to talk about.  I have no witty opening since I am a little fired up, so I’m just going to get right to it.

Let’s start with Bulls-Nets since Derrick Rose’s ACL injury put me in such a depression I gave up blogging the entire season.  Rose has now become the source of a great controversy surrounding the Bulls as many are upset he has not returned from his injury yet, and likely won’t this season.  People are questioning Rose’s heart and toughness and trying to make him look like a bad guy because he has been cleared by doctors to play for months but won’t come back.

Call me crazy, but I feel like there is more to a return from a major injury than simply being told by doctor’s that structurally you are good to go.  If he isn’t comfortable then he isn’t comfortable.  Players like LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony have defended Rose’s decisions thus far, and you haven’t heard anything about the organization being furious with him for not playing, and his teammates all stand by him.  You only really hear the shit talking coming from fair-weather fans and idiots.

The Bulls didn’t re-sign Rose to win a title in 2013, the Bulls re-signed him to contend for years to come since he is an amazing basketball talent and if you have to sacrifice one whole season for him to come back strong then so be it.  But frontrunners seem to know what’s right for the Bulls and Rose and feel he is a dirt bag because he isn’t playing right now.  I am only mad that they would not announce Rose is out for the year months ago since they knew it all along.  I am not mad he is missing time.  Screw it, they can win next year or the year after.  I would much rather Rose take the time to get comfortable than come back too soon, a decision basically everybody but people who don’t know anything about anything sympathize with.

People are saying Rose isn’t tough and doesn’t have heart, but if you stop and think for a minute you would realize that makes no sense.  The only reason LeBron James isn’t about to win a fifth straight MVP is because Rose played out of his mind two years ago.  Fair-weather fans and idiots have short memories and now think Rose was overrated this whole time, but he was a death dealer in 2010-11 and nobody should forget it.  Then in the playoffs he badly sprained his ankle against the Pacers but kept playing and took a beating every night all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Then the next season he was nursing injuries to his back, his groin, basically his entire body.  He pushed himself hard to come back and try to win the championship, but he has no heart?  He ended up tearing his ACL because of that.  That’s a major injury, and just because Adrian Peterson could come back quick and be successful that doesn’t mean Derrick Rose is ready.  Maybe it comes from the fact I enjoy fighters like Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, but I recognize patience is extremely important and right now isn’t as important as setting up for the future.  Who is the motherfucker who has delivered again and again in big games for the Bulls and said he wants to lead them into the future?  I’ve never had reason to doubt Rose before, and just because the Bulls won’t win a championship this season I am not about to start doubting him.

So the moral of the story in terms of Bulls-Nets is that the Bulls are fucking terrible and are going to lose in six games, and I don’t feel bad that Rose won’t be playing.  Noah’s hurt, Hinrich’s hurt, Hamilton’s a walking injury, Gibson’s hurt, Deng is drained from too many minutes yet again.  Yes, the next part of Rose’s rehab is to play in a game, but if he isn’t comfortable then why rush him back to take part in the ass kicking they are going to be dealt for the next week?  And the Nets are just going to get beaten by Miami next round anyways so I won’t even bother discussing them.

The Nuggets-Warriors game was pretty wild.  Last year the Nuggets were on pace to set the world on fire until everybody got injured.  They were ready to set everybody on fire this year but things looked bad once Danilo Gallinari went down with a torn ACL and Kenneth Faried got hurt.  But the beauty of the Nuggets is that they play an amazing team game.  The Nuggets could very well make it to the Finals.  They are that good even without a superstar to lead the way.  Ty Lawson is filthy, Andre Iguodala is solid, and Andre Miller is still good.

Miller, at the age of about 867, drained the game winner with 1.3 second left to give the Nuggets the victory in Game 1.  The 37-year-old has missed six games in his entire career, and has overcome his strange Smokey Robinson voice to become one of the most reliable players of the era.  Speaking of reliability, the Warriors were dealt some damage when David Lee suffered a torn hip flexor and had to leave the game.  Lee got a whole lotta money, never really played up to it until this year, and now he goes down with an injury.  That’s a big problem for Golden State as they need all the help they can get against the amazing team game of Denver.  I figured the Nuggets could handle them before, but now with Lee out it seems like Denver just got a much easier road to the second round.

I thought I wanted to see the Knicks make it out of the East until I saw Game 1 of their series with the Celtics.  In life there are few things I hate more than the Madison Square Garden crowd.  Spike Lee is a douche, and Knicks fans suck at life.  Now that the Knicks are good, there are a lot of obnoxious frontrunners afoot.  The Garden crowd acts like their team is the best team in the universe when they are winning, then boos the team off the floor when they aren’t playing well.  Now all of a sudden they have “real” fans because they are good but you know if they get eliminated by Miami in Game 6 of the Conference Finals the Garden crowd will be booing their own players because they are morons.

Boston has had a nice run after losing Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL a few months back, but this is where the run ends.  They are a solid defensive team, but their offense is only slightly less ugly than that of the Bulls.  Even if Carmelo Anthony decides against passing and keeps shooting terribly, it will be enough to carry the Knicks since Pierce and Garnett might be cooked.  And Jason Terry was a waste of a signing.  Thanks for that amazing 0-5 performance, Jet!  Jeff Green can play his ass off in the first half all he wants, but the Knicks have too many weapons on offense and the Celtics don’t have anything.  These teams are fairly evenly matched defensively, but down the stretch in a close game New York will kill them because of weapons like Anthony and JR Smith, and that is what happened on Saturday.

The Clippers-Grizzlies series has me torn.  On one hand, I really like the Grizzlies.  I thought they would be the team to beat in the West since they play such solid defense and a good team game.  I love the Gasol-Randolph team down low, I love that they have Tayshaun Prince now, I love that Jerryd Bayless cut his hair and grew a beard and looks like Carlos Boozer.  The Grizzlies are a tough, solid team.  On the other hand, I love the Clippers.  Chris Paul is the best point guard in the league, Blake Griffin is an animal, Chauncey Billups is a good man, but Vinny Del Negro is their coach.  It will be a very entertaining series, but ultimately the Clips may pull this one out somehow.  I hope I don’t miss any games from this one.

The Hawks-Pacers series is the most uninteresting series I could ever think of.  Two teams I can’t stand in one place.  I will not talk about this further.

The Heat-Bucks series will be a source of great comedy on a game-by-game basis since Milwaukee guard Brandon Jennings said they would defeat the Heat in six games.  There isn’t much to say about this series since the Bucks are completely overmatched and will get swept.  But at least Brandon Jennings makes funnies.

I was excited for the Thunder-Rockets series until the first few minutes of last night’s game.  I stepped out of the room and missed the first few minutes of the game and walked in to see the score was 13-2 and the Rockets had not hit a field goal.  Granted it was still early, but that said everything I needed to know about the series.  The Rockets have an exciting young team, but the Thunder have been possessed all season.  Houston just doesn’t have enough to stop OKC.  Maybe they can win a game in Houston, but really the Thunder are going to jack them up since too much Houston offense revolves around James Harden isolations and missed threes.

And the last series, the best series, is the LA Lakers vs. the San Antonio Spurs. 10 years ago this would be a showdown of the West’s superpowers.  This year, it is the hobbled Lakers meeting a determined Spurs squad playing like this is their last time out.  Mike D’Antoni, so stubborn in his ways, is the reason Kobe Bryant is out.  You can’t play a guy who has 20 seasons worth the wear and tear on his body (17 seasons plus post-season and Team USA stuff) for over 40 minutes a night and rely on him to do everything.  That was how D’Antoni approached the home stretch of the season and it cost the Lakers dearly.   Steve Nash isn’t 100% and D’Antoni’s defenseless approach to the game is only going to make things worse.

The Spurs made D’Antoni’s life a living hell for most of the 2000s, and it is happening again.  Tim Duncan is playing like it is 2003 again and all signs point to this being his last run.  I have written here before about how Tim Duncan is an amazing talent, and this season only reaffirmed those statements.  He has elevated his game yet again and the Spurs are poised to dominate.  LA is a mess with no depth and no defense, so they may not have a good shot against the Spurs juggernaut.

That is it for the weekend’s games.  I will try to talk some trash about the other games this week at some point.

Three Up, Three in the Middle, Three Down

Time for the second, and final installment of Three Up... of the regular season. Let’s get right into it.

Three Up
Chicago Bulls: The Bulls are still rolling and clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They have been the team to beat since the All-Star break and have played the most consistent basketball the past few months. At this point if Derrick Rose doesn’t win the MVP, it’ll be a robbery. All the Bulls need now is for Noah’s ankle to heal up and be ready for the playoffs.
Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder have won eight of their last ten, and could be poised to make a nice run in the playoffs. The addition of Perkins has given them some much needed low post toughness and helped them to beat their likely first round opponent and team that just missed out on the three up this week in the Denver Nuggets. Denver has been surging since the ‘Melo deal and that win is a big one for OKC. If they can pass Dallas for the three seed, the Thunder have a good shot at a run to the conference finals.
New Orleans Hornets: I was going to pick Denver or Memphis here, but the Hornets deserve some props. Their second best player in David West went down with a torn ACL, but the Hornets have scrapped their way to a 7-3 mark over their past ten games in a tough bottom half of the Western Conference. Despite the injury and an up and down season, the Hornets have managed to hang tough. That deserves some props, even if it means they are just going to get mauled by the Lakers or Spurs in the first round.

Three in the Middle
New York Knicks: The Knicks have managed to recover from losing four straight by reeling off seven wins in a row. They still don’t have much depth, but it appears as if the team is starting to mesh a little better than it was a few weeks ago. It looks like they’ll end up against Miami (so long as Boston doesn’t continue their freefall) in the first round and that could be a competitive series.
Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers would have been in the three up, but they have gone from looking like worldbeaters again to losing five in a row, including ones to possible playoff opponents Portland and OKC. Of course, none of this matters once the playoffs start, but it has to be disconcerting to not be playing your best ball at this point of the year.
San Antonio Spurs: They almost made the three down part, but have recovered from their swoon now that Tim Duncan is back from injury. They managed to clinch the one seed in the West, but part of that is due to the Lakers suddenly falling apart. Unfortunately, I don’t know that the Spurs can make it very far. Memphis would be a tough first round matchup, but they could squash the Hornets. In the second round, the Thunder could bounce them, but they could beat Dallas or Denver. If the Lakers lose early, the Spurs could make a run to the Finals.

Three Down
Dallas Mavericks: Dallas is done. Dirk is the only one playing well right now, and there is no solid second option. To boot, Chandler is playing hurt and Jason Kidd is pretty much done. If the Hornets somehow make it to the six seed, Dallas could earn their way to a second round exit courtesy of the Lakers. Otherwise, its going to be another first round bow-out for Dallas at the hands of Portland or Denver.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Minny are losers of twelve straight and are tied with the Cavs for worst record in the NBA. They aren’t even competitive at this point, unlike the beginning of the year where they at least played teams close. Rambis is an abyssmal coach, clinging to the Triangle Offense despite the fact the personnel needed to run it is not present. They are terrible, to the point where they might end up with an even worse record than Cleveland and that’s saying something.
Boston Celtics: What the hell is going on in Boston? They are getting trounced by everyone now and it appears that they have lost all that swagger they had heading into the season. Rondo has played poorly, the rest of the team has been inconsistent, Shaq has been MIA, and the chemistry has hit an all-time low since the Perkins trade. Since February, they’ve fallen from one to three in the East and it looks like it isn’t even a matter of biding their time and staying healthy until the playoffs. Of course, as with the Lakers, once the playoffs start anything could happen.

Hate to say I told you so...

It's funny.  When the Knicks traded for Carmelo Anthony, ESPN (on tv, not internet to be fair) started to tout New York as a team that could make a lengthy playoff run.  Once the Knicks won a bunch of games immediately following the trade, you would have thought it was 1994 and Ewing and Starks were back.  Now, reality has set in and the Knicks have a losing record post-trade, and are below .500 for the first time since early in the season.

Carmelo is going to get a lot of the blame, but it isn't because he is playing poorly.  It is really the fault of the Knicks for going with the trend of signing "stars" without thought to how well multpile stars with similar games will fit together, or that there needs to be a clear pecking order in a team's structure and role players ready and able to chip in a timely basket or stop.

The other factor in this is that Mike D'Antoni's offense is based on needing certain players to perform certain tasks and play in specific spots on the floor.  Due to the trade, the Knicks can no longer play the "Seven Seconds or Less" (SSOL) offense that D'Antoni has championed.

In Phoenix and pre-trade New York, the offense was based on each player fitting a certain role.  There is the power forward/center that operates from about 15-20 feet out to all the way around the basket.  On both teams, that was Amar'e Stoudemire's role.  Then the other two front court spots are usually at least one person who stands out on the wings to shoot open threes and the other either does clean up rebounding or also hovers on the three-point line.  In Phoenix these roles have been done over the years by Shawn Marion, Grant Hill, Channing Frye, Quentin Richardson, and Boris Diaw.  The Knicks haven't been able to fill both of these slots well, but one of them would be filled by Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler.  Then the shooting guard position is someone who can shoot open threes.  Phoenix has used Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson, and now Vince Carter.  The Knicks use Landry Fields.  The final piece is the point guard that can hit from anywhere on the floor and dishes to everyone else on the floor.  For the Suns, that's been Steve Nash and for the Knicks it has been Ray Felton and Chauncey Billups.

The SSOL offense requires constant and fast ball movement and sound decision making, which is where the Knicks fall flat.  Carmelo holds the ball for awhile before making a decision.  Plus, he isn't really a perimeter player and fills the same space on the floor as Stoudemire.  This means that one of the two is always going to be out of the action.  Without Gallinari and Chandler, this closes the floor alot and makes it easier to stop STAT and Melo by just crowding the lane.

This is the main reason why the Knicks aren't scoring as much.  Melo slows down the pace of their offense considerably, plus their they are hitting fewer threes per game.  Their defense is still terrible, but it doesn't seem like they allow as many points because the pace of the game has slowed down considerably.  Billups is a good point guard, but he isn't the right one for the D'Antoni's system.  In Phoenix, Nash was the primary ballhandler and distributor.  In New York, the ball is staying in Carmelo or Stoudemire's hands for the bulk of each possession.

D'Antoni is taking a lot of heat for how the Knicks are playing, with pundits saying his system doesn't work.  The problem is that the personnel he was given doesn't match what he needs.  New York, like seemingly every team, is in love with the concept of having multiple superstars of equal or near equal stature and abilities.  This doesn't work unless someone is willing to become a secondary player for the team.  Miami is currently experiencing that because Wade and LeBron currently occupy the same spaces and like the ball in the same places at the same times.  Boston has had success because Pierce has been delineated as the primary scorer, Allen is willing to float off screens, and Garnett has harnessed his energy into the defensive end of the floor.  Chicago has a clear top dog with Rose, while Deng and Boozer are the supporting scorers.  The Lakers have Kobe as the alpha male, with Pau, Odom, and Bynum as the support.

New York doesn't even have the cast of Miami.  Chris Bosh fills the third fiddle role that New York doesn't have, plus LeBron and Wade (while similar players) are both considerably better and more complete than Stoudemire and Anthony.  And Knicks fans shouldn't get their hopes up for Chris Paul or Deron Williams either.  Paul will help more than Williams since D-Will scores more, but the issues of depth would still persist.  Although to be fair, depth issues and lack of steam at the end of season would be a D'Antoni trademark.

Steve Nash Deserves Better

I was watching Sportscenter this morning and saw the highlights of the Suns-Pacers game, where Grant Hill turned back the clock and poured in 34 points and Channing Frye hit a game winner for Phoenix.  What struck me was Steve Nash's reaction to the shot.  He was so excited and genuinely happy for Frye and for the team, you would have thought that the Suns had won the NBA title.  It made me smile to see Nash as the consummate teammate, but it also made me a bit sad that he'll never win a championship, especially when he is the most deserving player in the NBA of a ring.

While everyone continues to laud Amar'e Stoudemire for playing so well and the Knicks for their resurgence, Steve Nash has become the forgotten man.  Stories have been published about how this proves STAT never needed Nash to be successful and that Steve needed him much, much more.  This isn't even remotely fair or accurate.

Amar'e had a much easier transition to New York than Nash has had in Phoenix without Stoudemire.  Raymond Felton (now Chauncey Billups), Landry Fields, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and now Carmelo Anthony are a lot better replacements than the combination of Marcin Gortat, Hakim Warrick, Hedo Turkoglu, Robin Lopez, Josh Childress, and the corpse of Vince Carter.  Despite the fact that Nash is playing with considerably worse teammates than Stoudemire, both the Knicks and the Suns have identical records.  The funny part of that is that the Knicks are being looked at as an upper echelon team, while the Suns are not taken very seriously.  To be fair, the Suns shouldn't be.  They are nowhere near a title, but then again neither are the Knicks, despite what ESPN may tell you.

So now you are probably asking, "What's the point?  It sounds like you're just bagging on the Knicks and the Suns."  Now, as I'm sure will be abundantly clear in the future, I can't stand the Knicks.  That doesn't mean I'm delusional, however.  Amar'e is having a great year and the Knicks are much better than they have been over the past decade.  The point I'm trying to make is that Steve Nash has Phoenix playing much better than they should be, all while playing at a level comparable to his two MVP seasons.

Nash is averaging 16.5 points and 11.3 assists per game this year at the age of 37.  Despite losing their best scorer and being poorly constructed as a team, Nash is still upbeat and motivated and his teammates follow his lead every night.  By not demanding a trade to New York or begging for a deal to Orlando, Nash has basically sacrificed his last few years of playing at a high level to take part in a rebuilding effort.  At no point this season has Nash folded, like LeBron against Boston in the playoffs last season, or quietly killed his team's morale, like Carmelo in Denver this year.  Nash's teammates seem happy to be playing basketball and to be playing it with one of the greatest point guards of all time.  And based on Nash's reaction to Frye's game winner, he seems to enjoy playing with them.

For those reasons, Steve Nash deserves a lot better than being on a team that probably won't even make the playoffs this year.  Year in and year out, he has been the definition of a leader and teammate.  He has made limited teammates look better than they are (Frye) and elevated other players' games to levels they never reached again (Shawn Marion, Quentin Richardson).  If Nash can lead the Suns to a 30-27 record with the team they field right now, imagine what he could do in Orlando or Dallas with real teammates.  Hopefully he'll get that chance again before his career ends.